Be it for a few nights, a few weeks, or a lifetime, these design retreats celebrate the art of good living.
PHOTO COURTESY HERE AND NOW AGENCY
CANYON HOMES
Nestled just below Franklin Avenue and within easy reach of Beachwood Canyon and Griffith Park is a new five-unit, three-story condo building by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects. The curving, almost sail-like structures, are a play on the A-frame concept and increase density while maintaining the residential, single-family scale of the neighborhood. Cedar-clad garages occupy the ground level, with the two-story, aluminum- and glass-clad homes cantilevered above them. Natural light fills the airy interior spaces, which were designed by Disc Interiors. A clever “upside down” layout puts the bedrooms on the first floor and the open kitchen and living areas on the second floor, with a rooftop terrace crowning each unit.
PHOTO BY DREW METZGER
THE DRAVES ESTATE
You needn’t be an Olympian to enjoy the former home and pool of Vicki Draves, the first Asian American woman to bring home the gold for competitive diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Her home, designed by midcentury developer Paul Trousdale, is situated on an ultra-private 3,000-square-foot walled lot in Palm Springs’s Tahquitz River Estates neighborhood. The open-plan rental property, which is managed by Acme House Company and furnished in collaboration with West Elm, offers a primary suite and two guest bedrooms, with a casita, to boot. Outside, entertaining areas include a dining pavilion with a lounge area and fire pit, a grilling station and bar, and a bocce ball court.
PHOTO COURTESY VICEROY SANTA MONICA
VICEROY SANTA MONICA
The Viceroy Santa Monica has undergone a $21-million renovation spearheaded by Bay Area hospitality firm EDG. Building on the hotel’s quintessentially Southern California style, the refresh removed interior walls to open the lobby and increase indoor-outdoor cocktail and dining options at Sugar Palm Ocean Avenue. New poolside cabanas echo the spirit of those originally designed by Kelly Wearstler when the hotel debuted 20 years ago. Also new is an art collection created in collaboration with visual arts agency Art x Co and focusing on local creators. Commissions include a façade mural by Erin Miller Wray, Karen Bystedt’s mixed-media series “The Lost Warhols,” abstract paintings by Monica Perez and a patio mural by Evelyn Leigh.
