DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
Issue link: https://www.southbaydiggs.com/i/1089710
3.8.2019 | DIGS.NET 71 M A R K E T D uring W WII there were radar towers poised atop Tennyson Place in Hermosa Beach, and the reason had everything to do with the altitude. Rumored to be the highest point west of Pacific Coast Highway, this area remains an ideal spot for building one's dream home. ere are oversized parcels of land, the draw of an exclusive beachside neighborhood and best of all, prime views—stretching across ocean and hillside. "It's a very unique spot because the lots are massive," says real estate agent Rob Freedman, who is co-listing the property, "and it's pretty sleepy back there. It's a hidden gem." On a particularly lofty Tennyson lot, a custom home (more like a mini compound) was erected a few years ago. e approximately 7,300-square- foot home spanning three levels was designed in dreamy partnership with its plethora of outdoor places, and the resulting atmosphere is one of private, fresh-air luxury. Step inside and, though you may still technically be in the South Bay, just a one-minute drive from Pacific Coast Highway, you're guaranteed to feel somewhere far, far away. e architect is Louie Tomaro, whose assembly of geometric angles, plentiful glass and overhanging eaves are cleverly softened by an inviting palette of Spanish cedar, white stucco and textured stone. Indoors, sunlight and stirring views are everywhere. "When you get panoramic first floor views, and panoramic second floor views, that's very unusual," points out co-listing agent Bryn Stroyke. It's not by accident but by meticulous planning that palm trees, blue skies and ocean vistas follow you through home and yard. "e way the home is situated on the site takes full advantage of the lot," explains Freedman, whose real estate acumen is supplemented with a Cornell architecture degree. "It's got about a good a view that you can get in Hermosa Beach." e home opens onto the formal living room, a floating space with walls of glass on three sides, revealing grand vistas. "e living room became the perfect space to utilize the cantilever which welcomes you as you enter in the front door," says architect Tomaro. "Entering the living room gives the sense as if you are floating over the ocean in the view beyond." From the exterior, it's one of the home's most captivating features—a glassy cube, seemingly held up by air. "e floating, cantilevered look softens things," says the home's builder, Dan Bronner of Dolphin Construction. "It really lightens up a big structure." e main floor of the home's interior hosts a myriad of clean-cut and spacious gathering spaces, nearly all of them designed to grant instant access to the outdoors via endless glass walls and doors that pocket neatly into the walls. e openness of the home lends a flow to, and between, indoor and outdoor spaces. "e style of the Tennyson project is a coastal contemporary home that was driven by the family's active lifestyle," explains Tomaro. "e clean lines and floor-to-ceiling glass create a modern feel that allowed us to fully capitalize on the stunning views this sight had to offer," he adds. e kitchen, for instance, a gleaming place of wood, steel and stone, adjoins not only the outdoors but also a spacious family room and a sitting nook—a pure white space that connects dramatically to the back yard via glass walls. "e sliding doors that