A historic Glendale, California, home by renowned modernists Buff & Hensman was recently put up for sale by the award-winning director and writer Jamie Ting. Sat in a protected neighbourhood of the 1920s and ’30s homes, it resembles a treehouse surrounded by live oaks, with an amphitheatre backyard. Indeed the Cedar Court address is a hint to what the property has in store.

The multi-level open-plan house is enveloped in wood, both on the exterior and interior. Ting and his wife, the landscape designer Rebecca Delgado Berg, have maintained the original oak flooring and uncovered an original oak-and-fir bannister while complementing the 1961 features with mahogany panelling and doors, redwood decking and a new European oak kitchen by Reform.

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Photography: Pierre Galant

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‘We used Donald Hensman’s personal residence Domus Solaris as a guiding light when imagining what it could become,’ says Ting. ‘The inside feels part Swedish ski lodge, part Japanese spa… We replaced the oddly-shaped glass-block windows with ribbed privacy glass – something we liked in Buff & Hensman’s other designs.’

The reimagined three-bedroom, 2.5-bath house perches above a one-bed, one-bath outbuilding used as a studio. The main living area has a mid-century sandstone fireplace leading onto a long windowed dining room, and the new kitchen in European oak. The original staircase leads up to the south-facing primary suite with a fireplace, soaking tub, walk-in closet and views of downtown LA. The home’s unique position on a curve ensures every window frames a scene of nature. Outdoor decks face south, west and east.

The ADU can be used as a creative workshop or secondary residence, with two private decks, another new oak kitchen and laundry area.

They both share a garden with its own waterfall pond, thriving with California native plants from the Theodore Payne Foundation. It was designated a wildlife sanctuary by the previous owner.

The LA property is currently on the market for $2.595m with Jermayne Shannon of Compass.

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