Like an island in South Los Angeles, Rolling Hills Estates is a tangle of low-rise residential streets bounded by streams and clifftop coastal trails. The Mitchell Residence sits at the end of one of its cul-de-sacs, with trail access and hilltop views over the canyon. Designed by architect Calvin Straub of Buff, Straub & Hensman, famous for their California modernist Case Study homes, the 1959 post-and-beam construction has only changed hands once before, in 2010, and comes to market in near-original condition for $1,850,000.

A modest street presence with double rust-coloured doors belies a split-level plunge at the rear, shaded by mature pines. Inside, the tiled foyer overlooks a sunken living room with built-in cabinetry and a large brick fireplace. Full-height glazed doors access a deep, private cantilevered terrace in the treetops. An adjacent dining room with an original pendant light has its own terrace and an original pass-through to the kitchen, with its breakfast bar and fitted wood cabinetry. Only the kitchen and bathroom appliances are new to the modernist interior.

There are three bedrooms over the home’s 150sqm, with two bathrooms and vast fitted cabinets throughout and banks of glass for views over the neighbourhood. The lot is just over an acre.

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