March is the beginning of the 2011 AIA Home Tours, and as always, the featured architecture included incredible views, artwork, and use of materials. The most recent tour started in the hills of Santa Monica and ended on Nightingale Drive high above the Sunset Strip. Each home told its own story and was uniquely different from the next - the tour presented something for everyone…
House #1: Latimer Residence
Designer: Rick Leslie, AIA - Rick Leslie Architects
The Latimer Residence is a seven level, contemporary home in the hills of Santa Monica. It is a great representation of sustainable architecture with its solar pool and domestic hot water, radiant floor heating, extensive natural light and skylights, bamboo and & bio-fiber flooring, and bamboo cabinets. The entry landscape creates a lush outdoor sitting area.
House #2: Brentwood Residence
Designer: Cory Buckner, AIA - Cory Buckner Architects
The Brentwood Residence is located in the post-war architectural community of Crestwood Hills. The architecture paired with the interior furnishings sets the tone for the owner/artist's artwork. Each room has a flair of color and texture juxtaposed against a white background. The owner's personal art can be viewed in the photo following the living room.
House #3: Stoneridge Residence
Designer: David Thompson, Assoc. AIA - Assembledge+ and Billy Rose
Architect David Thompson paired up with designer Billy Rose to design the Stoneridge Residence, what I call the ultimate piece of art. This is no typical bachelor pad or entertainment house, the residence's character begins with the brick exterior facade and continues throughout with the conceptual staircase, sculptural dining table, and modern photography.
House #4: Nightingale Residence
Designer: Zoltan E. Pali, FAIA - Studio Pali Fekete architects [SPF:a] and Dugally-Oberfeld Builders
Architect Zoltan E. Pali is a well known designer, creating some of the most exuberant modern estates in the Hollywood Hills and beyond. Another one of his homes, the Oberfeld Residence, was featured in one of previous AIA Home Tours. The Nightingale Residence overlooks some of the best Los Angeles city views.
MORE AIA HOME TOURS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
Images: Juan Enriquez
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Cook Rice on the Stove
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
This was interesting, but I gave up looking because it was too annoying flipping back and forth between the thumbnails and the larger photo. Was it really not possible to have an imbedded arrow ? :- (
I think the Latimer style most closely resembles my own. I love all of their rooms!
Loved these homes (especially number 4)! The use of windows is amazing.
In the future when there are so many thumbnails, is it possible to have an easier way to flip through the photos? After the first 2 lines of thumbnails, I had to constantly scroll up and down to see the larger view. Thanks!
I would have loved to see a metal ball chain fixture above the stairway!
Artfemme11 and LauraInCancun, this is so true about the inconvenience of looking through the thumbnails! I love Apartment Therapy but this is one thing I would change immediately about it if I could. Possibly somebody figured out some clever way to look through AT images but if not, then all of us are faced with the cumbersome procedure in any posting where you have more than a row of pictures. Just as an example, see the posting http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/paints-stains-finishes/small-doses-of-color-for-the-color-shy--142843. So, I am on the 6th picture (2nd row) and click on the 7th which immediately occupies all of my screen. Now, to go to the 8th image, I need to scroll down to the row. And this will not be the only time in this posting. It all depends on how many rows are featured and how the picture is formatted in the first place. It would be so wonderful if AT can do something like Design Sponge does with their images. Or actually many other blogs. I understand that AT may have much larger number of postings/images but something can probably be done.....