The Openhouse by XTEN Architecture
XTEN Architecture designed the Openhouse, located in the Hollywood Hills of California.
From XTEN:
The Openhouse is embedded into a narrow and sharply sloping property in the Hollywood Hills, a challenging site that led to the creation of a house that is both integrated into the landscape and open to the city below. Retaining walls are configured to extend the first floor living level into the hillside and to create gardens on two levels. The front, side and rear elevations of the house slide open to erase all boundaries between indoors and out, connecting the spaces to gardens on both levels.
Glass, in various renditions, is the primary wall enclosure material. There are forty-four sliding glass panels, each seven feet wide by ten feet high and configured to disappear into hidden pockets and allow for uninterrupted views and access to exterior terraces and gardens. There are also fixed glass walls, mirror glass walls and light gray specular glass panels which lend lightness to the interior spaces. The glass walls are visually counterweighted by sculptural, solid elements in the house rendered in stone, dark stained oak, tinted concrete and plaster. The use of cut pebble flooring throughout the house, decks and terraces continues the indoor-outdoor materiality, which is amplified when the glass walls slide away. The building finishes are few in number but applied in a multiplicity of ways throughout the project, furthering the experience of continuous open spaces from interior to exterior.
Visit the XTEN Architecture website – here.















Visit the XTEN Architecture website – here.





mari on 16 Dec 2008 at 8:44 am #
amazing style
Crystal Martin on 16 Dec 2008 at 11:31 am #
This is very cool. I love the design, style and beauty.
alexandre on 16 Dec 2008 at 12:49 pm #
wow, the title for best view just got a new holder.
this house is amazing
Lance Rice on 16 Dec 2008 at 3:15 pm #
Indeed! The sharp angles don’t do much for me, but there is so much about this house that’s right it’s easy to overlook a few minor things. The courtyard is great, the pool area is great, the views, the staircase… Swoon.
Tom on 16 Dec 2008 at 7:01 pm #
Seems nearly impossible to live in since having any more than the bare minimum of “stuff” in the house would ruin the aesthetic… But to not live in it would be such a waste!
alx187 on 18 Dec 2008 at 5:45 pm #
ultimate bachelors pad. I imagine James Bond would be very happy here. All is missing is an Aston Martin out front
Lisa Marie on 23 Dec 2008 at 12:09 pm #
Glass, in various renditions, is the primary wall enclosure material. There are forty-four sliding glass panels, each seven feet wide by ten feet high and configured to disappear into hidden pockets and allow for uninterrupted views and access to exterior terraces and gardens.
fernando on 05 Feb 2009 at 7:49 pm #
great! I would just hate to have their heating/ac bill!
Greg on 21 Jan 2010 at 11:38 am #
I hardly think the heating/ac bill will matter to whoever could afford this place. Absolutely stunning!
JT on 13 May 2010 at 6:48 pm #
I think this house was used in that Ashton Kutcher movie “Spread”. They did a really nice job with redecorating it.