El Contento

In 2003, much of the steep hillside garden of this 1926 Spanish Colonial Revival house slid down the site, carrying trees, retaining walls, mud and debris through vacant lots before coming to rest at the bottom of the canyon. The house, a pool and spa, and a small pool terrace survived, but the rest of the garden was split in two by the ravine carved by the mudslide.

New gardens, terraces, stairs and steps were designed to weave around the surviving pool and spa and incorporate the underlying infrastructure required for the extensive hillside restoration. Mid-slope, the site is anchored by a twelve-foot high serpentine retaining wall.

Within the wall, a vault was fashioned for the pool equipment. On the face of the wall, a concrete stair winds between the lower garden and a series of terraces that step to the top of the site. Here, a new dining terrace with views across the canyon to the Hollywood sign opens off the new kitchen and den, which were brought into stylistic conformity with the original structure.

Credits: Garden Design, Sarah Munster