Ray Kappe’s Keeler Up Close - Page 2

The interior layout is centered on an open plan, with living and entertainment spaces cantilevered to extend over the hillside. Sleek built‐ins are featured throughout, with an inviting 'floating hearth' fireplace that acts as a focal point, warming the living and dining spaces.

Continuing through the home, we discover four bedrooms, three baths, and a master suite with a soaking tub, steel fireplace, and a private balcony.

A central island anchors the eat‐in kitchen and breakfast bar with banquette‐style seating. Separate guest quarters contain a bath and sleek built‐in shelving, converted from a space that previously housed a music studio.

Staircases are fitted with cable‐style railings that maintain the overall transparency, and connect the various levels of the home. Interior balconies also feature the minimalist cable, allowing for maximum natural light.

Ray Kappe, FAIA (1927‐2019) left behind a legacy of more than 100 innovative homes designed over the course of his distinguished career. Ahead of his time, Kappe was also an educator, and established 'The New School' in 1972, later renaming it the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI‐Arc), an institution of international renown.

"Ray Kappe is a quintessentially Los Angeles, California architect," wrote SCI‐Arc Director and CEO Hernán Díaz Alonso. "A transformative figure, he and a group of outlaws decided to challenge the status quo of what was architectural education, and changed the world of architecture forever. He did it, and he did it in spades. His legacy as an architect, city planner, and educator is absolutely unparalleled."

Fascinated by sustainability and modular construction, Kappe began working with Living Homes in 2003, on a series of modular, steel‐framed pre‐fabricated homes for a planned community.

Of the Keeler residence, Doe says, "The drama of this space never bores. Every moment in the house is to be at one with nature's living changing moments."

For more information and photos of the Keeler House, click here.