Communing with nature
The Oaks neighborhood in Los Angeles may have been named for its surplus of stately oak trees, but its true draw may be its close access to the more than 4,000 acres that make up Griffith Park. ¶ Gerry Hans and Mary Button settled in the Oaks 30 years ago when they purchased a modest 1957 ranch house on a large hillside lot on the edge of the park.
Avid runners and hikers who love being outdoors, the couple took full advantage of everything the park had to offer and in 2010 helped create the Friends of Griffith Park, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to preserving the park’s open landscapes.
“It’s a true urban wilderness,” Hans said. “It’s a miracle that there is such a vibrant ecological system in the middle of Los Angeles. We have deer and coyotes come through our yard all the time. I’ve even photographed bobcats underneath our carport.”
Though they loved the neighborhood and their property’s direct access to hiking trails, the couple said they felt confined inside their 1,600-square-foot two-story home.
“We had one really nice patio on the lower level and nothing else to open up the house to the outdoors,” Hans said. “It was a fairly small house on a monstrous lot.”
Like so many Southern Californians, Hans and Button wanted their home to connect more with the outdoors.
“We wanted to be able to look outside,” said Button, a former competitive long-distance runner.
Because of budget issues, they couldn’t remodel the entire house. So they hired L.A. architect Wayne Schlock to design a low-key addition that would expand the floor plan and expose them to the park.
Schlock enlarged the existing kitchen and added a home office on the second floor where the couple, now retired, could work with the nonprofit on projects such as restoring Fern Dell, a garden oasis tucked away within Griffith Park that has fallen into disrepair in recent years.
A third-floor master suite, which cantilevers off the building and shades an outdoor breakfast area below, adds 1,200 square feet.
The sun-filled angular addition is modern and serene, with views of the Hollywood sign to the west and Griffith Park to the north. Nestled among the trees, the master suite feels separate from the rest of the house while a floor-to-ceiling glass slider opens to an outdoor terrace, giving the couple the indoor-outdoor access they wanted.
Even the new master bathroom connects to the outdoors courtesy of transom windows.
“You can see birds from the shower,” Button said of the falcons, hawks and poor-wills they spot regularly on their property.
Because the couple were passionate about sustainability, Schlock installed rooftop photovoltaic solar panels, which produce more energy than Hans and Button can use. Frosted glass windows were replaced with low-e glass, and insulation and solar shades help to cool the interiors. The sloped roof line and operable windows create a natural chimney as hot air is vented up the staircase and out the thirdfloor windows. Additionally, a graywater system irrigates the droughttolerant landscape.
The couple also added elements that have special meaning to them. Hans’ photos of Griffith Park decorate the home’s walls, and the millwork in the master bedroom is made of recycled black walnut from Hans’ childhood home in Illinois.
What do homeowners need to know if they want to add a master bedroom on top of their existing home? Schlock said it depends on the site conditions.
“They needed a survey,” he said. They needed to find out where the lot line was and where was the “buildable area” on the lot (according to the zoning code, taking easements into account). They also needed a code review, a soils report (to find out what was beneath the surface and how that would affect the structural work) and architectural and engineering drawings for city approval.
In a neighborhood with strict building codes, the large lot easily supports the addition.
“Gerry and Mary didn’t want a house that stands out from the street,” Schlock said. “The addition sits quietly in the back.”
The views from their updated home reflect their passion for preserving Griffith Park.
“Spending so much time in the park over three decades, I’ve realized what an amazing asset it is,” Hans said. “Especially the wild nature of it. We really like being a part of nature.”