Preserving Character Defining Features
The ten blocks comprising Venice’s Milwood Historic Neighborhood blend together 1920’s bungalows and California modern homes with lush gardens and publicly accessible “walk streets”. Our client needed assistance developing three adjacent properties in this neighborhood into an oasis of contemporary “California Modern” style. The completed project is called “Venice Modern Homes”, the first of which is the “Historic Modern” property at 929 Marco Place (Lot 24).
An existing single-family home, which straddled two of the three contiguous lots that comprise the “Venice Modern Homes”, qualified as a “potential contributor to the District” and as such the front exterior was earmarked for preservation. Approval for the project was accomplished through close coordination with the Department of Los Angeles City Planning Office of Historic Resource.
The design team worked closely with local agencies to relocate the front portion of the original craftsman bungalow from its position between Lots 22 and 23 to its permanent home on Lot 24, now Historic Modern. With the bungalow’s relocation, Farmhouse Modern and Scandifornia Modern took shape, introducing two distinct yet complementary residences.
While Scandifornia Modern embraces Nordic-inspired minimalism, Farmhouse Modern reinterprets traditional agrarian elements through a contemporary lens. Together, the three homes form a cohesive vision that balances historic preservation with modern innovation.
