In Tune: An integrated System Kitchen for a Landmark Californa Home

Designed by architect Jim Tyler, the unique house, perched on a knoll in Beverly Hills, celebrates rather than hides its core materials: exposed steel, aluminum, glass and wood.

Originally built for an art collecting couple, the house is configured around a multistory skylit atrium that doubles as a gallery.

The same openness of - and reverence to - the structural parts is evident on the interior. The care with which those parts are brought together creates an unexpected refinement. An elegance and feel achieved in a simpler way, without the need for the ornate.

The material continuity links the indoors to outdoors.

When a slow, hidden leak damaged the existing kitchen beyond repair, the clients and their designer, Marta Scerbo, turned to Henrybuilt. They wanted not only quality that was good to the core to withstand life’s occasional home disasters, but also a design that could speak the same language as the architecture.

An elegant simplicity that is anything but simple, especially when exposing the individual pieces is part of the vocabulary. How to bring those exposed parts together to create a feeling of elegance, a feeling of heart? This is one of many languages that Henrybuilt speaks.

The openness of the rooms called for smooth transitional moments that also kept the highly functional feeling elegant. Where the kitchen and dining area blend together, Henrybuilt’s Bar Block provides a serving surface, counter seating, and helps conceal any mess on the counter or kitchen sink from view.

First attracted to the Bar Block for its ability to conceal the mess, the client “loves the luxurious details. The small drawers provide a convenient place for those little but essential things that usually struggle to find a home, like the chain I shake that causes my dog to come from anywhere,” she says. A great place for the cutting boards that are often awkward to store. And, the hidden outlet eliminates the need for the unsightly and inconvenient outlet that building codes otherwise require in the end panel.

The surface layer involved connecting the material language. The functional storage included natural oak on the lower level and anodized aluminum on the upper and tall areas. This spoke directly to the wood beams and the industrial exterior siding. Moments of black in the counters, wrap panels, and end panels nod to the black steel beams.

The customized and personal approach behind the Henrybuilt system was the real magic that enabled the fluidity and seamless integration into the space. Here a monolithic form - a room divider that balances the visual weight of the steel beams - is created through a combination of functional storage system elements that come together precisely and unite the surrounding elements.

Not only does the system elevate project outcomes by raising the bar on innovation and built-in functionality on the design side, it enhances the overall livability for the homeowner and their day-to-day essentials like microwaves and toaster ovens.

Like our flexible backsplash system, it’s a marriage of elegance and functionality. Of craft and innovation.

The design of the adjacent pantry confers a sense of order and ease in the day-to-day. Closed utility closet storage on one side. Open, easily visible storage of those grab-and-go goodies on the other. The built-in flexibility ensures it can evolve with the family’s needs.

“The pantry is off the hook – and has great hooks!” says the client.

The third piece of the functional zone surrounding the kitchen is a hardworking multipurpose room off the back door. It was important to carry the high level of functionality, quality, and aesthetic to the adjacent space. Part mudroom. Part breakroom. Part laundry room. Complete with a bench nook to steal a moment with a view.