French Country in Rolling Hills Estates

I must admit I do give a disproportionate amount of attention to Palos Verdes Estates - more so than to neighboring Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes.  So today, in an effort to balance things out a bit, I bring you a brand spankin' new home built on a beautiful lot in horse-loving Rolling Hills Estates.  RHE as you'll recall, isn't the gated Rolling Hills community - rather this is a non-gated community that borders PVE, RH, Torrance and Lomita.  It's centered around the equestrian lifestyle and marked by the white fences that line the streets and homes in the city.  Like neighboring PVE, RHE has its own country club and it also has a very strict neighborhood compatibility and planning commission process for getting new homes built.  Unlike PVE however, there is no formal art jury or architectural review board to approve the aesthetics of a new home.  That said, the city's planning commission and approval process does take into account the compatibility of the proposed home with its surroundings - you'll find very few if any Spanish or Italian homes built in RHE.  Rather, the architecture of choice is the California Ranch.  Occasionally, a country (American or European) style of home, with hints of the ranch vernacular, will pop up, as in the case of the home I'm writing about now.

(Source: MLS)


Designed by local architect George Sweeney and built this year, this 5,400 square foot French Country-style home sits on a lush 0.47 acre lot in Rolling Hills Estates.   The lot, at 130 feet wide, is 182 feet deep and features a guest house as well.

(Source: MLS)

(Source: MLS)


This home replaces a 1963-built 2,508 single level ranch style home that was in serious disrepair.  The current owners bought the original home in 2004 for $975K, then transferred it to an LLC in 2009 while going through the city's permitting process.  The new home is on the market for $4.0M.

 (Source: Google Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)

As you can see from the photos above, the old home and lot was overgrown with vegetation and in serious need of an update (look at the driveway!).  The new home is - quite simply - gorgeous!  While I'm generally not a fan of French Country or Tudor, this home delivers on detail and authenticity.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Google Maps)

Where to start.  The garage - I love how the garage is tucked off to the side - not visible from the street.  The new home opts for a single driveway rather than the previous homes semi-circular driveway.  The front yard is tidy, keeping intact a large mature tree, and opting for a simple grass yard rather than overgrown bush.  The facade is balanced, restrained, understated.  It fits.  Massing is modest, and while this home is more than twice the square footage of the previous home, somehow this seems to blend better into its surroundings.

Moving to the rear yard, the pool was moved and a full landscape renovation was undertaken.  Guest house? Check.  Pool? check.  Trees and hedges? Check.  And how about the rear facade!  Well done!  Alternating rooflines.  Wooden accents.  Scaled windows.  Bravo!

Overall, a very well executed home.  Perfect addition to the street and RHE.

KEY STATS

Location: PV Dr N, RHE
Style: French
Year built:  2011
Architect: George Sweeney
Square footage: 5,400
Lot size: 20,580  (130'x182')