Anthony Barcelo for Sotheby’s International Realty
When famed fashion designer Randolph Duke moved to Los Angeles in the early aughts, he was smitten by a house in the Hollywood Hills. Actually, it was not the house he fell for, but rather the house’s location on a promontory that provides breathtaking views of the city’s downtown, the surrounding hills and the Pacific Ocean.
After interviewing a number of architects, Duke decided to work with Austin Kelly and Monika Haefelfinger, the husband-and-wife team of the L.A.-based firm XTEN Architecture. They designed a large first-floor platform that cantilevers out over the hillside while anchoring itself into the hill. The second story, which contains a master suite, floats over the lower level.