AIA|LA Launches 2012 Home Tours

by Ian Volner | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Pearson Trent Residence by Escher GuneWardena Architecture; photo by Jonas Lara

The Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects is kicking off their yearly round of home tours with a visit on April 1 to the West L.A. community of Mar Vista. Five outstanding houses are on the docket for the 2012 inaugural trip, each one the work of a distinguished LA-based architect: Santiago Ortiz, Neil M. Denari, Richard Seltzer, Douglas V. Pierson, and the duo of Frank Escher & Ravi GuneWardena.

Alan-Voo Family House by Neil M. Denari Architects

“Venice Vista,” as the tour is called, is the latest installment in AIA|LA’s ongoing series of programs, following close on the heels of last October’s fall tour through the quiet streets and hilly enclaves of Los Feliz. Mar Vista, which borders its famous neighbor Venice just to the west, is studded with high-quality residential projects that, as the tour’s creators put it, ”offer examples of affluence leveraged by high design.”

Choi-Pierson Residence by Douglas V. Pierson

As proof, the tour will take visitors through the small-but-stellar Ortiz and Wheeler residence by local favorite Denari, an ultamodern, 1,000-square-foot gem clad in creamy white. The Pearson Trent Residence, from Escher GuneWardena, takes it down a notch with an subdued facade that gives way to an open interior with a continuous, kitchen-living-dining space.

To purchase tickets for this tour, click here. Next up for the AIA|LA tour: a jaunt through the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, slated for May 6.