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Michael Kovac's Sycamore House in Pacific Palisades

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On Sunday the AIA/LA held its second fall home tour of the year. The first had us weaving through the Hollywood Hills, now come along with Curbed into four houses off Sunset Boulevard in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. Here we have Michael Kovac's sustainably-minded Sycamore House.

Photos by Elizabeth Daniels The three-story Sycamore House is fresh off construction, and the owners just moved in a few months ago. The Michael Kovac-designed house starts at street level and makes its way down along a sloped site, with common areas on the top floor, living areas and rec rooms on the middle floor, and a narrow, mostly-open area downstairs. A 23 foot tall concrete wall runs all the way down one side of the house. Sycamore has all the latest greenness, including passive heating and cooling, photovoltaic panels, a geothermal supplemental cooling system, and a green roof. Kovac was so sustainability-focused, according to his website, that he didn't even demolish the old house on the site; he had it "deconstructed" by a nonprofit that will make sure most of the materials are reused. Shockingly, the house doesn't have an infinity pool, but it does have its own mister.
· Steven Ehrlich's Carrillo Residence in Pacific Palisades [Curbed LA]