One for nature lovers

L.A.-based architect Ray Kappe designed about 100 homes of concrete and steel around the area, but it’s the dozen or so he created in wood and glass that are the most jaw-dropping.

Built in the canyons of the Westside from 1968 through 1976, these homes have been characterized, by those who can pronounce it, as “the apotheosis” of the California Modern-style house. These treehouses for adults, with redwood walls and Douglas fir floors, seem to disappear into the landscaping.

This Pacific Palisades home is the epitome of the indoor-outdoor style. Named the Katzenstein House after its first owners, it is set among the trees, ponds and streams of Rustic Canyon.

The home was built of redwood and glass in 1974 and has since been remodeled. The living, dining and entertaining rooms are divided by a central hearth and open to a number of patios nestled into the hillside. The kitchen and breakfast areas open to a rooftop dining terrace.

Two light-filled dens are situated over the kitchen and breakfast area, and there is a bedroom with access to the pool outdoors on the upper level. On the lower level, a guest room or office is next to a carport.

About the architect: Kappe is renowned for his residential architecture, but he is also known for starting the SCI-Arc architecture school (Southern California Institute of Architecture) with a group of his fellow Cal Poly Pomona faculty members and students.

Asking price: $4,495,000

Size: Three bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms in about 3,500 square feet. The lot is 10,672 square feet.

Features: The two-story home has canyon views.

Where: Pacific Palisades

Listing agent: Mike Deasy of Deasy Penner & Partners, Beverly Hills, (310) 275-1000.

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