Listing photograph credited to Noel Kleinman and Gavin Cater. Charles Du Bois portrait: Du Bois Family via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Architectural Real Estate | Woodland Hills
A fully reworked 1962 residence preserves several of architect Charles Du Bois’s most recognizable ideas while adding a colorful new kitchen, remodeled bathrooms, modern infrastructure and a resort-like pool yard.
A renovated Charles Du Bois midcentury has returned to the market at 23811 Berdon Street, near the end of a quiet cul-de-sac west of Valley Circle Boulevard in Woodland Hills.
Offered for $1,999,995, the single-story house combines a still-readable 1960s architectural framework with an extensive contemporary renovation. The current listing describes four bedrooms, three bathrooms and approximately 2,670 square feet on an 11,007-square-foot lot.
Charles Du Bois’s Woodland Hills Legacy
Charles Du Bois is most closely associated with the dramatic “Swiss Miss” A-frame houses of Palm Springs, but one of his largest bodies of work can be found much closer to home in Woodland Hills.
According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, Du Bois designed approximately 1,300 residences in the Woodland West development for Don-Ja-Ran Construction Company in collaboration with Peerless Building Company. Built in more than seven phases and completed in 1964, the neighborhood paired modern architecture with the spacious lots and quieter street pattern expected by postwar Valley homebuyers.
Its recurring features include long horizontal forms, low-pitched gabled roofs, broad overhanging eaves, dramatic entryways, natural stone and wood cladding, two-car garages and curving streets that frequently end in cul-de-sacs. Completed in 1962, the Berdon Street house belongs to that significant period of Woodland Hills development.
Du Bois’s San Fernando Valley footprint was broader than Woodland West. Wikipedia’s overview of his career also identifies Fairwood Estates in Granada Hills and Deauville Estates in Tarzana among his postwar tract developments. The same overview notes that Woodland Hills later gained a DuBois Avenue bearing the architect’s name.
Previously on the SFV Blog
This is not the blog’s first look at a Du Bois house. In 2012, the SFV Blog featured a 1960 Woodland West residence at 22420 Philiprimm Street whose most unusual surviving feature was a backyard fallout shelter stocked with original Cold War-era supplies. Read “Charles Dubois Designed Woodland Hills MCM with Bomb Shelter.” The blog also highlighted the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Valley architecture program in a 2013 post about its virtual tour of SFV modern architecture.
Midcentury Bones, Contemporary Finish
The renovation is not presented as a museum-quality restoration. Instead, it is a confident reinterpretation that keeps the house’s strongest architectural moves visible while introducing a much more contemporary palette.
From the street, the broad single-story roofline, stone-clad facade and decorative breeze-block screen establish the midcentury character. Inside, vaulted ceilings, expansive windows and sliding glass doors continue to connect the living areas with the pool and surrounding hillside views.
At the center is a double-sided fireplace set within a floor-to-ceiling whitewashed brick wall. It divides the living and dining spaces without closing them off, preserving the open, light-filled arrangement that makes these Du Bois houses so appealing.
A Kitchen Built for the New Floor Plan
The expanded kitchen is the most substantial departure from the original configuration. White-oak cabinetry wraps the room, while a large fluted island provides seating for five. A Zellige-style backsplash, open shelving and a picture window facing the breeze-block courtyard keep the room from feeling overly formal.
The appliance package includes a Wolf six-burner range and double wall ovens, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Miele dishwasher and a dual-temperature beverage and wine cooler. Two cast-iron sinks and quartz work surfaces complete a kitchen designed as much for entertaining as for everyday use.
Color Returns to the Bathrooms
The primary suite opens directly to the backyard and includes a claw-foot soaking tub, an oversized double shower, reeded clerestory windows and a double vanity. Stone floors and muted tile give the room a quieter finish than the home’s secondary bathrooms.
Those spaces are intentionally more playful. One combines powder-blue tile with terrazzo flooring, while another uses emerald-green tile, brass fixtures and a black-and-white checkerboard floor. The result feels contemporary without falling into the all-white sameness common to many remodeled homes.
A Pool Yard Designed as Another Living Space
Much of the house faces the backyard through large sliding glass doors. The saltwater pool is joined by composite decking, paved terraces and separate areas for outdoor dining, lounging and gathering around a fire feature.
Mature trees give the quarter-acre property a sense of privacy while leaving portions of the surrounding hills visible. The outdoor arrangement reinforces the original midcentury idea that the yard should function as an extension of the interior rather than as a separate space behind it.
From a $1.2 Million Sale to a $2 Million Listing
The property last changed hands in December 2020 for $1.2 million. At the time, it was marketed as a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house containing approximately 2,359 square feet.
Redfin’s permit history includes a 2023 addition and remodel described as an enlargement of the kitchen and construction of additional space for a bathroom and study. The current MLS configuration is four bedrooms, three bathrooms and approximately 2,670 square feet. A separate 2023 permit covers the home’s solar installation.
The new asking price is roughly 67 percent above the 2020 sale price, although that simple comparison does not account for the subsequent expansion, extensive interior renovation, new plumbing and electrical systems, solar equipment, landscaping or pool-area improvements.
Why it stands out: The remodel changes nearly every finish, but it does not erase the home’s broad roofline, masonry focal point, vaulted gathering spaces or strong relationship with the backyard—the elements that make the Du Bois design recognizable in the first place.
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Listing photography credited by the property website to Noel Kleinman of Noel Kleinman Real Estate Photography and Gavin Cater of Cater Photography.
Related SFV Blog Stories
- Charles Dubois Designed Woodland Hills MCM with Bomb Shelter
- LA Conservancy’s Virtual Tour of SFV Modern & Unique Architecture
Sources
- Official property website for 23811 Berdon Street
- Keyes Real Estate listing
- Redfin listing, sale history and permit summary
- Los Angeles Conservancy: Woodland West
- Wikipedia: Charles Elwyn Du Bois
- Wikimedia Commons: Charles Du Bois portrait and license
- Visit Palm Springs: Charles Du Bois
This article is presented for architectural, historical and informational purposes. The property is a private residence. Do not enter the property or disturb its occupants without a confirmed appointment.
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