A wall of illuminated windows stretches across the hillside at 11526 Laurelcrest Drive, with trees rising around its low roofline. Newly listed for $2.38 million, the Studio City home comes with an intriguing piece of neighborhood history: it is one of five houses built as a USC Case Study project, designed by Chapman and McCorkell.
Property details and sale history: Redfin / TheMLS, listing 26103213.
Glass, beams and a hillside setting
The post-and-beam residence sits above a private drive at the end of a cul-de-sac. Inside, exposed beams, brick fireplaces and broad windows give the rooms their character. The renovated kitchen has a central island and Miele range; custom built-ins include a glass-enclosed record player.
Sliding doors connect the living spaces to a view deck and outdoor seating around a fire pit. Solar panels, battery backup and parking for four cars round out the advertised features. Daria Greenbaum and Derek DiMaggio of Compass hold the listing.
The exterior photograph makes the house’s appeal easy to understand. Its long window band and shallow roof emphasize the horizontal, while the planting softens the building’s edge. The hillside and trees become part of the composition rather than a backdrop beyond it.
A USC connection confirmed through permit research
The blog’s author has confirmed the USC connection and Chapman and McCorkell design attribution through a review of the permits. The current syndicated listing describes the residence as part of a five-house USC Case Study project.
Readers may also recognize the words “Case Study” from the celebrated Arts + Architecture Case Study House program. Launched in 1945 by John Entenza’s magazine, that program produced such documented landmarks as the Eames House and Pierre Koenig’s Stahl House. The Laurelcrest listing does not establish participation in that program, and the house should not be presented as one of its numbered commissions.
Another part of the Valley’s modernist landscape
The blog previously covered neighboring 11528 Laurelcrest Drive in “1960's USC Case Study Home Sells in Studio City,” published August 31, 2012. That earlier post described the same five-house private-drive cluster, making this a return to a small pocket of Studio City architecture first featured here more than a decade ago.
The blog’s September coverage of Ray Kappe’s Strimling House in Encino offers another stop for readers exploring the Valley’s residential architecture. More homes and local building history appear in the Development & Architecture archive.
At Laurelcrest, the combination of a small hillside cluster, post-and-beam design and a USC connection adds another chapter to the Valley’s modernist history. Readers with original photographs or additional records of the project are invited to share them.
Street View
Listing photo gallery
Click a photo to enlarge it, then use the arrows to browse all 35 images.
Listing photos: TheMLS / Redfin
From the newspaper archives
Click a clipping to enlarge it, then use the arrows to browse the newspaper gallery.
Los Angeles Times — June 15, 1997, page 181
Los Angeles Times — August 30, 2015, page 174
Los Angeles Times — April 22, 2023, page J20
Source: Los Angeles Times
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