Originally built in 1938 for actress and singer Virginia Bruce, a classic blonde film stars of the 1930s, this Pacific Palisades estate is an equally classic version of California’s iconic Colonial Revival style—bringing a nostalgia for a traditional East Coast aesthetic to the West. With exceptiona

For more than 80 years, the North Chapel has been one of Liberty Station’s defining silhouettes. Opened in 1942, the multi-faith chapel  has hosted Navy services, weddings, memorials, and countless community milestones during wartime years. Its story stretches from religious services for military me

New year, new fitness goals, right? Like many people, we’re starting the new year with a focus on health and staying active. No matter what your fitness objectives may be, there are plenty of activities around town prepared to help you achieve them. From more traditional gym settings to unique ways

I’ve had a lot of massages in my life—Thai sessions that had me approaching joint dislocation, Balinese flower-oil rituals, quick chair sessions at the airport—but never one that came with a power switch. When I heard San Diego was welcoming its first fully robotic massage experience, I booked immed

This compact but exquisite Venice residence was designed and built for architect Leo Marmol (FAIA by his firm) Marmol Radziner as an early exploration into luxury prefabricated homes in the early-2000s, just closed on the last day of 2025 after barely a month on the market (in an all-cash deal) for

George Saunders may be the most beloved short story writer in the country. His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic, Harper’s McSweeney’s, andGQ. His 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo also won the Booker Prize and his new novel Vigil is destined to be a bestseller. He’s also known f

When we talk about a city’s culture, we’re talking about about people. Year-round, SDM editors analyze the flares and shifts and leaps and fissures in the culture of here. Then we find the humans tinkering in the heart of those moments, and we tell their stories. We document the ineffable charm of S

Taking the concept of a chic Modern Farmhouse one step further, Villa Verde is an exceptional new offering on Sonoma’s Eastside. The work of Ridge Design + Build—a firm with deep roots in Wine Country and a reputation for impeccable quality—designed this private gated compound, clad in spruce and st

Much coveted by the serious architecture collectors of Los Angeles, the Mid-century homes of architect John Lautner [1911-1994] are both bold and experimental. Even his most modest projects possess a restless, sweeping energy much like the work of his mentor—Frank Lloyd Wright. Lautner spent much of

Attention architecture collectors, the legendary Stahl House (AKA Case Study House No. 22) has come on the market after 65 years of one-family ownership and care. Conceived by its visionary owners Bud and Carlotta Stahl for an “unbuildable” lot overlooking L.A., it was designed and engineered in 195

Angelo Sangiacomo—born in San Francisco’s Richmond District and the son of Italian immigrants—rose to become one the City’s largest landlords, developing dozens of rental properties during his long (and occasionally contentious) career. When it came time to build a home for his family, he had the vi

Edward H. Fickett [1916-1999] was a prolific L.A. architect—whose reputation was—until recently, very much under the radar, probably because he was responsible for designing over 50,000 tract homes that would eventually cover the L.A. basin in the post-WWII building boom. As such, Fickett was succes

After years in the making, Studio Rob Diaz recently completed an extraordinarily complex project in the celebrity-studded Fryman Canyon neighborhood of Studio City that is unlike anything else on the market. Set on a wooded 1.4-acre property (once the home of everyone’s favorite Canadian game show h

The Bayview home of celebrated and much published designer/artist Antonio Martins is on the market. Once the workshop and home of plaster artisan and sculptor Cesare Santini in the 1920s, Martins acquired the property in 2017 (you can see its previous incarnation at Curbed SF) and proceeded to resto