BEST OF 2008: Real Estate’s Homes of the Week

Ocean views, artfully framed

The modern home was constructed of concrete, steel and structural glass so plentiful that it feels as though the house is one with the outdoors.

The goal was to create a piece of art that would still be there hundreds of years from now, not unlike the solid, centuries-old homes of Europe. Dozens of caissons were embedded into the hillside and attached to the house to ensure its permanence at the edge of Southern California’s infamously unstable precipice.

This house is not, however, all about the engineering. It’s about the livable art and the outdoors, visible from every room.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)