A cypress tree grows through this hillside home in Los Angeles

High above the bustling sprawl and traffic of Los Angeles is a quiet sanctuary that’s so in tune with nature there’s a cypress tree growing through one of its rooms. Anonymous Architects designed House in the Trees, an Echo Park residence carefully constructed to complement the landscape. The home is elevated and cantilevered to minimize site disturbance and carefully placed to avoid removing any of the mature cypress trees around the home.

Elevated off the ground and into foliage like a treehouse, The House in the Trees is cantilevered over a steep hillside and overlooks views of the valley. The 2,400-square-foot single-story building is wrapped in fire-treated Western red cedar siding and topped with an angled steel roof. The use of timber on the facade—and in the interior in the form of walnut cabinetry and reclaimed chestnut floors—helps the building blend into its wooded environment.

Large windows pour natural light into the interior, which is split into two portions: a two-bedroom main unit and a secondary unit with a kitchen, living room, office, extra bedroom, and bathroom. A wooden deck wraps around the living area to extend the building footprint to the outdoors. The mature cypress tree that grows through the home is exposed in the bedroom. “Waterproofing a tree in this situation proved to be very challenging but the system works to keep water out of the house,” write the architects.