Unstack House by FreelandBuck
Unstack House is a new house by FreelandBuck in Los Angeles, California, United States, set on a steep hillside in the city’s northeast. The residence arranges a loose stack of rotated volumes to pull landscape between rooms and frame long views toward the mountains. Public rooms flow through overlaps, while private areas anchor the sequence at both ends.
Light lands on stepped terraces, then slips indoors through wide openings. From the street, colored bands read as a single stripe, tying seven volumes into one clear profile.
A hillside house in northeast Los Angeles, the project by FreelandBuck is organized as a loose stack that rotates and shifts to create outdoor rooms between volumes. The plan hinges on sequence: public rooms connect through overlaps, while private areas bookend the path to keep daily life organized without shutting down choice.
Enter at Mid-Level
Arrival lands two levels above the street, right in the middle of the vertical run. That placement sets the tone for movement, letting residents step up or down to find quiet or connection without backtracking.
Kitchen as Anchor
The kitchen sits at the entry, the only fixed program in the composition. With that anchor in place, every other room stays open to interpretation—studio today, bedroom tomorrow, or a second living room when housemates share the home.
Thresholds in Motion
Between stacked boxes, generous overlaps shape rooms that belong to both sides. These in-between zones change in plan and section, creating soft thresholds where conversations, meals, and work spill across edges rather than stop at doors.
Outdoor Rooms Between
Rotations pull patios and decks into the sequence, so the walk turns outward and back again. Each terrace takes a different orientation, catching sun, shade, or a long view, and folds landscape into daily routines (watering a pot, taking a call, breathing).
Embedded on the Slope
Rather than perching on tall supports, the house tucks into the hillside to balance stability with easy indoor–outdoor movement. That stance shortens the step from room to terrace, keeps outlooks unobstructed, and gives the stacked layout a grounded cadence across the site.
From late afternoon on, the stripe pattern flattens as shadows gather and the volumes read as one. Inside, circulation traces the terrain in small climbs and landings, a steady rhythm that suits weekday life as much as weekend gatherings.
Photography courtesy of FreelandBuck
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