Indoor-outdoor living in LA: what actually works

Ask people what they love about living in Los Angeles, and the answer usually isn't a room. It's the moment the doors slide open and the kitchen runs straight onto a terrace, or dinner moves outside in November because, well, it's November in LA. Indoor-outdoor living is the city's signature at home. Done well, it makes a house feel twice its size. Done halfway, it's a big glass door nobody opens. Here's what tends to separate the two.

LA has been doing this for a century

The idea isn't new here. In 1922, architect Rudolph Schindler designed his own home and studio on Kings Road in what's now West Hollywood, with concrete walls, redwood ceilings, a flat roof and sliding doors that open the rooms to the garden. Architectural Record notes the outdoor sleeping porches were originally covered only in canvas. The house is now home to the MAK Center and is widely seen as an early landmark of California modernism.

A generation later, the Case Study Houses brought walls of glass and open plans to post-and-beam houses across the region, and mid-century modern homes still carry that DNA. Older Spanish homes took a different route to the same place: courtyards, loggias and French doors onto a patio.

The doors do most of the work

The biggest single decision is how the house opens. A few common approaches:

• Pocket doors. Panels slide into a cavity in the wall and disappear entirely. Dwell's Rising Glen house in LA uses them to connect the kitchen, living room and bedroom to the backyard. They need wall space to hide in, which is a structural question as much as a design one.
• Multi-slide and stacking doors. Panels stack behind one another, leaving most of the opening clear without a pocket.
• Folding doors. Panels fold like an accordion. They open nearly the full width but leave a stack of panels at the side.
• French doors and steel casements. The traditional answer in Spanish and Mediterranean houses. Less glass, more character, and often original.

Details matter as much as type. A flush threshold (or close to it) makes the floor read as continuous, and built-in screens make it practical to leave the doors open on warm evenings.

Carry the floor outside

The houses where inside and outside read as one room usually let the floor material, or something close to it, run from the living room onto the patio. In a Manhattan Beach courtyard house by ras-a studio featured in Dwell, polished concrete inside continues outdoors as pavers, and the great room opens to a courtyard on one side and the pool on the other. Concrete, limestone, terracotta and porcelain tile are common choices. Outdoor versions often need a textured finish for traction when wet, so designers usually match the look rather than the exact surface.

Shade is what makes it usable

Glass that faces west without shade can make a room too hot by late afternoon, even in a mild climate. Roof overhangs, trellises, pergolas, awnings and mature trees are what turn an opening into a room you actually use. Orientation helps too: a north- or east-facing terrace often stays comfortable when a west-facing one is baking. Inland, in the Valley and the foothills, shade matters even more.

Make the outdoor room a room

An outdoor space works best when it has a job and a sense of enclosure. Courtyards, garden walls, hedges and tall planting give privacy, and they make the outside feel like part of the house instead of the edge of the lot. The Manhattan Beach house uses a masonry wall and a row of tall cacti to screen its courtyard from the street. Add a place to sit, a place to eat, good lighting for after sunset and, near the coast, a fire feature or heater for cool marine-layer evenings.

Know the climate you're designing for

LA's weather changes a lot over a few miles. Near the ocean, mornings are often gray in late spring and early summer, which our post on June Gloom explains, so covered outdoor space and heat for evenings get more use. Inland, it's about shade and airflow. Our guide to LA microclimates is a good place to start if you're comparing areas like Santa Monica and Studio City.

Check the rules before you cut a wall

Widening an opening for a big slider usually means structural work and a permit. In a historic district or HPOZ, changes to doors and windows visible from the street can need design review. In designated fire hazard areas, the building code may set requirements for materials like decking and glazing. The rules vary by city, so verify with the local building department and an architect before you plan.

If you're touring homes with indoor-outdoor living in mind, I can pull permit history on past door and window work, any historic designation and the hazard disclosures, so you have the facts before you start sketching.

General information, not advice. Price figures are estimates from public data and may be out of date.