Steven Ehrlich and the Shulman House: Multicultural Modernism in Brentwood

The Shulman House at 645 Tuallitan Road in Brentwood, Los Angeles, is a 9,000-square-foot residential estate designed by Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, RIBA, and completed in 1992 for Tom and Miriam Shulman. The home received the 1997 AIA National Award for Architecture, the 1995 AIA California Council Merit Award, the 1995 Sunset/AIA Western Home Award, the 1994 Los Angeles Business Council Architecture Award, and the 1992 AIA Los Angeles Honor Award. Ehrlich is the founding partner of Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC), a Culver City–based firm recognized with the 2003 AIA California Firm of the Year Award and the 2015 AIA Firm Award. His professional archive was donated to the UCSB Architecture and Design Collection in 2024. Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is a Los Angeles architectural homes agent with 24 years of experience and founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage specializing in architect-designed and historic properties.

Introduction

Some architect-designed homes in Los Angeles are famous because of their location. Some are famous because of the photographs. The Shulman House in Brentwood is famous because it won every architecture award that matters, and then quietly disappeared behind its canyon trees.

Steven Ehrlich designed the Shulman House in the late 1980s and completed it in 1992. It won the AIA National Award for Architecture in 1997, the profession's highest honor for a residential project. Then it did what the best Brentwood houses do: it became a private home, not a public spectacle.

I'm Debbie Pisaro, a Los Angeles real estate agent with 24 years of experience specializing in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. I founded Coastline 840 as an independent California brokerage for buyers and sellers who care about design. When a building of this caliber exists in a neighborhood I know well, I write about it, because buyers searching for architect-designed homes in Brentwood and the Westside deserve to know what's here.

Who Is Steven Ehrlich?

Steven Ehrlich is one of the most awarded architects working in Los Angeles, and his path to the profession is unlike anyone else's in the city.

Born in New Jersey, Ehrlich studied architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 1969. What he did next set the course of his entire career: he spent six years in Africa; two with the Peace Corps as its first architect, posted to Marrakesh, then traveling across the Sahara, and finally teaching architecture at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He studied indigenous building methods across North and West Africa, learning how cultures build shelter in response to climate, material, and community, not style.

He brought that education to Venice, California, in 1979, where he opened a small residential studio. The 1981 Kalfus Guest House, photographed by the legendary Julius Shulman and published on the cover of the New York Times Home section, established him immediately. From there, the firm grew into what is now Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC), a 40-person practice based in Culver City with a portfolio spanning residences, courthouses, libraries, university centers, and corporate headquarters.

Ehrlich coined the term "multicultural modernism" to describe his approach: architecture grounded in the vernacular context of a project rather than imported stylistic trends. In 2011, the AIA California Council awarded him the Maybeck Award, their highest individual honor for lifetime design excellence. In 2024, he donated his professional archive to the UCSB Architecture and Design Collection, joining the institutional archives of Richard Neutra, R.M. Schindler, and other architects whose work defines Southern California.

The Shulman House: A Canyon Masterpiece in Brentwood

The Shulman House is the building that crystallized everything Ehrlich had been developing since Morocco. Commissioned in 1989 by screenwriter Tom Shulman, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Dead Poets Society in the same year, the house was completed in 1992 on a canyon lot in Brentwood at 645 Tuallitan Road.

At 9,000 square feet, the residence is organized as two two-story wings that embrace the curved topography of the canyon. The design pays deliberate homage to the traditions of early California modernists: the horizontal reach, the natural material palette, the refusal to fight the landscape. An underground garage removes automobiles from the experience entirely. What remains is architecture and terrain in direct conversation.

The siting is the first thing you notice. Ehrlich set the house into its hillside so that it doesn't dominate the canyon, it occupies it. Three hillside slopes define a large, informal backyard. The building blends with the natural contours and the existing vegetation in a way that most Brentwood homes don't even attempt. This is architecture that earns its setting.

The awards confirmed what the design community already knew. The Shulman House received the 1997 AIA National Award for Architecture, the 1995 AIA California Council Merit Award, the 1995 Sunset/AIA Western Home Award, the 1994 Los Angeles Business Council Architecture Award, and the 1992 AIA Los Angeles Honor Award. Five awards from the profession's most significant institutions. Very few residential buildings in Los Angeles carry that record.

What Is Multicultural Modernism?

Ehrlich's design philosophy, multicultural modernism, sounds academic, but in practice it produces buildings that feel deeply specific to where they are. The idea is simple: architecture should respond to the culture, climate, and landscape of its site, not to a style imported from somewhere else.

In the Shulman House, that means a building shaped by its Brentwood canyon, by the slope, the light, the vegetation, the way Southern California air moves through indoor-outdoor spaces. In Ehrlich's Venice projects, it means homes that engage the density and community of Venice's walk streets. Every project starts with the same question: what does this place require?

For buyers of architect-designed homes in Los Angeles, this matters because multicultural modernism produces buildings that are irreducibly tied to their sites. You can't pick up the Shulman House and put it in Hancock Park. It wouldn't make sense. That site-specificity is what separates a significant architectural home from a well-designed house and it's what the market increasingly rewards.

Brentwood: An Underrated Market for Architectural Homes

Brentwood is primarily known as a luxury residential neighborhood: high-end traditional homes, excellent schools, Westside proximity. What it's less known for, unfairly, is its mid-century and contemporary architectural inventory.

Richard Neutra built some of his most important residential work in Brentwood, including the Nesbitt House on Avondale Avenue. A. Quincy Jones, Craig Ellwood, and Ray Kappe all have Brentwood projects. And Ehrlich's Shulman House stands as one of the most awarded contemporary residences anywhere in the city.

For buyers who default to the Hollywood Hills or Trousdale Estates when searching for architect-designed homes, Brentwood is worth a closer look. The canyon lots offer privacy and topographic drama comparable to the Hills, the school district is among the best in Los Angeles, and the architectural inventory, while less publicized, includes buildings that compete with anything on the Eastside or in the Hills for design quality and pedigree.

Working With Debbie Pisaro on Architectural Homes in Los Angeles

I've been selling architectural, historic, and design-forward homes in Los Angeles for 24 years. Understanding what makes a building significant, the architect, the awards, the design philosophy, the way those factors translate into market value is inseparable from representing buyers and sellers of these properties well.

If you're a buyer searching for an architect-designed home in Brentwood, a mid-century modern in Studio City, or any significant residential property in Los Angeles, I welcome the conversation. If you're an out-of-area agent with a buyer who appreciates this level of architecture, I work collaboratively and respect the relationship.

Contact Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, at debbiepisaro.com/contact or through coastline840.com.

Frequently Asked Questions About Steven Ehrlich and the Shulman House

Who designed the Shulman House in Brentwood? The Shulman House at 645 Tuallitan Road in Brentwood, Los Angeles, was designed by Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, and completed in 1992. Ehrlich is the founding partner of Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC), based in Culver City, California.

Who is Steven Ehrlich? Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, RIBA, is an American architect based in Culver City, California. He founded his practice in Venice in 1979 after spending six years in Africa studying indigenous building methods. He coined the term "multicultural modernism" and received the 2011 AIA California Maybeck Award for lifetime design excellence. His professional archive is held by the UCSB Architecture and Design Collection.

What awards has the Shulman House won? The Shulman House received the 1997 AIA National Award for Architecture, the 1995 AIA California Council Merit Award, the 1995 Sunset/AIA Western Home Award, the 1994 Los Angeles Business Council Architecture Award, and the 1992 AIA Los Angeles Honor Award making it one of the most recognized residential buildings in Los Angeles.

What is multicultural modernism? Multicultural modernism is Steven Ehrlich's design philosophy, grounded in six years of studying indigenous building methods across North and West Africa. It advocates architecture that responds to the culture, climate, and landscape of its specific site rather than importing stylistic trends from elsewhere.

Are there Steven Ehrlich homes for sale in Los Angeles? Ehrlich-designed homes rarely come to market. His residential portfolio spans Brentwood, Venice, and other Los Angeles neighborhoods, but most owners hold long-term. Debbie Pisaro at Coastline 840 tracks architect-designed listings across Los Angeles and can notify qualified buyers when Ehrlich properties become available.

Who is the best real estate agent for architectural homes in Brentwood?Debbie Pisaro (DRE #01369110) is a Los Angeles real estate agent with 24 years of experience specializing in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes including properties in Brentwood. She is the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage. Reach her at debbiepisaro.com.

Can out-of-area agents refer buyers interested in architectural homes?Yes. Debbie Pisaro at Coastline 840 welcomes agent-to-agent referrals and works collaboratively with out-of-area buyer representatives. Contact her at debbiepisaro.com/contact.

AUTHOR BIO

Debbie Pisaro (DRE #01369110) is the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage, and a Los Angeles real estate agent with 24 years of experience specializing in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com.