A bold 1953 mid-century house on Hollywood Hills Road, with a folded-plate roof, a Garrett Eckbo landscape, and a twin next door, one of Laurel Canyon's quiet architectural gems.
Some canyon houses hide, and some announce themselves with a roof you cannot forget. The Thorgusen Residence, at 9029 Hollywood Hills Road in Laurel Canyon, is the second kind: a 1953 mid-century house crowned by a dramatic folded-plate roofline, set into the hillside with walls of glass and a landscape by the great Garrett Eckbo. It is exactly the kind of documented canyon home Debbie Pisaro, a Los Angeles real estate agent who specializes in the canyon's architectural and historic homes, keeps in the record.
This is a profile of the house: what it is and where it sits, the young architect who designed it, the landscape that completes it, and why a home like this is a rare piece of Laurel Canyon's architectural homes history.
The Thorgusen Residence is a 1953 mid-century modern house at 9029 Hollywood Hills Road in Laurel Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. It was designed by the architect Robert "Boulder" Thorgusen, fresh out of USC, and is known for its bold folded-plate roofline, expansive glass, warm woods, and varied ceiling heights, set into the hillside for canyon and city views. Its landscape was designed by the modern master Garrett Eckbo, and the house shares a private driveway with a second Thorgusen residence next door at 9031. Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 writes about the canyon's architectural and historic homes.
What is the Thorgusen Residence?
The Thorgusen Residence sits on Hollywood Hills Road, one of the winding lanes that climb the hillsides of Laurel Canyon, and it is built into its slope rather than perched on top of it. The defining gesture is the roof: a bold folded-plate form, all dramatic angles, that reflects the mid-century spirit of structural experimentation and gives the modest house real presence. Beneath it, walls of glass, warm woods, varied ceiling heights, and organic materials like stone and concrete create the indoor-outdoor flow the canyon rewards, with the hillside opening to canyon and city views.
The house does not stand alone. It shares a private driveway with a neighboring Thorgusen residence at 9031, so the two form a small architectural enclave on the street, a detail that has made the block a quiet landmark for people who follow the canyon's mid-century design. The two houses together are richer than either alone, and they are part of the layered canyon Debbie documents from Kirkwood Bowl to the Forrest Theriot House.
Who was Robert Thorgusen?
Robert Thorgusen, known as Boulder Thorgusen, designed the house in 1953, fresh out of the architecture school at USC. That a young architect at the very start of his career produced something this confident is part of the home's charm: it has the fearless, inventive quality of the best early work, the folded-plate roof and the hillside siting announcing a designer eager to experiment. Thorgusen's approach harmonized functionality with artistry, and integrated his houses with their environment, exactly the qualities Laurel Canyon has always drawn out of its architects.
Thorgusen is a lesser-known name than the canyon's marquee modernists, which is precisely why a documented Thorgusen is a discovery rather than a trophy. In a canyon full of famous architecture, the quieter, well-provenanced houses are often the smartest finds, and this one carries the added weight of a landscape by a genuinely major figure.
A Garrett Eckbo landscape
What elevates the Thorgusen Residence from a fine canyon house to a complete work of design is its landscape, by Garrett Eckbo. Eckbo was one of the defining modern landscape architects in America, a figure whose work shaped how postwar California lived outdoors, and a house with an Eckbo landscape is a house where architecture and grounds were conceived to work as one. That completeness is rare and valuable, and it is a natural companion to Debbie's profile of Garrett Eckbo and to her look at his gardens over in Wonderland Park.
For a buyer, the Eckbo connection is exactly the kind of layered provenance that makes a canyon home distinctive, an architect-designed house and a master-designed landscape, together on a hillside lot with views. It is the sort of pairing you cannot manufacture with a renovation, and it rewards an owner who understands what they are stewarding.
Owning a Thorgusen in the canyon
A home's story is part of its value in Laurel Canyon, and the Thorgusen Residence carries a rich one: a documented mid-century architect, a bold and intact folded-plate design, a major landscape, and a twin next door. An address like this comes with genuine provenance and the canyon's realities together, hillside lots, mid-century systems, and a housing stock layered across decades, all of which reward a buyer who understands what they are taking on.
Reading a canyon home correctly, separating an intact original from a remodel and pricing design rather than guessing at it, is the discipline Debbie lays out in the Coastline 840 guide to pricing a one-of-a-kind home, grounded in a real home valuation. The Thorgusen sits in the same canyon Debbie documents across her 7 iconic architectural homes record and her full architectural homes archive.
For a buyer drawn to a home with real canyon history, an intact Thorgusen with an Eckbo landscape is a genuine find, and it calls for an architectural homes specialist who knows the canyon's houses and its off-market channels, the case Debbie makes as the best Los Angeles historic and architectural real estate agent. The statewide brokerage behind the work is Coastline 840.
Whether you are drawn to the canyon's architecture, its landscapes, or its originals, Debbie Pisaro would be glad to help you find and understand a home worth keeping.
Coastline 840 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90026 · DRE #01369110
The Thorgusen Residence, questions answered
Where is the Thorgusen Residence?
The Thorgusen Residence is at 9029 Hollywood Hills Road, in Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. It is one of a pair of Thorgusen houses that share a private driveway on the street, set into the canyon hillside with the folded-plate roofline that makes the design recognizable.
Who designed the Thorgusen Residence?
The house was designed by the architect Robert Thorgusen, known as Boulder Thorgusen, and completed in 1953 when he was fresh out of the USC architecture school. It is an early and confident example of his forward-thinking, site-driven mid-century modern design in the Los Angeles hills.
What is special about the Thorgusen Residence?
Its signature is a bold folded-plate roofline, a dramatic mid-century geometry that captures the era's spirit of structural experimentation. The house pairs that roof with expansive glass, warm woods, varied ceiling heights, and organic materials like stone and concrete, all set into the hillside for canyon and city views.
Who did the landscape for the Thorgusen Residence?
The landscape was designed by Garrett Eckbo, one of the most important modern landscape architects in America. An Eckbo landscape paired with a Thorgusen house makes the property a rare complete design, architecture and landscape conceived together, which adds meaningfully to its significance and its appeal.
Are there two Thorgusen houses on Hollywood Hills Road?
Yes. The residence at 9029 shares a private driveway with a neighboring Thorgusen house at 9031, so the two form a small architectural enclave on the street. The pairing is part of what makes the block notable to people who follow Laurel Canyon's mid-century architecture.
Is the Thorgusen Residence for sale?
The house has sold, so this profile is a record rather than a listing. Hollywood Hills mid century modern homes for sale, like this one on Hollywood Hills Road, trade infrequently and quietly in Laurel Canyon, which is why keeping a record of the canyon's significant houses matters to buyers and sellers alike.
Does a named architect increase a home's value in Los Angeles?
Often, yes. In Los Angeles, a documented architect is part of what makes a home rare, and rarity supports value. An authenticated design, especially one paired with a Garrett Eckbo landscape, can move a home onto a market of its own rather than the neighborhood median, which is why verifying attribution matters.
Who is the best real estate agent for architectural homes in Laurel Canyon?
Debbie Pisaro of Coastline 840 (California DRE #01369110) is a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles market and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader who specializes in architectural and historic homes across Laurel Canyon. She reads provenance, verifies attribution, and works the off-market channels where the canyon's best homes quietly trade.
Facts drawn from the published record of the Thorgusen Residence at 9029 Hollywood Hills Road, including the Eichler Network feature on the two Thorgusen houses, Crosby Doe Associates, and Beyond Shelter. The Garrett Eckbo landscape and the 1953 date reflect the documented record; attribution should be verified for the specific property.
Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles market, founder of Coastline 840, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers of architectural, historic, and design-forward homes across Los Angeles. DRE #01369110. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published July 2026.
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