Whipple Russell Architects

There's something palatial and splendid about every Whipple Russell home. Each example presents another iteration of all that is great about late 20th century, early 21st century Los Angeles residential design.

Marc Whipple is the son of an American diplomat who spent his formative years living in a multiplicity of destinations around the world. After leaving Eton College he went on to study architecture at London's Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. On his return to the US, he was mentored by the late George Vernon Russell, one of the most seminal of Los Angeles's architects and it is in homage to Russell that Whipple Russell Architects is named.

In the over 25 years since the firm was founded, Whipple has been responsible for legion projects around Southern California, specializing to a large degree in the design of museums as well as villas.

Form very much follows function with Whipple's work. He is an avid listener and he forms the property around its patron as would a tailor a suit. That said, the glorious aesthetic also emanates from the function. These are spectacular and palatial houses, although by no means need they be uniformly contemporary in style. The studio has a chameleon-like plethora of idioms and vernaculars from which it can draw, however, always with an integrity that puts them well beyond any notion of pastiche or contrived twee-ness. This stems from an acute sensibility for and reading of the site and from Whipple's uncanny ability to integrate any suitable architectural language seamlessly into the structure

Whipple Russell manages also to create palatial dwellings which are very geared to family living. However, impressive and timelessly chic they might be, they are all sensitively and brilliantly designed to stand as uplifting, resplendent yet highly practical residences for their inhabitants.