STATE OF THE ART

here’s a secret behind certain houses in Pacific Palisades: the kind of heartstopping ocean views that make all the adjacent palm trees, pools and velveteen lawns seem to fade to grey. One such house, a riff on a Norman-style villa, has a sober limestone façade beneath a pitched metal roof, and it raises few eyebrows from the street. It’s a new build by Johnston Marklee, the celebrated LA firm founded in 1998 by architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee. Known for their private houses, often reclusive mysteries on the outside and shapeshifting wonders within, Johnston and