LOS ANGELES APARTMENTS

Aleks Istanbullu, whose work includes the Biscuit Co. Lofts in downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Public Library's Westchester-Loyola Village branch and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, has created a playful three-story main house using bold colors and irregular shapes around a swimming pool that has an underwater viewing chamber on its side.

Built in 2000 to replace a 1950s ranch-style home, the house features a red trapezoidal box around the entry, colorful walls and bedroom doors on the second floor, and tropical landscaping with towering palms and a 15-foot stone waterfall.

"We wanted to preserve the Philip Isley pool, which was originally built in the shape of a bird of paradise flower and was one of the first free-form pools built with no corners," Istanbullu said. "A piece of it had to be modified to accommodate the entry. We then built a vertical house because there wasn't much land right around the pool."

The living room features a koi pond filled with fish and turtles, a hanging metal submarine sculpture, lighting that can turn the room into a disco dance floor, and a bar. Off one side of the room is a suite of offices, a half-bath and a library with built-in shelves. The second level includes three bedrooms, a media room, a laundry room and a children's play yard with sandbox off one of the bedrooms.