London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Prefab Guesthouse Pops Up on a Tricky Hollywood Hillside

Prefab Guesthouse Pops Up on a Tricky Hollywood Hillside

L.A.-based prefab company Cover rises above steep terrain to deliver a custom office/guesthouse without breaking the bank.

When Hollywood homeowners sought to build a guesthouse on challenging terrain below their main residence, a conventional build was out of the question. "It just wouldn’t have been viable because of the costs," says Jemuel Joseph, cofounder of Cover, a company that specializes in backyard prefabs. Instead of paying out of pocket to overcome those site challenges, the homeowners opted for Cover’s turnkey solution.



Cover designed this 414-square-foot prefab office/guesthouse specifically for the Hollywood site.

The prefab company, which has served the greater Los Angeles area since 2018, accounts for every aspect of the homebuilding process. Here, they handled surveying, zoning, permitting, engineering, and drafting 3D models and renderings for a custom design that ties into the existing landscape. The resulting svelte, 414-square-foot office/guesthouse is both a creative space for the owners and an accommodation for visiting family.

Just paces down concrete steps from the main residence, the guesthouse holds an office, a bedroom with a Murphy bed, custom-milled storage spaces in wood finishes, and a kitchen complete with high-end appliances. Through floor-to-ceiling sliders, a deck extends to provide outdoor space for lounging and taking in views that stretch from downtown L.A. to the Griffith Observatory.



The open-layout design is completely custom. The office area looks toward downtown Los Angeles through floor-to-ceiling windows and sliders.



Custom-milled built-ins provide ample storage.



The kitchen is equipped with Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, and the cabinet faces and handles match the built-ins in the other rooms.

While Cover’s projects carry an aesthetic continuity-white or wood facades and interiors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and wood finishes carry from home to home-the layout and functionality are unique to each. "We don’t have any models to choose from," says Joseph. "All properties are different, so you have to offer versatility."



A Murphy bed folds up for additional living space, and sliders provide access to the deck.



Even the bathroom grants views. Sleek wood elements complement the white-and-black fixtures and details.



Their panelized building system comprises an all-steel structure that can be configured and arranged for nearly any site. The parts are manufactured elsewhere before being put together on location, which enables speedy build times-given the difficult terrain, the guesthouse was assembled fairly quickly in about a month’s time.

"Normally when you think of prefab, you think design limitations," says Thomas Heyer, Cover’s lead designer. "At Cover, it's the opposite-we deliver a thoughtfully designed space that’s completely tailored to the client and site."



Decking extends from the living space, adding outdoor space to the Hollywood prefab.



The clever, low-impact build is nested amid hillside flora.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×