Original subtitles

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JONATHAN HALPERN: As you come up the mountain,

you come through those turns and you just

start to get into the trees and the environment

starts to change.

You can see the sky over your head.

You're on your way home, and it's just

a great way to start to decompress,

relax, and get ready for what's ahead.

My name is Jonathan Halpern.

We're at the Spider House in the San Bernardino National Forest.

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The house got the name the Spider House based

on these legs that come down all around the patio,

and when you look at it from below,

it kind of looks like spider legs coming down.

A friend of mine had moved out here several years ago.

I went online, I did a search of his community,

I saw a picture of this house, and I said that's it.

I need it.

I was on a flight a couple of weeks later to come see it.

A few months later, I was the owner.

When you pull into the carport, the first thing you see

are two very large ancient pinyon

trees right in front of you.

When you get out of the car, you walk onto the patio,

you come around to the front door.

The front door is made of Douglas fir.

It was made here on site back in 1964,

and it really has a feel of almost a castle door.

Once you walk to the front door, you just--

you're like Wow.

What waits behind this?

What's inside?

When you open the door, the ceilings are soaring inside.

The light is pouring in through the large windows.

You look down the hallway, you can see all the way

into the master bedroom.

And then it just opens up into the kitchen and dining area.

Some of the walls are rough sawn Douglas fir and the ceilings

are rough sawn Redwood and all the beams

are Redwood going through the house.

And they also have that just textured rough.

You put your hand on it, and you can just feel where

the blade cut through the wood.

And it just feels natural and not factory polished.

The chandelier in the living room comes from Mexico.

It was made around 1970.

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And I found it here locally in Southern California

and just knew that was the one I had to hang in the living room.

The rugs were hand hooked in Mexico.

They were made in the late '60s, and they also

have this kind of nubby texture that to me just reminds me

of the surrounding environment and the decomposed granite

on the ground outside.

I selected the couch and the seating

in here to really build a wrap around and face different parts

of the environment out the windows

and also to go to sit in front of the fireplace

on a cold winter evening.

And the colors in here, I picked everything that was earth tone,

warm, felt like a blend with the environment,

wasn't harsh or startling.

It just makes you feel relaxed and one

with nature out the window.

You're just looking beyond everything in the room

and out the windows.

The house has two bathrooms, two bedrooms,

and when you open the bedroom door in the morning

and you look down the hallway, the first thing you see

is the grand entryway.

And it kind of calls you.

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Come outside.

Come experience nature.

So as you step off the patio and go down the stone stairs down

to the pool area, you kind of descend

down into the environment.

Instead of looking down upon the greenery from the patio,

you're in the greenery.

You're in the nature rather than an observer of the nature.

Then you turn around and if you come back up,

you ascend up to this cabin.

It's just looming above you in a graceful way.

And I would describe this cabin as one with nature.

Half of it is glass.

You're directly connected to the exterior.

If you're inside, primarily you're looking right

out the window at the outside.

Even though it's a smaller cabin,

with the floor to ceiling windows,

it feels like the whole world is part of your living room.

So it really gives a great feeling.

You're in this small efficient home,

but it feels as big as the largest mansion.

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When I decorate the space and I buy any objects for the space,

I try to keep a connection to the original design

concept, which is this kind of Mexican meets mid-century.

So I may love an object, but it may not be right for the space.

So I feel like I always have to keep it rooted in the origins,

how it was originally decorated, what the intention was.

The architect John Moyer, he was very influenced

by Mexican and Spanish culture and design.

The story goes that he was a prisoner of War

during World War II.

While he was in prison there, they gave him books to read,

and he got a book on architecture.

And when he came back to the US, he

became a builder and an architect,

and then he built this as a summer getaway

from the very hot desert floor.

So we're up at 4,300 feet.

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This property is unique because of its views,

and it's also built into a hillside, which

gives a protection from the winds

that you can get here in the mountains.

So you can really enjoy nature in almost any weather.

So I live here full time, and typical day, I wake up

when the sun rises, head right outside with my coffee cup,

and start to take in the sounds of the day, the lighting,

watching the sun come up as the colors change.

Weather permitting, which is probably

350 days out of the year, I stay outside almost the entire day.

I just love to be out in nature, walk

through the property, landscape a little bit,

snip some dead things off.

It's just so nice to be climbing on the boulders.

I feel like I'm camping all the time.

When I sit in the den area, that's no computer, no phone,

records of being played, I close my eyes, it's about the music,

and the whole world has to just go away.

I use a very vintage style stereo system.

And that to me communicates the music so much better

than anything modern can.

One of the interesting things about living

here is that you have all your solitude.

You're completely at peace and alone when you want to be.

At the same time, we have neighbors that are just

varied and all interesting.

We have this common bond that we just love living here

in this beautiful wilderness.

Sitting out on the patio in the rocking chairs in the evening

is just so quiet other than occasional coyote howling.

And then in the distance, you can just

see the city lights sparkling.

And it's so far removed, you hear nothing.

It's like a silent movie.

So the cabin in the evenings, you

can almost see the soul of the home

glowing through the windows.

And then you just stand back and you see this warm glow

with the stars all around it above,

and it just feels almost at one with the universe,

like not something made.

It seems almost surreal.

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