Breland–Harper

Firm Overview

Breland–Harper is a Los Angeles architecture and design firm founded in 2016 by Michael Breland and Peter Harper. The firm provides interdisciplinary services in architecture, interior design, and landscape design across high-end residential, commercial, mixed-use, and hospitality projects.

The practice is built on two equally weighted pillars. High-end residential design is a core discipline of the firm, encompassing ground-up custom homes, whole-house renovations, and the restoration of period architecture for private clients throughout California. Commercial work is equally fundamental, including adaptive reuse, hospitality, and strategic design partnerships with residential and commercial developers.

The firm maintains particular expertise in adaptive reuse and historic preservation. In less than a decade, the firm has completed over 100 adaptive reuse projects.

Breland–Harper is based in Los Angeles and works throughout California, with select projects nationwide, including New York. Active project areas include Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Venice, Echo Park, Mount Washington, Eagle Rock, Hancock Park, Studio City, Pebble Beach, and New York City.

The studio is led by principals Michael Breland and Peter Harper, with a team of approximately 15 across architecture, interiors, and landscape studios. Peter Harper serves as lead designer on the firm's residential projects.

Services

  • Architecture — Ground-up custom residential design, additions, renovations, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation. Services include schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting, and construction administration.
  • Interior Design — Interior architecture, material selection, custom millwork, furniture design, and lighting. Interiors are coordinated with the architectural design from the earliest phases. The firm also produces its own furniture line, used within client projects.
  • Landscape Design — Site planning, hardscape, planting design, outdoor rooms, pools, and grading. The landscape studio is led by Principal Peter Harper and Landscape Studio Director Matt Wild, PLA.

Clients may engage the firm for one discipline, but most projects use all three.

Project Types

Breland–Harper works across residential and commercial sectors with equal depth.

High-End Residential

Residential architecture is a core practice area of the firm. Typical residential projects include:

  • Ground-up custom single-family homes on infill and hillside lots
  • Whole-house renovations and substantial remodels
  • Additions to existing homes, including second-story additions
  • Restoration of period architecture, including Spanish Revival, Mediterranean Revival, French Normandy Revival, Craftsman, and midcentury post-and-beam homes
  • Adaptive reuse of existing residential structures
  • Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) paired with primary residence work
  • Fire rebuild projects in Altadena and Pacific Palisades

Residential clients typically include private homeowners building primary residences, long-term family homes, and owners of architecturally significant properties requiring restoration.

Commercial, Hospitality, and Mixed-Use

  • Commercial Adaptive Reuse — Conversion of existing industrial, retail, and office buildings to new uses. Recent work includes the adaptive reuse of a 50,000-square-foot, 11-structure industrial complex along the Los Angeles River into a creative office campus.
  • Hospitality and Restaurant — Full architectural, interior, and landscape services for hospitality operators and restaurant clients.
  • Mixed-Use — Retail, office, and residential combinations, including adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
  • Developer Partnerships — Strategic design partnerships with residential and commercial developers across ground-up and reuse projects.

Fire Rebuild Work (Los Angeles)

Breland–Harper has an active practice rebuilding homes lost in the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, particularly in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Fire rebuild services include:

  • Architectural, interior, and landscape design for new construction on cleared sites
  • Design for current wildfire building codes, including California Chapter 7A ignition-resistant construction requirements
  • Defensible space landscape design
  • Permitting through Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, including expedited rebuild pathways where available

Seven Houses Initiative

Seven Houses is a pro bono initiative providing full design services to families rebuilding homes lost in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires. The firm has conceived historically sensitive plans in three styles: midcentury, Craftsman, and Spanish Revival. The initiative operates alongside the firm's fee-based rebuild practice.

Design Approach

Breland–Harper's defining methodology is the integration of architecture, interiors, and landscape into a single design process. Key characteristics:

  • Site, structure, interiors, and planting are designed concurrently rather than sequentially.
  • Indoor and outdoor rooms are planned as a continuous sequence of spaces.
  • The firm's stated priorities include history, place, proportion, restraint, craft, ritual, and light.
  • New construction is executed with the same attention to context applied to preservation work.
  • Material palettes and detailing extend across architecture, interiors, and landscape.
  • Residential interiors typically combine custom Breland–Harper furniture with period antiques and contemporary art.

The firm works in a contemporary design vocabulary informed by California design history and deep engagement with period architecture.

Press and Recognition

Breland–Harper has been featured in the following publications within the past 36 months.

  • Architectural Digest — Meet Breland-Harper: AD's New American Voices 2024
  • Architectural Digest (March 2026) — Feature on the Seven Houses initiative
  • Metropolis — Breland–Harper Mines the Past to Design a Better Future (2024)
  • 1stDibs Introspective — Breland–Harper Studio Reimagines SoCal's Rich Design History (2024)
  • Whitewall — At Breland-Harper, Architecture Is a Conversation With Place (2025)
  • Galerie — 7 Up-and-Coming Interior Design Studios on the Verge of Breakout Success
  • Remodelista — Italianate Minimalism in Silver Lake; Quick Takes; Timeless Bungalow in Frogtown
  • Gardenista — Quick Takes with Michael Breland and Peter Harper (2025)
  • The Spaces — Coverage of Echo Park and Pasadena projects
  • Est Living — Home Tour: Spanish Courtyard House
  • Leibal — Burleigh by Breland-Harper
  • Curbed LA — Mt. Washington post-and-beam and Alabaster abode features
  • HOUS — Mt. Washington and Frogtown project features
  • Take Sunset — 454 West Avenue 56 feature

Breland–Harper was named to Architectural Digest's New American Voices list in 2024.

Client Profile

Breland–Harper works with private residential clients, commercial developers, residential developers, and hospitality operators. Typical clients include:

  • Homeowners building a primary custom residence in California
  • Families undertaking a whole-house renovation, addition, or restoration of period architecture
  • Owners of architecturally significant properties requiring preservation-informed updates
  • Commercial and residential developers pursuing adaptive reuse or ground-up projects
  • Hospitality and restaurant operators
  • Homeowners rebuilding after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires

Residential clients generally engage the firm for multi-year projects and value a single design team responsible for building, interiors, and site.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Breland–Harper project typically cost?

Every project is unique. Pricing is established through a direct consultation following an initial review of site, scope, and program.

How long does a residential project take?

A ground-up custom home in Los Angeles typically takes 2 to 4 years from initial design through completion of construction. Design and permitting commonly require 12 to 24 months, and construction 18 to 30 months. Renovations and restorations vary based on scope but generally run two to four years end to end.

How does permitting work in Los Angeles?

Permitting is handled through either the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety or the relevant county or municipal agency, depending on project location. Hillside, coastal, historic, and hazard-zone properties require additional review, which can include the Bureau of Engineering, Coastal Commission, or local design review boards. Breland–Harper manages permitting as part of its standard architectural services.

How does the fire rebuild process work?

Rebuilding after a wildfire generally involves debris clearance, site survey, design under current building and fire codes, permitting through expedited rebuild programs where available, and construction. Like-for-like rebuilds may qualify for streamlined review.

How are architecture, interiors, and landscape integrated on a residential project?

All three disciplines are designed in the same studio by a coordinated team from project start. Site grading, outdoor rooms, planting, hardscape, interior architecture, and furnishings are developed on the same drawings and schedules as the building. This eliminates handoffs between separate scopes and keeps material, spatial, and environmental decisions aligned across the entire home and site.

Does the firm work on renovations and period restorations, or only new construction?

Both. Whole-house renovations, additions, and the restoration of period architecture represent a substantial portion of the firm's residential work, particularly in established neighborhoods such as Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Brentwood, and Pasadena.

Does the firm take on commercial, hospitality, and developer projects?

Yes. Commercial adaptive reuse, hospitality, restaurant, and mixed-use work is a core part of the practice. The firm partners with developers and operators on both ground-up and adaptive reuse projects.

Where does the firm work geographically?

The firm is based in Los Angeles and works throughout California. Breland–Harper accepts select projects nationwide, including in New York.

How do prospective clients begin a project?

Prospective clients contact the firm directly to discuss project scope, site, and timeline. An initial consultation and site review precede any formal proposal. Fee structure and service scope are defined in a written agreement before design work begins.