Are you a modern and contemporary architecture fan in the L.A. area with some time to burn on February 18th? Let us know in the comments section, as we’ll be randomly picking a commentor to receive two tickets to the tour, a $60 value (tickets are $30 each in advance; $40 on the day of the tour). In case you don’t win, you can purchase tickets here.

There are nine stunning homes to explore. Just to tempt you even more, I’m going to give you a sneak peek into one of the two Hover Houses on the tour. It was designed by Glen Irani Architects, whose Hover Houses have spread all over L.A.

The Hover Houses are built on lots that are a mere 30′ x 95′. They fit in architecture and artist studios,  room for a family of four and guest quarters.

In order to make that footprint work, the house has to hover over the pool.

Oh, and all of those workstations roll, so the space can easily transform into a living room after the workday is over.

The house has wonderful views and some fabulous iconic mid-century modern furniture to lounge on and enjoy.

From this angle with this lighting, it has a Mondrian look to it.

If you’ve ever taken a stroll along the canals in Venice Beach and wanted to get a glimpse inside of some of these homes, this tour is for you. It starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and ends at 6 p.m. To learn more visit venice.modernhometours.com.

Images by Julius Shulman

Did anyone else open up the first few pages of In Style, see this, and think “Huh. Gwenyth looks kinda weird in this picture. And her style sure has changed since H&G featured her house in the Hamptons..”? I did. Just wondering:

It must be the blonde updo and the big smile. By the way, that’s Julie Bowen. Her sister, Molly Luetkemeyer, founder of M. Design Interiors decorated Julie’s Studio City house. It’s a fun mix. While we see a few icons from our design drinking games past (I spy a hand mold and a turquoise foo dog), I think her work has a fresh take. She is able to mix in a bunch of eras, styles, colors and textures without creating a sloppy mish-mosh; it becomes a style of its own, one that has to do a careful balancing act to work. It’s not quite Regency, it’s not quite crazy enough to go under that ubiquitous “eclectic” moniker – I’m dubbing it “Vicente Wolf on a very tightly controlled acid trip”. I also like it because I have that elephant on the coffee table in the living room. I got it at Neiman Marcus Last Call for like thirty bucks:

To see the rest of the house, and some other exuberant projects from M. Design Interiors, click here.

All imagess property of M. Design Interiors, except for the first one, which is from In Style.

Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan Connecticut is opening up for tours again starting May 1 and running through November. Tickets start at $30 and go up to $400 for a private tour that includes dinner at The Four Seasons in NYC (this is my nerdy architectural dream date – forget all those The Bachelor-esque dates that include helicopter rides or wine tasting lessons). Click here for more information on the tours. Also, if you are a member of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, you will receive 50% off the Standard Tour (90 minutes) and the Extended Tour (2 hours, take all the pictures you want).* Seriously, if you are not already a member, why not? I mean, The Governator recently proposed SELLING California’s historic sites in order to raise cash! Get on it! Click here and join today – you’ll get all sorts of discounts at historic sites and you’ll receive a subscription to Preservation – it’s a wonderful magazine.

Image swiped from The Glass House website.

*members pay full price when ordering and then receive the 50% discount when attending the tour.

I’m so glad I started following Dwell Studio on Twitter. Otherwise, I might have missed the blog post about Dwell Studio partner Jenna Chused’s feature in Martha Stewart Living! Her apartment is impeccable without being intimidating; for example, I love the way she used this school chart as art:

And I have some serious kitchen envy over this one. Wow, the power of a rug! This kitchen is strong like bull (as my father would say):

Check out the rest of the slideshow over at Martha’s place – I promise it will be worth your while! Also, you can get your own Dwell Studio style by browsing over here.

Photographs via marthastewartliving.com. Photographer name was not listed; if you know it, please comment so that I can add it to this post.