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eaves extend the house into its natural environment. This principle was later expanded upon by Frank Lloyd Wright with his Hollyhock House in LA. Wright disciples Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, both immigrants from Austria, took things even further by embracing the minimalist Bauhaus aesthetic from Europe. Schindler House, the architect’s former home and studio, offers essentially a primer on the modernist elements that so greatly influenced midcentury California architecture, such as an open floor plan, flat roof and sliding glass doors. Nowhere was modernism embraced more than in Palm Springs, where architects such as Albert Frey built bungalows for Hollywood’s elite. Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute in San Diego is another fine example. Postmodern work is mostly concentrated in LA with Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, Richard Meier’s Getty Center, Rafael Moneo’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Thom Mayne’s Caltrans District 7 Headquarters – all of them Pritzker Architecture Prize winners and undisputed standouts.

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS

On land, in the water and in the sky you’ll find plenty of opportunities to get your heart pumping in Southern California – and we’re not talking about spotting Jake Gyllenhaal or Leonardo DiCaprio in the flesh. Water babies can don a mask or strap on a tank for close-ups with garibaldi, sea anemones and other ocean creatures at either La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve in San Diego or Casino Point Marine Park on Catalina Island – both are protected ecoreserves. Catalina, with its craggy, coved coastline, provides perfect terrain for kayaking, especially for beginners, while saltier types may want to do battle with the waves at Channel Islands National Park. The best mountain biking is at Big Bear Lake, where a ski mountain morphs into a championship-level bike park during the summer. Rock climbers are spoiled for choice with a multitude of challenges on the desert-baked boulders of Joshua Tree National Park, while golfers will enjoy smacking a Titleist down the fairway at one, or several, of more than 100 golf courses in nearby Palm Springs. Bird-watchers will have a field day at Malibu Lagoon State Beach and especially in the Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, while Del Mar is a prime area for hot air ballooning.

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ROAD RAVES

In Southern California the road always beckons, so drop the convertible top, cue up ‘California Dreaming’ and step on it. One of our favorite drives delivers surreally beautiful ocean vistas along the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu. It’s easily combined with a swing through the canyonland, undulating fields and bizarrely shaped buttes of the Santa Monica Mountains (turn inland on Topanga Canyon Rd, left on Mulholland Hwy and left again on Malibu Canyon Rd back to the Pacific Coast Hwy). Another evocative seaside route travels along Palos Verdes Drive, while legendary Mulholland Drive will have you snapping close-ups of the Hollywood Sign and mammoth LA below. North of the city, San Marcos Pass Road (Hwy 154; Click here) skirts Chumash rock art, thick forests and a placid lake en route to the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Mountain drives, meanwhile, are ideal for escaping the summer heat. The meandering Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2; Click here) quickly delivers you to pine-scented heights, but the Rim of the World Drive (Hwy 18) to Big Bear Lake is actually more spectacular. The aptly named Palms to Pines Highway (Hwys 243 and 74), carved into the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs, is another cool road and is also popular with motorcyclists.

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GREEN GETAWAYS

Yes, it’s crowded and congested, but there’s also a ‘wild’ side to the Southland that most visitors never venture out to explore. Trust us, getting away from the high-velocity metro areas will feel like a mini-vacation, and you don’t even have to travel far. If you’re LA-based, head up Pacific Coast Hwy to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the world’s largest