Tiny Culver City guesthouse a gracious backyard getaway

The entrance to Ellen Sanchez’s guesthouse.

The guesthouse features an angled window wall that bathes the interior in filtered sunlight.

A tiny kitchen area is tucked in near the sleeping alcove in Ellen Sanchez’s guesthouse.

The concrete-sided fire pit echoes the shape of the guesthouse entrance.

Plywood shelves -- not drywall, which must be prepped and painted – wrap virtually every surface of the Culver City guesthouse.

A small kitchen area is equipped with two refrigerated drawers.

Two-sided shelving serves the bathroom on one side and living space on the other in the Culver City guesthouse.

The Shower in the Culver City guesthouse.

Exterior view of the window wall, made of translucent Polygal, a recyclable polycarbonate material.

The window wall washes the guesthouse in sunlight that, in turn, warms the maintenance-free concrete floor.

“We wiggled away from orthogonal lines and had fun with the form,” architectural designer Louis Molina said.

Homeowner Ellen Sanchez, far right, in her backyard entertaining space with designers Louis Molina, left, Hector Solis and Laurent Turin.