Modern Luxury: Crest Real Estate Leadership in Wildfire Recovery Design Movement

Posted on September 5, 2025September 5, 2025 by Steven Somers

Crest Real Estate, Los Angeles’ leading land-use advisory and permit-expediting firm, has been prominently featured in Modern Luxury for its trailblazing role in the launch of Case Study 2.0, a design-driven initiative aimed at rebuilding wildfire-ravaged neighborhoods with speed, resilience, and architectural integrity.

The feature, titled “On the Case” by architecture journalist Laura Eckstein Jones, celebrates Crest Real Estate’s leadership in mobilizing over 40 of the city’s top architecture firms to contribute to a portfolio of pre-approved, fire-resistant home designs for communities impacted by the January 2025 wildfires in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and beyond.

“We realized that we could help provide an option for homeowners to rebuild in a way that is swift, beautiful, and more affordable,” said Steven Somers, CEO of Crest Real Estate.

Reimagining the Case Study House Movement for a New Era

The Modern Luxury piece draws a powerful connection between this initiative and the iconic Case Study House program of the mid-20th century—a post-WWII effort that sought to solve housing shortages through elegant, replicable design. Crest Real Estate’s Case Study 2.0 echoes that legacy, offering dozens of design-forward home plans that are not only code-compliant and pre-approved for expedited permitting, but also deeply contextualized for local neighborhoods.

“Working on the Case Study 2.0 project gave all of us involved a sense of common purpose… this collective project has the potential to help us all work toward a common goal that will also be long-lasting,” added Somers in the feature.

Beauty Meets Practicality

Each design in the Case Study 2.0 catalog reflects both architectural excellence and practical innovation. As described in the article, the homes are built with:

• Fire-rated materials
• Pre-engineered wall and roof assemblies
• Perforated metal shading elements
• Modular components for repeatability
• Material discounts negotiated with national suppliers

Leading firms like SPF:a, Dan Brunn Architecture, and Dennis Gibbens Architects contributed unique models, leveraging natural light, topography, and post-fire context to create homes that feel timeless yet site-specific.

Affordability, Speed & Resilience

According to the article, designs are being offered at up to 75% lower cost than traditional architectural services, with pre-negotiated rates from structural engineers and builders. Homes can begin construction in a fraction of the usual time—cutting through the red tape that often delays post-disaster recovery.

“The goal wasn’t just to replace what was lost,” says SPF:a founder Zoltan E. Pali, FAIA, “it was to build something stronger, safer and lasting.”