A real estate gem in Studio City, Calif. has just hit the market with some major Hollywood pedigree.

The architectural compound, set on more than an acre and surrounded by trees with sweeping views of Fryman Canyon, was designed and developed Doug Prochilo, a writer and producer married to one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood — Netflix’s Bela Bajaria. The 10,833 sq. ft. property, located at 12309 Viewcrest Rd., is listed at $28 million.

It features seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and was designed by Prochilo in tandem with architect Adrian Koffka at Koffka/Phakos Design and landscape architect Ross Woodley at EPT Design. The “brand new and pristine” property is being co-listed by Ernie Carswell of Sotheby’s International Realty and Karen Medved of Compass.

Prochilo has worked with Koffka for approximately 20 years, and he says they keep “upping their game.” The Viewcrest address marks the fourth development for Prochilo, and originally it could have been home for his family. “Traditionally, we’ve built houses and then moved in as our kids have gotten bigger and our lives have changed. During the course of building this, all my kids moved to New York. This is hardly an empty nest house so we decided to sell it. But it deserves a full nest, it’s that kind of house.”

Below Prochilo talks about his vision for the compound and what potential buyer’s can expect to see at the property, which he likens to a treehouse tailor-made for entertaining (and resistant to fires).

When you sat with your architect to discuss plans, how did you describe your vision?

The house was really a major remodel. The house that was there, it’s unrecognizable now, but it was poorly designed. It needed to be completely reconfigured so we gutted the entire house, and tore the front and the roof off. My architects did a great job re-envisioning the space to make it flow and work for a family or somebody with a lot of friends that like to stay over. I’ve worked with [Koffka/Phakos Design] for 20 years, and we have a great relationship. We can knock around ideas; I can throw out crazy design ideas, which they may scoff at to start but they end up making it work.

How long did the project take? When did you first come across the property?

I bought the property a little over three years ago. We did a year and a half of design and development permitting, and then another 19 or 20 months of construction.

This is the third “family home” you have designed?

Probably more like the fourth. The amount of work I’ve done on the houses over the years has increased. In the beginning, it was just a remodel. The house we’re in now, I bought and knocked down to build something new. We entertain a lot, so we’ve had a lot of people come through who say, “I love your house. I want you to do my house.” I don’t want to do that for other people, especially in this town for obvious reasons, but those comments gave me the confidence to know that people like what I’m doing and so therefore I will keep doing it.

You’re obviously brilliant at it. Did that come as a surprise to you considering how you started your career as a writer and producer?

Not really because the first house we bought before we got married, I did all the work on it myself. I’ve always been into this. I’ve leveled up with every property that we’ve bought and done more and more work on it to the point that we started doing ground-up construction. I’m confident in it and never been afraid. I think a lot of people are afraid of remodeling and building. I’ve always enjoyed it. I don’t get daunted by it because over time you realize that if you can pay for it, you can make it happen.

What kind of buyer do you see for this home?

One of the best things about the property is the setting. It doesn’t feel like L.A. at all. When I bought the property, I was so taken by the amount of mature trees. You couldn’t even see the house before because there were so many trees on the property. It didn’t have a guest house or a pool. The original house was set back and silhouetted against the backdrop of trees. We really wanted to keep that and design a house that fit into the surroundings by playing into nature.

Conversely, from inside the house, it feels like a tree house because you look out and all you see is green out of every single window on every level. We wanted to maximize the windows to capture the view, which looks out across the Fryman Canyon trails straight above the mountainside. It feels like a retreat, and so the house has a very zen vibe. It’s located a minute from the freeway but when you arrive on the property, you can chill out and relax.

When I first saw the photos, it didn’t look like Los Angeles to me.

Yeah, and in turn, I didn’t want it to seem like a typical L.A. house. I’m not a fan of the big white box homes in L.A. with all the windows and shiny marble. For me, I want to feel comfortable in my house. I want it to feel warm and welcoming. That was our goal with this house. Even though it’s a big house with some big spaces, it should still feel warm, comfortable and cozy on those massive rooms. It’s a home that can be used by a family or people whose families like to visit. The master suite on the top level is like an escape for the owners. On the middle level, there’s five en suite bedrooms. Whether you have kids, friends or extended family visiting — or even friends who may drink too much and want to stay over — the house has something for everybody and space for everyone.

What other features excite you?

There’s a sunken living room, which is a really cool feature. There are two chef kitchens. There are great lighting fixtures. I built it to our own taste so we wanted to finish it very nicely. I didn’t go over the top everywhere, but all the finishes are well curated and thoughtfully chosen. It is worth mentioning that we were mid-construction when the fires broke out [in January 2025], and that was a real wake-up call. We made sure that the house was fire resistant. The cladding on the house is called Shou Sugi Ban, which is a Japanese process of preserving wood by pre-burning it and then staining it to [create a durable, fire-retardant material]. We also did a layer of material called DensGlass, which is a sheathing that goes around the house to help fireproof it. It also has a metal roof.

Tell me about the sunken living room.

I’m not a fan of the traditional home theater with the movie seats. So many people that I know never use theirs. Instead we created a giant media pit with a giant screen to give it a retro meets modern vibe. It’s a feature of the house that people have really responded to because you can sit 20 people there and it gives you the same purpose of a home theater. You can screen a movie, watch the Oscars or the Super Bowl.

What about the driveway?

The driveway is the perfect valet drop-off. Our house is about a minute from here, but we’re up on a hill. We have a lot of functions, and those require some coordinating with a valet service whereas this house makes it much easier. You can have a function and there could be a line of cars that come in, drive through the driveway to make drop-offs and leave without causing any chaos for the neighborhood. The house is also designed so that caterers can come in, too. On the main level, there’s a catering kitchen behind the main bar that goes into a garage. Caterers would have more than enough space to stage food while going in and out of the house. There’s another catering kitchen upstairs behind the main kitchen so if you were having a dinner party, all the mess can be contained in the catering kitchen so you don’t lose the use of that great kitchen. In my experience, people always wind up in the kitchen at parties.

The house is situated in a unique part of Studio City. What can you say about the neighborhood?

It’s near an area that realtors refer to as the silver triangle. When my wife and I first moved here, she worked at CBS, which is about four minutes away. Then she got a job running Universal Television so her commute became eight minutes. Now she’s at Netflix and that’s about a 14-minute commute. This is such a great area because you can be in Hollywood in five minutes. You can be at all of the studios in 10 to 15 minutes. When our kids were young, if she wanted to be home to see the kids for an hour, she could do that and then keep going. It’s so convenient and has always been a very practical area for us and our family.

I hate to be that annoying journalist and ask what’s next when you are still in the thick of this current project so forgive me for doing it anyway and before you’ve sold this house. What’s next?

We’re eyeing several properties in the vicinity, and it’s going to depend on how we exit this property. I took a bet here on the area and the desire for people to have this kind of space and function in the Valley. If you have this property in Beverly Hills, it would be listing at twice the price. If I can prove my hypothesis that there is a market for it here, there are a couple of properties that we might swoop in on and do a similar number on.

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