Hunter Biden—Senator Joe Biden’s son—is settling into a new rental above Mulholland this winter. Mr. Biden’s rent is $12K/month, a not-bad price for a Buff & Hensman designed modern house furnished almost exclusively in the midcentury modern style.

Inside and out, the house was clearly a labor of love for someone not only smitten with the style, but fluent in its philosophy and variations. Its exterior sports the glass, exposed steel, stucco and strident lines of a period modern, as well as the color sense; a bright yellow front door makes for an ebulliently cerebral beginning.

A great deal of care was taken in outfitting the interiors of the three-bed, three-bath home, and rarely, if ever, does the conceit falter. When inside the house, one might actually be in 1961—when the house was built—so convincing is the composition. Ornament is relegated to texture, line, and blurring of interiority/exteriority, and planes intersect one another in a kind of dialogue. Glossy wood adds warmth to the fastidiously utilitarian living style, and there is an artistic sensibility to the form-follows-function design.

The home sits on a .65-acre lot. That’s a fair amount of space, and the property manages to work in a little ramble—and additional accommodation, too—within the confines of the lot. An atmospherically lighted path carved out of the green-and-growing descends to a little guesthouse, which features a living space that opens directly onto a pool and patio with views of the city.

A beauty.