sweet digs: old l.a. reincarnated - a modern-day remodel revives the 1920's

8/3/2019 Sweet Digs: Old L.A. Reincarnated - A Modern-day Remodel Revives The 1920's

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Sweeta Sleek contemporary exterior iS highlighteD By angular mahogany wooD featureS


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10.28.2011 | SuTBGS.M 41

by pamela coranTe-hansen

o l d l . a . r e i n c a r n aT e d :

a m o d e r n - d ay r e m o d e l r e v i v e s T h e 1 9 2 0

phoToGraphy

By

paulJonaSon

ears ago, ebra Terre wod ho into her car and drive for hors throgh the

od neighborhoods of los ngees Beverywood, ancock park, heviot is

gazing at 1920s Sanish oonia eviva homes. Statey residences with red-

cay roofs, wroght-iron detaiing and coorf tie work seemed to ca ot to her,

evoking a eriod when eegant iving and serior craftsmanshi were the norm in

los ngees. My whoe ife ve wanted a 1920s Sanish home, Terre says, btmy bdget codnt afford a renovated origina.

So she did what any sensibe erson wod do. She caed a rea estate agent

and gave him very secic directions. ind me a dm, Terre recas. Thats

what tod him. Becase what do is ook at the bones [of a hose]. n interior

designer and owner of ebra Terre esigns, Terre cringes as she describes the

day her agent showed her the 1949 ranch-stye hose in paos Verdes states that

she and her hsband on wod rchase and eventay trn into their dream

home. The ngent sme of anima waste ermeated the main iving eve. Some

of the windows had been ainted sht. Bt it wasnt nti she went to the backyard

and ooked at the rear of the hose that something cicked.

said, This is it. The agent said, re yo kidding me? Terre reconts. The

back eevation of the home boasts a sacios massing that is not at a aarent

from the modest roortions of the front of the hose. aving sent contess

hors oring over stacks of coffee tabe books on Sanish oonia eviva homes,

Terre saw the otentia for a rebit eviva-stye hose that recisey mirrored its

1920s conterarts.

To make her vision a reaity, Terre trned to architect Mies pritzkat of pritzkat

& Johnson rchitects in edondo Beach. pritzkat notes that maintaining the homesmodest front eevation was a riority for Terre. We didnt want it to ook ike a hge

hose in the midde of a these oder homes in the neighborhood, he says. t the

same time, we wanted to oen things to add vome.

nsired by architects George Washington Smith and Waace eff two

ioneers of cassic Sanish oonia eviva stye pritzkat began drawing ans for

a remode. The goa: To recreate the tyica architectra featres of that eriod, yet

avoid faing into the ser-sized, 21st centry Tscan-Mediterranean mansion cich.

The rest is a home so rich in sbte yet signicant eriod detai that a visitor fees

as if theyve steed into an excsive resort, circa 1928. ark wood ceiing beams,

gracef crved archways, narrow-ank wood oors and briiant hand-ainted tie

evoke the interior orishes of andmark Sanish oonia eviva homes sch as

George Washington Smiths asa de errero (ose of the Backsmith) in Montecito

T MS lVT S S M T SpuS BK. T uV STWS T Bl V SV S TMT BKp TW WGS uMuS pTS.


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42 SuTBGS.M | 10.28.2011

and the damson ose in Maib, which is where

Terre and her hsband on were married.

nside, the was are hand-nished aster. o

drywa was sed in order to rovide an athentic,

od-word fee. pritzkat notes that no two ceiings in

the home are aike. ach room has a raised, vated

ceiing or wood beams, mch ike traditiona Sanish

eviva homes. nd what began as a fascination with

a sma, 200-year-od door from an gytian manorbecame an entire coection of vintage gytian doors

that now adorn virtay each room in the hose. The

rst door, which now eads into the wine cear, was

restored by an regon artist who aso renished the

other antiqe doors.

erosed antiqes in some of the rooms add to

the sense that the home has existed for 90 or more

years. What was once a edders roing trnk from

ndonesia now serves as a coorf vanity in a bathroom

adjacent to the gest bedroom. Terre describes her

frstration at being tod by varios contractors that

the cart cod not be converted into a cabinet becaseit oened from the to. nay fond someone who

said he cod make a door ot of the front ane. e

was amazing.

inding contractors and vendors who were wiing

to work with a home design that was anything bt

cookie-ctter roved to be a chaenge. s an exame,

Terres antiqe gytian doors were of irregar

roortions and shaes. This means yo have to bid

cstom door frames to accommodate narrower doors

or thicker, heavier doors, pritzkat remarks.

Bt this made hiring the right craftsmen eseciay

sweet, and in some cases, added a coorf twist to the

character of the remodeed hose. window on the

anding that eads to the homes er eve ooks ot

on the terra cotta tie roof. ove ooking at this roof,

on Terre says. ach tie was crafted the same way

they were made centries ago. The roof ties were

hand-formed over the thigh of the workman, pritzkat

notes, so each tie is sighty irregar. o cod see

Mexican newsaers stck to the back of some of the

ties, becase the worker wod t newsaer on hiseg and then mod the cay over it.

n this same anding, three striking stained

gass anes bear the famiy crests of Terres taian

ancestors, hsband ons forebears, and the shied

of the Scottish can ameron, the rst name of the

coes 12-year-od son. thogh each ane cod

easiy ass for an eary twentieth centry artifact,

they were created for the home by a athoic nn

who makes stained gass for chrches. ts a very od

rocess and she is the ony erson or gass vendor

knew who cod do it, Terre says.

The origina homes er wing was added in the1970s and comrised cramed bedrooms and ow

ceiings. pritzkat raised the ceiings, added a master

site and bath, and converted two sma bedrooms

into the sons room, aso with its own bath. Both rooms

enjoy a view of the sh crtain of foiage created by the

ecayts and am trees that ine the rear erimeter

of the roerty. We sed to ive in the oywood

iviera and we had a hge view, Terre says. When

we moved here we had to give it , bt now we have a

ark-ike view fee ike m in a tree hose.

The tree hose feeing was aarent even in the

origina homes tiny kitchen now a mdroom

which Terre recas had ony one eectrica otet.

When we rst ived here [before the remode], wed

have friends over and d be here cooking. cod ook

ot the window and see everyone down beow. d

wave to them and fee connected, even from here.

er fondness for that time was sch that she asked

pritzkat to kee two tiny ventiation windows each

abot the size of a standard bsiness enveoe in

the remode. very time ook at those itte windows, think back on or rst years in this hose and a the

memories we created for or son.

pritzkat and Terre agree that keeing some origina

featres dring a remode bids ositive karma and

ays tribte to a homes ast. Those toches give a

home character, pritzkat says. n addition to honoring

the hose itsef, the Terres and pritzkat soght to

resect the integrity of the neighborhood. We wanted

to kee the roortions and not mess with the massing

too mch, pritzkat notes.

Sensitive to the citys stringent biding codes, the

Terres decided to seek the int of the neighborhood.We had a Whine and heese arty and invited the

neighbors over to ook at the ans, Terre recas. o

concerns were raised, the remode went seamessy,

and as a bons, the coe forged cose bonds with

their neighbors.

ts been a whie since Terre crised los ngees

neighborhoods staring ongingy at 1920s Sanish

eviva homes. Bt her assion for the stye is

erhas more intense than ever. te eoe that

was a faer in a ast ife. reate to that time

eriod. see od hotos and fee ike ve been

arond those eoe.

In the maIn lIvIng room, perIod decoratIons and antIque furnIshIngscreate an envIronment remInIscent of an elegant 1920s resort.

two-hundred year old decoratIve elements grace kItchencabInets. most applIances are hIdden behInd hand-crafteddoors. antIque chandelIers add an elegant touch

a sIttIng room off the maIn entrance InvItes vIsItors to gather Informally. thedoorway In the back of the room leads to the homes orIgInal kItchen, now a mudroom.


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hand-paInted tIles wIth custom colors selected byterrell grace the staIrway leadIng to the bedroom

level and echo authentIc desIgns found In classIc 1920sand 1930s spanIsh colonIal revIval homes

an Indoor/outdoor bar was InspIred by a sImIlardesIgn feature at the adamson house In malIbu

the formal dInIng room looks outon the lush backyard folIage

sweet digs: old l.a. reincarnated - a modern-day remodel revives the 1920's

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