Photography by Sam Frost, courtesy of DISC Interiors.
“Not to get too woo-woo, but the first thing we noticed on touring our house was the warm loving energy that lingered from the two families who had lived in it before.” The new occupant of this 1936 brick and board-and-batten house is explaining how she and her husband jumped at the opportunity to be its third owners.
Specialists in low-key tailored ensembles, LA interior designers David John Dick and Krista Schrock of Remodelista directory members DISC Interiors stepped in to respectfully usher the structure into the 21st century.
The red brick was whitewashed, but otherwise the exterior was preserved as is. The house is located in Holmby Hills, in a neighborly section called Little Holmby that’s right next to UCLA.
In the entry, a collection of ceramics by LA-based French artist Emilie Halpern is paired with Apparatus’s Trapeze 2 sconce.
The living room was streamlined with a minimalist limestone mantel and wide-board fumed oak floors in place of wall-to-wall carpeting.
“I wanted it to be very neutral but we had to keep in mind that we can’t live delicately: Everything we chose is comfy and easy to clean—and believe me, it all gets used. I hate those houses with rooms no one goes in.”
A custom console table displays a Ross Bleckner painting.
The family gather in the paneled game room to play Rummikube and canasta we pull up more chairs and it gets very competitive The room was given a cosmetic makeover courtesy of Cedar Ridge
a pink from the Benjamin Moore Classic Color Collection and Servomuto s Giardino 2 pendant light inspired by Italian garden lanterns of the 1950s
Is it time to bring back the rumpus room?
In the den, the original mantel and paneling were updated with fresh paint: satin Collingwood from Benjamin Moore. The Li’l Abner panel is an original Al Capp that came out of the client’s childhood kitchen.
“It’s my only toy,” the father of the family says of the dining room’s new focal point: a walk-in wine cellar.
Enlarged and built from scratch, the kitchen was “inspired by classic English designs that have warmth and utility,” says Dick. The cabinets and island are painted Benjamin Gray Mist and the polished nickel bridge faucet is from the Rohl Perrin & Rowe Contemporary Collection.
The owners themselves selected Calacatta Gold marble (with a “leathered” finish) for the counters and backsplash: “Everyone told us not to do marble: do quartz, marble gets damaged. We said no, we want to have that marked-up European restaurant look,” says the resident caterer.
We decided from the start, if we like something and can afford it, we’ll just go with it—and we won’t look at every other option.
A shaded sitting area off the living room opens to a terrace.
“I know how loud and wild our life is,” says the mother (with her boys hooting in the background).
Like the kitchen, the master bath was given a complete rethink.
A Lucca Antiques chair—does it look like a seated person to you?—stands next to an African stool.
“In our practice, we attempt to create balance, to design spaces that provide places of comfort,” write the designers.
Before
Matching florals extended from the armchairs to the curtains in the living room.
The game room and bar had hints of a different pale pink on the walls.
The kitchen was the only part of the house that had been remodeled in recent decades, during the era of speckled granite.