Architectural Digest: April 2016
A Spanish-Style 1920’s Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover
Studio Preveza uses playful patterns to update a vintage home for a happening Los Angeles family
Written by: Miranda Agee | Photography by: Daniel Collopy
In the living room, the designer kept the seating low for optimal views of the fireplace at every angle. The custom-made slipper chairs are upholstered in Gaspard Velvet by Pierre Frey, and the cocktail table is vintage. The painting on the wall is by Hannah Whitaker.
When Los Angeles–based interior designer Christos Prevezanos sat down with clients to discuss ideas for their recently purchased residence, he let the wife’s imagination take the lead. “She grew up in the interior design world and was familiar with the process and willing to take risks,” says Prevezanos. One thing she would not allow: altering the distinctive details of the 1920s Spanish-style bungalow, located on a leafy street off Melrose Place.
“She and her husband didn’t want the house to feel like any of the new-construction places that were being built in their neighborhood,” he says. So Prevezanos set out to maintain the property’s original charm, incorporating design elements that would enhance the history of the home while modernizing the aesthetic. “We loved the archways and the slope of the fireplace and made sure that their unique shapes were celebrated throughout,” says the designer, who seamlessly implemented color to cultivate harmony between the house’s disparate references. In the living room, he painted the fireplace the same soft white as the walls to highlight a pair of aqua slipper chairs and teal accents, creating a welcoming, unpretentious place for guests. Metallic touches and streamlined custom-made furnishings elevate the space. Prevezanos shifted to milky beiges and grays in the dining room and updated the sideboard—a family heirloom—with a faux-finish marble pattern, proving the level of trust shared between the homeowners and designer. “They are young Hollywood creatives and new parents so they wanted their space to be both sophisticated and playful,” says Prevezanos.
The daring combination of old and new results in an ultrasleek modern home that retains the nearly 90-year-old property’s character and time-tested elegance—thanks to the savvy of both parties involved. “I’ve always been pretty lucky with my clients,” Prevezanos says. Luck may have been on his side, but in this case, risk yielded the ultimate reward.
The dining room’s bleached-oak table was chosen to create a more intimate conversational flow during the couple’s dinner parties. The bubble chandelier is by Apparatus Studio, and the chairs by Dan Johnson are vintage.
A custom-made channeled bench creates easy seating in the breakfast nook. The chair is by Kelly Wearstler, and the table is vintage with a rose-marble top and brass tripod base.
The powder room features Peony wallpaper by Farrow & Ball. The custom-made brass mirror is flanked by two sconces by Ralph Lauren.
In the master bedroom, designer Christos Prevezanos mixed various shades of blue to give the room personality. The mohair-and-walnut bed was devised by Prevezanos, and the bench is a vintage Milo Baughman. The closet doors are painted in Down Pipe by Farrow & Ball and are inset with antiqued glass panels.
A vintage Vladimir Kagan chair upholstered in Nina Campbell’s Bovary Chenille elevates a corner of the master suite. A vintage mirror hangs above a custom-made brass-and-veneer vanity; a Kelly Wearstlerdining chair covered in a magenta hide completes the scene.
In the nursery, Prevezanos took color inspiration from a vintage Hermès scarf. The walls are painted in Calamine from Farrow & Ball, and the dresser is by Ducduc. Above it hangs a custom-designed plaster mirror based on a similar one in a photograph by Jean Cocteau.