The project is located in the Holmby Hills, “Platinum Triangle” area of Los Angeles, with Beverly Hills to the east and Bel Air to the west. Carolwood Drive has been referred to by Forbes magazine as “One of the most expensive streets on Earth… lined with mega-mansions once occupied by some of Hollywood’s greatest stars.”

PROGRAM / SCOPE / COST

In 1925, G. W. Smith was commissioned to design a Mediterranean Revival Estate on the site. Over the years numerous additions to the original house resulted in the diminishment of it’s character. In the 1970s the property was owned by a rock star and his fashion model wife, who added a large Disco Wing and English Style Kitchen; neither was in the style of the original structure. The program was to restore and renovate the 17,000sf estate, including the historic gardens. Portions of the work exceed a cost of $1,000/sf.

UNUSUAL CHARACTERISTICS

The large Disco addition, a tall, flat roofed, pink stucco structure with Art Nouveau details dominated the massing. Other areas of the original house had also been remodeled in an Art Nouveau style, to compliment the rock star’s decorative arts collection. The Stair Hall had been redone with a black and white marble floor, matching the Dicso’s, and it’s cast stone details had been painted white. The upper rear of the Disco Wing housed a Master Bedroom with fully mirrored ceiling, silver drapes, silver shag carpeting and Pre-Raphaelite stained glass Bathroom windows. The challenge was to satisfy the client’s requirement to keep the added square footage and make a cohesive composition, while respecting and restoring the original structure.

SOLUTION

The client’s desire to maintain the Disco’s double height sliding glass doors overlooking the swimming pool posed a difficult design problem. The main gallery of a Venetian Palazzo suggested a classical model for dealing with such a large glazed opening. A three-story mahogany frame with leaded glass windows, constructed around steel tubes was inserted within a steel moment frame. The new Ballroom’s floor is Venetian style terrazzo, poured without control joints, over a thickened concrete slab to prevent cracking. New cast stone columns, pilasters, door surrounds and a stenciled boxed beam ceiling complete the detailing.

Another major challenge was the renovation of the long, narrow Kitchen. The solution was a series of vaulted spaces, terminating in a new Family Room (former Maid’s Rooms), reminiscent of the ground floor utility area of an Italian Palazzo.

The original G. W. Smith facade was severely compromised by a flat-roofed elevator addition, which the client also desired to keep. The elevator was re-imagined as a Campanile to enhance the composition of the facade. Similarly, the Pool House and Swimming Pool were remodeled to be in keeping with the style of the original architecture and included reconstructing the pool with Venetian glass tiles. Finally, non-original features and finishes, including doors, windows and site work were removed and restored to the original, per G. W. Smith documents archived at the University of California at Santa Barbara, including the restoration of the damaged and deteriorated garden cascade.