As a design writer, I feel lucky to get to peek inside some of Los Angeles\u2019 most iconic homes. <\/p>\n
This year, I visited many places, from Midcentury Modern landmarks by Edward Fickett and Raphael Soriano to humble apartments filled with Facebook Marketplace finds.<\/p>\n
The rooms that stayed with me long after I left were not always the most luxurious or expensively furnished. Instead, they were the ones that made me smile and left a lasting impression of the person who lives there.<\/p>\n
Here are the 14 rooms that resonated with me this year and the people who live in them who inspired me even more. <\/p>\n
A colorful, sun-drenched kitchen in Mount Washington that connects to nature
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(Mariah Tauger \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n
Priced out of much of Los Angeles, architect Lindsay Sheron and her husband Daniel bought a vacant hillside lot in Mount Washington and proceeded to design and build their own home. Working over a three-year period, the couple served as general contractors and did much of the work themselves. The kitchen is a standout, featuring bright green custom kitchen cabinets painted Raw Tomatillo by Farrow & Ball, which add vitality to the single-wall layout. A custom metal hood by Practice Fabrication, powder-coated the color of a Pixie tangerine, adds a sense of fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted our house to feel really warm and bring nature inside,\u201d says Lindsay, referring to the Western hemlock tongue and groove planks that she and Daniel installed on the walls and ceilings. \u201cWood does the heavy lifting in accomplishing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tour the custom built home here.<\/a><\/p>\n In Hollywood, a stunning living room that\u2019s filled with second-hand furnishings (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Caitlin Villarreal felt giddy the first time she stepped inside the Whitley Heights rental, a storied 1926 Mediterranean-style penthouse with towering ceilings, hand-carved wooden beams and a pair of arched bookcases alongside an oversize fireplace.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had good energy,\u201d Villarreal said of the 1,500-square-foot apartment she rents in a historic neighborhood where Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin and Bette Davis once lived. \u201cIt\u2019s iconic just by standing tall year after year. It has floor-to-ceiling Old Hollywood windows that blow open unexpectedly just like in the movies. It doesn\u2019t feel like a rental. It feels like a forever home.\u201d<\/p>\n Tour the Hollywood penthouse here.<\/a> <\/p>\n A Midcentury Modern dining room in Studio City that Raphael Soriano would approve of (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Architect Linda Brettler\u2019s list of things she loves about her Raphael Soriano-designed home is long, even though the all-aluminum structure, which was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1997<\/a>, was in desperate need of updating when she purchased it in 2021<\/a>. \u201cI like doing projects like this where I get to have my own hand and feel, but I\u2019m still honoring what was here,\u201d Brettler says. \u201cI\u2019m trying to create an idealized version of what the house would look like now.\u201d In the dining room, a reproduction of a Millard Sheets painting, rendered by Cal Poly Pomona students on Tyvek, is mounted on a cork-lined wall. Above the painting, she has mounted a projector screen for movie nights and video games.<\/p>\n Tour the historic all-aluminum home here.<\/a><\/p>\n A modern West Hollywood living room decorated with pets in mind (Kit Karzen \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n \u201cMy original inspiration was to match the furniture to the kitties so I don\u2019t see their cat hair,\u201d anesthesiologist Jeffrey Hamilton says of the West Hollywood condo he shares with his boyfriend David Poli, his cats Romulus and Remus and Poli\u2019s Husky mix, Janeway. \u201cThe cats very much informed the color scheme. I find them so handsome; it felt like having matching furniture was practical.\u201d<\/p>\n In the living room, Hamilton chose a camel-colored Curvo sofa in velvet by Goop for CB2, which he found on Facebook Marketplace. Similarly, the accompanying swivel chairs from HD Buttercup and the barstool seats in the kitchen are upholstered in Bengal and Husky-durable textiles that camouflage their rescues pet hair.<\/p>\n \u201cJeffrey likes to say that everything in his apartment is a rescue, including me,\u201d says Poli jokingly.<\/p>\n Tour the West Hollywood condo here.<\/a><\/p>\n A surprising Silver Lake kitchen that doubles as a retro video store (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Chris Rose fondly remembers the days when he worked at the independent video store I Luv Video in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n Now an L.A.-based writer, director and producer<\/a>, Rose, 41, recalls the Austin store\u2019s eclectic assortment of cult oddities and world cinema.<\/p>\n Although he can no longer visit the video store, Rose doesn\u2019t have to go far to rent these days, as he has brought a similar yet distinctive collection to the kitchen of his one-bedroom bungalow in Silver Lake.<\/p>\n Tour the Silver Lake apartment here.<\/a> <\/p>\n Two college friends transform a Glassell Park living room (and garage) into an art-filled escape (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Antonio Adriano Puleo<\/a> didn\u2019t intend to renovate his traditional 1946 bungalow, but after consulting with architectural designer Ben Warwas<\/a>, who told him he could transform the house into a \u201cforever home,\u201d the artist changed his plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe living room wasn\u2019t big enough, and it featured a huge red brick fireplace that had doors on either side of it, leading to the backyard,\u201d said Warwas. <\/p>\n The living room of the main house is now open and airy, with custom cabinets and millwork by James Melinat<\/a> that showcase the artwork Puleo made himself and the pieces he has collected for more than 30 years. The living room\u2019s fireplace is gone, but the wooden mantle remains atop a console behind the sofa, graced with a series of colorful ceramic planters by Ashley Campbell and Brian Porray of Happy Hour Ceramics<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle tweaks totally transformed the house,\u201d Warwas said.<\/p>\n Tour the house and ADU here.<\/a><\/p>\n A fabulous wet bar in a West Hollywood apartment that\u2019s perfect for parties (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Growing up in a small town outside of Cleveland, Tyler Pi\u00f1a<\/a> was fascinated by Los Angeles and the glamour of Hollywood.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad grew up out here, and it\u2019s where my parents met,\u201d says the 33-year-old screenwriter. \u201cI remember looking at old Polaroids of them in the \u201880s and seeing how much fun they had.\u201d<\/p>\n His attraction to Los Angeles, however, was more than just nostalgia. \u201cI was mesmerized by the landscapes and architecture,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Looking back, he can\u2019t believe he realized his dream of moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 2018 and eventually renting a Midcentury Modern penthouse by Edward Fickett<\/a> steps from the Sunset Strip.<\/p>\n \u201cA Midcentury Modern penthouse on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood, with a bar in the living room? I mean, does it get more iconic? I am, in no way, cool enough to live here,\u201d says Pi\u00f1a.<\/p>\n Tour the Midcentury apartment here.<\/a><\/p>\n A bedroom in Beachwood Canyon is transformed into an art-filled office (and occasional guest room) (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n When Natalie Babcock and Samuel Gibson found a listing for a sunny apartment in Beachwood Canyon five years ago, they immediately fell for the two bedroom\u2019s charming built-in bookshelves, faux fireplace, hardwood floors and formal dining room. Practical amenities such as an in-unit laundry and a garage, which are often elusive<\/a> in Los Angeles rentals, didn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n Today, however, the couple says they are most impressed by the sense of belonging they have found in the community just outside their 1928 Spanish fourplex. Here, where tourists and brides in wedding gowns often pose for photographs in the middle of the street in an effort to capture the Hollywood sign in the background, Babcock and Gibson have become part of a larger family. \u201cEveryone knows our dogs\u2019 names,\u201d says Babcock.<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s taste is vibrant, and the colorful interiors reflect their sense of fun and love of design. They painted one wall in Gibson\u2019s office a dramatic Kelly green, which makes the white-trimmed windows and his extensive art collection pop. <\/p>\n \u201cArt is one thing that I am always happy to spend money on,\u201d Gibson says.<\/p>\n Tour the Beachwood Canyon apartment here.<\/a><\/p>\n A treasures-filled living room in Eagle Rock that\u2019s a colorful showstopper (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Isa Beniston and Scotty Zaletel are romantics. Not just in their love for each other, which they are as vocal about three years in as budding high school crushes, but also in the way they describe the contents of their 412-square-foot one-bedroom apartment. They can recall the season they discovered each treasure \u2014 from fruit-shaped throw pillows to more than 30 animal portraits \u2014 and the cross streets of the flea markets from which they bought them. They gush about the time they\u2019ve spent together in fabric stores and flooring supply shops as if they were dimly lighted restaurants primed for date night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both just love stuff,\u201d the two said in near-unison.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lina Abascal<\/p>\n Tour the 412-square foot apartment here.<\/a><\/p>\n A tricked-out garage\/ADU in Venice that serves as an office, gym and family hub (Luke Johnson \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re fun,\u201d architect Aejie Rhyu says of the creative couple Will Burroughs and Frith Dabkowski, as she walked by the undulating two-story ADU she helped them realize.<\/p>\n Rhyu\u2019s assessment helps to explain the joy that permeates the family compound, from the pink Los Angeles Toile wallpaper in the bedroom (humorously adorned with illustrations of L.A.\u2019s beloved mountain lion P-22<\/a>, the La Brea Tar Pits<\/a> and Grauman\u2019s Chinese Theatre<\/a>) to the tricked-out garage on the first floor, which includes overhead bike storage, an espresso maker, a mini-fridge and a large flat-screen TV that allows Sydney-born Burroughs to watch Formula One car races and cricket games at 4 a.m. when his family is asleep.<\/p>\n Burroughs even installed a subwoofer speaker beneath the sofa to give the garage the feel of a movie theater during family movie nights. \u201cJack went flying off the couch when we watched \u2018Top Gun,\u2019 \u201d he said of their son, laughing.<\/p>\n Tour the two-story ADU with a rooftop deck here.<\/a><\/p>\n A serene guest room in Mid-Wilshire that\u2019s a light-filled studio for a textile artist (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n After living in her two-bedroom apartment in Los Feliz for more than a decade, Debra Weiss<\/a> encountered a problem experienced by many renters in Los Angeles: She was evicted.<\/p>\n When her son-in-law spotted a charming two-bedroom apartment near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Zillow, her initial reaction was, \u201cI want this,\u201d Weiss said of the fourplex.<\/p>\n The rental had high ceilings, oak floors, ample sunlight, an appealing fireplace, a garage and a washer and dryer. <\/p>\n In the guest room, a wall hanging composed of three separate weavings in a gingham check pattern is embroidered with a series of characters she based on her 5-year-old granddaughter\u2019s drawings. \u201cIt\u2019s about people coming together in chaos and supporting each other,\u201d Weiss said. <\/p>\n Even though the process of having to move was stressful, Weiss is happy with her new home and neighborhood. \u201cI take the Metro bus everywhere and hardly ever drive,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything worked out perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n Tour the sunny Mid-Wilshire fourplex here.<\/a><\/p>\n A \u201970s-inspired speakeasy\/lounge in Highland Park that\u2019s hidden behind a bookcase (Carianne Older \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n Standing beneath a glittering tiered chandelier in her pink \u201ccloffice,\u201d designer Dani Dazey<\/a> shares the essence of her colorful style: \u201cFrom the wallpaper to the artwork, my home is a reflection of me right now,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a personal and hip twist on traditional design.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than embrace rustic farmhouse style or minimalist Midcentury Modern design<\/a> as is often the case in Los Angeles, Dazey has taken the Highland Park home she shares with husband Phillip Butler and given it an over-the-top maximalist spin.<\/p>\n The speakeasy lounge, accessible through a hidden door sliding bookcase, is a \u201870s-inspired sanctuary with a modular sofa, curtains and wallpaper in the same floral pattern. <\/p>\n Their home is proof, that our homes should make us happy by reflecting who we are. In Dazey\u2019s case, that translates to bold color, lush textures and retro vibes.<\/p>\n Tour the Highland Park home here.<\/a><\/p>\n A memento-filled living room in Long Beach is an ode to \u2018the people we love\u2019 (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n A sense of fun permeates the rooms of Cecilia and Abraham Beltran\u2019s colorful one-bedroom Midcentury apartment in Long Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both have a deep passion for Midcentury design<\/a> and color,\u201d Cecilia shares.<\/p>\n The Beltrans\u2019 apartment encapsulates their design sensibility and \u201cabove all, the people we love,\u201d Cecilia says. There\u2019s bold, Midcentury Modern-inspired furniture the couple found on Craigslist, tongue-in-cheek smiling pillows and the \u201cHole to Another Universe\u201d<\/a> wall decal by Blik, which can be removed when they move. Peppered throughout the space are mementos from their travels, such as the limited-edition art print \u201cLa Famille\u201d purchased on a trip to London in 2023.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Cecilia says, she wants the apartment \u201cto feel like us. I think we pulled it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
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