Houzz Tour: Classic Spanish Style Gets a Modern Edge

Rounded curves, modern furniture and vintage ads mingle beautifully in a 1930s Los Angeles home

December 10, 2013
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
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Like many house hunters in Los Angeles, actor, writer, director and producer Andy Berman (Psych; Mirror Mirror) was looking for a midcentury modern home in the Hollywood Hills. He was fascinated by the famous Case Study houses and wanted a glass box of his own. But he couldn’t find anything.

Frustrated by coming up short, he checked into the Biltmore Four Seasons hotel, a 1930s Spanish-colonial-revival-style building in Montecito, California, with plenty of plaster and arches. Looking around, he wondered what it’d be like to add modern design to such a classic setting. “Could I incorporate all those things I love into a Spanish style, and would that even be cool?” he says.

Houzz at a Glance
Location: Los Feliz, California
Who lives here: Andy Berman and his Great Dane, Herschel
Size: 2,500 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Contemporary Living Room by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Berman bought a test subject, a 1930s Spanish home in Los Feliz, with the idea of mixing its rounded curves and classic details with modern furnishings. He imagined a downtown loft set inside the large-scale rooms. “An eclectic-industrial interpretation of 1930s design,” Berman says.

To achieve this, though, he needed a lot more furniture. All he was bringing to his new home was a 1940s architectural file coffee table, his favorite piece. One day while shopping for furnishings, he found the builder of that very same coffee table sitting in his showroom surrounded by similar designs. Berman couldn’t believe it. He invited the designer, J.C. Hyrb of Style de Vie and Twenty Gauge, to check out his home and consider his vision. The two hit it off, and Hyrb agreed to consult on the interior design and build almost every piece of furniture.

They kept the classic arches but replaced the coffee-with-cream-colored walls typical of that era with white. They installed about 80 recessed lights throughout the house.
Contemporary Living Room by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
The architectural file coffee table, shown here, set the stage for the furnishings, most of which Hyrb designed and built himself.

Hyrb took inspiration for the sofa from big sectionals found in downtown lofts, and the fact that Berman has a Great Dane and needed something large and durable. The fabric is from an old cotton army tent. He added traditional tufting to play on the 1930s-meets-modern-loft theme.
Contemporary Living Room by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Contemporary Living Room by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
The 1930s ceramic mantel remained, but they painted it cement gray, working the paint into the nooks and crannies to keep the details but imbue the piece with modern color and texture. “We wanted to exaggerate what the opposite of what this room is asking for,” Berman says. Framed typography with the names of old British bus routes hangs above. The sconces are original to the home.

The chairs are a modern spin on the traditional club chair, with a steel cage built from scratch and vintage leather. Hyrb also built the side table between them, using a yellow ammunition case from the 1940s. A 1940s propeller sits atop. “It’s all period stuff with a modern twist,” Berman says.

The console is also Hyrb’s. It’s old army library files wrapped in wood. It sits beneath a vintage Woody Allen movie poster, of which Berman has many. Hyrb covered the footstools in coffee and feed bags. “I’m really into advertising, numbers, letters, graphics,” Berman says.
Contemporary Home Office by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
In the office, off the living room, Berman and Hyrb took advantage of the voluminous space with a 1960s bubble chair set against the original steel casement windows.

Hyrb designed and fabricated the desk and chair. He also added the 1960s-era color-block painting and a signed photograph of Paul Simon.
Contemporary Home Office by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
All the floors in the house are original and have been restained. The framed photos are vintage advertisements.
Contemporary by Style De Vie
Style De Vie

Contemporary by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Hyrb designed the spider lamp above the vintage steel table. An actual Wonka Bar prop from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory sits in a glass case with a movie quote spoken by Wonka: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

“Everyone has their one piece of movie memorabilia they’d love to get,” Berman says. “I own mine. I’ll never sell it.”
Mediterranean Kitchen by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Mediterranean Kitchen by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Berman and Hyrb left the kitchen almost alone, just adding recessed lighting and upgrading the appliances. The rest is mostly original, including the farm sink and Spanish floors. “It would have been wrong to try and twist that kitchen too much,” Berman says.
Mediterranean Staircase by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Berman is really into stripes and lines, and wanted to play off modernizing the classic staircase, so he added a runner. Plus, it helps his Great Dane get up and down the stairs.

In the corner is a 1940s phone stand from Paramount Studios.
Mediterranean Staircase by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
The wrought iron stairs and light fixture are original.
Contemporary Bedroom by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
In the main bedroom, the modern spin on classic style continues. Hyrb created an upholstered bed out of men’s pinstripe suit fabric. For the bench a cushion made from a vintage Italian army blanket sits on a frame of powder coated steel. He reworked a vintage 1970s chair with vintage leather, inspired by baseball gloves.

The light is an original factory light.
Mediterranean Bathroom by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
As with the kitchen, Hyrb and Berman left the bathrooms pretty much as they found them, although some newer pieces had been added by a previous owner.

Above the toilet hangs a signed photograph of Jake LaMotta, the boxer who was played by Robert De Niro in Raging Bull. “It just fit because it’s a play on a 1940s man bathroom,” Berman says.
Mediterranean Bedroom by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
The windows in this guest room, also mostly left unchanged, are all original, from the 1930s.
Contemporary Bedroom by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Apart from a few furnishings, Hyrb and Berman left the spare rooms alone.
Mediterranean Patio by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
French doors open to this second-floor balcony.
Contemporary by Style De Vie
Style De Vie
Herschel the Great Dane relaxes on the living room sofa. “He was my best design element,” Berman says.
Comment78
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Comments (78)
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flowerbill
I could def live here! Thank you for leaving the beautiful original tile in the bathroom and kitchen.
   
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docnick
Liked the dog....
   
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The Sofa Company
Amazing space. Love the mixture of modern and contemporary details.
   

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