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Houzz Tour: Honoring the Soul of a 1920s Spanish-Style Home
Graceful arches, handmade tile and expert craftsmanship restore original character to a century-old Los Angeles home
In the colorful Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake, a pair of Hollywood writers purchased a 1920s Spanish-style house that they set out to renovate and expand. Let’s just say plot twists ensued, and by the time interior designers Jonathan and Jess Taylor of Taylor + Taylor entered the scene, the house had been gutted and reframed, but not a single finish had been considered. Nor was there a design deck or any drawings. “It was in a rough spot,” Jonathan says.
Cut to today and the house has a timeless, stylish but not too precious look that reflects the Taylors’ and the homeowners’ shared respect for the original architecture and their near-obsession with detail. See how the story unfolded below.
Cut to today and the house has a timeless, stylish but not too precious look that reflects the Taylors’ and the homeowners’ shared respect for the original architecture and their near-obsession with detail. See how the story unfolded below.
Upon entering the home, the living room is to the left, off a central hallway.
Jess and Jonathan had the coffee table fabricated from stone and metal. The other furnishings are a mix of modern and vintage pieces, and the rug is an outdoorsy-looking natural fiber.
“We love throwing different textures and elements together. I love a nice, clean-lined modern thing next to something that’s worn in and beat up and beautiful,” Jonathan says.
The home’s Douglas fir ceiling beams, some structural and some decorative, were in place when the Taylors came aboard. They tested 30 or so stain combinations to achieve a worn-in tone that could feel believable and complement the rift- and quartersawn white oak floors.
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Jess and Jonathan had the coffee table fabricated from stone and metal. The other furnishings are a mix of modern and vintage pieces, and the rug is an outdoorsy-looking natural fiber.
“We love throwing different textures and elements together. I love a nice, clean-lined modern thing next to something that’s worn in and beat up and beautiful,” Jonathan says.
The home’s Douglas fir ceiling beams, some structural and some decorative, were in place when the Taylors came aboard. They tested 30 or so stain combinations to achieve a worn-in tone that could feel believable and complement the rift- and quartersawn white oak floors.
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You’ll note the absence of trim around all of the windows, which is consistent with Spanish style. Instead, they are kerfed, meaning the drywall rounds into the window jambs — a detail that requires precise and skilled installation. “I am the bane of most drywallers!” Jonathan jokes.
That painstaking approach to every detail is why it’s difficult to discern what’s original and what’s new in the home.
That painstaking approach to every detail is why it’s difficult to discern what’s original and what’s new in the home.
The structural wood-burning fireplace dividing the living room and dining room posed the biggest challenge to the designers.
“It took a lot of work to figure out, ‘How do we [create] a real sense of separation and wholeness without going too far?’ ” Jonathan says. “We landed at some nice finished plaster that felt like an opportunity to accentuate it without making it too precious.”
To create the green Moroccan tile surround, they worked with a family-owned company in Los Angeles that has made zellige tile for generations.
“The ambition was to achieve something that at once was fresh and inspiring to them but also really honored the soul of the home,” Jonathan says.
“It took a lot of work to figure out, ‘How do we [create] a real sense of separation and wholeness without going too far?’ ” Jonathan says. “We landed at some nice finished plaster that felt like an opportunity to accentuate it without making it too precious.”
To create the green Moroccan tile surround, they worked with a family-owned company in Los Angeles that has made zellige tile for generations.
“The ambition was to achieve something that at once was fresh and inspiring to them but also really honored the soul of the home,” Jonathan says.
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A long dining bench sits against the other side of the fireplace. The homeowners already owned the vintage dining chairs, but the designers had them stripped and reupholstered. The rug was from the homeowners rug collection — Jonathan says the Persian American owner’s father has collected them for years.
The ceramic pendant light is by Lou Glasgow of Claycafe, based in Levittown, Pennsylvania, who handmade several of the lighting fixtures in the home.
The ceramic pendant light is by Lou Glasgow of Claycafe, based in Levittown, Pennsylvania, who handmade several of the lighting fixtures in the home.
The designers painted the owners’ vintage tambour-door buffet, added custom pulls and topped it with stone to create a bar area at one end of the room.
The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore White Heron, a white that helped to balance out the green tones coming through the windows from the lush vegetation.
Jonathan cautions others not to select a color just because someone else used it. Instead, he says, “develop a relationship with a really good local paint store and whoever their color specialist is. Lean on them because they’re really, really, really useful people and know an incredible amount.”
That said, especially in homes with pets and kids, he does play favorites. “If it’s not getting a coating or lime wash, we default to Benjamin Moore Regal Select Matte. You can take a Magic Eraser to it all day long and it’ll clean up really beautifully,” Jonathan says.
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The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore White Heron, a white that helped to balance out the green tones coming through the windows from the lush vegetation.
Jonathan cautions others not to select a color just because someone else used it. Instead, he says, “develop a relationship with a really good local paint store and whoever their color specialist is. Lean on them because they’re really, really, really useful people and know an incredible amount.”
That said, especially in homes with pets and kids, he does play favorites. “If it’s not getting a coating or lime wash, we default to Benjamin Moore Regal Select Matte. You can take a Magic Eraser to it all day long and it’ll clean up really beautifully,” Jonathan says.
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The dining room opens to the kitchen, with a new tapered archway between them. The feature, which has an organic, plaster-like quality consistent with the home’s age and architecture, creates a sense of separation between the two spaces while keeping them connected.
“There is a reality that kitchens are more central to the function of our family lives and our social lives than they ever have been, which is wonderful,” Jonathan says. “But the notion to have little to no separation between [rooms] is a real miss oftentimes, because you sacrifice a lot of opportunities to have the transitions that make spaces feel homey.”
“There is a reality that kitchens are more central to the function of our family lives and our social lives than they ever have been, which is wonderful,” Jonathan says. “But the notion to have little to no separation between [rooms] is a real miss oftentimes, because you sacrifice a lot of opportunities to have the transitions that make spaces feel homey.”
Though based on a Belgian style, the floor’s all-natural clay tile is also a take on the traditional terra cotta found in Spanish-style homes. As it gets scuffed up, the deep black will become a lighter gray.
“Surfaces shouldn’t be precious,” Jonathan says. “If you design and build these kind of custom spaces right, things should get better with age, not worse.”
The laundry room is at the far end of the kitchen. Above its door, you can just make out a pretty little antique cast vent that provides ventilation.
“Surfaces shouldn’t be precious,” Jonathan says. “If you design and build these kind of custom spaces right, things should get better with age, not worse.”
The laundry room is at the far end of the kitchen. Above its door, you can just make out a pretty little antique cast vent that provides ventilation.
After considering dozens of shades of green, the designers mixed a custom paint for the cabinets that’s reminiscent of the vegetation outside. The cabinet hardware is unlacquered brass treated with a combination of solutions to give the metal just the right patina.
25 Colorful Kitchens in (Almost) Every Hue Under the Sun
25 Colorful Kitchens in (Almost) Every Hue Under the Sun
A 250-year-old French table, the corner of which you can see here, serves as a center island. The designers had 6 inches discreetly added to it to bring it up to counter height.
Behind it is another found piece, this one serving as a pantry. Jonathan waited with bated breath as it was shipped from the South.
“It’s just always so harrowing, showing an item like this to the client, because it’s in distressed form and that’s appealing, but you haven’t laid eyes on it, and no [number] of photos would tell you what shape the wood is actually in and how much life those hinges have left,” he says. “But the way it worked next to the white oak [upper cabinets] and the Doug fir beams on the ceiling, I couldn’t have imagined it coming together much better.”
Behind it is another found piece, this one serving as a pantry. Jonathan waited with bated breath as it was shipped from the South.
“It’s just always so harrowing, showing an item like this to the client, because it’s in distressed form and that’s appealing, but you haven’t laid eyes on it, and no [number] of photos would tell you what shape the wood is actually in and how much life those hinges have left,” he says. “But the way it worked next to the white oak [upper cabinets] and the Doug fir beams on the ceiling, I couldn’t have imagined it coming together much better.”
The countertops are a superdense engineered material called Geoluxe.
“It looks more believably close to nature than any sort of manmade quartz,” Jonathan says, but “fabricators despise you when you specify this, because it destroys all their blades.”
The backsplash is a since-discontinued handmade ceramic tile with a lot of variation, which gives it a warm, inviting feel.
“It looks more believably close to nature than any sort of manmade quartz,” Jonathan says, but “fabricators despise you when you specify this, because it destroys all their blades.”
The backsplash is a since-discontinued handmade ceramic tile with a lot of variation, which gives it a warm, inviting feel.
Off the entry hallway, across from the living room, is a small powder room wallpapered in a desert print. A vintage mirror from Mexico hangs above the punchy coral wall-hung sink from Kast Concrete Basins.
20 Powder Rooms With Eye-Catching Wallpaper
20 Powder Rooms With Eye-Catching Wallpaper
The primary suite is at the end of the hallway and opens to a balcony.
It’s furnished with a custom-made bed by local furniture company Lawson-Fenning, plus an assortment of found and contemporary pieces.
Key Measurements for a Dream Bedroom
It’s furnished with a custom-made bed by local furniture company Lawson-Fenning, plus an assortment of found and contemporary pieces.
Key Measurements for a Dream Bedroom
Another example of a new arch carefully crafted to look original forms the window nook in the back corner of the room.
“The way that we articulated the arch and wanted it to transition down and die into the perpendicular wall — those are the kind of details that to us make a space really sing,” Jonathan says. “If you nail those details, that’s really the difference between good conceptual design and good executed design.”
The contractor on this project lived in a Spanish-style home and had a real appreciation for this level of detail, Jonathan says, but he adds, “We still drove him a little nuts sometimes!”
“The way that we articulated the arch and wanted it to transition down and die into the perpendicular wall — those are the kind of details that to us make a space really sing,” Jonathan says. “If you nail those details, that’s really the difference between good conceptual design and good executed design.”
The contractor on this project lived in a Spanish-style home and had a real appreciation for this level of detail, Jonathan says, but he adds, “We still drove him a little nuts sometimes!”
Two custom medicine cabinets with shutters instead of mirrors provide storage in the adjacent primary bathroom, and a custom fabricated ladder holds towels.
The floor tile is the same tile used on the fireplace surround, but in another fun shade of green.
The floor tile is the same tile used on the fireplace surround, but in another fun shade of green.
The kitchen backsplash tile repeats in the primary bathroom’s shower. (The lighting in this image makes it appear darker.)
All of the interior doors are Douglas fir.
All of the interior doors are Douglas fir.
Geoluxe tops the custom white oak vanity, and wall-mounted faucets preserve counter space.
Since the trend is for tubs to be primarily about relaxation, Jonathan says, the arched nook (reminiscent of a Spanish-style altar) was designed for setting down a glass of wine or a candle for ambiance.
Shop from a curated collection of bathroom vanities
Since the trend is for tubs to be primarily about relaxation, Jonathan says, the arched nook (reminiscent of a Spanish-style altar) was designed for setting down a glass of wine or a candle for ambiance.
Shop from a curated collection of bathroom vanities
A third bathroom sits between two other bedrooms on the same level.
The homeowners now have two young kids, so this tub is probably more about getting them clean than relaxing.
A beautiful peachy-pink waterproof plaster covers the walls, and the floor is covered in zellige tile handmade in Morocco by the same family company mentioned previously. Jonathan says that although he and his creative partner wife rarely use concrete tile, it was appropriate in this architectural context.
The homeowners now have two young kids, so this tub is probably more about getting them clean than relaxing.
A beautiful peachy-pink waterproof plaster covers the walls, and the floor is covered in zellige tile handmade in Morocco by the same family company mentioned previously. Jonathan says that although he and his creative partner wife rarely use concrete tile, it was appropriate in this architectural context.
The homeowners opted for wood-framed windows throughout the house, which felt in keeping with the original architecture. But a single salvaged steel window — acquired before the Taylors arrived — graces this side of the home. The designers figured out how to waterproof and install it above a custom door they modeled after a 16th-century Spanish version.
They also went to great lengths to find salvaged tiles to restore the original tiled roof.
Like every successful story, there’s a sequel in development: Since these photos were taken, the designers have furnished the home’s exterior, including and installing an iron gazebo and rehabbing a plaster fountain, and they’re talking about adding a pool and greenhouse too.
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They also went to great lengths to find salvaged tiles to restore the original tiled roof.
Like every successful story, there’s a sequel in development: Since these photos were taken, the designers have furnished the home’s exterior, including and installing an iron gazebo and rehabbing a plaster fountain, and they’re talking about adding a pool and greenhouse too.
More on Houzz
Tour more homes
Hire a local design pro
Shop for your home
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their two young children
Location: Los Angeles
Size: 3,200 square feet (297 square meters); four bedrooms, three bathrooms
Designers: Jess and Jonathan Taylor of Taylor + Taylor
Architect: Fleetwood Fernandez Architects
The home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on more than half an acre of rolling landscape with dozens of fruit trees. To reach the original arched front entryway, pictured here, visitors wend their way through a jungle-like front yard.
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