The Boldest Decision in This California Home Was Leaving So Much Undone – 'The Simplicity Allows it to Sing'
Shrouded in trees, this sprawling LA home has an aesthetic that is peaceful, pared back, and with plenty to delight, creating a sense of sanctuary both inside and out
'At night, you can sit outside and hear the frogs – the area is very quiet,’ says Tanya Saban, co-founder of Broad Project, the studio behind this home in Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles. Shrouded by such evocatively California trees as avocado, lemon, olive, and eucalyptus, the house was designed not with a client in mind, but for the designers to flex their decor muscles, work together for the first time, and see what they could create, a calling card in the biggest and boldest of ways.
'The neighborhood feels like a reprieve from the noise and madness of LA, and that sense of sanctuary, of retreat from the city, is what we wanted to fill this project with,' Tanya adds.
Kitchen: A classic farmhouse table and rustic timber flooring create the perfect mood for easy, relaxed living. Ceiling light, Poul Henningsen. Mirror, Michael Anastassiades. Central table, custom-designed by Broad Project. Walls in Roman Clay plaster, Portola Paints
And so a peacefully pared-back aesthetic was developed, a melding of creative minds from different backgrounds, fusing architecture from collaborator Sarah Luhtala with Broad Project's decor know-how to create this stucco-fronted home with its sweeping arches, its blend of old and new, and its surprising number of totally blank walls.
'We leaned into the idea of having empty space, because there is a sense of sanctuary in the idea of simplicity,' says studio co-founder Lucie Klimes. 'Instead, we honed in on the details we loved and made sure not to over-clutter them, to allow space and air for them to be appreciated.'
Living Room: The bare window has allowed the view to look almost like a painting. Sofa and coffee table, custom-designed by Broad Project. Black side table, J.M. Szymanski. Green side table, Ross Hansen. Rug, Amadi Carpets
But this isn't your classic minimalist mansion, and there is plenty to delight the eye as it travels around the three levels, with its four bedrooms sandwiching the living area on the middle, ground-level floor. There are Rose Uniacke fabrics, vintage dining chairs by Tobia and Afra Scarpa, and lights by Michael Anastassiades and Charlotte Perriand. Around these carefully curated pieces, you'll find a backdrop of Roman Clay walls, often left unadorned, their texture enough to enhance the design elements within.
'We wanted it all to feel yummy,' says Lucie. 'We wanted your feet to want to touch the hand-tumbled oak flooring, for the hand-poured terracotta tiles to be really inviting.'
Bedroom: This space was kept purposefully minimal to suit anyone who might stay in the future. Pendant light, Gallery L7. Chair, Den LA. Custom bed by Broad Project
'Yes, and everything had to be wonderful to sit at, or even on,' Tanya adds. 'We pictured the owners opening the window, having a glass of wine, sitting actually on the island, talking to their friends.'
Every detail in the house was chosen with this relaxed and gently hedonistic sense in mind. 'If design doesn't make you feel poetic in some way, then it hasn't done its job,' Lucie says.
Primary Bedroom: 'It feels really good to be in this space. All the textures are so romantic and peaceful,' Lucie says. Bed and bedside table, custom-designed by Broad Project. Artwork, Dané Estes. Walls in limewash plaster, Domingue Finishes
As the project developed, so did Broad Project's viewpoint, and it's through the ideas on display here that the designers were able to piece together their shared sense of style.
'We love to mix the old and new, to have vintage pieces aging gracefully and lending character and soul to more contemporary things,' Lucie says.
Bathroom: Only one wall was clad with marble and the rest left blank to ‘exercise restraint and let the plaster shine,’ Sarah says. Bath, The Water Monopoly. Bench, Bennet Schlesinger. Walls in Roman Clay plaster, Portola Paints
'We want to exercise restraint,' says Sarah Luhtala, the architectural collaborator who intends to work with Lucie and Tanya again.
'Take the bathrooms, for example. You can fill them with marble very easily, but with too many gleaming surfaces, they can quickly become cold. When you pull back a little and only have it on the one wall behind the bathtub, it becomes merely an accent; the plaster seems to shine more, the window somehow feels like it lets in more light. The simplicity allows the room to sing.'
Dining Area: In the corner of the den, this vintage dining table is tucked away but allows whoever sits there to feel connected to the rest of the home. Table, Pierre Chapo. Chairs, Galerie Half. Pendant, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos. Artwork by Tycjan Knut
'And we want to create a home that has the perfect canvas,' Tanya says. 'Where you have space and time to add pieces gradually that you've collected on your travels, where the blank walls are works of art in their own right, ready for you to add an actual artwork whenever you happen to find the perfect piece. We want our work to be visual palette cleansers as much as they are spaces to live in.'
Exterior: Designer Lucie says her favorite part of the pool is ‘the jacuzzi element to it’. Chairs, House of Leon
Nowhere is this more evident than in the kitchen, which Sarah says 'set the precedent and tone for the whole house.' 'We refused to put upper cabinets because they'd have sacrificed the light from the arched windows and instead chose materials like rustic woods that are the design equivalent of asking your shoulders to drop, of ensuring that you feel relaxed.'
It's a prime example of the studio's interpretation of what peaceful design looks like: a paring back not necessarily of color or texture, nor even of objects, but of ideas, allowing the best and most visually enticing ones to shine.
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