Spanish Style in Los Angeles

David Bernardi bought a 1917 Spanish-style duplex in Los Angeles and began imagining how he might conduct a renovation with the help of the great architect Fritz Haeg. The overhangs and wing-walls of the corner openings help shade windows from the intense southern and western sun. Two small rooms and a closet were combined to make the pine-plywood lined ‘gathering room.All rooms are living rooms. The house contains almost no free-standing furniture. Instead, there are curvy built-ins like the bench that matches the curves of the dining table. The walls of the media room are covered in inch-thick cork, typically found in recording studios. The curve of the two-tone bathroom wall, concrete below and cedar paneling above, is meant to reflect those of the Hollywood Hills, visible through the window. The six-foot-long sink is carved out of glued laminated timber, with two basins sunken into its wavy surface and finished in marine varnish. Every room has its own color, with the brighter colors reserved for the upstairs.The office, on the bottom floor, is adjacent to the gym and pool. The Spanish-style gable roof of the 1917 house was left intact above a new entry court clad in redwood.