These L.A. Homes Are Globally Inspired

Mayan temples, Italianate mansions, Spanish colonialism and Asian Zen retreats are all represented in Los Angeles. But one architectural type, born out of forward-looking early 20th century European modernism and boosted here by the travel boom, perfectly fits L.A.: international style.

This modernist-naturalist movement is still evolving and evident
in the Karu home project in Santa Monica, where Finnish, Ukrainian, Dutch, German, French and British elements converged for a ripped-to-the-studs remodel of a 1980s condo that belongs to a Finnish/Ukrainian couple.

The transformation into a unique European-feeling home lined with stone, wood and dark neutrals that deliver a stark, masculine look which straddles Bauhaus industrialism and modern primitivism has an inviting communal focal point: the kitchen. This is where German cabinet maker Eggersmann came in, “to interpret the owner’s aesthetic in a practical, seamlessly functioning kitchen,” says British designer James McCabe, Eggersmann’s L.A. showroom manager. “It’s a very German look of clean lines, no handles and functional — that’s all key to our kitchens.”

“The clients love modern,” says project interior designer Jalda Hoff, who’s Dutch and a partner at Hoff-Genoist. The firm’s other partner, French architect Bertrand Genoist, handled the structural part of the transformation. “They are attracted to Germanic functionality. Eggersmann was such a good fit,” she adds.

The central visual is the Eggersmann kitchen island, created from natural stone and with strategic underlighting that showcases those Santa Monica sunsets. “That’s where everyone will end up,” McCabe says. “It is spectacular, and it’s design that transports us to that happy place.”

Adds Hoff, “Whether from a vacation or another feeling, design means actualizing what people want to create in their home. We bring in what they love — where they have had great memories.”

Around the World
L.A.’s latest listings include a chateau and medieval castle

WEST HOLLYWOOD

LOCATION: 8724 St. Ives Drive

PRICE: $7.6 million

HIGHLIGHTS: This 1936-built international-style home once belonged to famed photographer Herb Ritts. “It has the blending of art deco and art moderne that merged into what became known as the international style,” says listing agent Ernie Carswell of Douglas Elliman.

BEVERLY HILLS

LOCATION: 51 Beverly Park Way

PRICE: $48.5 million

HIGHLIGHTS: Set on two acres in the Beverly Park gated community, this 1996 chateaulike home has a vineyard. “The exterior transports you to the French countryside, and that energy is carried [into] the interior,” says listing agent Sally Forster Jones at Compass.

HOLLYWOOD HILLS

LOCATION: 8054 Fareholm Drive

PRICE: $3 million

HIGHLIGHTS: This Spanish castle with a mission-style bell tower and Moroccan touches in Mount Olympus recalls Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra. “You could be in Granada at Alhambra,” says Heather T. Roy at Douglas Elliman. “It’s medieval-chic.”