Magnum Opus
Project info
Overview
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Type
- Residential
- Year
- 2021
- Sq. Footage
- 25,000
It isn’t often an architect and interior design studio collaborate in such a true pas de deux, each point of view enhancing the other. For this ground-up Los Angeles home, architect Marwan Al Sayed of Masastudio and Kelly Wearstler Studio were given extraordinary freedom to create something with the soul and patina of a restored architectural gem. Set across two acres and more than 20,000 square feet, the home, pool pavilion, and guest house unfold around a circular courtyard anchored by an old-growth olive tree, connecting the interiors to nature through glass walls and sliding doors. Cast-in-place concrete and plaster give the structure the feeling of a ruin in the best possible way, while tactile wood floors, vintage pieces, and layers of texture and warmth create a timeless setting for the clients’ expansive art collection.
Throughout the home, autumn colors were introduced to counterbalance the severity of the concrete. The sitting room connects to an expansive, elliptical courtyard. Above the fireplace is a painting by Zhu Jinshi, and the coffee tables are by Vincenzo de Cotiis. In front of the Cubist-like portrait by George Condo are a pair of black Kayak armchairs by Eric Schmitt. The grid-like side table is by Sung Jang.
A beveled staircase does the quiet work of connection. Its wire-brushed timber carries the building's exterior language inward. Above it hangs a Leonor Antunes.
To give those concrete spaces some architectural weight, the walls were given wood paneling. Calming, monotone fabric choices are punctuated with crafted objects, such as a bronze stone side table by Misha Kahn and a grid-like, brass ceiling light by Philippe Malouin for Roll & Hill, and a painting in oil and mineral pigment titled Dialogue by Lee Ufan. In the primary bath, laser-cut marble panels on the windows create privacy while also letting in natural light. The gold mirrored art on the wall is by Christodoulos Panayiotou.
For the pool pavilion, furniture was kept sculptural, with reupholstered and restored midcentury modern lounge seating by Kwok Hoi Chan for Steiner, and tubular-looking ceramic chandeliers by Entler Studio. A striking red and blue painting—Pinocchio, by Gene Davis—introduces color to the dining area, while a fabric work by Meike Legler hangs above the fireplace. The painting at right, Baby It’s Cold Inside (Summer Version), is by Friedrich Kunath. The black sculpture is Euresis by Pedro Reyes.
