California Soul

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Sagrada Studio revitalizes a Spanish Colonial home in Hancock Park

In the living room, the armchair and coffee table were found at Last Ditch Design. Photos by Charlotte Lea.

The slick interiors of this 100 year old home in Hancock Park didn’t gel with its warm and welcoming Spanish Colonial exterior. “It was odd to see the outside of the home and then walk inside and be confronted with this midcentury vibe,” says Sagrada Studio’s founder and principal designer Hema Persad. “It felt like the interior belonged to a different house.”

The dining room features vintage chairs and a painting found at Vintage on Point. Photos by Charlotte Lea.

The clients were eager to align the interiors with the exterior. They wanted to restore it in a California-friendly way,” Persad says, explaining. “They travel all over the world so they have a very global perspective and an appreciation for authentic design.” The couple were also interested in including tiles and colors that nodded to their upcoming wedding. 

The kitchen cabinets are green courtesy of Benjamin Moore’s Dill Weed in Satin. The counter stools are by Design Within Reach.
Photos by Charlotte Lea.

That wedding, which would be taking place in Mexico in four months, truncated Persad’s timeline. “They wanted to move in right afterwards,” she says. Fortunately, her eclectic past—she spent a decade as a lawyer, then transitioned to celebrity fashion styling—placed her in good stead here; she understands how to quickly get to the heart of an issue and how to work quickly and efficiently under pressure to meet a deadline. Here, that meant the focus would be on arresting surfaces and vintage furniture. “We spent the budget on pretty finishes because we didn’t have time to renovate or fiddle with the layout,” she says.

The primary bedroom features a custom bed by Sagrada Studio and Portola Paint’s Tikal tone.
Photos by Charlotte Lea.
In the primary bathroom, the fixtures are by Brizo, the vanity is custom and the floor tiles are from Historic Decorative Materials. Photos by Charlotte Lea.
The shower tile is from Zia. Photos by Charlotte Lea.

Her team repainted the exterior and replaced a back wall of windows with glass sliders to open up the home to the backyard. The kitchen’s cabinets were washed in Benjamin Moore’s Dill Weed. She chose substantial brass fixtures. Countertops throughout the house were replaced with marbles and quartzites with exuberant veining. Another stone encased the primary bathroom’s tub. Rough clay tiles, sourced from Zia Tiles, layered in additional character. “Everything was designed around complementing the natural stone and restoring the Spanish soul of the home,” Persad points out. “We added moulding, creamy white paints, plaster and Limewash throughout to be more sympathetic to the age and style of the house.” 

Roman clay paint by Portola Paints douses the guest bathroom. Photos by Charlotte Lea.
The guest bathroom shower fixture are by Kingston Brass and the tile is from Zia. Photos by Charlotte Lea.

Vintage wood furniture and softly curved and upholstered pieces underscore the home’s emphasis on texture. The result is a home that is immediately inviting. “The clients immediately got down to entertaining and sharing the home with their friends and family,” Persad says. “They felt the house was a true reflection of the things they love.”