Culver City Oasis
Author:Abigail StoneWith the help of TEN Design Studio, a family of four creates their dream house in Culver City
When the clients moved to L.A. from Brooklyn, they lived with the wife’s parents in Manhattan Beach while they scoured the city looking for a neighborhood that met their criteria. They found it in Culver City. Centrally located, with easy accessibility to her parents, it had great schools, a weekly farmer’s market, proximity to the beach and high walkability. After seven years—and two children—they decided that this was, indeed, the location where they would construct their dream house.
The formal living room’s sofa sits on a rug from Jaipur. the chair was discovered at HD Buttercup. The coffee table is from
Soho Home.
They were hoping for a home that combined traditional shapes and modern finishes and wanted a space that welcomed friends and family, that worked as well for their children as it did for formal dinner parties and casual pool parties. It needed to accommodate the fact that the clients both work from home and that they have frequent out-of-town guests. They reached out to TEN Design Studio to help them turn their dream into reality
stools; Industry West. pendants; Visual Comfort. papier mâché bowls were found on Ets
Founded in Michigan ash KLH Homes, the design-first construction studio, whose credo is about “creating spontaneous, rad, and modern spaces for passionate souls,” followed a long-standing tradition when they expanded to Los Angeles, rebranding and renaming themselves as Ten Studios. “Our design approach is to create light-filled, layered spaces that are injected with warmth and a bit of quirk,” says Liz Hoekzema, the firm’s Creative Director and Co-Founder. “We aim to provide a unique perspective, while honoring each clients’ singular setting and personal story.”
The wallpaer on the dining room’s ceiling by flat vernacular. The banquette and table are custom. Then ceiling fixtures are by Visual Comfort.
Constrained by a narrow city lot and a wish to create a home that fit seamlessly into the character of the neighborhood, TEN Design studio decided to take a “courtyard first approach”, wrapping the main house and an attached garage around two sides of the pool. Large 20 foot sliders the blur the line between inside and out, open both buildings to the exterior. They installed a sculptural staircase at the intersection of the two buildings that winds up towards the private rooftop deck. Its light framework, washed in white, reads as flirtatious against the dark gray siding, bringing an air of frivolity and fun to the backyard and confirming it as an entertaining space.
Benjamin Moore’s Blue Note + Polo Blue ensures the media room is cozy; the sofa is from
Interior Define.
Our team was able to create a variety of distinct spaces under the umbrella of a cohesive, albeit eclectic, aesthetic, interweaving private space and public areas” Hoekzema notes. “We were even able to provide a grassy area at the back of the property for lemon trees and a fire pit. Win, win!”
The angular chair in the prmary bedroom was discovered at Sun at Six,. The bed is from DWR x Sarah Ellisonside and is flanked by side tables from Arteriors.
The stool in the primary bathroom is by Lulu and Georgia x Sarah Sherman Samuel. It sits on a vintage runner.
“The clients’ love the home! They report that they’re living in it exactly as they had imagined!,” say Hoekzema. “They continuously find themselves delighted with the way the light comes in through a window, the look and feel of the kitchen island stone, and the impact of the dramatic black shake siding.”
“For the wife, the way the house wraps around the pool area brings to mind ‘Mad Men’ valley pool parties. The neutral colors + textures of the principal suite feel like a nod to the Getty and the tile wing wall in the principal suite conjures up the iconic tile wall at LAX airport. In her words, it’s a symbol of homecoming after a long trip. It really is their dream house.”
