A Classic Courtyard Duplex in West Hollywood with a Trove of Exemplary Design
2018.10.04
Casey Smith didn’t come to Los Angeles to get discovered, to make it big, or even to open a West Coast branch of Studio Cavaco, the New York-based agency he cofounded with stylist and creative director Paul Cavaco. “It wasn’t about business. It was about finding an escape,” says the dashing design addict and serial home renovator, who still keeps a foot in New York City and his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. “It’s obviously an incredibly exciting time in L.A., and I wanted to give it a try,” he adds.
Smith alighted in Los Angeles late last year. After seeing no fewer than 40 potential homes, he settled on a 1928 duplex in one of West Hollywood’s classic courtyard buildings, smack in the middle of the city’s designated Courtyard Thematic Historic District. “I knew this was the place the moment I walked in. It was just gritty enough, completely authentic and original. It had a very glamorous past, so I didn’t mind that it had a few cracks,” he recalls, describing the Norma Desmond–itude of the situation.
After giving the place a good scrub, a fresh coat of paint, and some upgraded hardware and fixtures, Smith turned his attention to conjuring the serene, worldly ambience he always envisioned for his WeHo hideaway. The mood is established immediately upon entry, in the pristine, white, sun-kissed living room. Alluring and idiosyncratic, the centuries-spanning decorative mix encompasses a contemporary Faye Toogood Roly Poly chair, an 18th-century gilded mirror acquired in Rome, a vintage Castiglione Snoopy lamp, and a smattering of Asian accents.
“I love collecting and shopping, so this was a great opportunity to pull together things I’ve had for years and newer pieces I bought specifically for Los Angeles. Everything in here has some special meaning to me,” Smith explains of his polyglot decor. A hanging light fixture and floor lamp from Apparatus—the company’s cofounders, Gabriel Hendifar and Jeremy Anderson, are friends of the homeowner—grace the lounge area adjacent to the living room. The serene ensemble also includes Charlotte Perriand–style chairs, a 1970s coffee table with a disco vibe, and a massive 18th-century painting of the brothers of King Richard III, hung rakishly on its side. “I had to find a place for the painting, and this was my solution. I think it feels super-modern,” he avers.
Smith’s master bedroom pumps up the volume on color and pattern within the otherwise subdued interiors. One wall is covered by an unframed abstract painting of Venetian plaster on canvas by artist Zackery Tyler. In front of the painting, an unlikely albeit felicitous grouping of a Chinese screen, a Perriand table outfitted with Santa Fe ceramics, and a chair by midcentury master Rudolph Schindler testify to Smith’s keen eye and adventurous aesthetic sensibility. A Serge Mouille spider-arm pendant lamp, a well-worn wood bench from a WPA post office, and a graphic black-and-white carpet round out the eccentric assemblage.
The guest bedroom is anchored by another distinctly personal piece—an antique bed given to Smith’s chum Andrew Cinnamon of Manhattan-based Cinnamon Projects by his mother as a 15th-birthday present. It’s the perfect decorative flourish to signal the “all in the family” spirit that animates Smith’s seductive home. “My friends refer to this place as 'the inn,'” he says, laughing. “When I’m in another city, there’s always some New York interior designer holed up here.”
Author: Mayer Rus
Photographer: Daniel Kukla
Stylist: Natalie Shirinan
Source: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/casey-smith-la-home
