Better of L.A. residence design: The 14 most memorable rooms of 2025

As a design author, I really feel fortunate to get to peek inside a few of Los Angeles’ most iconic houses.

This 12 months, I visited many locations, from Midcentury Fashionable landmarks by Edward Fickett and Raphael Soriano to humble residences stuffed with Fb Market finds.

The rooms that stayed with me lengthy after I left weren’t all the time probably the most luxurious or expensively furnished. As a substitute, they have been those that made me smile and left a long-lasting impression of the one that lives there.

Listed below are the 14 rooms that resonated with me this 12 months and the individuals who reside in them who impressed me much more.

A colourful, sun-drenched kitchen in Mount Washington that connects to nature

Priced out of a lot of Los Angeles, architect Lindsay Sheron and her husband Daniel purchased a vacant hillside lot in Mount Washington and proceeded to design and construct their very own residence. Working over a three-year interval, the couple served as normal contractors and did a lot of the work themselves. The kitchen is a standout, that includes shiny inexperienced customized kitchen cupboards painted Uncooked Tomatillo by Farrow & Ball, which add vitality to the single-wall structure. A customized metallic hood by Follow Fabrication, powder-coated the colour of a Pixie tangerine, provides a way of enjoyable.

“I wished our home to really feel actually heat and convey nature inside,” says Lindsay, referring to the Western hemlock tongue and groove planks that she and Daniel put in on the partitions and ceilings. “Wooden does the heavy lifting in undertaking that.”

Tour the customized constructed residence right here.

In Hollywood, a surprising front room that’s stuffed with second-hand furnishings

Caitlin Villarreal felt giddy the primary time she stepped contained in the Whitley Heights rental, a storied 1926 Mediterranean-style penthouse with towering ceilings, hand-carved wood beams and a pair of arched bookcases alongside an oversize fire.

“It had good vitality,” Villarreal mentioned of the 1,500-square-foot residence she rents in a historic neighborhood the place Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin and Bette Davis as soon as lived. “It’s iconic simply by standing tall 12 months after 12 months. It has floor-to-ceiling Outdated Hollywood home windows that blow open unexpectedly identical to within the motion pictures. It doesn’t really feel like a rental. It appears like a perpetually residence.”

Tour the Hollywood penthouse right here.

A Midcentury Fashionable eating room in Studio Metropolis that Raphael Soriano would approve of

Architect Linda Brettler’s record of issues she loves about her Raphael Soriano-designed house is lengthy, regardless that the all-aluminum construction, which was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1997, was in determined want of updating when she bought it in 2021. “I like doing tasks like this the place I get to have my very own hand and really feel, however I’m nonetheless honoring what was right here,” Brettler says. “I’m making an attempt to create an idealized model of what the home would appear like now.” Within the eating room, a replica of a Millard Sheets portray, rendered by Cal Poly Pomona college students on Tyvek, is mounted on a cork-lined wall. Above the portray, she has mounted a projector display screen for film nights and video video games.

Tour the historic all-aluminum residence right here.

A contemporary West Hollywood front room adorned with pets in thoughts

“My authentic inspiration was to match the furnishings to the kitties so I don’t see their cat hair,” anesthesiologist Jeffrey Hamilton says of the West Hollywood condominium he shares together with his boyfriend David Poli, his cats Romulus and Remus and Poli’s Husky combine, Janeway. “The cats very a lot knowledgeable the colour scheme. I discover them so good-looking; it felt like having matching furnishings was sensible.”

In the lounge, Hamilton selected a camel-colored Curvo couch in velvet by Goop for CB2, which he discovered on Fb Market. Equally, the accompanying swivel chairs from HD Buttercup and the barstool seats within the kitchen are upholstered in Bengal and Husky-durable textiles that camouflage their rescues pet hair.

“Jeffrey likes to say that every little thing in his residence is a rescue, together with me,” says Poli jokingly.

Tour the West Hollywood condominium right here.

A shocking Silver Lake kitchen that doubles as a retro video retailer

Chris Rose fondly remembers the times when he labored on the unbiased video retailer I Luv Video in Austin, Texas.

Now an L.A.-based author, director and producer, Rose, 41, remembers the Austin retailer’s eclectic assortment of cult oddities and world cinema.

Though he can not go to the video retailer, Rose doesn’t must go far to lease nowadays, as he has introduced an analogous but distinctive assortment to the kitchen of his one-bedroom bungalow in Silver Lake.

Tour the Silver Lake residence right here.

Two school mates remodel a Glassell Park front room (and storage) into an art-filled escape

Antonio Adriano Puleo didn’t intend to renovate his conventional 1946 bungalow, however after consulting with architectural designer Ben Warwas, who advised him he might remodel the home right into a “perpetually residence,” the artist modified his plans.

“The lounge wasn’t large enough, and it featured an enormous pink brick fire that had doorways on both facet of it, resulting in the yard,” mentioned Warwas.

The lounge of the principle home is now open and ethereal, with customized cupboards and millwork by James Melinat that showcase the art work Puleo made himself and the items he has collected for greater than 30 years. The lounge’s fire is gone, however the wood mantle stays atop a console behind the couch, graced with a sequence of colourful ceramic planters by Ashley Campbell and Brian Porray of Pleased Hour Ceramics.

“Little tweaks completely reworked the home,” Warwas mentioned.

Tour the home and ADU right here.

A superb moist bar in a West Hollywood residence that’s good for events

Rising up in a small city outdoors of Cleveland, Tyler Piña was fascinated by Los Angeles and the glamour of Hollywood.

“My dad grew up out right here, and it’s the place my mother and father met,” says the 33-year-old screenwriter. “I keep in mind previous Polaroids of them within the ‘80s and seeing how a lot enjoyable they’d.”

His attraction to Los Angeles, nevertheless, was extra than simply nostalgia. “I used to be mesmerized by the landscapes and structure,” he says.

Wanting again, he can’t imagine he realized his dream of transferring to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 2018 and ultimately renting a Midcentury Fashionable penthouse by Edward Fickett steps from the Sundown Strip.

“A Midcentury Fashionable penthouse on Sundown Boulevard within the coronary heart of West Hollywood, with a bar in the lounge? I imply, does it get extra iconic? I’m, on no account, cool sufficient to reside right here,” says Piña.

Tour the Midcentury residence right here.

A bed room in Beachwood Canyon is reworked into an art-filled workplace (and occasional visitor room)

When Natalie Babcock and Samuel Gibson discovered an inventory for a sunny residence in Beachwood Canyon 5 years in the past, they instantly fell for the 2 bed room’s charming built-in bookshelves, fake fire, hardwood flooring and formal eating room. Sensible facilities akin to an in-unit laundry and a storage, which are sometimes elusive in Los Angeles leases, didn’t damage.

At this time, nevertheless, the couple says they’re most impressed by the sense of belonging they’ve discovered in the neighborhood simply outdoors their 1928 Spanish fourplex. Right here, the place vacationers and brides in wedding ceremony robes typically pose for pictures in the course of the road in an effort to seize the Hollywood signal within the background, Babcock and Gibson have develop into half of a bigger household. “Everybody is aware of our canines’ names,” says Babcock.

The couple’s style is vibrant, and the colourful interiors mirror their sense of enjoyable and love of design. They painted one wall in Gibson’s workplace a dramatic Kelly inexperienced, which makes the white-trimmed home windows and his intensive artwork assortment pop.

“Artwork is one factor that I’m all the time comfortable to spend cash on,” Gibson says.

Tour the Beachwood Canyon residence right here.

A treasures-filled front room in Eagle Rock that’s a colourful showstopper

Isa Beniston and Scotty Zaletel are romantics. Not simply of their love for one another, which they’re as vocal about three years in as budding highschool crushes, but in addition in the best way they describe the contents of their 412-square-foot one-bedroom residence. They will recall the season they found every treasure — from fruit-shaped throw pillows to greater than 30 animal portraits — and the cross streets of the flea markets from which they purchased them. They gush in regards to the time they’ve spent collectively in cloth shops and flooring provide outlets as in the event that they have been dimly lighted eating places primed for date night time.

“We each simply love stuff,” the 2 mentioned in near-unison.

— Lina Abascal

Tour the 412-square foot residence right here.

A tricked-out storage/ADU in Venice that serves as an workplace, gymnasium and household hub

“They’re enjoyable,” architect Aejie Rhyu says of the inventive couple Will Burroughs and Frith Dabkowski, as she walked by the undulating two-story ADU she helped them understand.

Rhyu’s evaluation helps to elucidate the enjoyment that permeates the household compound, from the pink Los Angeles Toile wallpaper within the bed room (humorously adorned with illustrations of L.A.’s beloved mountain lion P-22, the La Brea Tar Pits and Grauman’s Chinese language Theatre) to the tricked-out storage on the primary flooring, which incorporates overhead bike storage, an espresso maker, a mini-fridge and a big flat-screen TV that enables Sydney-born Burroughs to look at System One automobile races and cricket video games at 4 a.m. when his household is asleep.

Burroughs even put in a subwoofer speaker beneath the couch to offer the storage the texture of a movie show throughout household film nights. “Jack went flying off the sofa after we watched ‘Prime Gun,’ ” he mentioned of their son, laughing.

Tour the two-story ADU with a rooftop deck right here.

A serene visitor room in Mid-Wilshire that’s a light-filled studio for a textile artist

After residing in her two-bedroom residence in Los Feliz for greater than a decade, Debra Weiss encountered an issue skilled by many renters in Los Angeles: She was evicted.

When her son-in-law noticed an enthralling two-bedroom residence close to the Los Angeles County Museum of Artwork on Zillow, her preliminary response was, “I need this,” Weiss mentioned of the fourplex.

The rental had excessive ceilings, oak flooring, ample daylight, an interesting fire, a storage and a washer and dryer.

Within the visitor room, a wall hanging composed of three separate weavings in a gingham examine sample is embroidered with a sequence of characters she primarily based on her 5-year-old granddaughter’s drawings. “It’s about folks coming collectively in chaos and supporting one another,” Weiss mentioned.

Despite the fact that the method of getting to maneuver was tense, Weiss is comfortable together with her new residence and neighborhood. “I take the Metro bus all over the place and infrequently drive,” she mentioned. “All the pieces labored out completely.”

Tour the sunny Mid-Wilshire fourplex right here.

A ’70s-inspired speakeasy/lounge in Highland Park that’s hidden behind a bookcase

Standing beneath a glittering tiered chandelier in her pink “cloffice,” designer Dani Dazey shares the essence of her colourful model: “From the wallpaper to the art work, my house is a mirrored image of me proper now,” she explains. “It’s a private and hip twist on conventional design.”

Relatively than embrace rustic farmhouse model or minimalist Midcentury Fashionable design as is usually the case in Los Angeles, Dazey has taken the Highland Park residence she shares with husband Phillip Butler and given it an over-the-top maximalist spin.

The speakeasy lounge, accessible by a hidden door sliding bookcase, is a ‘70s-inspired sanctuary with a modular couch, curtains and wallpaper in the identical floral sample.

Their house is proof, that our houses ought to make us comfortable by reflecting who we’re. In Dazey’s case, that interprets to daring shade, lush textures and retro vibes.

Tour the Highland Park residence right here.

A memento-filled front room in Lengthy Seashore is an ode to ‘the folks we love’

A way of enjoyable permeates the rooms of Cecilia and Abraham Beltran’s colourful one-bedroom Midcentury residence in Lengthy Seashore.

“We each have a deep ardour for Midcentury design and shade,” Cecilia shares.

The Beltrans’ residence encapsulates their design sensibility and “above all, the folks we love,” Cecilia says. There’s daring, Midcentury Fashionable-inspired furnishings the couple discovered on Craigslist, tongue-in-cheek smiling pillows and the “Gap to One other Universe” wall decal by Blik, which will be eliminated once they transfer. Peppered all through the house are mementos from their travels, such because the limited-edition artwork print “La Famille” bought on a visit to London in 2023.

In the end, Cecilia says, she desires the residence “to really feel like us. I believe we pulled it off.”

Tour the Lengthy Seashore residence right here.

In Reseda, an residence the place each vintage tells a narrative

When Evelyn Bauer, 97, downsized from her four-bedroom residence in Sherman Oaks to an residence in Reseda in 2014, the longtime collector and antiques vendor was pressured to relinquish a lot of her private belongings.

“Accumulating is my ardour, my dependancy, and I’m so comfortable to be stricken with it,” says Bauer, whose two-bedroom, two-bathroom residence at an unbiased residing facility for seniors is stuffed with furnishings and ornamental arts from her 65 years as a collector.

Step inside her front room, and the huge assortment of antiques appears like coming into the previous Encino Vintage Heart, the place she was as soon as the proprietor in the course of the Nineteen Nineties. Every merchandise has a narrative, a reminiscence and a novel allure that she cherishes.

“There’s all the time room for another gem,” she says.

Tour the Reseda residence right here.