A 15,000-square-foot residence in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, overlooking a country club, presents countless opportunities for over-the-top, garish embellishments. But instead of succumbing to those temptations, this home’s new owner, a fortysomething media entrepreneur, and his design team exercised uncommon and laudable restraint when reconceiving the circa-1926 house. The team comprised interior designer Jerry Meyer, architects Walter Meyer (no relation to Jerry) and A. Thomas Torres, contractor John Finton, and landscape architect Maureen Barnes. The owner purchased the residence three years ago and then gave his charges a one-year deadline to renovate and furnish it. In that time, they created a house that reveals its charms gradually, one room at a time, instead of all at once. “There are a lot of parts to the home that are appealing, but not competing,” explains Walter Meyer. “Each room can stand alone and has its own personality. But at the same time, there’s a tremendous sense of continuity. It’s a true example of the whole being the sum of its parts.”

The 1.5-acre property encompasses a pool filled with salt water, a double garden with water features and sculptures, and numerous entertaining spaces. “The backyard is visible from almost every room in the house, so it was important to create a strong connection between the inside and out,” explains Jerry Meyer.

Read the rest of this entry »