A private residence in Los Angeles, USA, designed by local designers Jeremiah Brent and Nate Berkus. Entry to the house is through a huge door set between rusty steel screens that echo the grilles of many of the area's historic medieval homes. Past the entrance courtyard, across the glass bridge, into the main social space of the house, to the swimming pool, and then to the back of the house to enjoy the beautiful canyon views, like a green oasis, it is so charming.

Berkus and Brent’s biggest moves involved the transformation of the kitchen with new bronze cabinetry and floating shelves, and the replacement of a reflecting pool on the subterranean level with a verdant Japanese garden. More subtle gestures throughout the home were calculated to lend intimacy and texture to specific rooms without overshadowing the integrity of the architecture. The designers cloaked the four walls of the dining room in suede curtains, for instance, and sheathed a powder room in a coat of paint resembling mottled Venetian plaster. 

They also converted the lower-level lounge into a seriously alluring grown-up playroom awash in black plaster, nero marquina marble, and bronze details. “That space is the yin to the yang of the rest of the house. It’s the perfect place for after-dinner hangout time,” says James.