Los Angeles antique dealer and designer Richard Shapiro finally found the house he was looking for, in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He has a very special plan. He envisions a place where visitors can head to Italy as soon as they walk through the gates. That was his intention, but whether it will work is uncertain.

Before he could construct what he now lovingly calls his “folly,”Shapiro spent the next year and a half wrestling with the various zoning boards that vigorously monitor California’s coastline development. He agreed to stick to the footprint of the original structure, but as for the design he had in mind, “there was no wavering,” he says.

To reach the house, visitors follow a terraced gravel path lined with dense foliage to a tower with a massive 17th-century walnut door from northern Italy. The door opens onto a grand hall that manages to combine the feel of an ancient refectory, a long-abandoned Renaissance chapel, and an airy modern loft. 

In the denlike library down the hall, richly colored textiles from Iran and Turkey cover pillows, cushions, and an ottoman that serves as a cocktail table. Hanging over the living area like an opera balcony is the mezzanine master bedroom, accessible via a twisting oak stair with a burnished-steel balustrade. Outdoors, a Moroccan-inspired parapet gate opens onto steps leading down to the beach.