Feature: A Singular Vision

Lynn Morgan

01/01/2008

When designer Timothy Corrigan bought the stately 1920s brick Tudor house in Hancock Park, it had been stripped down to the studs. "Nia Vardalos and her husband had purchased the house and started a renovation," he recalls. "They had gutted it completely. All the brick had been removed from the facade: It was all unreinforced masonry, which is not a good idea in an earthquake-prone area. The project was just so overwhelming, they gave up."

Having been raised nearby, Corrigan is intimately acquainted with Hancock Park, the aristocratic enclave nestled between downtown and Beverly Hills. As an architectural historian with a background that includes restoring and living in storied properties—a Haussmann apartment in Paris, a Mediterranean-style villa in Montecito and a series of chateaus in France—he quickly recognized the property’s potential.

"The house is on one of the finest streets in the neighborhood," says Corrigan. "It’s near the Japanese consulate, and every house nearby is beautiful." Though the address kept some of its secrets—"There wasn’t much information on this one; I couldn’t even find out the architect’s name," he says—it had just what the designer was looking for. On the brink of selling Los Tiempos, another venerable Hancock Park estate he had restored, Corrigan was seeking a new challenge. He purchased the stripped hulk from Vardalos and rolled up his sleeves, intending to move in once it was finished.

Halfway through the restoration, the house caught the attention of a Univision executive and his wife, recently transplanted from New York and unhappy in their current neighborhood. "They were living in Beverly Park," says Cor-rigan of the gated territory ensconced on a hilltop above the Beverly Hills Hotel, an insular enclave of celebrities and tycoons. "They felt isolated—too cut off from the city."

The couple fell in love with the area, and Corrigan’s work. "When we first walked through, the house was a work in progress, to put it gently," says the wife. "But it was love at first sight. I felt as if we found the heart of Los Angeles." They bought it on the condition that Corrigan would complete its restoration and interior design.

"It’s the perfect family house," he notes. "The rooms flow together, and it’s very large—11,000 square feet. In a house its size, you sometimes lose a sense of comfort. But this one is cohesive." Adding to the balance is the manner in which Corrigan fused the Continental interiors and the Tudor exterior. "Tudor architecture is often dark and somber, and the owners wanted something brighter, filled with light colors," he explains. "Although it’s a Tudor, the house is flooded with light on all sides," adds the wife. "Tim managed to create large, wide-open family areas yet retain the elegant charm of a proper Hancock Park home."

The interiors consist of a clever mixture of French and Italian antiques, Oriental rugs and capacious soft furnishings. The entry hall is graced with an 18th-century gilt mirror and console table (once part of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s Monaco home) purchased at auction. Beneath it, he placed another auction house treasure: an antique Mahal rug from India. For the formal living room, the designer laid an early-
19th-century Tabriz rug on the light wood floor, draped the windows in silks from Scalamandré and upholstered the sofa and chairs with lush silk velvet. An 18th-century French grandfather clock of ebonized wood, richly inlaid with gilt bronze, stands sentinel in a corner.The space that became the library and kitchen was extensively renovated. The area had previously been a warren of cramped, service-oriented rooms, including a butler’s pantry that Corrigan adapted to modern use. The updated kitchen is now bright and efficient, a welcoming room for casual family meals. For the library, Corrigan found an 18th-century French side table at Christie’s in London. It is a beautiful companion to a pair of 16th-century Baroque angels from the clients’ collection, which echo the pair of angels in the fountain of the porte cochere—"One of my favorite areas of the house," says the wife.

The dining room is both grand and gracious, covered in 18th-century Italian panels Corrigan found at a small auction house in Lyon, France; French doors open onto a terrace that can also be used for dining. He designed the landscaping beyond, creating an English garden right in the middle of L.A.

Upstairs, the master bedroom is a soaring space: "It has 22-foot cathedral ceilings," says Corrigan. "When I bought the house, it had 30-foot ceilings! I brought them down eight feet to give it a sense of intimacy." Since the wife didn’t want strong colors in the room, Corrigan created a soothing palette of cream and celadon, referencing it in the wool carpet from Stark and the Rogers & Goffigan silk draperies. The antique fireplace was imported from London; the trumeau above it was found in France. The room’s centerpiece, a baronial mahogany bed, is from Therien Studios in Los Angeles. "Antique beds are problematic," Corrigan explains. "They are difficult sizes, and usually have to be rebuilt. Therien’s artisans do beautiful work; they know how to craft new pieces to blend with genuine antiques. Pieces such as this one allow an old house to function like a new house."

Corrigan is immensely proud of this project. "I had a lot of emotional energy invested in it," he confesses. "I liked these clients very much, so I brought the same level of emotional commitment to the project that I would have if I was going to live there myself. It’s one of the warmest, most livable houses I’ve been in in years. It could only have come about because the people who live there are so lovely. It’s the essence of a well-lived-in house."

Timothy Corrigan, 323.525.1802, www.timothy-corrigan.com