But the homeowners didn’t take on the renovation and reimagining of their 2,418-square-foot abode alone. One of Lacey’s best friends, fellow storytelling commercial director and designer Claire Thomas, led the interior design project, with Rendell lending a hand on a personal hobby, carpentry. “It is incredibly surprising I fell so deeply in love with the house from the initial listing photos,” says Lacey. “What I did see beyond the chocolate brown painted ceilings and stone tile bathrooms was a really special post-and-beam architectural treehouse with floor-to-ceiling windows that invite in the gorgeous, protected canyon views.” Claire and Lacey made it their job to return the home—originally designed by surfer-turned-architect Matt Kivlin—to its true nature.
AFTER: “From a layout perspective, opening it up was a no-brainer,” says Lacey of the kitchen, which now flows into the dining and living spaces, complete with a fireplace that pays homage to the original with glazed brick-like Fireclay tile. “What’s special about the house are the views, and everything should be celebrating those. Now we can be cooking and looking out at the old sycamores and oaks, or catch deer coming down the hillside.” The family’s new kitchen features a Concrete Collaborative waterfall terrazzo counter with white oak cabinets painted a custom ochre color by Reform.
The late ’50s, to Claire, evoke earthy California tones of marigold and avocado. And indeed a green, brown, yellow, and orange palette was solidified early on when she won at auction a series of vintage Swissair posters depicting diverse aerial landscapes in those colors. “They connected with that overall aesthetic we were trying to hit—really earthy California canyon, late ’50s, early ’60s references with world traveler energy,” says Claire.
AFTER: The dining room turns a classic midcentury silhouette on its head thanks to Folk Project’s vintage dining chairs, which are upholstered in Guatemalan huipils. Stripping the ceiling beams of their dark brown paint breathed new life into the open-plan living space embraced by foliage.
