Feature: Stirred, Not Shaken
01/01/2008
It is located high above the Hollywood Hills, so it is not surprising that the spotlight-white midcentury modern house has showbiz in its stucco and bones.Although it was built in 1955, the hillside home didn’t become a real Hollywood hangout until the mid-1970s when it was purchased by Lucille Ball’s son, Desi Arnaz Jr.
Nicknamed the "Cuban Embassy"—Arnaz’s father, Desi Sr., was a Cuban bandleader before he became an I Love Lucy costar—the house had been vacant for years when interior designer Barclay Butera, whose business is based in California’s Newport Beach, bought it and brought it back to its original giddy glamour.
"I restored it to the Hollywood Regency era, when his parents were at their peak," says Butera, who also has owned Frank Sinatra’s Palm Springs estate and Bette Davis’ Laguna Beach cottage. "I like creating an environment for a specific era and a specific home and bringing my own interpretation to the property."
For the two-level, four-bedroom house—situated seconds from Sunset Boulevard—Butera maintained the original floor plan and some of the vintage pieces, including the bronze ceiling lanterns Ball had installed in the master bedroom, then added classically tailored pieces from his own furniture line. Psychedelic-patterned wallpapers and shag carpets pay tribute to an earlier time and luxurious fabrics, including white leather, velvet, chenille and corduroy, add a soft and timeless touch. "I decorated it so it looks like everything was collected over time," Butera says. "And each room has its own theme and color palette."
The Hollywood stars were not Butera’s only inspiration. There also were the ones twinkling in the sky. "The most surprising element of this house is the view," he says. "People walk in and can’t believe that they can see the entire Wilshire corridor and the Pacific Ocean. So I added other surprises to complement it."
One surprise begins at the snow-white double doors at the entrance, where in a witty parody of classic Hollywood estates, the nearly 2,700-square-foot house is guarded by a pair of MGM-like lions worthy of a prince’s pleasure palace.
The master bedroom also inspires awe with a formal English garden on the terrace designed as an extension of the room and with classic black-and-white vintage photos of Hollywood icons, transferred to Lucite panels, that hang over the bed. Step into the living room, where a white-lacquered baby grand piano calls the tune, and it’s a three-in-one surprise: The space also contains the dining room and a terrace. "There’s almost an Auntie Mame feel to the whole top level of the house, because it’s like a great room," says Butera, referring to Ball’s eccentric character in the 1974 movie musical Mame. "It’s great for entertaining because the space flows outdoors."
While the great room plays it neutral, wild wallpapers turn the bedrooms and baths into cavorting caravans of color. In one guest bedroom, for instance, the black-and-orange patterned walls look as though they are day-tripping 1960s-style. In another, black-and-gold Chinese scenes cast the bed’s tufted white leather headboard into a starring role.
And in a guest bath, West meets East when a black-and-white paisley paper is paired with a decorative wood window screen lacquered in high-gloss black.
Were Arnaz to return, he would not recognize his little house in the Hollywood Hills, but Butera knows that he would feel right at home. After all, that is what star power is all about.
Barclay Butera, 323.634.0200, www.barclaybutera.com