1925 Residence

Arrival happens in a narrow passage of oak panels striped with fine vertical fluting. A floating white console, two terracotta stools and a single leafy branch sit under a small bronze sconce. Beyond a bronze-trimmed doorway, a graffiti-layered canvas flares in red, yellow and cobalt, the first hint that the house has a sense of humor.

Cooking and gathering share one open floor. Handleless oak cabinetry rises to the ceiling to frame a column of ovens, while a backlit marble splash glows beneath warm-gray uppers. The island reads as a single heavy block of veined stone, with a fluted ledge for casual meals and four sage-green stools on thin bronze legs. Overhead, a copper-toned band drops from three points and loops once before running straight, more drawn line than pendant.

That metallic gesture returns above the dining table as a cluster of open arcs, suspended over a long dark top and rounded oatmeal chairs. Wood slats screen a floor-to-ceiling wine wall to one side; on the other, sheer curtains filter the garden so palm shadows fall across the floor by midday.

A freestanding oak volume anchors the great room, its linear fire set into a marble plinth and open on both faces. Low linen sofas and two sculptural armchairs gather on a round wool rug, warmed by cognac and olive cushions. Along the far wall, bronze-edged niches lit from behind hold a handful of ceramic objects.

The family room sits lower and softer: a deep modular sectional, textured cushions and two pebble-shaped black lacquer tables. Above it hangs a large portrait built from thick slabs of red, coral and charcoal paint, a face nearly dissolved into gesture.

That face is the point. The more the oak and marble hold back, the more it can afford to say.