In a city like Los Angeles, where drama is a prized commodity, it’s only natural that such flair infuses the local design flavor. The dwellings within the famous 90210 zip code are no exception, including the Mediterranean-style abode of Hedi Gores, co-owner of the cultish purveyor of chic liquid cleanses, Pressed Juicery. The home’s old-world architecture presented a fitting backdrop for such expressive style, but it also met with Gores’ desire to create a cozy nest in Beverly Hills for her small family, which includes her 8-year-old son, Gavin, three dogs and one lizard. “I knew that watching my son grow up here would mean everything to me, so I didn’t want any part of the house to be off limits to him,” says Gores.
Luckily her designer, Estee Stanley—a celebrity stylist who creates equally fashionable residences through her interior design firm—isn’t a fan of can’t-touch-this décor. “I really try to make every room beautiful, and maybe even sexy, but above all, livable,” says Stanley. “It tortures me to think that most people don’t use every single room in their house.”
That said, drama is nothing if not tricky. Merging theatricality with approachability may seem like an oil-and-water affair, unless the designer cleverly composes a palette of finishes that comes from nature (think linen, wood and marble), seeks out furniture meant for sinking into and leaves the drama to a select few touches that really pack a punch. Stanley pulled off the task thanks to her keen intuition for designs that strike a balance between gorgeous and practical—a talent recognized in the highly covetable art and furnishings she co-curates for the flash-sales website, Home Mint. (Her longtime client, pop star-cum-movie actor Justin Timberlake, happens to be her co-pilot on that mission.)
The clearest manifestation of down-to-earth indulgence can be found in the study. Its black walls are perhaps its most distinctive features; they provide a lair-like quality that seems naturally hedonistic. But to prevent the space from closing in on itself, Stanley lined the coffered ceiling with light-reflecting mirrors. A billiards table also keeps the mood playful and gives Gavin, a pool shark in the making, a reason to use the space with his friends.
In the adjacent living room, the vibe is instantly more buoyant. “I wanted that space to feel like a cloud,” says Stanley. A chesterfield sofa and linen wing chairs are indeed billowy; the drapes, gossamer; and the globe pendants—actual Art Deco relics from New York City’s Grand Central Terminal—are heavenly bodies in their own right. Even though the living room is long and quite voluminous, Stanley decided against creating multiple seating areas for the sake of greater intimacy. “I know my client. She loves her friends. She loves her family. She wants them all to be together,” says the designer. A salvaged-wood stump is a sculptural element that doubles as a seat or a table; its low profile plays up the majesty of an extravagantly scaled vintage mirror that was uncovered, along with some of the room’s other finds, at Brenda Antin.
Stanley drew on her love of opulent Parisian design—more specifically, the decadence seen at the Ritz Paris, pre-renovation—to appoint the master suite’s bathroom with grand marble details. And Gores’ new dressing room, an impressive, label-laden space formerly known as—get this—the master bedroom, appropriately takes its dramatic cues from film. “Who doesn’t want Carrie Bradshaw’s famous closet from the original Sex and the City movie?” asks Stanley, who, although talking about the wardrobe, might as well be referring to the whole house. “It’s every woman’s fantasy.”
