Designer Tanya Stone isn’t in the habit of steering her clients’ property purchases, but this home felt special—the perfect fit for a vibrant couple she’d come to know. Travel enthusiasts with a passion for preservationist architecture, they had worked with her previously, so she was aware they were hunting for a forever home: one with character, and nothing too shiny and modern. So, when she chanced upon an intriguing 1964-built Encino residence with an architectural aesthetic evoking a European countryside getaway, the designer determined that it was meant to be theirs.
Owners David and Sergio Alejandro didn’t need much convincing. Recently married and hoping to start a family, they liked the home’s single-story layout set in a quiet but evolving San Fernando Valley neighborhood. “We love European culture, and this house had a kind of French-countryside-Italian-Mallorcan energy that spoke to us,” David recalls. “Our goal was that when people came here, they’d feel like they’d been transported to another country. And we knew that with a designer like Tanya on board, it could be really unique. She thinks outside the box.”
Home Details
Interior Design:
Tanya Stone, Tanya Stone Interiors
Home Builder:
Rouben Bashian, Coastline Builders Group
Styling:
Studio Leonard
Richly veined marble from Imperial Tile & Stone makes a statement on the kitchen’s range splash and island, which is fitted with Insideast fixtures. Visual Comfort & Co. sconces pair with Jake Arnold for Crate & Barrel pendants. The chairs are Arhaus.
Steel-and-glass double doors draw sunlight into the foyer. Dunn-Edwards’ French White creates a creamy backdrop for an RH sideboard and vintage convex mirror, its shape echoing an existing ceiling medallion encircling a Hye Lighting Co. chandelier.
Dunn-Edwards’ Swiss Coffee drenches the living room, where a scalloped vintage sofa reupholstered in performance linen curves around a custom coffee table. The console is from HD Buttercup. The owners’ Pomeranian-Shiba Inu mix, Benji, lies on a bespoke rug.
Green velvet Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu and Georgia chairs surround the dining room’s CB2 table, topped off by the brand’s Corvina chandelier. RAF Wood Works installed the space’s decorative paneling, painted Dunn-Edwards’ French White.
A mirrored door reveals a back kitchen and breakfast space off the dining room. In the corner, an Interiør by Birk pot houses a sculptural tree from Planteria Latina. The original hardwood herringbone floors were refinished with a custom stain.
The primary suite’s immersive cocoa hue is bespoke, as are the headboard, bed and nightstands. The pendants and mirror are Arhaus, the bench is Crate & Barrel, and the rug is Revival. An Interiør by Birk pot displays a graceful tree from Planteria Latina.
Stone’s first order of business was a rethink of the kitchen. “The way I design is, I start by focusing on the area I believe is going to be most important to my clients and then piggyback off that,” she says. David and Sergio love to host: birthday parties and baby showers and holiday gatherings and game nights. Stone quickly realized that the existing kitchen, tiny and tucked into a tight wing, wouldn’t do—especially for Sergio, an accomplished baker and cook. (“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” Stone quips.) She drew up plans for a more spacious, convivial kitchen in what had been the home’s library. General contractor Rouben Bashian made judicious use of existing plumbing that had serviced the room’s former wet bar. The relocation “required plenty of modifications—plumbing, electrical, framing,” he says, “but Tanya’s vision brought the bells and whistles of a full custom kitchen to life.” The new version now sits in the heart of the home, adjacent to the dining room and steps from the backyard pool terrace, accessible through French doors. “It’s a focal point, and it makes entertaining very easy,” David shares, “which makes us very happy.”
The original kitchen then transitioned into a “half-kitchen, half-bistro space,” as the homeowners put it, where the couple often enjoy breakfast. As a wink toward the idea of it also functioning as a sunny twist on a speakeasy, Stone outfitted its entryway with a scaled-up mirror, cleverly hinged on one side to swing open and reveal this “secret” space.
Structural changes beyond the kitchen were minimal—even a sauna added to the primary suite was neatly constructed in the footprint of a cedar-lined closet—which freed Stone to focus on color, texture and ambience. “The previous owner put so much thought into this home,” she observes, pointing out elements like the refinished custom cabinetry and herringbone hardwood flooring. “As you move through each space, my goal was to create a sense of elegance, warmth and vibrancy built upon the beauty that was already here. It just needed a little love.”
The furnishings’ curves and rounded corners set a relaxed, inviting scene—see the convex entry mirror, the soft-edged dining set topped by egg-shaped globes, and the swooping, scalloped living room sofa, all of which play off arched doorways and windows peppered throughout the house. The designer eschewed bright colors and bold patterns, turning instead to warm browns, blush tones and creamy hues for a majority of the rooms. “My clients aren’t wallpaper-on-the-ceiling types,” she notes. Paint, however, often does extend onto the ceilings, uniting trim, molding, paneling, medallions and more, an effect that’s sophisticated and soothing.
The calming colors result in an elevated restfulness that’s perhaps most evident in the owners’ bedroom, enveloped in a custom blend of cocoa. There, faced with a broad wall notch, Stone created an oversize headboard to fill its width, creating a moment of understated grandeur. “I wanted it to feel classic yet a bit regal,” she muses. A massive mirror and large patinated planter poised beside a tall arched window enhance the effect. The room caps off a house that’s become a transportive sanctuary infused with a quiet sense of drama—exactly as its owners intended.
Green velvet Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu and Georgia chairs surround the dining room’s CB2 table, topped off by the brand’s Corvina chandelier. RAF Wood Works installed the space’s decorative paneling, painted Dunn-Edwards’ French White.