Sometimes, it takes one standout element—placed in just the right spot—to set the tone for an entire architectural vision. That’s what happened at the new north Beverly Hills residence of entertainment industry professionals Barbara Glazer and Philip Morton, a home imagined and executed by the design-build team of Ferial Sadeghian and Jeff Vance. “This was the first line on the paper,” Sadeghian recalls of a mark that ultimately became the striking axial hallway anchoring the home. This 8-foot-wide grand corridor forms the spine of the house, an effect enhanced by a continuous skylight punctuated by a rhythmic series of beams that throw banded shadows across the floor in ever-shifting patterns. The beams of the hallway move in from the exterior entryway, dividing the living and dining area and then extend westward out to a patio and pool. Just beyond, the ridged terrain gives way to distant views of the Pacific Ocean.
Home Details
Architecture, Interior Design and Home Builder:
Ferial Sadeghian and Jeff Vance, IDGroup
Landscape Architecture:
Alexis Nollmann, Nollmann Design
Styling:
Lisa Rowe
L-shaped custom sofas, in earthy Métaphores and Brunschwig & Fils fabrics, and Japonaiserie-inspired 1920s lounge chairs anchor the living area. A dining space behind features De La Vega chairs from Coup D’Etat, an antique Italian wooden trestle table and a Reschio Collections chandelier.
Lined with floor-to-ceiling windows by Rivera Bronze that culminate at a mitered glazing corner, the living area features a 19th-century Biedermeier gaming table illuminated by an Angelo Lelii fixture. Vintage Chromcraft chairs are upholstered in an Osborne & Little bouclé.
The grand hallway is defined by a skylight articulated by beams of reclaimed wood, culminating at a custom Riviera Bronze door leading out to a pool deck. A Cor de Ree chair, sculptures by Patrick Guideau and Leon Leigh, and works by Ron Blumberg add interest.
In homeowner Barbara Glazer’s office, a golden Dedar wallcovering contrasts with the blue Manuel Canovas bouclé fabric wrapping a built-in daybed. Above hang two smaller framed works by Glenn Dean and a larger piece by Charles Rollo Peters.
Personal treasures fill the office shelves beside an antique Art Deco desk. Printed velvet GP & J Baker fabric enlivens an armchair, and the vintage rug is from Lawrence of La Brea. Custom Riviera Bronze doors lead to a private garden.
Custom Formations loungers mingle with Tuuci umbrellas and vintage Salterini lily pad leaf side tables on a pool deck of vein-cut travertine. A cantilevered canopy frames the oval pool.
Deep flat overhangs, slender columns and travertine slabs reference the midcentury and Hollywood Regency architectural styles that characterize the neighborhood. The sculptural carved stone seating set is from Formations.
The central hall is both a striking architectural statement and the key framework of a home that reflects the close collaboration between Vance, Sadeghian and their clients. They all share history: The design duo renovated the couple’s previous home more than two decades ago, forging a friendship that led to Sadeghian and Vance reaching out to Barbara and Philip after touring a property where a nondescript dwelling puzzlingly turned its back on a phenomenal vista. Inspired by its possibilities, Barbara and Philip purchased the land and reengaged the pair to unlock the site’s potential through a new ground-up build—one oriented to the view and defined by openness and light. Among the homeowners’ requirements, however, “We wanted our home to look as if it had always been there,” Philip says. Sadeghian and Vance understood the assignment, specifying reclaimed brick and wood with slight inconsistencies, as well as deriving design ideas from the architectural character of the neighborhood, defined between the midcentury and Hollywood Regency eras. “It’s a compliment when someone asks, ‘Was this a restoration?’ ” Vance notes.
Sadeghian and Vance handled every detail of the project together. The pair both helmed the design of the architectural envelope (with Kurt Krueger as the home’s architect of record); Vance also served as the general contractor while Sadeghian took the lead on the interiors. The architecture takes cues from the rigor of International Style (a 20th-century movement characterized by minimalist, functional design that favors volume over mass), an ideal backdrop for the homeowners’ extensive, eclectic collection of art, heirlooms and handmade pieces that emphasize craftsmanship and character. And harmonizing their decorative inclinations with the home’s disciplined architecture required a deft hand. “We’re whimsical people who like little whimsical details, and I’m a ridiculous collector,” Barbara quips. “And this house is designed down to the millimeter,” Philip adds.
Personal treasures fill the office shelves beside an antique Art Deco desk. Printed velvet GP & J Baker fabric enlivens an armchair, and the vintage rug is from Lawrence of La Brea. Custom Riviera Bronze doors lead to a private garden.
The residence’s creative ambition announces itself right at the entry, where a monumental mural installation by celebrated ceramic artist Stan Bitters clads curved walls. Inside, under Sadeghian’s eye, the homeowners’ treasures find new purpose alongside European, vintage and custom furnishings, including a duet of L-shaped living room sofas upholstered in two distinctive fabrics. The designer also repurposed textiles the couple had gathered from India and Chile and introduced Moroccan rugs they had purchased during their travels, items that had been in storage, “just waiting for the house to show up,” Barbara says with a laugh. Dozens of personalized touches are artfully blended in, among them a beloved vintage lamp refreshed with a custom blown-glass top and pillows made from a mink coat that belonged to Barbara’s mother. “Absolutely everything is a conversation piece with a backstory,” Sadeghian notes of the artfully layered spaces.
A single-story residence with a subterranean space, the layout is oriented to feel rooted in the landscape, with ample-sized steel-framed windows and doors, and select rooms that open to private gardens. A fiddle-leaf fig rises through a light well, linking the main level to the lower, while drawing in natural light. In the backyard, Barbara and Philip enjoy dining on the travertine terrace beneath a cantilevered canopy with a curved edge that mirrors the shape of the pool—the canopy acting as a sculptural element that creates a pleasing architectural harmony. It’s yet another way the layout prioritizes its residents’ aesthetic sensibilities and lifestyle while framing the jaw-dropping views that captured their attention initially. From the moment that aforementioned line was first drawn, “This home is so thoroughly customized and so reflective of its owners that it can only be theirs, which was so important to us,” Sadeghian concludes.
Custom Formations loungers mingle with Tuuci umbrellas and vintage Salterini lily pad leaf side tables on a pool deck of vein-cut travertine. A cantilevered canopy frames the oval pool.