A Balinese Home in West Hollywood

FER Studio’s newly renovated Cummins residence in West Hollywood is
actually two houses – one public and one private – that intersect at a chef’s kitchen.

That makes perfect sense, since the firm’s client is partner in a company that owns a series of South Pacific-themed restaurants.

“He wanted a Balinese-styled house, but a modern and contemporary space,” said architect Chris Mercier.  “He had photographs of Balinese homes, and a number of South Pacific artifacts and elements.  Our goal was to be transformational without being direct.”

Chris and his partner Doug Pierson were asked in 2003 to renovate a bath in the original 1,800 square-foot home in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, with 180 degree views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Brentwood below.  By 2007, their assignment had turned into a full-blown redesign, with three bedrooms, three and a half baths and 4,500 square feet.

“The original was a linear, ranch-style house with a master on top,” Doug said. “We took the footprint and expanded on it.”

A gray stucco section, parallel to the street, is now the public side of the home.  Intersecting that is a more private section, once part of the original and now centered around a swimming pool.  Bands of reddish-brown mangaris wood tie the two structures thematically together outside and are repeated at poolside, where a limestone patio meets a 25-foot span of two sliding glass doors.

The entry leads to living room, with Venetian plaster fireplace and granite mantle.  A double height ceiling and black walnut flooring connects living area to kitchen, with a custom stainless steel countertop, and cabinets from Roman Coin leaves cut into glass.  

Off the main living room, a 300-year-old monastery door from Southeast Asia slides open into an office.  The powder room is puntuated with a stainless steel wall-mounted faucet emptying into a granite basin atop an antique Asian table.

“We wanted to create order out of disorder,” Doug said.  “The house is literally a new home sitting where some older pieces were.”

Photos by Jim Pease

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