All That Jazz

The living room is perpetually party-ready: A pair of De Sede DS-163 green velvet armchairs chat in one corner while a custom sofa, swathed in blue velvet, converses with Carl Hansen & Son’s Huntsman Chair.

When it comes to renovating a property, where’s the line between preservation and modernization? Chet Architecture is no stranger to this challenge. The L.A.-based firm is revered for the ways in which its work has nimbly navigated the boundary between honoring the history of the properties they tackle and shepherding them firmly into the present. Their gentle, holistic approach results in thoughtful, livable, reimagined spaces that straddle past and present, interweaving them into one seamless whole. "Typically the homes we work on have had generations of owners," the firm's founder, Chet Callahan, explains. "So there are often things that need to be removed and then there are other things that we want to keep that add to the richness of a space."

The couple who own this 1959 L-shaped ranch house knew that it would need a significant amount of work to bring it in line with their vision. "We wanted to honor the home's origins without either creating something that felt like a caricature of a mid-century home orby taking the charm and warmth out of it by eliminating all the details that give it character, "Callahan explains. "We began with, 'What would the 21st-century version of this house be like?'"

The owners are frequent entertainers. "The house was a little dowdy, a little worn, so it definitely needed some elevation," remembers Callahan, whose firm also shouldered interior design duties on the project. "They wanted it to feel like a little bit more of a showpiece, where they could feel confident having people over." Highlighting the couple’s love of jazz and vintage movies was important. "So there was this idea of using the home’s history and riffing off of that to create this smoky, inviting space that felt very lounge-y." A vintage advertisement of a well-dressed husband and wife enjoying breakfast became the firm’s jumping-off point. "We thought, 'How do we update that image and translate it into its 2024 equivalent and ground the house in this idea of what does the successful, sophisticated couple who live in this house look like today?'"

Certain elements were preserved and updated—like the stacked stone fireplace in the living room and the built-in planter carved into a curve of the pool. Others, like the slatted dividers that separate the dressing areas from the bedroom, the sunken tub in the bathroom, or the terrazzo floors that ground the public rooms, were inspired interpretations of ideas that first found their footing around the time the house was constructed. Still others, like the sleek kitchen with its elegant walnut cabinetry and oil-rubbed bronze range hood, channel the feeling of the period while envisioning it through a streamlined, modern lens.

With the home's focus on entertaining, the public rooms are designed to welcome guests at a moment’s notice. In the living room, plump seating, enveloped in vibrant velvets, is grouped to encourage multiple simultaneous conversations; the soothing blue-infused dining room is ready for an impromptu dinner party; a circle of chairs grouped around a fire pit on the patio suggests late martini-infused nights. Even the powder room, with its flattering lighting, dramatic marble countertop, and large sweep of mirror, seems prepped to encourage visitors to primp and polish. In contrast, the private quarters, dominated by a soothing sage green color palette, frame spaces where relaxation and privacy are the priority.

"It's our modern version of what we’d like to think the past was like," says Callahan. "It uses new materials and incorporates new ideas while channeling the spirit and the shapes of the original design." Here the best of the past plus the materials of the present create a vision for the future. It's known by happy clients as "the Chet effect."