The design duo behind L.A.’s Disc Interiors were given an interesting challenge: to showcase a collection of edgy contemporary artworks inside a chateâuesque home built in the 1930s by architect Paul R. Williams. Aesthetically speaking, principals Krista Schrock and David John Dick could have gone in various directions, yet their focus was “less about a style and more about a feeling.”
They set out to find a balance between energy and serenity that was attuned to the lifestyle and personality of the homeowners, a couple with a young daughter. “Most of our clients are creative in some way, and they want a space where they can be themselves,” says Dick. “Our work is always about designing a home that reflects the people who live there, and in this case it was two bold art collectors who also wanted something calm.”
With this in mind, the designers allowed the artworks to provide visual oomph while softening the scene with furnishings in subdued colors, some with nods to modernism and others with more classic silhouettes. “We loved that Krista and David embody a mix of West Coast and European sensibilities and use a lot of different textures and shapes,” says the wife. “We envision being in this house in 20 years, so ‘trendy’ is not something we were interested in.”
What the clients were interested in was making the most of their “provocative” art collection, which includes a large-scale photograph by Matthew Brandt manipulated to look like a psychedelic dreamscape, and a painting by Jason Middlebrook showing an idyllic country road backed by a gritty suburbia. The painting, which hangs in the living room, provides a colorful background to a set of curvy dove gray Jean Royère armchairs, a square bronze-and-brass coffee table, and a rectangular gunmetal gray sofa from Dimitriy & Co. On the opposite side of the space, a vivid mixed-media work by Gino Rubert, depicting what appears to be a brothel, was paired with a simple ebonized-wood bench.
Elsewhere in the 6,000-square-foot Hancock Park residence, the designers continued to blend old and new, easing clean lines into rooms featuring restored details like dentil moldings and herringbone parquetry. The ample eat-in kitchen is furnished with an oval dining table with retro-futuristic brass legs, and slim chairs upholstered in an off-black cotton weave. A rug with geometric patterns in soft grays and muted mustards was chosen to harmonize with the colors of the space’s main artwork, a photograph of suspended paint “clouds” by Kim Keever. “We needed to take our new house, which was traditional, and give it a more contemporary or clean look with distinctive elements,” says the wife. “David and Krista turned our empty space into a living dream; it not only calms us, it inspires us.”
An Artful Home Where Feeling Is More Important Than Style
Krista Schrock and David John Dick, principals of Disc Interiors, were tasked with showcasing a collection of edgy contemporary artworks inside a French Provincial–style home in Hancock Park, built by eminent L.A. architect Paul R. Williams. The homeowners, a couple with a young daughter, were interested in finding a balance between energy and serenity. Williams, who designed the homes of celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, built the French Provincial–style home in the 1930s. According to the Los Angeles Times, the home was originally commissioned by socialites Gabriel and Mary Duques.
An abstract photograph of clouds of paint floating in water, by American artist Kim Keever, hangs in the breakfast room. The work’s color palette is echoed in the rug, which has geometric patterns in soft gray, blue, and mustard hues. “It’s a dreamy, psychedelic photograph; their artwork has a lot of emotional intensity,” says Dick of his clients’ collection.
Restored details from the 1930s like dentil moldings and herringbone parquetry (the residence’s architecture was recently updated by Studio William Hefner) stand in contrast to the collection of “provocative” contemporary artworks, including this vivid painting by Gino Rubert depicting what appears to be a brothel. Underneath it is a simple dark-stained bench made by Disc Interiors.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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