This California home has glamorous, playful and eclectic as its design calling cards

THE PROPERTY

A Twenties house transformed into a modern home (opens in new tab)in Altadena, California. The ground floor of this California home has a living room (opens in new tab), dining room, kitchen (opens in new tab), breakfast room, sun room, three bedrooms, a bathroom and WC. Upstairs is the master bedroom suite with an office, den and media room.

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When Tamara Honey and her husband Ryan first saw the house, it had been pretty much ignored for decades, but Tamara is drawn to renovation projects that are ‘the worse, the better’. Tamara, an interior designer has clients who range from award-winning restaurants to the chic Beverly Hills set. She loved how the exterior of the property reminded her of a traditional cosy cottage, while inside it’s surprisingly open and bright.

breakfast room

On first appearance, the completed, über-glamorous, art-filled house might not seem particularly playful, but look closer and you’ll spot witty touches throughout, from the milk bottle pendant hanging over the dining table to the faux-library wallpaper in the den, now carved out from the enormous, under-used loft.

KITCHEN

Tamara and Ryan opened up the space by knocking together the original kitchen (opens in new tab) and a bedroom, then replicated the arched windows from the front of the house. This room has become the heart of the home and where the family spend most of their time.

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DINING ROOM

The couple have collected many mid-century pieces over the years, such as this sideboard, which they like to juxtapose in the property's traditional setting.

DEN

One of the attractions was the vast, unconverted loft space. Tamaraoriginally wanted this space to be the library, but the engineer said the floor couldn’t take the weight of the books, so the wallpaper does the trick instead.

MASTER SuiTE

The couple’s bed and headboard were custom made, as the pitch of the roof made it too difficult to fit in regular designs.

MASTER En SuiTE

The attic space is pretty decadent. Tamara likes to joke that it’s the same size as her first apartment back in New York.

See more of Tamara's work at House of Honey. (opens in new tab)

Photography / Richard Powers

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