Nina Takesh made a cash offer. That’s how confident the designer was in a Beverly Hills home yet to hit the market, built in the 1950s for Leslie H. Martinson, the film director behind the original Batman. "The energy is what drives me to these homes," says Nina, a self-described serial house flipper. "And the energy was there."
Although time-worn, the mid-century modern home had maintained its layout (it never left the Martinson family’s hands) with memories of vintage Hollywood soirées still hanging in the air.
Nina could just picture the types of stylish gatherings: screenings in the projector room, cocktails in the walnut-panelled bar, maybe a late-night dip in the pool. It was, and remains, a modern home built to entertain.
All four walls in the dining room feature wallpaper that the home’s designer, Nina Takesh, designed, inspired by her Mediterranean travels and favorite tree. "I see that tree every summer, and all I can think about are the chirping crickets, and it just takes me back," she says.
Nina moved the walnut home bar from the corner to the centre of the room. "People can come behind the bar, make a drink, talk with a bartender, and move around," she says of the social layout. "There should be circulation in a room."
Leaning into its cinematic past, Nina Takesh embraced the social layout — the bar room, larger than even the primary bedroom or the kitchen, was quintessential to its character — while upgrading every inch with fine materials and flourishes.
Recreate the look with three Tawa Table Lamps for the ultimate chic bar setup.
Noting that even a small piece of furniture can "ground" an entry, Nina placed a small table in the newly built foyer, positioning a light fixture above it for a dose of extra symmetry in the design. The Visual Comfort Cosima Chandelier makes for a big statement in the entryway.
"We purposely made the fireplace very linear," says Nina, noting that an ornate design might have overwhelmed a space already full of strong furnishings. "Simplicity sometimes is overlooked."
She started by creating a foyer (it originally opened abruptly onto the living space) and thus a new first impression. With marble checkerboard tiles and arched doorways that peek into rooms, it gives guests a taster of what’s to come in a home that relishes rich materials.
"We wanted a little cashmere. We wanted mohair. We wanted a lot of marble. We wanted brass. We wanted living finishes," says Nina. "We wanted things that really elevate a space."
Feel the beauty of decorating with circles, starting with this Marble Footed Bowl.
Similar to the bar, the cooking space was moved from one side of the modern kitchen to the middle, framed by an arched doorway. "You have to not only consider architecture, but also the placement of all the elements within it and how that’s going to look from different perspectives," says Nina.
The true crowd-pleaser is the refashioned bar room, where a central marble kitchen island steals the spotlight.
Closer inspection reveals a hand-hammered nickel sink in the counter — a £4,000 ($5,250) splurge — while Nina enhanced the whole experience with what she calls "the world’s smallest powder room" (surprisingly, the original home only had en-suites), concealed behind wainscoting and Mediterranean-inspired wallpaper.
"It’s dying for a cocktail party," she jokes.
This moody powder room has a glamorous effect from the hanging pendant. "You look fabulous here no matter what because of the way the light reflects into the space," says Nina.
Throughout the home, Nina refined how each space feels, offering glamorous twists along the way. The tranquil modern bedroom feels like a cabin on a boat, thanks to a glass door along the pool’s edge; the expanded kitchen hardly feels like a kitchen at all, thanks to elegantly discreet features.
A perk from more lenient 1950s building regs, the pool is only a couple of feet from the house and Nina leaned into that by replacing a window with double doors along the pool’s edge. "It feels like you’re in a boat," she says. "That’s one of the greatest moments in the house."
This linen bed cover from Bed Threads would give a similar layer of texture and coziness, as seen in this space.
Lighting, meanwhile, is an unsung hero. "If you want to look beautiful, if you want to entertain, if you want to have the mood lighting that you require, then lighting has to be considered," she says.
Working with Visual Comfort & Co.’s in-house team, Nina created a lighting plan that avoids harsh shadows and casts each room in a Hollywood-worthy glow.
"When you’re in this room, all you want to do is touch the walls," says Nina, who drenched this pink-tinged modern bathroom in Calacatta Viola Rosso marble and dusty rose Roman clay walls.
There are designers who gut with abandon, with mass appeal in mind, but Nina wasn’t designing this house for just anyone. "I know it is going to be owned by somebody who will love and appreciate the details," she says of the design-driven buyer she has in mind.
"It really is all about those details and the love and effort that is put into this home." Certainly, this is now a house ready for its close-up.