Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, This Smith and Williams Renovation Proves a Mid-Century Marvel Doesn't Need to Fear Color Over Neutrals

Set in the Hollywood Hills, this four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath Los Angeles home by influential mid-century modern architectural firm Smith and Williams makes an immediate impression with its dramatic roofline, steel post-and-beam structure, and countless playful aspects that enrich each space. But it wasn't always that way.

For Joelle Kutner and Jesse Rudolph of studio Ome Dezin, the first visit to it immediately captured what was special about the modern home and the vibrancy that, through renovations carried out between the 1980s and the 1990s, had sadly been lost over time. The spirit of the property wasn't the only thing to have changed through the years: so had its structural plan, expanded from one to two levels in the noughties.

The expansion partially remedied the tweaks that had come before it. As designers Kutner and Rudolph put it, "the architecture was incredibly strong and has this wonderful relationship between the landscape and the interior," lending the ultimate starting point for a restoration rooted in a sense of place and Californian heritage.

What was clear from the get-go is that their reinvention of the house would have had to retain the elements Smith and Williams had built into its fabric. Doing so successfully required assessing the geometry, materials, proportions, and atypical details that were already there.

The project unfolded over a year and a half, with much of the work involving careful architectural interventions rather than simply cosmetic changes.

Despite making a conscious effort to preserve the property's past, Ome Dezin wanted their intervention to be deliberate: something you recognize instantly, rather than blending into what has always been there.

The loft and primary suite on the second floor were the most significant spatial puzzles to craft into place. Here, the designers' solution was to replace the existing flight of stairs with a spiral staircase.

"We wanted to make that part of the house function as a true primary suite while maintaining the incredible volume of the double-height space below," Kutner explains. "With its cream exterior and flash of red beneath, the staircase sits like a piece of sculpture within the double-height volume," Rudolph says.

The structure sits in the entryway alongside a den area. It leads up to the balcony area, with its exposed steel beams, and the bedroom.

Existing features have been put to good use. A previous renovation had introduced circular fixed windows, and Ome Dezin carried the motif throughout the house as portholes. Upstairs, a porthole looks over the bathtub, and another sits in the primary closet.

The front door is a large custom piece featuring a circular window and fixed opaque glass blocks.

"Because we were working with an existing 1960s Smith and Williams house, there was also a continual process of responding to what we discovered during construction and making sure the new work felt appropriate to the original architecture," Rudolph explains.

At first glance, the mid-century modern property seems to embrace a muted palette. On closer inspection, though, Ome Dezin has tucked in pleasant surprises of color throughout. Graphic artwork from Creative Art Partners brings punches of brightness, and the bathrooms carry the idea further, with a yellow bathroom that adds a jolt of cheer.

"The fully yellow bathroom is one of our favorites," Kutner explains. In the bedroom, yellow cabinetry creates a sunny backdrop — a heartening contrast to the warm browns.

The art was selected in the same way as the furniture: "based on scale, color, texture, and its relationship to the architecture".

Ome Dezin wanted each artwork to both engage with and provide a valuable counterpoint to existing geometrical features. "Some pieces introduce softness or organic forms; others reinforce the graphic nature of the architecture," Kutner says.

As there was no specific client, Ome Dezin could determine the materials for spaces like the kitchen, which features a Ceppo di Gré countertop, backsplash, and side panels, set against elegant wood millwork.

"We never want a house from the 1960s to feel as though every object inside it also had to have been created in the 1960s," Kutner explains. For the designer, that can quickly start to feel like a period set.

"Instead, we looked for pieces with strong silhouettes, interesting materials, and a certain sculptural quality that could hold their own against the architecture," Kutner continues.

One of the most interesting elements of the project was getting to know the residents living in the area.

"The process became a kind of conversation about architecture with the very knowledgeable neighbors," Rudolph reminisces. "We found a little drawing of a heart in the poured cement from 1985 with the initials: HR+SR. We love seeing little things like this!"

And it is to unexpected moments like that one that this Smith and Williams home owes its contemporary rebirth.

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