Musician Drew Straus enlisted Laun Studio to transform his Silver Lake home into a soothing escape.
Flooded with natural light through picture and clerestory windows from the E-Series by Andersen, the open living area is where the cabin feels most like a tree house.
Husband-and-wife team Elaine and Stanley Yang of real estate and development firm Mini Inno discovered this 2,000-square-foot ranch home, and set about transforming it into an idyllic weekend retreat. Built in 1966, the home sits on 3.6 acres and, while the bones were good, it was a bit outdated in terms of style. The revitalized, Moroccan-inspired retreat is a sanctuary worthy of its soothing surroundings.
The palette and furnishings are inspired by nature and the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. "We wanted people to feel relaxed right when they walked in, so we kept the interiors noble and focused on texture and subtleties in design," says Elaine. The living room features the Neva sofa by Sixpenny, a 19th-century Naga coffee table from India, and leather side chair from Restoration Hardware.
The kitchen cabinets are custom-made from 100-year-old wood purchased at Sliverado Salvage. There’s a breakfast nook and a nine-foot island finished in Tadelakt, a waterproof plaster often used in Moroccan architecture, creating a communal and open space that flows into the living room. "Tadelakt is such a beautiful material and provides an old-world, earthy feeling, but using it is very labor-intensive," says Elaine.
At Cuadra San Cristóbal, the water feature serves three purposes: as a drinking fountain for horses, as a reflection pond, and as a swimming pool for horses.