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Living room

The interior furnishings are a mix of the clients' Eastern and Western influences, blending craft and modernity.

Although the spaces have been updated, the home's midcentury style shines through.

The cedar-paneled cathedral ceilings give the interiors an airy sense of space.

The architects opened up the flat ceiling in the living room and inserted a multipurpose dormer. Ann Sacks tile now surrounds the fireplace.

SHED borrowed space from the front porch to increase the size of the living room by four feet and create a lounge spot in front of the fire.

SHED replaced the windows with new wood units of the same style. Note how the shelving at the half-wall aligns perfectly with the window mullions.

The open-plan great room allows fluidity between functional spaces, while the vaulted wood ceiling contributes to a sense of spaciousness.

Old Herman Miller posters hang on a nearby wall. In the living room, a yellow fiberglass stool by Nanna Ditzel sits alongside a French chain-link floor lamp from the 1940s.

The energy-efficient Dickerman Residence by Richard Pedranti Architect boasts warm wood ceilings, midcentury-inspired furnishings, and a stately stone fireplace.

Jack and Marilyn Zuber lived in the Brentwood home for 65 years without altering anything but the wallpaper. Thomas even has photos of them digging on the site when construction first began. Out of respect for the home, Thomas tread carefully with her updates, even keeping the old drapes and using the original paint colors as a jumping-off point in researching color palettes of the era.

In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.

The double-height wall of windows in the living room looks out on the property and was a big draw on their first walk-through.

Lutron Sivoia automatic roller shades in a custom valance were mounted to the window mullions, which were also painted Benjamin Moore “Wrought Iron.” The sofa is the Kasala Venice five-piece modular sofa tucked up against bespoke cabinetry by Beechtree Woodworks.

Almost every room in the extension has direct access to the outside so the relationship with the grounds is immediate. In addition, carefully considered windows frame views of the surrounding landscape—especially the large window facing the valley in the first-floor living space. “It’s incredibly joyful to see how the views, smells, and emotion of being in the extension changes throughout the different seasons,” says architect Je Ahn. “It’s very tranquil and a retreat in the true sense of the word.”