Staircases

Even on the stairs, wood remained a prominent feature, with a wood handrail, treads, and a side wall with vertical slats.

From closed off to comfortable, the stairwell is now a special moment in the home. "It's easy to forget but you do spend a lot of time going up and down [stairs] and it should be a pleasant experience," says the architect.

Repositioning the original staircase transforms the new apartment, created the experience of a continuous second floor while adding a hidden study beneath the stairs, which lead to the downstairs bedroom.

The 1941 Druckman Residence has a new pink kitchen, original plywood paneling, and an open living area overlooking the Hollywood Hills.

Floor plan of Lil Shingle by Best Practice Architecture

The architects retained the previous deck’s footprint but updated it with ipe boards. The sconces on both levels are the Bower model from Schoolhouse Electric.

New white oak stairs connect the upper and lower floors. The homeowner wanted the downstairs apartment for visits from her daughter and young grandchildren, who live in California. La Cantina sliding doors provide easy access to the backyard.

The two major architectural interventions happened in the living room, where the architect vaulted the ceiling, replaced the preexisting clunky skylight with three slim ones, and relocated the staircase to the basement. The wall tile outside the powder room is by Fireclay—the homeowner specifically requested all rectangular tile be laid horizontally.

Set on a sprawling 30,000-square-foot lot, the Lake Vista home has been lightly updated, and it comes with a pool and a cabana.

After: The soaring new living and dining space benefits from an abundance of natural light from every side, and they spent a lot of time trying to find the best lighting for the kitchen. The final choice: long, narrow copper pendants from Denmark suspended by ultra thin wires to not disrupt the visual flow of the room.