Earl Home | Avi Ross Group

One evening during the renovation of this Spanish style duplex turned single-family, as things started coming together and it started to feel like an actual home again, I had an indescribable feeling that a new spirit/energy/whatever you want to call it, had entered the house. It was the feeling of being warm and comfortable, but inspired and impelled all at the same time. Before this starts to sound like some pseudo-spiritual LA bologny, a little bit about the history of this home; the earliest record of it is an application for remodel in 1920, making it plausibly one of the first homes in the area then called Edendale, now well known to Angelenos and hipsters nationwide as Silver Lake. The owner listed in this application is, of course, a famous musician with one of the best names I've ever heard, Leonardo de Lorenzo, a flutist from Naples, Italy. Whether by mysterious spiritual intervention or just power of suggestion, there's no wonder I had the strong urge for the first time in my life to avidly start listening to flute music in the house, thoroughly confusing all the construction guys (it's not often a 20-something-year-old starts blasting flute music from the 1920s - though I think they kind of liked it).
The goal of the design of this home was to pull the natural character of it out, tearing down the layers of 80s drywall that was covering up things like original wood beams, and the brick fireplace running through the home's two stories. It was also to reflect essential California style by bringing the outdoors in, and vice-versa. We carefully restored the original french windows, because they simply don't make them like that anymore. There was so much unused and ignored outdoor space that screamed to me as soon as I saw it, "Outdoor dinner parties, please!" Along with the almost entirely complete interior re-framing of the home, new plumbing, electrical, roof, HVAC, appliances, and all the essentials were added. We wanted to keep the charm and original beauty of the house, without giving the new owners all the issues that come with owning an ancient house.
All custom woodwork was done by Paris born & trained carpenter, Stephane Vimont. I designed and he built out of reclaimed wood all the bathroom vanities, kitchen peninsula, and shelving throughout the whole house.
We put the Earl home up on the market in November 2017, sold completely furnished. A huge part of what we do at The Avi Ross Group is refurbish antique and typically discarded pieces, through sanding, staining, painting, reworking, & reupholstering. Every piece used was "hunted" for, selected, placed, and refurbished specifically for this home. Even though I'm a huge fan of the classic California Spanish-Style, it can be at times heavy and overwhelming. For this reason, I made a point of mixing midcentury sleek pieces in with the wood, iron, and warm earth tones.

The result is a home that's classic & modern, dramatic & airy, funky & sleek, 70s & 2017, Tulum & California, a mixed up conglomerate of styles and feelings that somehow all came together to create a functional home that makes you want to sit back, drink herbal tea, and grow old with it.