Canyon Country
Images: Christopher Patey
At first glance, a neutral, lightly hued palette might not seem like the most practical route for creating a family-friendly home. For designer Alexis Manfer, two key words allowed her to bring her vision to life in Mandeville Canyon. "Performance fabrics have come a long way," she says with a laugh.
The four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house was built in 1961 with subsequent remodels, including a design intervention by architect David Hertz in 2000. Despite another recent renovation that updated the kitchen and bathrooms, the home was in need of an interior decor overhaul for a family with three young children (including a newborn). The connection came via real estate agent Tara Rodgers Culbertson; she and Manfer have worked together before, but these clients were new to the designer.
They needed the house to function as a gathering space for friends and family and to host guests overnight, Manfer recalls. Avid entertainers, her clients also planned to throw parties indoors and out for people of all ages, so it was essential that the home was inviting and stylish.
The home's unconventional layout is a two-story twist on Mandeville Canyon's midcentury design heritage. This rustic residential pocket of the Santa Monica Mountains proved to be fruitful territory for architect Cliff May to continue to evolve the California ranch house form he pioneered — including his own homes. In this particular house, the public-shared spaces and the primary suite are located upstairs, complete with a wrap-around balcony that ties the house to its wooded and sloped site.
To create more practical spaces in the living room, Manfer placed back-to-back sofas from EQ3 upholstered in performance fabric.
For Manfer, who launched her eponymous firm in 2011 after working with noted figures in the field including Kelly Wearstler and Juan Pablo Molyneux in New York City, the first challenge was making the most of the living room's considerable scale. "I wanted this massive room to feel like an inviting boutique hotel lobby with multiple seating areas and functions," she explains.
Her first thought upon seeing the interior was "this is where everyone is going to be, and why I wanted to do that double room layout." The space is conceptually and functionally divided, yet still connected. Two large rugs from CB2 define the zones, and back-to-back sofas from EQ3—upholstered in yes, performance fabrics—anchor the room. This setup establishes both a relatively grown-up lounge to enjoy cocktails and conversation and a more casual space with a TV and large sectional better suited for kids. Natural wood tones and the existing exposed beams informed textures and earthy color selections. Softer, rounded edged furnishings such as the Celeste accent chair from Lulu & Georgia and a set of CB2's Bozzi boucle wingback chairs are foils to the black iron framed windows and the rectilinear architectural motifs.
Expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass and clerestory windows enhance the profile of the kitchen's butterfly roof and flood the space with natural light, as well as provide soothing views. Indoor plants and unique vessels in the living and dining rooms from Plant Daddies "bring the outdoors in," she says. Pierre Jeanneret-inspired wood and cane armchairs surrounding an oversized oak dining table from Restoration Hardware have an organic, tactile feel, and C&C Milano patterned fabric on the Roman shades "add whimsy," Manfer says. The dining room is separated from the kitchen by a partial wall, keeping enough of an open flow that also spills into the outdoor dining area.
The three bedrooms downstairs feel like chic retreats further nestled into the lot. Manfer embellished the boys' bedroom with a nautical-themed, mural-scaled wallpaper from Rebel Walls that sparks imagination, along with Jenny Lind Spindle maple wood bed frames from Crate and Barrel, and gave the nursery a clean, contemporary refresh. "Nothing is too juvenile," she says about the flexible schemes. The dual purpose office/ guest room offers a view of and direct access to the yard, thanks to a full-height mitered glass corner and a set of French doors, and is outfitted with a practical desk and cozy upholstered headboard.
The home suits individual needs and collective experiences. "There are so many different areas for each person to enjoy their own space," Manfer says about the lush, sloped yard that feels very private, and where a fire pit is located at a lower patio. "The adults can be on the balcony having a glass of wine overlooking the kids outside." Then come mealtime, "you can have people in the dining room and the kitchen island with the doors open. All those rooms are connected." This spectrum of independence to attachment could be a metaphor for contemporary family life, too—with performance fabrics to withstand the messiness.
