I used to think of our Nichols Canyon home “an apparatus programmed to cooperate, even anticipate and inspire.” It seemed act as a sophisticated contraption attending to all of our whims — ascertaining that our emotional and physical wellbeing are taken care of.
This DIY project of turning a lifeless Hollywood Hills Nichols Canyon fixer into a home was published many times. Here’s an excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article by Morris Newman.
“Alla Kazovsky did not take the gut-and-rebuild approach in renovating her modest, ranch-style house in Hollywood Hills. With the exception of a new aboveground lap pool in front, the 70-year-old dwelling looks much as it did before — an unprepossessing wood-and-stucco structure set behind a rose garden. So, what was remodeled?
Kindly step inside. Without denaturing the old house, the USC-trained architect reinvented the structure completely. Kazovsky stripped the old ranch to its structural bones, creating warmth with brick and exposed wood beams, while adding new details throughout in steel and concrete.
Only 500 square feet were added to the footprint of the house, primarily in the underground sauna, bath and laundry. The change is really in the carefully considered details, including a dozen of new pieces of steel furniture, hard-edged and minimalist, of Kazovsky’s own design.
The architect describes the house as her personal laboratory. At the same time, the house is not a formalist showplace, but a comfortable, unpretentious home where the artwork of two daughters is prominent throughout. The wall of the elevated lap pool features a mosaic based on a drawing by daughter Mia.” — Minimalist Remodel: An architect reinvents her home, adding just 500 square feet and a few natural materials. By Morris Newman, Special to The Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2007
Read full article here.
