TOUR A HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER’S HISTORIC LA CRAFTSMAN WITH COLORFUL FRENCH FLAIR
“I had my first adult apartment in this neighborhood and always loved it,” says Kristin Burr, a film producer and Hollywood veteran whose projects have included hits like Cruella and Christopher Robin. She’s referring to Los Angeles’s Larchmont Village, which has a charming mix of cafés, shops, and a small-town atmosphere. “It’s a walking neighborhood, so you get to know your neighbors,” Burr says. “We pull in each other’s trash cans, walk dogs together, and have block parties.” After years of living in other parts of the city, she decided that Larchmont was where she wanted to be permanently, zeroing in on a historic Craftsman house that still had its original stained-glass windows.
Fast-forward a decade, when Burr, who had been putting off an interior update, decided to take the plunge with designer Breeze Giannasio, who she had met through mutual friends. “I hadn’t taken the full jump because I watched too many renovation shows about selling your house,” Burr jokes. “They all say to keep things neutral.” But she wasn’t planning on ever selling, so she and LA-based Giannasio came up with a plan to bring their maximalist vision to life. “We committed to claiming the house at long last and making it work for her,” says Giannasio. On their checklist: A guest bedroom was converted into a walk-in closet; the kitchen and main bathroom, which lacked the charm of the rest of the house, underwent a gut renovation; the bedroom was totally reimagined; and Giannasio created layers of interest in the rest of the property to elevate and unify the disparate treasures Burr had collected over the years. “We didn’t make any structural changes since the home is a historic Craftsman and we really wanted to honor the footprint,” the designer explains.
Sensing that Burr was willing to take risks and go big, Giannasio pushed the envelope in one of their early design meetings, pitching bold elements like an integrated antique mirror onto the ceiling and hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper in the kitchen. “Initially I had proposed a more woodsy, Muir Woods–inspired collection, but I happened to have a few chinoiserie samples on hand—it was love at first sight and Burr knew it belonged.” The whole job took about a year and a half, and decorative objects and vintage pieces were sourced from LA favorites like the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, Hollywood at Home, Pierce & Ward, and Nicky Kehoe.
Being friends before embarking on this project had its advantages. “Having been to my fair share of events at Kristin’s home, I knew the failings of the kitchen and had an understanding of how she had typically used it,” Giannasio says. “She’s an exceptional hostess with an amazing group of friends and personalities—both human and canine.” Knowing exactly what she likes, the designer describes the biggest challenge as balancing Burr’s more formal, French-influenced aesthetic with a rustic, historic home. One of the ways they accomplished this was settling on a largely green palette, which, she adds, “acted as a bridge to the nature-loving Craftsman roots of the space, rather than a bolder pink palette we were originally leaning towards.” Another was replacing the wood floors in the kitchen with striking gray-and-white marble tiling. “The rest of the home was quite dark, even when properly lit,” says Giannasio. “So we enlivened the bland white walls with bold color, which was instantly transformative.”
The kitchen is Giannasio’s favorite room, where she incorporated the influence of European Art Nouveau cafés and their mirror-paneled walls and ceilings. “It’s a stunner and catches my breath every time,” she says. As for Burr: “I was a bit worried we had too much deep green. We considered a magenta look for the kitchen that was just gorgeous, but Giannasio pointed out how the greenery outside really complemented the interior,” she says, considering the finished result. “And she was right.”
Shop out the look of the house here ⤵
Shop it out: