Ripping a 1950s L.A. Home to the Studs Revealed a ‘Wild’ Surprise Under the Floorboards
https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/ripping-a-1950s-l-a-home-to-the-studs-revealed-a-wild-surprise-under-the-floorboards-97b24471
When Amanda Leigh and Taylor Hahn started House of Rolison in 2022, the company emerged from a bet with an investor about whether higher-quality finishes would command higher sale prices.
One of their latest projects, a 1950s Spanish Revival home near the Mulholland Scenic Overlook in Studio City, California, proved the point decisively when it sold in July for $8.25 million after just four days on the market.
“I said that if you put more money into them, you’ll be able to sell the properties for more, and by the seventh project, they believed me,” Leigh said. “We call ourselves redevelopers. Flippers are who we’re trying to protect houses from because they’re ripping the life out of them. They put some lipstick on it and call it a day. We tear them down to the frame.”
The 5,341-square-foot house near the Mulholland Scenic Overlook in Fryman Canyon caught Leigh’s eye last year as a dream project: a one-story Spanish ranch with an Italian-style courtyard. The firm bought the home in September and gut renovated it over the following months.
The residence had undergone modifications over the decades, including the additions of 1980s vinyl windows, rainbow-painted gutters and a defunct indoor pool. When Leigh and Hahn discovered the pool under the floorboards, they set about converting the space into two bedrooms. They also added a privacy door to seal off the bedroom wing for when residents hosted guests in the public entertaining areas of the house.
As for bonus amenities, the pair added a panic room that remained undetected by potential buyers during the four-day showing period.
“It’s interesting for people to know that there’s a panic room in the house, but they don’t know where it is. It’s completely hidden,” Leigh said. “We showed the house for four days while it was on the market, and nobody noticed it.”
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One of the most challenging tasks was restoring the ceiling throughout the house. Parts of it were water damaged, painted or both, and this required extra attention. House of Rolison’s crew sandblasted the ceiling and replaced some of the cedar beams.
“Sandblasting is an art in itself. It’s so hard to do without completely chewing up the wood. We filled the house with sand. It was everywhere,” Leigh said. “People always think that putting dark on wood ceilings makes a room feel shorter, but it does the opposite because it draws your eyes up.”
Replacing terracotta tile in the courtyard was an unexpected expense, since it was such a labor-intensive process during the nine-month project.
“We wanted to get rid of the terracotta. We struggled with it because terracotta is traditionally Spanish, but we just didn’t like it. It was so orange. Some of it was shiny, and other parts were faded,” Leigh said. “We wanted to use cobblestones. We were cutting cobblestones for probably a month. We had our stone fabricator cutting crates of cobblestones. We had guys cutting on site. We went through seven saws.”
The kitchen became a showcase for the designers’ attention to detail. The custom hood features Zia Tile custom Cotto tile, while diamond black leather quartzite slabs anchor the islands. Lo and Co brass fixtures, Rejuvenation lighting and House of Rohl plumbing hardware complete the space.
“The kitchen hood is such a cool focal point in the room,” Leigh said. “We had talked about just drywall, then we found that tile with Zia. It’s not a giant, sterile arch anymore.”
Throughout the project, Leigh embraced “color drenching,” a design technique that leans into a single bold color for a room, as well as minimalism within the Spanish Revival style. The approach challenges conventional thinking about both concepts.
“Any time people think of minimalism, they correlate it with modernism, but you can do minimalism in any style of home,” Leigh said. “This house was a lesson in restraint.”
The philosophy extends to decor. Rather than embellishing every corner with furniture or more design elements, House of Rolison allowed rooms to breathe, creating an airy atmosphere that showcases the architecture itself.
“Having empty space is okay,” Leigh said.
Leigh offered more insight into the project:
The one tip we’d offer to someone undertaking a renovation is… What’s inside the walls is super important. When renovating, people tend to overfocus on aesthetics. You’ll pay for it later. Slow down and pay attention when everything is open before rushing to close everything up.
Our biggest surprise was… that there was an indoor pool. It was under the floors. If these houses had a story, and you could read their autobiography, it would be wild to understand.
Our favorite material we used during the process is… We love working with stone, and sometimes, our fabricators hate how we love to work with stone. We love cutting different shapes into stone.
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The one expense we didn’t expect was… the cobblestones outside. The expense of the labor was astronomical.
The renovation ended up costing… just shy of $2 million.
