On the West Side of LA, a riot of dusty pink desert willows, crimson flowering silky oaks, and tangerine carrotwood seeds burst along a leafy boulevard, where wrought-iron gates lead up to a Colonial Revival built in 1931. When the couple, a pair of Hollywood agents, bought the property in 2021, they knew just who could transform its all-white interiors into a moody, richly layered oasis that felt transporting but also practical for their two young sons. They immediately called AD PRO Directory member Kate Driver, the founder of LA design studio West Haddon Hall, who had designed their two previous homes (first a loft, then a modernist house). Driver had been curating their growing collection of art and furnishings since 2016, and as a mother of three, she understood their desire to create child-friendly spaces with playful yet durable fabrics that didn’t compromise when it came to design.
“They had a razor-sharp sense of what they were drawn to but also knew what they didn’t want—namely, we used nothing designed before 1920,” explains Driver, who hunted down midcentury Swedish antiques and Art Deco accents to imbue age, patina, and character into the space. “Whenever I’m traveling or trawling for vintage finds, I collect pieces for them as if I were decorating my own home,” she adds.
Alvar Aalto tank chairs reupholstered in dark cumin and pistachio fabric anchor the living room, where 1970s Murano glass lamps by Gae Aulenti find balance in grounding accents like geometric wooden divider screens and chestnut woven chairs with river reed caning. Driver recovered an old bolstered bench that belonged to the clients in Liberty of London’s Faria Flowers velvet print, while 1960s Scandinavian teak shelves and case pieces were embellished into custom wet bars with vintage wallpapered doors. Down the hall, they wanted to honor the original 1930s millwork in the smoking room, but rejuvenated it with Benjamin Moore’s Northampton Putty: “a color that completely changes depending on the light throughout the day,” Driver says. Glass bookcases surrounding the fireplace showcase a vast library—they’re always reading Hollywood scripts as well as novels and memoirs—where a Derek Velasquez wall sculpture (which once hung in their son’s room at their old house) now floats above their collection of Oaxacan red metal vessels, Chinese candleholders, and Indian bowls lining the mantel. Club chairs covered in salt and pepper cowhide flank a midcentury Japanese table inlaid with tile, wood, and mosaic, while a kidney-shaped desk and Ettore Sottsass armchair create an office nook overlooking the azure pool and trellised gardens below.
