Designer Bryan Wark unearthed the original design features while endowing the space with ease and comfort
By Kathryn Harris | Photography by Lisa Romerein | September, 2016
Sometimes you have to go backward before you can clearly see how to move forward. For Guy and Jennifer Genis, renovating a midcentury modern home meant returning to its roots. Their goal: to unearth the original design features while endowing the space with ease and comfort.
"I wanted simplicity and warmth, not a museum where you had to tread lightly or worry about the kids," says Guy, who bought the 3,500-square-foot house in Sherman Oaks, California, because it reminded him of his own childhood vacation home.
Moving from concept to reality, however, required an archaeological dig of sorts. The previous owners, who had built the home in 1960, buried many of its attributes under decades of evolving design trends.
"The den was covered in crumbling wall-to-wall mahogany paneling," says Bryan Wark, an interior and event designer who collaborated with Guy and Jennifer on the yearlong transformation. A massive gold-veined mirror concealed an unfinished double-sided fireplace; plantation shutters blocked an enormous expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows. A team of workers had to chip away for days on their hands and knees to unearth the original terrazzo floors.
Once the fundamental features were uncovered, the decorating began. Against the sand-colored terrazzo floors, Wark used a limited palette of neutrals with touches of red in the living room, moving into a series of chocolates and creams in the den and bar area. He also pared down the amount of furniture and artwork.
The designer chose a handful of dramatic pieces to stand out against quieter elements. A pair of towering vintage majolica lamps in the living room creates a yin and yang effect atop an understated low credenza of wenge and white CaesarStone (a quartz-polymer material). The intricate pattern of each lamp base is echoed in the legs of the black Asian altar table across the room.
The mix of items from another era with midcentury classics and some contemporary pieces keeps the overall look anchored to the home's origins while adding individual style.
"Modern architecture can be quite cold, so we aimed to downplay that effect," Wark says.
Having multiple spaces for entertaining at home was important to Guy, who is CEO of event production firm Eventmakers. But the real focus was on creating an intimate gathering place for the family. Evenings are often spent in the den, with Guy reading on a Bertoia chair at the bar, Jennifer working a crossword on Wark's custom suede sofa, and 3-year-old Stella bouncing up and down in the Eames lounger.
"I appreciate the history our house represents, but above all it had to be unpretentious," Guy says. "We didn't want a home where you couldn't sit on the furniture."
