Before & After: They Brought Their Buff and Hensman Midcentury Back to Its Original Glory
A couple tap Cover Architecture and EEK Studio to install custom casework, ribbed glass, and a grand fireplace while staying true to the L.A. home’s plans.
A couple tap Cover Architecture and EEK Studio to install custom casework, ribbed glass, and a grand fireplace while staying true to the L.A. home’s plans.
In 2016, one of Jason and Laura Miller-Smith’s friends sent them a real estate listing with the note: "I found your dream house." Turns out, they were right. The L.A. couple—Jason works in finance and Laura is a producer—wanted to relocate their growing family from an apartment in a streamline moderne building designed by Milton J. Black in Koreatown. They had lost out on several bids for homes in Silver Lake and Los Feliz, and hadn’t considered Eagle Rock until they saw the listing.
As they toured the space, Laura was struck by the flowing layout, the warmth of the existing cork floors, and the incredible views. For Jason, it was the floor-to-ceiling glass doors that opened to balconies, enabling a quintessential California indoor/outdoor lifestyle on a steep slope with no actual backyard.
"I’d always imagined myself living in the trees, because I grew up in a really rural place," says Laura, who’s originally from Ohio. "It just felt like a place where I could have a respite. Jason and I are both pretty high-energy people, so having a chill, centered home is very important to both of us."
Before: Foyer
Before: The entry of the 1965 Jennings Residence has a distinct vaulted ceiling over the stairwell, with a skylight and expressed structure. "The architecture team had envisioned using telephone poles for the posts, but they weren’t able to get the poles up the street because it’s winding and narrow," says Jason Miller-Smith, the current owner. "So, they flew the poles in via helicopter to the job site. To this day, everyone on the street says, ‘You moved into the helicopter house.’"
Courtesy of Cover Architecture and EEK Studio
After: Foyer
Cover Architecture and EEK Studio collaborated with the owners on a remodel, intervening lightly in some rooms, like the foyer, and more significantly in others. The cap on the stair railing is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Tarrytown Green to sync with the woodwork.
Leonid Furmansky
The home was listed by the family of Carrol Jennings, the original owner, and it came with a story. When Carrol lost his house through eminent domain due to the construction of the 134 freeway, he bought an undeveloped parcel high up in Eagle Rock. From there, he could see where his old house had once been. Then, he called up his old Eagle Rock High School classmate, who had become an architect, to draw up plans for a home, which was completed in 1965.
That architect friend was Conrad Buff, of the notable firm Buff and Hensman, responsible for hundreds of post-war houses in Southern California, as well as two Case Study homes. "We’re huge fans of architecture, art, and design, so it’s always been our dream to have the stewardship of a house," says Jason. "Who doesn’t want to live in a piece of art?"
Before: Fireplace and Living Room
Before: Cover Architecture principal Yan M. Wang says that previous owners may have "taken some liberties" with the original fireplace design, due to budget constraints when building. The biggest tell was the awkward fireplace layout in the living room.
Courtesy of Cover Architecture and EEK Studio
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: They Brought Their Buff and Hensman Midcentury Back to Its Original Glory
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