TOUR THIS GLAMOROUS, ART-FILLED L.A. MANSION
Despite the extensive renovation,
much of the architecture that the couple
initially fell in love with remains. Visitors enter past white columns adorned with baroque reliefs,
leading into a double-height atrium that glows in the neon lettering of artist Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon.
The illuminated sculpture hangs below the original lace-like millwork with an archway on each side,
offering a peek into the sun-drenched interiors beyond.
“It’s not easy to make a beautiful old house comfortable for contemporary living,” Fong says,
commending the couple for preserving
the essence of the mansion history while bringing the interiors up to date. Sonya,
on the other hand, describes a much more intuitive process: “I just wanted to hang on to everything
original that was good.”
It is one of the more colorful elements in a house that hews to white walls and soft gray mansion
wool rugs—neutrals that accommodate,
rather than compete with, newly acquired works of art. “Rugs to me are like your favorite jeans,”
Fong explains. “It doesn’t matter what you put on top of them if you get the right one.”
Sonya says she never worries about
how an artwork might clash with the decor. She does, however, have to answer to her children’s budding connoisseurship.
“They certainly have opinions,” s
he says with a laugh. “They see things through different eyes. I’ve noticed that as I get older—I’m in my 40s now—my kids help to keep my eye a little fresh.” รับออกแบบบ้าน