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8/4/2019 Sweet Digs: Prairie Meets Bali in the Hollywood Riviera
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by pamela coranTe-Hansen
p r a i r i e m e e T s b a l i i n T H e H o l ly w o o d r i v i e r a
Sweet
m a h o g a n y w
i t h f r o S t e D g l a S S c u t o u t S m a k e
t h e f r o n t D o o r f u n c t i o n a l a n D
D e c o r a t i v e , c r e a t i n g a S t a t e m e n
t p i e c e t h a t a D D S v i S u a l i n t e r e S t
f r o m t h e S t r e e t a S w e l l a S f r o m
t h e i n t e r i o r o f t h e h o m e .
8/4/2019 Sweet Digs: Prairie Meets Bali in the Hollywood Riviera
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36 SoutHBaydigS.com | 09.16.2011
says. “The doors telescope away and add
a true indoor-outdoor feel. We live in an
environment [that is ideal for] indoor-
outdoor living, so you almost inherently
design the home that way.”
Plans for the home were completed
in four months, and the Balks attribute
the successful execution to the fact that
they stayed true to Tomaro’s design. The
couple initially consulted with three
other architects, but was not completely
sold on the plans. Having once lived
in a Manhattan Beach home designed
by Tomaro, they decided to work with
him on their new house. Tomaro
incorporated some of their ideas into
the plan, creating larger windows in the
kitchen to maximize natural light and
ocean vistas, and adding a bathroom
easily accessible from the pool to allow current – and
future – grandchildren to shower off before traipsing
through the house. Construction was completed in
13 months. Andy and Christine were involved in the
process, occasionally rolling up their sleeves and
pitching in, as evidenced by an aerial photo of the home
under construction, featuring Andy on the roof as it was
being completed.
Christine, a former apparel and merchandising
stylist, oversaw the interior design on 4,100 square
feet of living space. “I get a lot of inspiration from
hotels,” Christine says. “Crazy places, not just ve-
star properties.” The master bath is a subtle display
of Christine’s afnity for day spas, with a shower
oor made of smooth stones, and a wall clad in sleek
travertine subway tile separating the shower from
the bathtub. Christine jokes about her obsession with
glass tile, which manifests itself in all four bathrooms.
A basement bathroom boasts iridescent blue-green
and golden glass tiles in the shower, providing an
elegant foil to a distressed lighting xture with an edgy,
industrial vibe, equally suited for a 1940s army barracks
or an underground nightclub. Christine sourced the
xture from a company in England. The pool bathdazzles with turquoise-blue and algae-colored glass tile
set in a stylized wave pattern.
Glass tile is nowhere to be found outside on the pool
deck, however. Instead, subtle stippling highlighted
with embedded shell gives the swimming pool a
contemporary feel, its cerulean hue complementing the
Pacic Ocean panorama that extends to Point Dume.
The pool holds salt water, an effort to offset the effects
of harsh chemicals on swimmers and the environment.
Christine notes that her taste in pool tile errs on the side
of understated. “With all those eur-de-lis and patterns,
one false move and it’s overwhelming,” she says. Inkeeping with her spa theme, the sage green ceramic
tile evokes calm and tranquility.
If peace and calm can be found in a kitchen, the
Balks have mastered it. The eye is drawn to a simple
yet rened backsplash of pearly white glass tile with
an inlaid pineapple motif. A nod to the couple’s love
for the island of Kauai, the design provides a sense
of place without falling into cliché. White, pre-
nished custom cabinets from Canadian cabinetry
rm Downsview provide ample space to stash
kitchen appliances and essentials, yet avoid giving
“
“
Surrounded by boxes on the rst night in their
custom Hollywood Riviera home, Andy and Christine
Balk were treated to an unexpected bonus. A dazzling
sunset over the Pacic and a movie-worthy view of
the illuminated cityscape were enough to keep the
television off for three nights. “And we actually talked to
one another,” Andy quips. Married 34 years, the couple
never imagined they would end up with ocean views
and an expansive front lawn in one of the South Bay’s
most coveted neighborhoods.
Perched on a 14,200 square foot lot rising gently
on a slope of mid-century modern dwellings, the
Balks’ seaweed-green, metal-roofed house morphs
harmoniously into the hillside, its low-prole facade
ducking coyly behind a modest screen of gnarled pines
that were planted when the neighborhood was rst
subdivided. As understated as the home is, the design
takes full advantage of the trapezoid-shaped corner
lot, allowing for an extravagant 1,000 square feet of
near wrap-around storage space, ocean views from
the basement and a garage deep and wide enough to
contain the Balks’ RV.
“When we were building the garage, people
would park on the street and just stare. Men would
drool,” says Andy. A veritable drive-in man cave, the
garage’s discreet prole belies its epic proportions:
36 feet deep, 22 feet wide, 900 square feet. Indeed,
architect Louie Tomaro and his clients shared a
vision of honoring the neighborhood’s character,
and the garage is just one example of how a modern
design and oor plan can be seamlessly incorporated
into an established subdivision.
Taking cues from Frank Lloyd Wright, Tomaro
designed the home with a linear emphasis reminiscent
of Wright’s classic Prairie School style, but with tropical
touches such as hip roof design and extensive use of
dark wood. The Balks own a home on Poipu Beach in
Kauai, and a trip to Bali sealed Christine’s passion for
the Indonesian aesthetic. “The emphasis was to make
an open house that ows easily to the outside,” Tomaro
“WHEN WE WERE BuiLDiNG
THE GaRaGE, PEOPLE
WOuLD PaRk ON THE
STREET aND JuST STaRE.
Men wold drool,” sys andy.
a vertble drve-n mn cve,
the garage’s discreet profle
beles ts epc proportons:
36 feet deep, 22 feet wde,
900 sqre feet.
off a storage-unit feel. The marble counter tops,
pale jade in tone, display booking motifs and draw
the lush greens of the outdoor landscaping into the
home. Christine selected the lighting xtures, three
generous globes of clear glass suspended from the
11-foot high ceiling, adding a modern contrast to the
traditional xtures and ooring.
Anchoring the home’s main level, wide-plank
oak wood oors in a dark custom stain add a degree
of warmth and help carry the Indonesian inuence.
With three dogs having full run of the house, the
Balks chose a semi-distressed, at nish. On this
level, a long entryway provides a clear line of
sight to the pool, drawing visitors directly from the
statement piece of a front door to the pool deck with
city, mountain and ocean vistas. The wood ooring
extends from the entry to the three bedrooms,
dining room, kitchen and living area. Downstairs
in the basement, polished cement ooring gives
a hip, warehouse-y energy to the couple’s work
areas. Natural light illuminates an expansive ofce,
with windows that provide enviable ocean views.
A smaller studio is primed for creative work. The
basement level offers access to the garage, and a
quick jog up a short ight of stairs leads to a landing with an Al ice-in-Wonderland-esque square door.
Beyond the door, which one enters with the help
of a folding chair, is the fabled 1,000 square-foot, fully
nished storage area, in which an adult over 6 feet
tall can stand without having to crouch. In addition
to housing the water heater, central vac and cooling
and security systems, there is more than enough
space to stash seasonal items and household staples.
Originally, the area was to be left unnished, but the
allure of having additional storage space inspired
Andy to work with Tomaro and make it functional.
But the space also holds an item that carries deepsignicance to the Balks. Suspended from a beam is a
six-by-ve foot tapa, or Polynesian textile made from
the bark of a native tree. A gift to the Balks from the wife
of the stonemason who worked on their Kauai home,
the tapa features delicate stamped bird and plant motifs.
“She made it when she was 15,” Andy says. “We became
good friends with them, and they were surprised that
we would go to their house.” A self-made businessman
who left home at 15, he says, “I feel very fortunate, but in
the end, we’re all the same. There’s no magic formula;
you just have to treat people well.”
a l a n a i o f f t H e k i t c H e
n a n d d i n i n g a r e a a f f o r d S p a n o r a m i c V i e W S o f t H e S a n t a m o n i
c a m o u n t a i n S , S o u t H B a y S H o r e l i n e a n d t H e c i t y S c a p e .
l
a n d S c a p e d t e r r a c e S e V o k e t H e
c a n t i l e V e r e d S u r f a c e S p r e S e n t i n S o m e f r a n k l l o y d W r i g H t H o
m e S . l a n d S c a p i n g B y S o u t H e r n
c a l i f o r n i a l a n d S c a p e .
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09.16.2011 | SoutHBaydigS.com 37
p H o t o
g r a p H y B y p a u l J o n a S o n
tHe SaltWater pool iS underStated to keep tHe focuS on tHe expanSiVe VieWS. cement Work By pearce conStruction.
caBinetry By canadian firm doWnSVieW proVideS ample
Storage Space WHile adding decoratiVe flouriSHeS.
irrideScent glaSS tile in tHe BaSement leVel SHoWer
eVokeS tHe Blue-green toneS of Sea glaSS and tHe Warm
SaBle SandS of local BeacHeS.