Name: Beatrice Valenzuela (shoe designer and hairdresser) & Ramsey Conder (clay modeler for Tesla Motors)
Location: Echo Park - Los Angeles, California
Size: 800 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year
A good friend, Kathryn Bentley, suggested I tour Beatrice and Ramsey's unique and well decorated Echo Park home. From the moment I walked through the door I knew their place was very special. There were no barriers between the indoor and outdoor areas. Beatrice welcomed us into her home and continued her hospitality with fresh ice tea and snacks. Our hostess is probably the most warm and hospitable person I have ever met and her home reflects that.
Beatrice can be quite traditional; tending to her home to create a beautiful space to come home to at the end of the day. I miss the days of hanging the clothes on the line, gardening fresh vegetables, and making homemade dishes for your family. She seems to do it all and you can definitely feel the love through her cooking. With such a warm home, it must be hard to get guests to leave.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: This is our dream home. We try to make it simple and comfortable and full of beautiful objects and very special treasures we find along the way.
Inspiration: A connection with the outdoors and imagining what it would be like living in a foreign countryside.
Favorite Element: The wonderful breeze that comes through our windows and the beautiful view we enjoy while sitting on the veranda.
Biggest Challenge: Taking our time in making things look exactly how we want them to look. We tend to want to do too much too fast. Sometimes if you wait a little new inspiration can take you in a different unexpected direction.
What Friends Say: Our friends love the feeling of openness throughout our home. The feeling of being indoors and outdoors all at the same time.
Biggest Embarrassment: Our home office "the side room" has become a room to collect anything NOT beautiful. We have just started to design shelves for it and plan out a more functional use for it. We eventually want it to be a place we can sit and work from as well as house our books and other precious things.
Proudest DIY: Installing our windows and hanging our doors successfully.
Biggest Indulgence: We have no regrets about purchasing our dishwasher and refrigerator
Best Advice: Do what you want! IT IS YOUR HOUSE forget about the resale value!!
Dream Source: Architectural salvaged yards all over the city
Resources of Note:
APPLIANCES
We had a terrible experience buying our appliances, but they work great!
HARDWARE
FURNITURE
ACCESSORIES
BEDS
LIGHTING
WINDOW TREATMENTS
- Taylor Brothers
- Stained Glass by David Scheid: Contact Kathryn Bentley
PAINT
TILES & STONE
FLOORING
RUGS & CARPET
- Found on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico
ARTWORK
- Hadley Holliday
- Arthur Ou
- Cherry and Martin
- Anna Sew Hoy
- David Korty Ceramics
- Rebecca Morris
- Eve Fowler
- Stan Bitters
Thanks, Beatrice & Ramsey!
Images: Juan Enriquez
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Big fan. Not your usual run to the mill cookie cutter apartment therapy space. Really like the kitchen vibe.
o.m.g. i *love* the kitchen. love it. the rest of the house is pretty dang awesome too, but that kitchen... i won't be able to get it out of my mind all day.
OK, convinced. Now want to buy shoes and have my hair cut ! Where can I do that ?
So lovely! Will stick with me. It's refreshing to see something so beautiful, yet without pretense. A state to work toward. What an inspiration!
JessBell hit the nail on the head. So unique and lovely. I'm curious about the fabric wall hangings. What are they?
A very charming home!!
I love everything about this place. This is my favorite AT post ever.
I don't think there was anything in this tour that I didn't like. The amazing vibe of that place oozed out of every photo. This one will be in my head all day too.
Looks like a Latin house to me! Some of the wall hangings appear to be Maya huipiles, or blouses. They are beautiful examples of the weaver's art, and differ from village to village. The kitchen reminds me of the kitchen I shared in Caracas, and of caraqueno friends' kitchens.
So lovely, loving, and artistic. Wonderful use of wall hangings and color. And assuming those are the shoes you design, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for not contributing to the oppressive exploitive posture&health-ruining "killer" (literally) spiked heels trend. Thank you.
love the textiles - and...THE CHICKENS!
Good job - very creative and inspiring home.
Easy breezy carefree style. Feels like summer all year round.
Dreamy.
beautiful tile, enamel soap dish, artwork, bent wood chairs, everything! colors are wonderful and you could live in a house like that forever, also nice stack of world of interiors!
Love everything , the colors, textiles, pottery, art.....windows, open air...beautiful.
And darling little girl but I don't remember seeing her name?
Thank you for sharing!
I absolutely adore your home! I love the organic nature of it, the art work, the pottery, the simplicity. Nothing looks mass produced here. It's all very fresh. Congratulations on a lovely home.
Absolutely LOVE all the pottery & textiles as well as the beautiful paint colors, natural light, the airiness! And the chickens! One of my favorites tours.
I LOVE your house - wow! The hammered door with colored glass - where did you get that?? Such an artistic door - LOVE it! I love the colors, the kitchen, your textiles/bed linens. I love hanging clothes outside - I want chickens too - love the little coop. One of my favorite AP tours for sure! Thanks fo sharing:):)
So good. Thank you for sharing. Painted chair rail is the way to go, if a vibrant color gets too much.
I love the baby's room...and the kitchen...and the bathroom...and the front door...and the entrance *brain overload* This house is flippin' sweet!
Love this house! Feels very homey.
This tour makes my heart hurt with nostalgia for Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing.
Love how you layered so many patterns and textiles and still have a modern clean look. I wish I could pull this off.
Completely charming and lovely -- what a wonderful home!
This is my favorite AT home to date. it's so lovely and warm. Everything...the chickens, the pottery, the light, I love!
I have to ask, where did you find the whale mosaic in the bathroom? It is amazing.
That tile...Wow!
I love the tiles.
Also, her "best advice" about doing what you want and not worrying about resale value.
Also, that she credited the artists whose works are shown.
Thanks!
I love the shoes!
Love the colors, the bright open spaces, the pottery along the top shelf in the kitchen, the beautiful light in your entry, the artwork everywhere...but most of all I love the Heath pottery in your kitchen. Thank you for sharing!
I want to recreate every square inch of that perfect kitchen kitchen.
This is a beautiful home. Thank you!
my favorite thing about this home is the attitude of the owner. I love that this modest 800 sq ft home is her "dream home" and that they have worked to make it so. refreshing!
This is so beautiful, going through, I thought someone has to be foreign because of the mix of textiles, colors and the overall freshness of the space. I love how you've mixed the raw/bare woods with the vibrant, bright colors and layered it with some of the most gorgeous textiles. Everything about your home makes me happy, I love the color of your house, the tiled floors and back splashes, how you were able to keep everything simple yet with so much complexity. It reminds me alot of my father's house back in Jordan where the outdoors and indoors were complimentary living spaces, I cannot stop raving!
THIS is what AT posts should be. Original, unpretentious, attainable and inspiring. Also, the size is comparable to an apartment and shows the possibilities of small-space living. I love it.
WOW, Can I make a reservation now? Feels like a remote vacation home. So amazing in an un fancy way.
I like the macramé hanger and the kitchen counter. The shoes say it all about the inhabitants of the house.
Lovely, airy, and unpretentious. So many beautiful turquoises and textiles and textures.
I love your home! its so inviting....
I love the bright colors and different shapes throughout the house. Very welcoming and unique. You have an adorable little girl!
I'm divided on this one, there are so many things I absolutely love about this house. But, there are a few things I just can't stand~~ I love 99% of it, except the painting of half the walls, especially in the kitchen, where it looks like every stadium bathroom I have ever been in (especially with the colour choices). And not a fan of the bare bulb lights. Otherwise I love everything else. So much love has gone into this home, and it is a true family home.
Agree with all the compliments, especially Sally 305. I can only add that I covet that bunny in photo 28.
Beautiful! It felt like I was in Mexico or Costa Rica.
One of the best ever.
Beautiful home,I love your home. Best Home
LOVE the stools in the kitchen. i think i want to try to make some... they could be so versatile in my TEENY home... seating, coffee table, end table, footstool... ahh!! love the bare open shelving too... our new apartment won't have upper cabinets, so i'm thinking i'm going to do bare open shelves like this! i'm totally stealing all of your design ideas :P
Does anyone have an idea what color was used on the kitchen? I love that!!!
Ack! Marvelous - by far my favorite tour on AT ever. More of these please! What character, such a nice break from the usual.
Things that I normally really do NOT like (busy tile, bohemian knick knacks, ethnic fabrics) all came together in this home in the most beautiful way. I am seriously/surprisingly impressed with this house, kudos.
I got more and more relaxed as I looked at each picture - until I got to the kitchen! A laundry tub for a kitchen sink?? Genius!! Why did I never think of this???? For years I've muttered and cursed every time I've had to wash a large pot/platter/object and either couldn't fit it into the sink or under the faucet (or got water everywhere with the extendable hose sprayer thingy).
Seriously, I'm bookmarking this tour so I can come back to it - it definitely has the So Cal/ LA vibe I grew up with and miss a great deal.
Very nice! I love your huipiles and how you displayed them. I bought several on lake atitlan at markets ... All used and worn...salvaged what i could and made pillow covers out of them. Love them!
So natural, light -filled and easy. Like your use of turquoise throughout.
ditto on all the positive comments above! I LOVE the outdoor/indoor feel, the textiles, the natural charm of every room! I loved the front door! great energy!
This is one of the most effortlessly beautiful home tours I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. Thank you for sharing your place with us.
Wow, it feels so special, calm and beautiful. Not like anything else, and unique. I love it.
@ Sally305, you hit the nail on the head!
Beautiful Beatrice, Beautiful little girl and Beautiful home
I love it! It looks like it welcomes visitors to come and stay and help in the kitchen. For a bit I forgot it was in Cali!
LOVE.
WOW! Love the individuality and joyful playfulness, and the happy chickens and happy child.
From the time I started to watch Apartement Therapy (3 years?), it is one of the appartement I would love to live in. It is certainly not perfect, but this one has this charm I need to have in my life: something true.
Words can't describe how much I love this!
Your house is too cute! I love the front door...I am so jealous! But the cutest of all..is the lil punkin' in pink!!!
i used to live in echo park, and this post warms my heart. i love it all. wondering about sources for the textiles on both beds? looking for something similar for my two-year-old daughter. thank you!!!
Pretty... Nice home! Though as someone who has lived in LA, what happens to the pottery on the kitchen shelves during even a minor quake?
Delightful! Beautiful child. Thanks for sharing!
Lovely...as others have said, beautiful and refined without pretense.
Not my thing, but they look happy.
If I had my own house, I'd definitely have a front door like that!
So interesting that the tone of the posts reflects the vibe of the owner and, thus, the house. Love really does shine through.
Awwww, I love the kitchen! It looks busy and lived-in, and it reminds me of my old kitchen in West Hollywood. I'm super jealous of the clothesline, too; the shower rod I have to use to hang dry just doesn't cut it.
Not my style, but it is a lovely home. I am the only one who doesn't like the kitchen.
First I saw and loved the shoes on http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/shivas-romantic-modern-ranch-home-house-tour-166672
I thought after seeing her work that AT should do a tour of her house and here it is!! I knew I'd enjoy it before I saw it. I second SALLY305. Immediately I thought this home is so beautiful, unique and unpretentious. The seem like really down to earth family.
First I saw and loved the shoes on http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/shivas-romantic-modern-ranch-home-house-tour-166672
I thought after seeing her work that AT should do a tour of her house and here it is!! I knew I'd enjoy it before I saw it. I second @SALLY305. Immediately I thought this home is so beautiful, unique and unpretentious. The seem like really down to earth family.