The Emmy-award winning producer and director Randy Barbato is perhaps best known for his work on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Party Monster, and Eyes of Tammy Faye, but to Commune Design Barbato is a longtime client with a taste for color and a home that needed updating. Barbato, a father of two and a golden retriever, needed to touch up his 1936 Hollywood home to better accommodate his family. The residence, dubbed Hollywood Colonial, was first built by Milton Black, and continues to carry hints of his modern architectural style: the symmetrical facade, white-painted brick, and clapboard. Commune renovated the home to weave in both the client’s own unique taste and the original charm of the house.
For the design team whose residential work tends to veer toward the midcentury and wood-clad, Hollywood Colonial may seem out of the ordinary. Steven Johanknecht, cofounder of Commune Design, admitted, “It seems a little out of our wheelhouse.” Still, the team approached the project as they often do. “For us, it’s always about getting into the architectural conditions or the architectural heritage of a project—and also the owner. Our portfolio is fairly varied, because what interests us is getting into their world,” said Johanknecht.
The new design preserves and continues some of the home’s original art deco elements as well as maintaining its original casement windows and the formality of much of the social rooms and stairs. In place of structural changes, new furnishings and finishes refresh the space. As Barbato isn’t one to shy away from color, a dark gray paint from Farrow & Ball sets a moody dining room while an inky blue clads the den.
Main changes were concentrated in the kitchen and new children’s wing. Previously, the kitchen consisted of many smaller rooms which weren’t functional enough for a modern-day family. Commune opened up the kitchen to integrate a central island, a family room lounge, and breakfast nook. The new cabinetry’s subtle curves continue the home’s art deco style. The walls are covered in Apothecary’s Garden wallpaper by Trustworth, tying in the view of the backyard from the kitchen windows.
“We did an extensive renovation of the kitchen,” Johanknecht told AN Interior, “but our intent was to make it feel as if it’s been there, to be respectful of the period.”
On the second floor, the design team designed two new bedrooms for the children with their own baths. Working within the existing architecture and determined to not move any windows meant the reconfiguration of plumbing lines and HVAC was particularly tricky. “We used [these constraints] to an advantage to create these little niches for a built-in desk,” continued Johanknecht. “I think in this instance figuring out these constraints added to the end result of the house as very charming.”
For the primary suite and other areas of the home, relaxed furniture and fixtures add to the cozy character of Hollywood Colonial. The overall selection of furniture is quite eclectic, incorporating a Gio Ponti–inspired custom bed by Gil Valenzuela and AJ Bernard, USM nightstand, and the Roly Poly armchair by Faye Toogood. All selections though consider history as well as durability. Herringbone, tweed and tartan are used, inspired by formal menswear, as well as denim for the sectional sofa. The result is traditional yet not too kitsch, sophisticated yet unfussy.