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Contractor feels the ‘love’ in reviving Williams’ Preminger House

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Gary Drake of Drake Construction has been the principal contractor on six Paul Williams houses, including the 1925 American Colonial Revival residence Williams originally designed for director Otto Preminger’s brother Ingo. Renovation of the 5,500-square-foot Brentwood house, which included a new master suite, office, kitchen, baths and outdoor work, is Drake’s favorite.

The owners “wanted it to be authentic,” says Drake, who worked with architect Perry Hill on the house. “They went the extra mile — everything was thoroughly researched and then matched exactly.”

The Preminger House was a showcase, with a grand spiraling staircase in the entry, beautiful curved bay windows and exceptional wood and plaster work. One of the trickiest tasks, in fact, was finding an artisan plasterer capable of creating custom plaster molds to match the crown moldings along the staircase. There were items to replace, modernize, open up — plumbing and electrical, first-floor flooring, the kitchen, bathrooms and closets — but other parts were merely freshened.

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“We weren’t going to touch” the structure of the beautiful bay window with built-in seating in the dining room, Drake notes, except to replace the glass, add weatherstripping and rework the hardware. Ditto the spacious living room, which received new lighting.

“One thing about Paul Williams is that he really designed a home with families in mind,” Drake says. “These houses are 50, 60 years old, and they still have a good flow to them. You just feel it’s light, it’s bright, they are seamless. He really brought love to his buildings.”

home@latimes.com

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