The Best of Goth Worlds

On a drive-by, Ilene and Bill Graney’s Monarch Beach cottage resembles a number of quaint, humdrum homes in this cookie-cutter community off Pacific Coast Highway.

But once inside the modest, gated courtyard and through the pine front door, you realize the truth to that adage that real beauty is found within.

To mitigate the bland exteriors of this 22-year-old tract, the Graneys decided to go goth.

Windows were covered in fabric with medieval motifs and punctuated with tassels. One huge pillow was fashioned from a Turkish rug. A stained-glass window of a shepherd (“Or is it Merlin?” asks Ilene) presides over the living room.

There are framed pages from a book printed in 1668 and a wrought-iron side table. A hammered wood fireplace mantel was tailor-made to fit in the 1,800-square-foot home. (Renovations boosted the interior’s overall square footage from 1,450.)

The result is a handsome home evocative of Bill Graney’s native England that also reflects the eclecticism trend of the ‘90s and considers the needs of a family of four (the couple’s children are Michele, 14, and Dan, 18).

Interior designer Nicolas Hertnick, who juggles assignments between Laguna Beach and South Hampton, Conn., encouraged the Graneys to live a while in their new home to know what they needed (“not just wanted,” he says) before rushing to any remodeling.

Before the Graneys knew what their final decor would be, they knew what they didn’t want.

No more Southwest, so they chucked much of their furniture. They wanted something classic and British, but Victorian appeared too austere. English Country risked looking kitsch. Gothic strains crept into place as Hertnick flashed fabric swatches.

Still, don’t expect the gargoyles and purple velvet that call to mind Cher and Anne Rice. Instead of darkness, at the Graneys’ home there’s sunlight deluging the rooms and reflecting off floors of century-old Heartland pine reclaimed from dilapidated buildings back East.

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Pine, typically unpopular because it’s soft and over years reveals the dents of wear, was used throughout the house for exactly that reason.

“I didn’t want the place to look like it was designed and finished yesterday,” Ilene says. “We’re very comfortable people. I wanted to feel like we could walk in here after a day at the beach, still in our bathing suits, and not feel out of place.”

Adding to the lightness: exposed ceiling beams that have been brightly painted.

The kitchen was expanded 20 square feet and overhauled to change its shape. Center stage is a marble-topped, red-washed pine island, with seating for four on one side, cabinets on the other. Across from the island, one wall cabinet is rag-painted hunter green and another sunny yellow, with a chicken-wire door instead of glass.

Where the laundry appliances once sat in the garage is now a stone-tiled alcove in the kitchen, embracing a stainless-steel stove. A European-brand washer and dryer, smaller than American models, were positioned in the kitchen.

“I have to give Nick a lot of credit for his know-how to utilize this space. For a little house, we can do a lot with it,” Ilene says.

Diamond-patterned molding near the ceiling gives the illusion of height. French doors lead to an atrium filled with wicker furniture and vines.

The atrium can also be observed from the formal-yet-not-so-formal dining banquette that sits in a large rectangular alcove in the living room.

“We actually live in this room,” she adds, her open hand doing a Vanna White in the direction of the living room.

The room packs punch for its size.

A hulky fireplace dictates the arrangement. Ilene joined Hertnick in pounding the oversized wood mantel to create character. They even created wormholes. Over the mantel hangs a tapestry of Medieval soldiers, illuminated by stout candles.

Nearby stands a tall, wrought-iron table Hertnick designed and had smithed by Something Wilder in Laguna Beach.

Hertnick had several key items in the room crafted by local artisans and tradesmen. The sofa is based on a couch he spotted in the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” A large ottoman serves as a coffee table and footrest. An armoire for the entertainment system was made by Costa Mesa cabinetry maker John Woodbury.

The final phase of the renovation involved the master bedroom and bathroom. Enlarged and updated, the rooms convey a classic British flavor without froufrou--from the gothic printed woven that covers the massive headboard to the ornate partition that hangs on the wall.

“My grandmother brought that [partition] back from China in 1951,” Ilene says.

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Ilene and Bill slogged through antique shops near the Orange Circle as well as areas in Los Angeles and England searching for an antique plate for one wall. They also found British jugs of ginger and beer for the kitchen counter.

Elsewhere, “we used basic things to remain within the budget,” Hertnick adds.

Doors throughout were replaced with inexpensive fir doors, he notes, but accessorized with great knobs. The hall skylight was painted blue and trimmed with slim slats of molding.

Adding to the lightness: brightly painted exposed ceiling beams.

Fortysomethings Bill and Ilene bought the house with the intention of retiring there seven years from now, if all goes according to plan.

“We have a home here,” Ilene says. “That’s what we wanted.”