Party Palace

When it dawned on Tamara Beckwith that living in Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont wasn’t financially prudent, she did the next best thing. She bought a neighboring house.

Within walking distance of her beloved hotel and party central, the home, a former residence of songwriter Barry Manilow, was an obvious choice for the British model, TV personality and celebrity columnist. “It’s rumored he wrote ‘Copacabana’ here,” Beckwith says.

The 1920s-era house, with its green awnings, trickling fountains and heaps of bougainvillea, is indistinguishable from many Spanish-style villas. But inside, Beckwith, with the help of friend, fellow Brit and interior decorator Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, has conjured up an eclectic European-hippie-chic-goes-wild-in-Hollywood fantasy. Although her London pad is a grown-up mix of cream silks and caramel chenille, this home was intended as light relief, a frothy palace for herself and her daughter, Anouska, who was 11 when they moved in seven years ago. “My job was to stop the madness,” Lawrence-Bullard says.

During their shopping sprees from L.A. to London, they bought serious antiques to pair with Beckwith’s flea market finds, as well as anything pink or sparkly. Her bordello-influenced boudoir, painted lavender with mica flecks, features a four-poster bed draped with Indian saris and covered with an antique satin and silver lace spread trimmed with lilac ostrich feathers. A small mirror inset in the headboard is “for last-minute makeup retouches,” Beckwith says. “I definitely indulged every whim.” Flanking the bed are Mongolian lamb flokati rugs dyed lilac and mirrored bedside cabinets from the ‘40s. At the foot is an armoire decorated with sheet music of her favorite songs by Sinatra and Elvis.

For his goddaughter Anouska, Lawrence-Bullard created a pink and white bedroom with a reproduction Louis XIV sleigh bed upholstered in pink-striped silk douppioni with pink linen gingham bedding. An Italian wall sconce from the 1920s has been converted into a draped canopy that lights up at night with porcelain roses. A 19th century fainting couch in pink velvet, an antique Venetian mirror with pastel glass rosebuds and a pink Hello Kitty phone complete the room.

“The house is a good representation of Tamara’s personality,” Lawrence-Bullard says. “They are both glamorous . . . but never take themselves too seriously.” In the living room, a portrait of a cherub (said to be the face of an early English prime minister) gazes at a 19th century boulle topped with leopard-print lamps. Classic English sofas are given a modern twist with royal purple upholstery and copious tassels. Mirrored tables from the ‘20s through the ‘50s and a giant tiger-skin rug help complete the scene. The dining room has a green-and-blue striped ceiling, an emerald glass chandelier, green sari drapes and a custom studded and ebonized table. On one wall are Andy Warhol lithographs of Marilyn Monroe, and on the opposite wall is a silkscreen of Elvis. “I regard them as the king and queen of Hollywood,” says Beckwith, as she leads the way to the adjoining study, which is dominated by an antique animal horn-and-skin desk and chair by an artist friend in France.

The rear courtyard is a Moroccan-style playpen strewn with lanterns, brightly colored kilims, low tray tables and silk pillows that sparkle and pop against the pink walls trimmed with pistachio. An antique bronze incense burner hangs over a Victorian child’s crib now used as a sofa, while a disco ball is primed for those times when one of Beckwith’s parties migrates outdoors.

Although cooking isn’t her strong suit, Beckwith excels when it comes to maintaining her home. “I’m never happier than when I’m cleaning, and I can’t cope with badly made beds,” she says. Perhaps in recognition of this, Lawrence-Bullard placed a chandelier over the kitchen sink, so that Beckwith can make even doing the dishes look glamorous.

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Resource guide

Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, Martynus-Tritt Inc., West Hollywood, (323) 651-4445.