By Mary MacVean Lisa Edwards and Tracy Moore’s house, located within one of L.A.’s Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, is full of surprises. Chief among them: One of the three garage bays has been turned into an indoor-outdoor room looking onto the pool. Here, Moore opens up the doors to the space. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Lisa Edwards, Tracy Moore and their Los Angeles home prove that a period house doesn’t have to look like a museum. The couple has filled the interiors with bright colors, a range of styles and a lifetime of collections — while still respecting the 1926 architecture.
The house sits in Wilshire Park, a neighborhood south of Wilshire Boulevard about five miles west of downtown L.A. The area was home to wealthy people as well as residents who bought modest Colonials. Edwards and Moore’s house is Spanish Revival. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
The blending of times and places begins in the living room, with its 14-foot barrel ceiling, original crown molding and what they believe is a Batchelder tile fireplace. Over the mantel hangs a peaceful painting by Ann Safford, and on the mantel sits a large bowl collected on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. Two cushy white couches flank an enormous ottoman covered in kilim — a piece Edwards calls the “Ottoman empire.” (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
The red and blue Oriental-style rug was made in the early 20th century and belonged first to Moore’s cousin’s grandparents, then the cousin, and then Moore’s parents before it came to her. When she and Edwards lived in New York City, they were able to only partially unroll it on the floor. A 1962 George Barris photograph of Marilyn Monroe bucks the sex goddess stereotype, capturing her in a large-weave sweater. “We are not big fans of Marilyn Monroe, but I just loved that photograph,” Moore said. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Edwards, the rabbi at Beth Chayim Chadashim, has an office with a walk-in closet full of bookshelves. Moore, who retired as a major gifts officer at KPCC, has her own office. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Frida and Diego Rivera figurines in the study. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Moore shows how doors between the living and dining rooms cleverly and elegantly fold. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
“I instantly loved them,” Edwards says of the doors. “But I didn’t get the whole design of them until we moved in.” (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Japan, meet Mexico: With calligraphy screens lining one wall of the dining room, a fanciful statute by Oaxacan folk art master Irma Blanco takes its place nearby. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Moore hold a piece of Mexican folk art. The glass-fronted cabinet holds other treasures, including Edwards’ childhood collection of netsuke and inro, carvings made to wear on the obi, or sash, of Japanese kimonos. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A wooden chest from India, a photograph of Audrey Hepburn wearing a gown from “Sabrina” and a black and white drawing called “Frida in a Men’s Suit” by the Los Angeles artist Hector Silva. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Watercolor portraits of Edwards’ and Moore’s friends, painted by Lisa Schoenfelder. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Edwards, left, and Moore say they don’t cook so much as “assemble” meals, but their kitchen has a big marble-covered peninsula that’s a pastry maker’s dream. When previous owners renovated the room, they kept the original cupboard and added black and white subway tiles. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A reminder of times gone by: a milk box in the kitchen. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Edwards’ reflection in a bathroom that the couple added. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Enthusiastic colors appear throughout the house, as does … (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A lizard in the shower. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
The hallway is an extravagant 5 feet wide, enough room for the built-in telephone nook and desk. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Another piece of the past. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A cabinet and drop-down desk in the hallway. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
The guest bedroom. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
In the tangerine-colored master, the bed is covered in a patchwork quilt. Glass doors lead outside, where there’s a spa and small pool, a place to eat, plants and a garage. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A chest in the master bedroom. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Outside, one wall is painted bright pink to match the bougainvillea. Another wall -- actually the neighbor’s wall -- is sky blue. Still another is mustard-colored. When the couple celebrate Sukkot, the pergola is transformed into a sukkah topped with palm fronds, enclosed with fabric and decorated with harvest and Jewish symbols. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Along the pool is a wall of colorful tiles Edwards and Moore collected in Mexico. The home is one of six stops on a Los Angeles Conservancy tour Nov. 6 featuring three Historic Preservation Overlay Zones: Wilshire Park, Country Club Park and Windsor Village. For more information go to the L.A. Conservancy site.
