Earlier this summer theLA Times covered the story of this home in L.A.'s Beverly Crest neighborhood which is dominated by a 5,000-square-foot swimming pool graced with a towering stone fountain. The fountain was said to be designed by the acclaimed Mexican architectural firm of Luis Barragan and Raul Ferrera.
The current owner, Eugene Leoni and his business partner, Anthony Brent bought the site, including the 4,900-square-foot house planning to use the offices for their real estate projects, put a little money in it and sell it. Instead they turned it into a four-bedroom showcase masterminded by designer Tim Campbell. The fountain, officially Campbell Divertimento Fountain is Historic-Cultural Monument No. 637. Some architectural historians says that Barragán only did one project in the U.S. and this isn't it but others point to the fact that the names Barragán and Ferrera are clearly stamped on the blueprints dated 1987 and Leoni and Brent have correspondence between Barragán's office and the home's previous owner and that Ferrera was the sole designer. The bottom line is no one knows how much Barragán contributed.
But let's forget the fountain for a moment and focus on the modernist home with it. The home is absolutely design perfect. There is a loggia adjacent to the V-shaped massing of the Divertimento with a summer kitchen. The ground floor is built for entertaining with a game room, long dramatic bar and wine room along with a bedroom suite. Upstairs there is a living room with sleek kitchen, dining room with a large window, and a formal living room with fireplace that leads to the bedroom wing with master bedroom suite and terrace, and two stylish bedroom suites. What's it lacking? It's doesn't have blockbuster views but that's a small complaint with a home like this.
