For renny and erica Maslow, moving from

CHAPTER 1
STORY: MARY JO BOWLING
PHOTOS: Dominique Vorillon
SUNDAY HENDRIKSON
renny and Erica Maslow's
los angeles home is a melting
pot assembled by interior
designer tamara kayehoney. in the living room,
voluptuous sofas and a
1970s-style wall sculpture
by curtis jere coexist with
the traditional dark beams
and arched fireplace of the
mediterranean house.
For Renny and Erica Maslow, moving from
Brooklyn to Beachwood Canyon in Los Angeles was
akin to Dorothy Gale being blown out of Kansas and
dropped into the Land of Oz. In Brooklyn, the couple
lived in a 1,200-square-foot urban apartment with an
elevator and no greenery in sight. But after Renny’s work
as a director brought them across the country, they purchased a 4,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home
surrounded by lush gardens, patios and a pool. Only
relocating from the flat, dry fields of the Great Plains
to the poppy-studded hills surrounding the glowing
Emerald City could have been more shocking.
“The contrast between Brooklyn and Los Angeles
in terms of outdoor living is amazing and fabulous,” says
Erica. “This house is like an escape—it’s a hilltop oasis
in the middle of a great city.”
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THE
WAS LESS
ITSELF
The master bedroom is
large enough for a small
sitting area near the
window, making the room
a private suite for reading
and watching television as
well as sleeping. art from
the 1970s and fabrics with
a nature motif speak to the
other spaces in the house.
the architecture of the Maslow's home blends spanish and moroccan elements. Kaye-honey
played with that concept, adding in references from other cultures and eras. the dining room
blends a classic turkish kilim, cool paisley print Curtains and vintage danish chairs.
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It’s Hard
At any rate, only her screen tests for the character remain.
Sondergaard lived in Casa Canem with Herbert Biberman,
her husband, a prolific screenwriter and director. In 1947,
Biberman was one of the Hollywood Ten—a group of writers,
producers and directors who refused to answer congresa place more steeped in the local lore and mystery of Los sional questions about their affiliation with the Communist
Angeles than Casa Canem—a large Mediterranean villa tucked Party—and was blacklisted and sent to jail. Biberman served
just below the iconic Hollywood sign and encircled by the six months, and it ruined his and Sondergaard’s careers. “As I
tall trees of Beachwood Canyon, a place many consider LA’s understand it, she owned the land on this street,” says Renny.
quirkiest gorge. Although the couple love modern architec- “They had to sell it off to survive.”
By the time the Maslows bought the house, it had been
ture, they were drawn to the home because of its history and because, in Renny’s words, “it needed some work done.” Casa remodeled extensively, but ghosts of the original character
Canem was built in 1926 by Gale Sondergaard, an actress who remained—such as the large arched window and distinctive
came from Minnesota to make it big in the movies. Although rainbow-shaped fireplace in the living room. Still, there was
she was the first recipient of an Academy Award for Best much to be done. After living in an apartment for so long,
Supporting Actress (for her role in Anthony Adverse), it was the couple was daunted by the sheer size of the place. The
the part she didn’t play that marked her career. In 1938, she answer came to Erica in the pages of a magazine. “I read an
was chosen to be the Wicked Witch of the West in MGM’s The article about Tamara Kaye-Honey, and it seemed like we
Wizard of Oz. Legend has it that she either gave up the role had a lot in common,” says Erica. “We both had lived in
because she was afraid to appear ugly onscreen or she was New York and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology.
fired because she was considered too beautiful for the part. She was a mother—and I knew I wanted to be a mother.”
to
The baby's room uses
wallpaper on the walls and
ceiling for a cozy effect. Left:
the maslow family gathers in
a small room off the living
room. “I imagined this space
would be sometimes used as
a play area. I designed the
built-ins with toy storage
underneath,” kaye-honey says.
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They drove out to meet Kaye-Honey at her South Pasadena “That era was all about an ethnic vibe,” says Honey.
showroom and design studio—House of Honey—and a match “And the original Mediterranean homes had a strong
was made. In the Maslows, the designer saw herself a decade Moroccan influence.”
earlier, when she was a newly transplanted New Yorker adjust- Proving that, as Judy Garland once sang in her
ing to life as an Angeleno. For Kaye-Honey, the project was Dorothy role, some “dreams that you dare to dream really
less about history than the house itself. “It had been redone by do come true,” Erica became pregnant during the redesign.
someone as a flip, and the finishes were not what they should A blue-and-gray nursery was added to the home, but the
have been,” she says. “But the bones were wonderful, and the smoke-colored crib, where 10-month-old Roxie now sleeps,
Maslows have a great bohemian spirit. I wanted to reflect this.” is only the second most important baby bed in the house.
With that in mind, she embarked on a program that “We waited too long to go to the hospital,” says Erica. “By
brought juxtapositions to the fore. Using a collection of vin- the time the doula arrived, it was too late, and our baby
tage furnishings and unexpected art, she deftly mixed old was born in our room. I remember thinking I didn’t want to
and new, black and white, rough and smooth to make a home ruin the bed.” The master bed, with its striped upholstery
that’s warm and playful. The house—which was built when and Moroccan wedding rug used as a blanket, survived the
the sign on Mount Lee read Hollywoodland rather than just ordeal intact. “When I told Tamara that, she laughed,” says
Hollywood—was given a healthy dose of both midcentury Erica. “She thinks that now we can never sell the house.”
modern and the 1970s to reflect the interests of the owners. Designer: house of honey, south pasadena
Noir-Hued shelves in the living room provide a
dramatic frame for objects and books. Below
left: light fixtures and a wedding rug from
morocco add an exotic note to the bedroom.
below Right: Kaye-honey painted the bathroom
off the office gray for a cocoon feeling.
“ The BONES WERE
”
When Kaye-honey
suggested a
black ceiling for
the kitchen the
owners were, at
first, dubious. But
now that it exists,
they love it. “The
dark color directs
the eye straight
to the view,” says
The designer.
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