As a skilled cook, Rickard “was inspired by LA restaurants that have open kitchens, like Mozza, where they always have beautiful produce and bowls.” Other design details intentionally differentiate between what Rickard designates as back-of-house and front-of-house zones. In production design, pass-throughs can function as a device to maximize camera angles, but here “it’s the transitional space,” he explains. “Front-of-house is more formal, or finished,” Rickard adds, pointing to the dark wood countertop and brass hardware and the kitchen cabinetry’s simple painted knobs. The material palette is hardly austere, however, with custom-paneled appliances, soapstone countertops, and deVOL brass rails that are practical and luxurious, while the exposed and refinished original Douglas fir flooring feels a bit rustic.
The living room is an ever-evolving repository of treasures. A custom-designed sofa anchors the scale and is a fitting background for goods like the Blackman Cruz Rose collection tea cart Rickard scored at an LA estate sale and the Omersa rhinoceros leather footstool that belonged to Burton’s father. “If you group like items or like colors, it doesn’t look overwhelming, or like a thrift shop,” Rickard says of books and small accessories that include his mother’s candlestick collection. The pastoral vintage landscape painting was a find at Uncharted Antiques in Pasadena that “the house wanted,” Rickard notes.
