LIVING LEGACY

IN L.A.'S LAFAYETTE PARK, THE HOME OF TRAILBLAZING ARCHITECT PAUL R. WILLIAMS GETS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE WITH A SENSITIVE MAKEOVER BY DESIGNERS BILLY COTTON AND LEYDEN LEWIS IN TANDEM WITH ESCHER GUNEWARDENA ARCHITECTURE

- SARAH ARCHER

In 1952, Paul R. Williamsthe first African American architect licensed west of the Mississippi River-built a beautifully proportioned International Style home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Lafayette Square for a client who would not have been legally permitted to live there just four years earlier: himself.

THE HOUSE'S ORIGINAL WROUGHT-IRON STAIRCASE RAILING IS EMBELLISHED WITH CAST BRASS GAZELLES THAT EVOKE ART DECO DESIGN. THE CEILING LIGHT WAS ALSO RESTORED. OPPOSITE A VINTAGE PORTRAIT OF ARCHITECT PAUL R. WILLIAMS AND HIS WIFE, DELLA MAE, IN THE STAIR HALL.

Designed for him and his wife after their children were grown, Williams lived there until his death in 1980, and it remained in the family until 2018. That's when its present owner, a woman whose career in the arts often affords her the chance to work with artists' estates, recognized this place as a "primary text" and heeded an "impulse to protect and shepherd" this important piece of Williams's legacy.

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT DESIGNERS BILLY COTTON AND LEYDEN LEWIS IN THE LANAI ROOM. LANDSCAPE DESIGNER SCOTT SHRADER REFRESHED THE GARDENS. IN THE LIVING ROOM, 1930s ITALIAN CHAIRS WEARING A PIERRE FREY VELVET AND THE HOUSE'S ORIGINAL SOFA, REUPHOLSTERED IN A WARRIS VIANNI LINEN, SURROUND A 1950s COFFEE TABLE. FOLDING TRIPOD SIDE TABLE FROM BROWNRIGG; MOHAIR RUG FROM CAROL PIPER RUGS.

She assembled a design team to update the house for contemporary living with reverence for its singular place in architectural history. Frank Escher and Ravi Gune Wardena, of Escher Gune Wardena Architecture in Los Angeles, led a thoughtful conservation.