ARTISTIC INHERITANCE

The owner of this Los Angeles home has filled it with design classics and a collection of art by her grandfather

- JULIET BENNING

For Sheila Bouttier, inheriting a large collection of artwork was a blessing that prompted not only a new home but also her business, Galerie Provenance. As the only grandchild of the late acclaimed American artist Benjamin Abramowitz, Sheila and her husband Brett are the custodians of many of his works and decided that, as well as needing more room for their two growing children, they wanted a spacious new home to display the artwork. The collection, spanning 70 years, is managed by Sheila and her mother, Susan Rosenbaum. ‘As the catalogue is so vast and varied it became my mission to find a way to display it,’ Sheila says.

Keen to keep the children in the same school, the couple didn’t move far from their previous 1930s Los Angeles abode. ‘It had always been Brett’s dream to build his own home, so we began searching for a plot of land. We found one at the bottom of a cul-de-sac that was tucked away, had plenty of great spaces for the garden, yet was close to the things we needed,’ says Sheila.