DRINKS ON THE house

This mid-century modern Beverly Hills home was built for hosting, with a glam bar room worthy of a Hollywood movie at its heart

- Keith Flanagan

Nina Takesh made a cash offer. That's how confident the designer was in a Beverly Hills home yet to hit the market, built in the 1950s for Leslie H. Martinson, the film director behind the original Batman.

"The energy is what drives me to these homes,' says Nina, a self-described serial house flipper. 'And the energy was there.' Although time-worn, the home had maintained its mid-century layout (it never left the Martinson family's hands) with memories of vintage Hollywood soirees still hanging in the air. Nina could just picture the types of stylish gatherings: screenings in the projector room, cocktails in the walnut-panelled bar, maybe a late-night dip in the pool. It was, and remains, a home built to entertain.

Leaning into its cinematic past, Nina embraced the social layout-the bar room, larger than even the primary bedroom or the kitchen, was quintessential to its character while upgrading every inch with fine materials and flourishes.