INTO THE WOODS

A CREATIVE COUPLE BUILDS ON THE LEGACY OF THEIR HANDMADE L.A. HOME WITH A LOVING RESTORATION AND A SOULFUL NEW GARDEN PAVILION BY CRAFTSMAN PETER STALEY

- MAYER RUS

The Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and authenticity—has long been a staple of international design discourse. Western audiences are perhaps less familiar with komorebi, a word that refers to the ethereal phenomenon of dappled sunlight leaking through trees. The Los Angeles home of Danny Duncombe and Kate Parfet makes a compelling case study for komorebi’s subtle power and grace.

Located in the eastside neighborhood of Mount Washington—an area that boasts an array of significant modernist dwellings by the likes of John Lautner, A. Quincy Jones, Rudolf Schindler, James DeLong, and Harwell Hamilton Harris—the house was built in the early 1950s by a designer who lavished attention on its hand-carved, hand-finished wood cabinetry, doors, windows, and architectural details. It is a place that radiates warmth and soul, exquisitely in harmony with its sylvan setting.

“This house is the perfect combination of a Sea Ranch cabin and a midcentury post-and-beam, filtered through a Japanese lens,” says Duncombe, a marketing executive and sculptor. “When the sunlight dances on the walls and furniture, the whole place comes alive.”

For better and worse, the structure had been largely untouched when the couple purchased it. There were leaks, plumbing and electrical issues, and structural problems—the expansive deck, for instance, was listing at an alarming angle—but on the plus side, the architecture, woodwork, flooring, and ample skylights were basically intact.