I love a home that looks like it’s evolved over time—it has a richness that I think is comforting and beautiful,” says designer Noel Pittman, who could be describing her own home perfectly. Pittman fell in love with this 1920s Spanish Colonial in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles because so much of its original architectural character had been preserved, from the intricately carved wood doors and Malibu tiles embedded in the stair risers to the wrought-iron railings and lanterns.
One of Pittman’s favorite elements was the entrance courtyard with a fountain. “This house feels really peaceful and calming, and I attribute a lot of that to the courtyard,” she says. She also liked that the house had individual rooms versus an open plan: “I think it makes a house feel better. I like to delineate space and have a different feel in each room.” She also created the feeling of rooms outside—for example, adding a dining area anchored by an outdoor fireplace.
While she leaned into the house’s architecture with Spanish and Moorish antiques, the rooms come alive through her trademark layering of beautiful fabrics, colors, and pattern, from the green-and-white antique lebrillos (painted terracotta pottery) hung on the walls to the irresistible array of patterned pillows brightening every sofa and chair. The house became her new firm’s calling card—and continues to evolve as her design laboratory.
