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For years, renowned Los Angeles designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard had kept an eye on a 1920s Mediterranean villa in the Hollywood Hills, its three-quarter-of-an-acre lot set just above Sunset Boulevard. When it finally came on the market, he jumped at the chance to turn the tucked-away treasure into a dreamy, magical retreat of his own.
Bullard is known for bold-stroke interiors that exude both high-wattage glamour and big-hearted warmth. For his own personal garden—a series of enchanting hillside terraces—he channeled that same transporting, intoxicating mix. “I wanted dramatic visual splendor,” he says, “a continuation of the inside of my home, and somewhere that felt equally as immersive and inviting.”
To help him realize this vision, he enlisted landscape designer Thomas Diehl of The Living Canvas, who has a deft way of integrating diverse plantings and playing with shadow and light. The two riffed on the house’s Morocco-meets-Spain-meets-Italy architectural flavor, leaning into a heady world of palms, succulents, citrus trees, and vines, and eschewing a riot of color for a deep dive into the seemingly limitless possibilities of green. The result is a dazzling and evocative expression of Bullard’s aesthetic through the language of the garden.
A profusion of ferns, sago palms, and lustrous philodendrons envelop the firepit lounge area. Bullard found the vintage brass lanterns at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Moroccan wedding-blanket pillows from ABC Carpet & Home.
Laura ResenA vibey firepit area directly off the house’s bar is the most-used outdoor spot. “People just migrate to it,” says Bullard. Five-foot-deep banquettes—inspired by similar ones that Bullard encountered at a villa on the Bosphorus—are purpose-built for lounging, covered in plush outdoor velvet and heaped with pillows. Black-and-white encaustic tiles on the floors and walls provide a graphic foundation onto which to layer textures and tones. A dense planting of ferns and philodendrons imparts a lush, tropical quality.
A few steps up a nearby terrace is the glittering pool, finished in white plaster to get “that turquoise, sparkly water of the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel,” says Bullard. The hard- scaping incorporates the property’s original vintage bricks plus newly inlaid zellige tile. Potted New Zealand cabbage trees, clipped boxwoods, and sculptural agaves enliven the space without disrupting its tranquil air.
The outdoor dining area overlooks the pool on a terrace below. Jasmine and two varieties of Australian laurel (‘Variegata’ and ‘Wheeler’s Dwarf’) spill down the surrounding slopes. Chairs by Janus et Cie. Vintage table base from JF Cheng with a white zellige top from Berbere Imports. Black and white encaustic floor tile from Buena Tile + Stone. Nineteenth-century marble statue from Guinevere Antiques.
Laura ResenFarther up the hill still is a dining alcove that can comfortably seat 10 and has the feel of a secluded roost. It often functions as Bullard’s more formal dining area, since inside the house, he removed the wall between the dining room and kitchen for more relaxed flow. Bullard will frequently suspend a huge candle-lit fixture above the table for after-dark dinners.
Exceptional detail has been paid to the seamless connections between the house and the garden, and to maximizing that glorious southern California capacity for year-round, day-to-night, inside-outside living. A striking fountain is perfectly positioned to be seen through a giant arch in the living room. “As a decorator, you’re always looking for the vista to that thing that will draw the eye,” says Bullard. Bubbling water and a steady succession of bloom times mean that sounds, sights, and scents from the garden are continuously wafting into the interior rooms.
Delightful pompom-like cabbage plants (Cordyline australis ‘Torbay Dazzler’) and mature queen palms flank the stairs to the swimming pool. Spanish terra-cotta planters from Inner Gardens; lanterns, Berbere Imports; tile, Zellij Gallery.
Laura ResenDiehl also overhauled the garden’s lighting with a thoughtful, intentional scheme. “Gardens have different personalities at different times of day,” he explains. “With lighting, you need to consider what you want to augment at night. Are you emphasizing a certain aspect of a tree, or are you more interested in the shadows it makes?” Here, he took a restrained approach, installing lanterns and glowing bulbs for a moody, romantic effect.
However much Bullard and Diehl may have gotten all the details just right, the one constant in a garden is change, a fact that Bullard happily embraces. “A garden is a living entity,” he says. “The beauty of it is that it’s constantly growing.”
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 16 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!
