Home Tour: Inside Charlie’s Hilltop LA Cabin

This post comes from our West Coast contributor, Tina!

Hill Top. Wooden Structure. Expansive Windows. Stained Glass. Lush Greens. Sound like a dream?

We spent the afternoon with our new friend Charlie at his beautiful home in the hills of Mount Washington, Los Angeles. We sipped on some coffee, explored and got to know more about Charlie, his sweet dog Rose and this hidden gem a bit better.

How long have you lived in this space and how did you come across it?

I’ve lived here almost two years. For years I had been interested in purchasing a home but nothing I saw was quite right, then one day I saw this place online and after viewing it, decided very quickly that it was a very special house.

What influences/inspires your space?

That’s an interesting question because I draw inspiration from so many different places – other homes I see, retail spaces, restaurants, things in nature, or memories of things I’ve seen in the past. Sometimes one object will inspire me, and influence my design mood for a period.

You have a beautifully curated home, every item seems to have a special significance or a story to tell can you pick a couple pieces and tell us the story behind them?

I am a very particular person, so everything I have in my home needs to speak to me in some way. I don’t really value things based on how much they cost but there is one lamp I found at a yard sale that I truly love, in part because it was such a steal. It’s a large piece that someone must have made for themselves years ago, constructed of plywood, chicken wire and then covered with a layer of concrete, it has a very sculptural quality to it, and it feels a lot like a functional work of art to me.

What is your favorite space in your home? And why?

The living room in this house is so special. Tons of windows and really interesting woodwork on the walls. It’s a beautiful place to spend time with friends, have cocktails and listen to records.

What do you like most about living on the west coast and how is it different than east coast living?

This is such a cliche, but after living in New York for so long, the pace of life is so much slower here. People are less stressed out. There is a lot to do, but not the same kind of pressure you often feel living in an east coast city.

What are your favorite spots in the neighborhood?

Highland Park is really a neighborhood on the rise and ever since I moved here I feel like there are new restaurants and interesting stores opening everyday. I love Platform. It’s a wonderfully curated home store that really emphasizes local artists and designers. Kitchen Mouse is a newish restaurant on Figueroa with tasty food in a lovely space. And my favorite bar is Johnny’s on York. Totally non-pretentious, just a neighborhood dive with friendly bartenders.

If you could go back in time what period would you live in?

I think people tend to fetishize the past (Midnight in Paris is a great movie about this) but naturally I would want to go back and spend time in a different era just to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe New York in the ’70s, San Francisco in the ’60s, or Japan during the transition from the Edo to the Meiji period.

Can you tell us about your first interaction with possums and the police?

Oh man. This possum! Coming from New York I didn’t know that animals could live in your walls. So one night I hear this banging around above my head and it sounded just like someone stomping around upstairs going through my silverware. After about 15 minutes I was sure I was getting robbed, so I called 911. I was whispering to them that I was being robbed and the operator was saying “I can’t hear you, can you speak up?” and I was like, “No. I can’t speak up. I don’t particularly want to be murdered tonight!” Well anyway, the police came and found nobody in the house. Unfortunately though, the paper boy happened to be making his early morning deliveries around this time and the poor kid must have been scared out of his mind when the cops yelled at him to freeze on the street right outside my property. Everything was cleared up right away and the police were very nice about the whole thing, but I learned that night that there was a four legged friend who had taken up residence with me.

What are you currently reading?

I was just on vacation and I read three great recent memoirs: Yes Please by Amy Poehler, Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham and Born Standing Up by Steve Martin.

Words you live by?

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” – Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass

What are your three favorite albums?

Rumors by Fleetwood Mac, The Execution of All Things by Rilo Kiley, and Red by Taylor Swift

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