After an electrical fire, a Hollywood Hills salon is reborn
A 2003 Home cover story followed Laurie Frank as she prepared and hosted one of her renowned dinner parties at her Whitley Heights house. Sixteen months later, an electrical fire in the kitchen led to extensive water and smoke damage that required the structure to be taken down to the studs. Here, she stands in her rebuilt dining room next to her long Guatemalan altar table, salvaged from the fire and refinished, and antique ballroom chairs. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
A 2003 Home article followed art gallery owner Laurie Frank as she hosted one of her renowned dinner parties at her Whitley Heights home. Sixteen months later, an electrical fire nearly destroyed the house. Take a peek into the rebuilt residence, filled with handcrafted artistry.
Frank’s Louisiana Catahoula leopard dog, Daddy, jumps up on the antique carpenter’s table that Frank uses as an island. When she rebuilt the kitchen, Frank wanted the ambience to be a mix of the utilitarian and the artful. The ceiling was left exposed, and the kitchen cabinet doors were crafted by Greg Jezewski from window frames and doors salvaged from a demolished house in Morocco. The lighting fixtures are from Pottern Barn. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Frank had the salvaged Moroccan window frames and doors in storage, and after the fire she intended to use them as windows and doors in the rebuilt house. When officials from the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone nixed that plan, Frank decided to use them as cabinet and closet doors instead. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
A 200-year-old carpenter’s table stands as the kitchen island. On the wall: a chromogenic print by Malone Mills. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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After the fire, Frank salvaged hardware from the house and had it replated in copper. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
When the front door opens, shafts of light sweep across the floor like the hands of a host welcoming guests inside. The door design, which Frank created, is echoed in other doors in the house as well as the railing on the balcony. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Frank, owner of Frank Pictures Gallery, treats her home as an extension of her space at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. The house is an art-filled wonder, with intriguing pieces such as this painting by Qingnian Tang in the stairwell connecting the main floor to the bedrooms upstairs. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
While Frank’s house was being reconstructed, squatters moved in and thieves stole some vintage closet doors. These hand-carved antique pieces now front the closet in the master bedroom. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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The view of the Hollywood Hills from the third-floor covered terrace. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Signed gelatin prints by the legendary Horace Bristol line a wall in the sitting area off the kitchen. The photographs date from 1932 to 1956 and circle the globe, from downtown Los Angeles to Mt. Fuji. Centered on the wall is a flat-screen TV that Frank often tunes to a black-and-white movie. The film-strip-like photograph to the far left is by Elizabeth Lennard. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Daddy takes a breather on the living room’s hand-scraped teak floor. The painted and mirrored silhouettes on the walls are more works by Qingnian Tang from his “Life” series. The golden piece hanging to the left is by Laddie John Dill and now carries a sooty patina from the fire that lends a surprising and remarkable beauty. The light fixtures, one of Frank’s budget savers, are from Pottery Barn. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The mirrored armoire in the master bedroom is from Neiman Marcus, and the chair in the corner from Frank’s childhood home. The view out the window points toward the Hollywood Bowl, whose fireworks Frank can see from her bed. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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As Frank began collecting furniture for her house, she stored pieces in her art gallery. The item that garnered the most attention: this hand-made chest, which she describes as “completely bizarre” and says is her favorite piece of furniture. Above it hangs another one of Malone Mills’ prints of ethereal beauty. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Mario, the beloved bighorn sheep that has been with Frank for 20 years, came through the fire just fine -- though he’s still a little smoky. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Although the structure was largely rebuilt and many of the belongings inside were lost, today the house still feels infused with a deep sense of the past. Says Frank: “The history of this house means everything to me.” (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
