Antonio Adriano Puleo had no plans to renovate his traditional 1946 bungalow in the Glassell Park neighborhood north of Mt. Washington, but after consulting with architectural designer Ben Warwas, who told him he could transform the house into a “forever home,” the artist changed his plans.
“Originally I wanted an ADU,” Puleo said of adding an additional living unit to the art studio in his garage. “For me it was about having a larger studio and letting collectors and curators come into the studio.”
But as Warwas explored the two-bedroom home and corner lot—the designer had previously designed and built a wooden deck in Puleo's backyard—he began to imagine a new narrative for the spaces.
The Glassell Park house before renovations.
(Ben Warwas)
The outside of the house and ADU is now painted bright yellow. There is also easy access to the outdoors.
“The living room wasn’t big enough and had a huge red brick fireplace that had doors on either side that led into the backyard,” said Warwas, who first met Puleo when they were students at Massachusetts College of Art (now Massachusetts College of Art and Design). “To get outside you had to walk down concrete steps to a covered patio.”
Combined with a third door next to the kitchen, the house's entrance to the backyard was awkward at best.
After touring the property, Warwas suggested some subtle changes: adding a 250-square-foot ADU to the garage, removing the fireplace and increasing the ceiling height in the living room; adding a loft bedroom in the attic; and redesigning the exterior of the house.
The front of the 1946 house remains unchanged.
“It was a small project, but there were a lot of issues with the house,” Warwas said. “I thought, 'Why don't I suggest four different things and he can choose two or three of them?' He chose all four.”
Puleo, 49, bought the bungalow in 2010 for $387,500 after seeing an ad in Glassell Park for a two-bedroom home that was “priced well for a quick sale.” Although the home was only 1,000 square feet, it offered a backyard for his dog and a detached garage.
“The garage was really a draw,” Puleo said. “What fascinated me about the house was that it had a room that could serve as a studio.”
The living room of Puleo's Glassell Park home before it was renovated.
(Ben Warwas)
Puleo, standing, and Warwar in the living room today. “We both love design,” Puleo said of his longtime friend.
Shortly after purchasing the house, Puleo renovated the kitchen and bathroom, opening up the wall between the two rooms and widening the kitchen door. “There were so many doors,” he said of the compartmentalized floor plan. “Doors in the kitchen; doors in the dining room.”
Still, it wasn't easy to reach the garage where his art studio was located and the adjacent laundry room. “I was always frustrated with the house because it didn’t use the space efficiently,” Puleo said. “The studio was freestanding and we had to enter through a gate.”
And so the transformation began.
Warwas ripped out the fireplace, expanded the living room by six feet, and added a sleek Fleetwood sliding door that provided immediate access to the backyard. He then raised the ceiling of the living room and added a sculptural curve that completely transformed the living space.
Since the house had a complicated roof and an accessible attic, Warwas then converted the attic into a loft, which Puleo uses as his master bedroom. (The two bedrooms on the first floor are used as a study and gallery space/guest room.) Thanks to high ceilings and a new skylight, the attic now floods the center of the living room below with natural light.
Puleo's patterned canvases hang in the ADU.
The ADU, attached to the garage and just six inches from the main house, has a kitchen, bathroom and living area. Puleo uses it as part of his art studio.
“Small changes completely transformed the house,” Warwas said.
In the garage, Warwas designed an ADU that can serve as an art studio or rental property and features a small kitchen, bathroom and enough space for a bed. The ADU's design was carefully considered to maximize space and light, with a skylight and tall window flooding the space with light.
As you enter the ADU, there is a dramatic height difference as the floor descends to the art studio and the ceiling rises, creating a feeling of spaciousness.
For the ADU's shower, Puleo chose bright blue tiles from Daltile.
The living room of the main house is now open and airy, with custom cabinetry and woodwork by James Melinat showcasing the artwork Puleo created himself and the pieces he has collected for more than 30 years, including ceramic pendants by Torbjörn Vejvi and Courtney Duncan, vessels by Bari Ziperstein and Pilar Wiley, and paintings by Patricia Fernandez and Steven Criqui.
The living room fireplace is gone, but the wood-burning fireplace remains on a console behind the sofa, adorned with an array of colorful ceramic planters by Ashley Campbell and Brian Porray of Happy Hour Ceramics.
“Ben and I have known each other since we were in college,” Puleo said, emphasizing their long-standing relationship and the collaborative nature of their process. “The beauty of the project is that we did a lot of back and forth in communicating shapes and forms. We both have a love for design and Ben does an excellent job of using traditional materials in a way that brings them to life and increases the dynamism of a space.”
Puleo's art studio, a former garage, is a few steps below the new ADU.
On a recent visit, Warwas was still refining home improvement options. “You could put a stackable washer and dryer here,” he suggested to Puleo as they stood in the hallway. (Puleo had moved the appliances from the laundry room in the garage to the basement of the main house.)
Warwas also values Puelo’s curatorial skills. “He made his home so personal,” Warwas said of his friend, who last year displayed works by local artists in one of the downstairs bedrooms that served as an art gallery.
“It’s an amazing house,” Warwas said of the interiors, which are enhanced by the artwork, making visitors feel connected to the space.
“People often take notes when they come to visit,” Puleo said of his art collection.
1. Designer Ben Warwas stands in the 250-square-foot ADU, which features a tall window and skylight. 2. In the former garage, stairs lead from the art studio up to the ADU and bathroom. (Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times)
From the sidewalk, the traditional stucco bungalow looks like so many others in the neighborhood. But step into the backyard, past the colorful paintings, textiles, tiles, stained glass and ceramic work, and the new bright yellow-painted rear façade, and it's like a completely different property.
“The front of the house hasn’t changed, and the back of the house is completely different,” Warwas said of the exterior, which reminds him of a piece of paper that has been cut and folded. “It’s a funny moment.”
It's not lost on him that he managed to completely transform the house without adding a lot of space. “It creates a landscape where you can travel back and forth, and the garden is now much more a part of the house,” Warwas said. “The yard has gotten smaller, but it feels bigger.”
A stained glass panel by Puleo hangs in the bathroom.
Although a $95,000 ADU addition ultimately resulted in a $320,000 property renovation, Puleo is happy to have the flexibility that comes with living in a home with two separate rooms.
“I could add a loft bed and live in the ADU, do art and rent the house out if I wanted,” Puleo said. “It would allow me to travel back and forth between the East and West Coasts, teach and be with my family in Boston.”
As he sat at his dining room table overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains, taking it all in, the artist said, “The house is super efficient now. This is a magical space.”
Puleo also chose colorful textiles for his dog Ono's bed.