Founded by husband-and-wife team Alice Park and Michael McDonald, Los Angeles-based Park McDonald has a penchant for renovating, restoring, and reviving midcentury houses with great sensitivity and care (Frank Lloyd Wright fans, take note of the firm’s renovation of the Millard House). The firm feels fortunate to be living in a hotbed of notable modernist architecture. “Our clients are very passionate about design and appreciate what we have here in LA,” says McDonald.
Among the firm’s historic remodels is: the Schaffer Residence, designed in 1948 by John Lautner, one of the most important and influential architects of the 20th century. The house, like many of Lautner’s designs, has star quality in the Hollywood sense as well: Post-renovation, it gained new fame as the setting for Tom Ford’s visually memorable film A Single Man.
“Our clients were interested in maintaining the integrity of the design,” says McDonald. “The house had changed owners several times since it belonged to the Schaeffers; we helped to bring it back to its original state by introducing a more suitable color palette and complementary furniture.”
Photographs courtesy of Joe Fletcher from Ranch Houses: Living the California Dream, a Rizzoli book written by David Weingarten and Lucia Howard, and photographed by Joe Fletcher.
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