Artist's Retreat Craftsman

Silver Lake Dreamscape

Visually compelling, this home is a vibrant reinterpretation within traditional walls, and has earned mentions in Design Milk and Domino magazine for its shiny, happy palette. Its owner, natural winemaker and designer Eric Bach, teamed up with Ring of Another Human to transform the three-bedroom house into an easygoing California-styled entertaining platform in the hills of Echo Park/Silver Lake.

First they opened up the traditional space before turning to its colorful interior makeover. Alive with saturated hues, the redesign finds swaths of blue tile enlivening a bathroom, green marble and a matching laminate floor sweeping through the thoroughly remodeled kitchen, and jolts of neon as the backdrop for pops of color in the owner’s contemporary art collection. Saturated technicolor splashes in a guest room-turned-office keep you at full attention at work, and the home’s deep outdoor living porches and terraces are bathed in indigo blue. Only the quieter sleep spaces are subdued, simply furnished bedrooms created for calming, restorative rest.

Around

Located in central Los Angeles’s Echo Park/Silver Lake zone, bordered by Elysian Park and China Town, Echo Park is home to Dodger Stadium and LA’s beloved baseball team. Anchored by a namesake lake, the neighborhood is known for dozens of flights of stairs running up and down its green hillsides. The area reportedly predates the automobile, and its steep steps will leave you breathless for their length and for the views once you reach the top. The 231-step ascent on historic Baxter Street offers views of downtown LA and the Hollywood Sign. For a workout of a different sort, rent a pedal board or swan boat and get out on Echo Lake’s water. Or, don running shoes and jog the loop around the lake. Architecture lovers should stroll the turreted, mansion-lined Carroll Avenue, home to a dozen Victorian era homes.

Adjacent to Echo Park, Silver Lake’s reservoir is rimmed by a two-mile trail and the enclave is also famed for its “secret stairs.” Often called the “Brooklyn” of LA and consistently voted one of the city’s “coolest” places, Silver Lake has its fair share of hip dining, drinking, and coffee-sipping spots, many of them clustered in and around Sunset Boulevard or their tables taking up sidewalk space on Silver Lake Boulevard. An abundance of small, independently owned boutiques are on hand to shop.

Location

Nearest airport: Burbank or Los Angeles, both about 15 miles

Best time to visit

Year-round