One landmark, four visions

RORY CUNNINGHAM, president of the Art Deco Society of L.A., called it one of the premier Deco buildings in the country. Revered historian Robert Winter said it's a shining example of Southern California's golden age of architecture. Times critic Christopher Hawthorne recently declared it "one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the city, a building that would be world-famous if it were located in Manhattan or San Francisco." To about 100 Angelenos, however, the Eastern Columbia building is even more. It's home.

After two years and a reported $80-million renovation, the Kor Group has reopened the historic retail and office tower as 147 lofts. Original terra cotta tiles -- a mix of sea-foam green and cerulean blue that a 1930 Times story characterized as "melting turquoise" -- have been restored. The terrazzo floor of the building's old shopping arcade has been painstakingly repaired for a new Kelly Wearstler-designed lobby. But what are all those newly minted urbanites doing with their lofts?

We peeked into four units, all owned by first-time home buyers who are taking dramatically different approaches to their interiors. Whether Deco or Zen, modern or traditional, all four spaces reflect the joys -- and the challenges -- of living in a landmark.

-- Nancy Yoshihara and Craig Nakano

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Her taste runs to silk and chocolate

IF there can be such a thing as a glam Zen retreat, Nichol Bradford has tried to create it. As she lounges on a mirrored daybed, the scent of incense and calming music from the Bodhi Tree Bookstore fill the air. Beneath her feet is her ultimate vision of nirvana: a chocolate-hued concrete floor, color-matched to a Hershey's bar. "It looks like a fudge cake," Bradford says. "I love it."

The condo's exposed ventilation duct, all-stainless kitchen cabinetry and other elements of industrial chic have been softened by simple touches: the delicate lines of cut calla lilies from the wholesale flower market a few blocks away, the billowy lengths of golden silk draped here and there, even the late afternoon sun that showers the bedroom with saffron light.

"I love modern, but I don't think I could do it and it not feel like a guy's place," she says.

Her parakeets -- Millet, Bella and Squeak -- seem just as content in their new home, a cage with views of downtown's skyscrapers.