Interior designer Ryan Brown has made a career buying ugly-duckling properties, turning them into beauties and selling them for profit. It's a process that he and his business partner, Jeff Lewis, reveal on the Bravo reality series "Flipping Out," which starts its third season Monday.
Two years ago, however, the 35-year-old Brown, known as the voice of reason on the show, realized that with the real estate market shaky and his own personal life in transition, it was time to focus less on remodeling for profit and more on getting his own house in order. As fans of "Flipping Out" know, Brown and his domestic partner, chef Dale Monchamp, became fathers to a daughter born through surrogacy. After living in a succession of flip houses, the couple wanted to put down roots. "We've moved seven times in one year," Brown says. "When Chloe came along, we had to get off that roller coaster. She's 3 and has already lived in two other houses."
They found a home in an area of the Hollywood Hills called the Oaks, where the couple turned the 1942 stucco original into a four-bedroom, 4 1/2 -bath residence decorated in a relaxed mix of Hollywood Regency, British Colonial, Asian-accented modernism and nautical charm. It was Lewis who found the property, "a double lot with a lot of flat land for a lawn, which is very rare for the hills," he says. "I knew he was looking to nest, and this would be a good house for his family, but it needed to be updated, and Ryan has certainly exercised a lot of creativity. In his own home, he has been able to stay away from safe choices."
After plunking down $2 million for the property, Brown embarked on extensive renovations to the 3,600-square-foot house. If you are renovating a house for resale, Brown says, profit is paramount: "You think: If I spend this dollar, will I get three out?" But, he adds, "When you find the house that is your sanctuary, and make it specific to your needs, it's hard to put a price tag on it."
He replaced doors and windows and added hardwood floors. There was a gourmet kitchen built, complete with Hollywood Regency custom cabinetry, and bathrooms got the glam spa treatment with Calacatta gold marble.
"It's not an authentic period house like you'd find in Hancock Park or Pasadena," Brown says. "It's an L.A. special, a little bit of everything architecturally."
