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BROOKSIDE FACELIFT INCLUDES FRONT YARD POOL
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Sondi Sepenuk
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THE CHATEAU LeMoine in Brookside was built for love in 1926.
It sneaks up on you. You round a corner and suddenly, there it is, in front of you—an honest-to-goodness castle smack in the middle of L.A. The Chateau LeMoine, located in Brookside, was built for love, a birthday gift from French architect Earl LeMoine to his wife in 1926. She fell in love with the land and its pretty little brook, and several years later, the architect surprised her with a chateau resembling those in their native south of France.
After LeMoine’s wife passed away, the home was sold and gradually fell into disrepair. When it came back on the market in 2009, Dean Caldarelli, also an architect and owner of DC2 Design, a furniture store in Savannah, Ga., and Dimitri Chami, a local real estate agent. were somewhat skeptical of the “castle” listing.
ARCHITECT Dean Caldarelli and Realtor Dimitri Chami give home a needed rehab.
“Dimitri forwarded the listing to me, and I couldn’t comprehend a castle in the middle of LA… It seemed so Disney and I didn’t want to live in a theme house,” says Dean. But once they saw the home, its original architecture and its location, they were sold.
Confirms Dimitri, “we love it here because it’s convenient to the westside, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, downtown, and the neighbors are so friendly!”
The home, which features a two-story living room, a Juliet balcony, a turret, a gatehouse, and even a moat, was crying out for attention. Dean and Dimitri quickly jumped into action and gave the entire house a facelift.
Doorways were widened, walls were opened, gothic archways were replicated throughout the house, and the result is a contemporary interior that still remains true to its original classical architecture.
“The house was claustrophobic, so we redesigned the floor plan to flow better and to create better space,” explains Dean.
EARLY STAGES of front yard conversion to swimming pool.
One of the home’s biggest challenges was the landscaping. The side and back areas were unusable, overgrown slivers of space, the brook was a wasted opportunity, and the front yard was just that—a grassy yard.
Dean likes proper, European-style landscape design, so that’s the direction he and Dimitri took. “I was afraid the house would go too Disney,” says Dean, “so I wanted to formalize the landscaping and especially the pool because it’s such a dominant feature in the front yard.” Yes, that’s right—the front yard.
To take advantage of their limited outdoor space, Dean and Dimitri did something a bit unconventional, building a front yard swimming pool. But it’s more than just your average swimming pool. It’s a Baroque-influenced water feature that you might see on a tour of the grounds at Versailles. Streams of water spout over the pool from every angle, turning it “into a sculptural feature itself. It’s more like a large fountain,” explains Dean.
The once unusable side and back yards were transformed into a series of courtyards off of social-friendly, ground floor gathering rooms. Four separate courtyards, each with a water feature and seating area, are accessed through newly installed French doors. Salvaged bricks were used to create the rear courtyard’s hardscape and stairs. Twisted topiaries, boxwoods, azaleas, pyramidal junipers and roses flourish in each space. “We always do iceberg roses because they bloom all year long,” smiles Dimitri.
The neighborhood’s brook presented a different set of challenges. Tucked within 80 years worth of mature, diseased trees and overgrowth, Dean and Dimitri discovered three beautiful hidden palm trees. “I pulled out the ivy myself!” laughs Dean. In its place, Dean and Dimitri planted shade-friendly ferns, flex and gardenias. They added twinkling lights, outdoor music, seating areas and even a hammock. Inside and out, the Chateau LeMoine is now the sparkling jewel that it was always meant to be. To see the landscaping portion for yourself, don’t miss out on this year’s Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society Garden Tour April 25.
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