...the house was a sore sight for most eyes. But Korpinen and Erickson - both interior designers - spotted architectural merit underneath the cosmetic claptrap.

Ask Neil Korpinen and Eric Erickson where they live in Los Angeles and you're likely to receive a cinematic reply: "You know the scene in Rebel without a Cause , where James Dean hauls a tire iron from the Griffith Observatory?" asks Korpinen. "We tell people that it landed on our house."

It's not entirely fanciful. In one of the old photos the two found when they moved in, theirs is the only house on the chaparral-covered slopes beneath L.A.'s doomed Deco landmark. In the ensuing years, as other homes sprang up nearby, this one fell into a state of decline. When it went on the market in 1988, the agent showed it as a teardown, plagued by dry rot, bad wiring and-in her eyes-a wretched retro style.

From the street, the house was (and is) an unassuming ranch-style dwelling, painted a dusty green. With its peculiar floor plan and dashes of vintage linoleum and wallpaper, the house was a sore sight for most eyes. But Korpinen and Erickson-both interior designers-spotted architectural merit underneath the cosmetic claptrap. They snapped it up.

"The structure was beautiful, with deep eaves and big picture windows," recalls Korpinen. "It had an early lighting system with relays that made a clicking sound, which is why the real-estate agent thought the wiring was shot. And there was some dry rot, but what looked like rotten beams and columns were actually steel beams wrapped in redwood bark that was easily removed."

Built in 1951, the house was designed by the previous owners, a dentist and pediatrician. They favored such advanced-for-the-time features as low-voltage lighting, intercoms and a fan to vent hot air through the attic (the new owners replaced the intercoms with a more-recent model).

Drawing on wide-ranging experience that includes several remodels, the two designers set out to refine the structure while retaining its strong points. They preserved the existing floor plan, taking out a wall to expose more of the house's spine, the original S-curved wall that shapes the living room and, below it, the dining room. A metal-railed deck was wrapped around the living room; a family room was created by enclosing a concrete-floored space that was once an open potting shed.

Preserved were the big picture windows positioned to capture views of downtown L.A. The new owners improved the panorama by moving the greenhouse to a side terrace, leaving room for a sunny, south-facing patio. "The patio almost designed itself," says Korpinen. "Since the first owners were horticulturists," he adds, "every part of the property is terraced and plantable-which is amazing considering that it's built on a cliff."

Indoors, kitchen cabinets were removed to make room for another window overlooking the new patio. New mahogany cabinets were fronted with ribbed glass, a postwar mainstay found elsewhere in the house. "The counters are also new, but we kept the original pattern and added vintage angled-edge tiles," notes Erickson. "They're not made anymore-we had to work with several suppliers." The layout was juggled to make room for a 48-inch-wide Subzero refrigerator, in addition to the latest versions of the original stainless-steel Thermador appliances. The airy new breakfast nook boasts a plate-glass window and a gray vinyl banquette. A vintage floral fabric was used for the pillows and the tabletop, which was laminated with surfboard resin.

Combing antique shops, swap meets and estate sales, they assembled a collection of contemporary pieces by Paul T. Frankl, Gio Ponti, Alvar Aalto and other postwar maestros. Three prime finds-a multiarmed Arteluce floor lamp, whimsical Saul Steinberg-designed drapery fabric and vinyl-cushioned Aalto armchairs-once graced the pool house of Winthrop Rockefeller's Palm Springs estate.

To add a layer of the unexpected to the renovation and to keep it from becoming a restoration cliché, Korpinen and Erickson stepped back a decade for the palette: "They're actually '40s colors, with an emphasis on dusky shades like burgundy, olive green, aubergine and indigo," explains Korpinen. The men highlighted the S-curved wall with a stained lath-grid treatment facing the stairs, a gold-stenciled diamond pattern in the dining room.
The result evokes postwar glamour and optimism without being scruffy. "We didn't want this to be a house to laugh at," says Erickson. "But when people come over, it does put a smile on their faces."