Los Angeles has no shortage of icons; still, the historic Paramour Estate is on another level. Nestled in the hills of Silver Lake, with unreal views of the Hollywood Hills and the San Gabriel mountains, the epic, five-acre estate is a true piece of Hollywood history, having been commissioned by the petroleum heiress Daisy Canfield for her silent movie star beau, Antonio Moreno, and completed in 1923.
Over the last century, the estate has served myriad purposes: as a boarding school and academy for orphan girls and young women during the Great Depression and as a convent and home for girls from 1953 after being gifted to the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, ultimately becoming a historic cultural landmark in 1988. In 1991, the interior designer Dana Hollister came across the property and ultimately acquired it in 1998 with the aim of preserving it, carefully restoring it and opening it back up for limited use.
Check into the Paramour Estate
Encompassing an 18,000 sq ft mansion, three staff cottages, a 65ft swimming pool, stables, a greenhouse, garages for five cars, rose gardens, terraced fountains, a citrus orchard, and a wishing well to boot, the fantastical estate has appeared in movies, music videos, photoshoots, and hosted events. It is also quietly available for overnight stays; guests can choose from six suites in the main manse or one of the cottages.
As the story tends to go, however, the estate has been in survival mode in recent years due to financial difficulties and a host of prospective buyers angling to own such a valuable piece of real estate. Enter the interior designer Ken Fulk and his business partner, property developer Clark Lyda, who together have a successful track record of breathing new life into historic properties. The duo first joined forces on restoring the Commodore Perry Estate in Austin, and have similar projects in Massachusetts, New Orleans and San Francisco in the works.
‘I paid a visit [to the Paramour] about a year ago, and was gobsmacked that this place existed,’ Fulk says. ‘As someone who loves California, and the glamour and folklore of Hollywood, it so often doesn’t really exist. Suddenly I was standing there and just taken back by this glorious estate. That began a conversation with Dana. We’ve had a history of trying to save historic places so this idea of preserving the stories and histories of the people that created and made the, in a world where there is so much standardisation and homogenisation in order to reap profit, we have a belief that what makes these places unique is what makes them valuable.’
Rather than planning a grand makeover, Fulk’s aspirations for the Paramour are quite simply to ‘help it literally be the best version of itself,’ he says. ‘It has been a vibrant part of the artist community there. It’s an extraordinary place that is totally intact and has been lovingly maintained. For the foreseeable future, we’re just helping to stabilise it and have it continue operating as it has. The goal for it is to go forward and be the best shining example that if they’re loved, taken care of, believed in, supported and well run, these places can be successful.’
A version of this article features in the August 2023 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper* – complete with the Wallpaper* USA 300 – on sale 6 July, available in print from 6 July, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this weekThis week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
The Stuff That Surrounds, episode two: Inside the home of Vyrao founder Yasmin SewellIn The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. For our second episode, we’re invited into the fragrance founder and CEO’s viridescent London home
-
This Kyrgyzstan café combines post-Soviet brutalism and Manhattan loft vibesCapito’s fresh, funky design is the work of Kyrgyz designer Jamal Ramisova, and is helping to put the country’s capital, Bishkek, on the design map
-
The best bars in New York for stiff drinks and stunning designFrom five-star hotel lobby bars on the Upper East Side to discreet downtown drinking dens, these are the best spots to sip and soak in the ambiance
-
Beverly Hills’ latest hot ticket is a Chinese restaurant with a hidden speakeasy feelChef Mei Lin’s 88 Club pays tribute to the prosperity, success, and good fortune symbolised by the number 8 in Chinese culture
-
You can now stay at this iconic modernist house in Palm DesertThe Desert Wave, a modernist revival project by Stayner Architects, with interiors by Design Within Reach and Paul Smith, is available to book
-
Find bubbly, chewy, perfectly crusted pizza at Cosetta, LA’s new Westside Italian gemLocated in a slightly industrial area by the Santa Monica airport, Cosetta, from pizza maestro Zach Pollack, champions the local Italian dining scene with tradition and innovation
-
Ghanaian cuisine has a story to tell at Washington, DC restaurant ElminaThe new restaurant is chef Eric Adjepong’s colourful ode to the recipes he grew up loving
-
Fancy a matcha-beer cocktail? Visit this dashing new LA restaurantCafé 2001 channels the spirit of an American diner with the flow of a European bistro and the artistry of Japanese cuisine
-
Visit this Michelin-star New York restaurant that doubles as an art galleryArtist Mr.StarCity is exhibiting his emotionally charged yet optimistic ‘Bloomers’ portrait series at Frevo, a Greenwich Village hidden haunt
-
With glowing honeycomb-shaped booths, this futuristic Japanese restaurant is ramen heavenAfter a successful U.S. expansion, Kyuramen touches down in Los Angeles.
