June 21, 2026There is a particular pleasure in being fooled by a house. Not deceived, exactly, but genuinely surprised to discover that what reads as centuries of accumulated grace is really the result of a very deliberate (and very recent) act of imaginative crafting. Meadow Grove, a Spanish Revival residence situated on a wider-than-average suburban lot outside Los Angeles, is one such structure.
“If someone didn’t know the history of the home,” says interior designer Ohara Davies-Gaetano, “they might easily assume it had been built in the nineteen twenties.”
The clients, a married couple, had long dreamed of restoring a historic home. They searched for years, but nothing felt right. So, they did what any sensible romantic would do: make a new structure imbued with the history they couldn’t find in any existing ones and link it to their far-flung travels. To accomplish this, they hired San Antonio–based architect Michael G. Imber, whose practice has earned a following for its rigorously researched, humanistically scaled work embracing classical traditions.
The result is a house that unfolds like a novel — which is apt, since one of the homeowners is a writer. “Unlike movies, where you watch the characters on-screen, a book invites you into the experience,” Imber explains. “You become the character.”
For her part, Davies-Gaetano — who has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Palm Beach and Montana — possesses a knack for creating interiors of understated grandeur layered with provenanced pieces and hand-honed materials, elements that have played well with Imber’s classical forms in previous projects.
“Michael and I have a long history of working together and share a deep respect for one another’s perspectives,” she says. “There is a natural harmony in our approach — an understanding of architecture, interiors and the emotional experience a home should convey.”
Adding to that chemistry were landscape architect Nord Eriksson, whose gardens complete Meadow Grove’s sense of exotic timelessness, and clients who trusted the collaborators’ vision. “It is rare to experience that level of alignment,” Davies-Gaetano says. “And I believe it is something that can be felt throughout the entire property.”
Imber’s architecture draws from a geographical range of influences both broad and specific. “It’s as though you’re a traveler moving from the mirador of the Patio de la Acequia of the Generalife in Granada, through the palaces of Moorish Andalusia in southern Spain, to the bejeweled pooled gardens of Tangier and the riad courts of Marrakech in North Africa,” Imber says.
That itinerary is conveyed through white plaster walls, polychrome zellige tiles, carved mashrabiya screens, terracotta roof tiles sourced from a local church that had decommissioned them and stained-glass windows that cast colored light down the stairwell.
For Davies-Gaetano, the guiding principle was equally clear: “I wanted the home to feel as though it had been thoughtfully curated over generations, with each piece representing something meaningful that had been collected, lived with and ultimately cherished.”
Playing with proportion was just as crucial to her as integrating the perfect objects. “I think scale, and particularly the juxtaposition of scale, is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of design,” she says. “It creates tension, rhythm and a sense of movement within a home.”
Exterior
Long before Meadow Grove took shape, the property was occupied by a ranch house where the wife grew up. Although cherished by the family, the homestead never fully connected with the land that surrounded it.
Eriksson’s gardens and Imber’s architecture have corrected that, creating a strong intermingling of indoors and out, while more asymmetrical gestures within the gardens provide a counterpoint. The experience of the property is now “seamless,” Davies-Gaetano says.
“The house is not large — under five thousand square feet — but feels expansive because it keeps moving,” notes Imber. “It keeps giving.” Woven throughout are semi-concealed nooks: built-in benches, covered terraces, corners that are happened upon rather than announced.
“These spaces are the poetry of Michael’s architecture. They invite pause, contemplation, a different way of inhabiting,” Davies-Gaetano says. “It is this interplay of scale, light, enclosure and discovery that creates much of the home’s drama, romance and enduring allure.”
Foyer
The house looks fairly modest from the street. Then, you step through the front courtyard — where water splashing in the tile-clad fountain echoes off the surrounding walls — and something shifts. By the time you cross the threshold into the groin-vaulted entry, the surrounding neighborhood is forgotten.
“My intention,” Davies-Gaetano says, “was to allow the architecture’s beauty and extraordinary craftsmanship to be fully experienced and appreciated.”
To that end, she chose the foyer’s furnishings for depth and restraint in equal measure: a Savonarola chair from 1stDibs, an 18th-century Italian table, a vintage rug and a California plein-air painting from the clients’ collection. Overhead, a series of Jamb copper pendants descend from the groin vaults, reinforcing the structural rhythm.
“Together, these elements ground the space and lend it a sense of permanence,” the designer says.
Great Room
The great room is anchored by a stark-white fireplace that melds into the plaster walls, while large doors open to a rose garden to the north and the loggia to the south. It’s one of the house’s great set pieces. “The angle suddenly shifts,” Imber says, delightedly. “The room suddenly opens on both sides.”
Davies-Gaetano’s response was to add some comfort: relaxed linen upholstery, a Tuareg rug, vintage orientalist side tables, a Demiurge cocktail table and Formations ottomans covered in a Kufri textile the clients particularly loved. An iron Rose Tarlow chandelier dangles between the trusses.
“The architecture carries such a strong presence that the furnishings needed to soften the experience and create an emotional sense of ease,” she says.
Kitchen
The kitchen and its breakfast nook sit between the entry and the great room, and Imber made the passages between the spaces feel extraordinary.
“The grand plaster arch that defines the transition between the kitchen and the great room, coupled with the intimate enclosure surrounding the breakfast nook, allows each space to have its own identity while maintaining a strong connection to the rooms beyond,” Davies-Gaetano says.
In the kitchen, Demiurge counter stools line up beneath Rose Tarlow lanterns, while Waterworks hardware and pale wood cabinetry reinforce the sense of craftsmanship.
The nook, in particular, lends itself to people coming together in ways a grander space never could. Nestled within a bay of leaded-glass windows, it offers a custom wood table and banquettes beneath a Soane chandelier.
“There is a beautiful balance between openness and intimacy,” Davies-Gaetano adds. “That shifting of volume enriches the experience of daily life, allowing different spaces to support different rhythms — whether it’s a quiet morning coffee, a family meal or a larger gathering with friends.”
Dining Room
In the dining room, a commissioned mural by Dean Barger — based on the home’s natural surroundings — creates “a romanticized sense of place,” Davies-Gaetano says, “one that draws you in and creates the feeling of being transported into the landscape itself.”
If the mural is the backdrop, everything else in the room is the stage. Beneath a turned-wood-and-iron chandelier by Formations, a neoclassical dining table by Michael S. Smith is surrounded by Jasper chairs in De Le Cuona fabric. “The palette was carefully considered to highlight the depth, richness and subtle tonal variations within the artwork,” Davies-Gaetano says.
Bedroom Suite
The primary suite serves as a particularly peaceful retreat within a house that is itself already a serene sanctum.
Mariano Fortuny’s Scheherazade chandelier presides over the room above a vividly patterned antique rug, a cane armchair from 1stDibs and a bed layered with vintage textiles. “The chandelier possesses a sculptural quality and warmth that feels both timeless and intimate,” the designer says.
The bath is all about materiality and calm: plaster finishes, a neutral palette and natural materials, with the tub positioned beneath a circular window that frames the light and landscape. Davies-Gaetano describes it as “contemplative and tranquil.”
Loggia
“In Southern California — as in Spain — outdoor rooms are as important as the indoor spaces,” says Imber, who from the beginning made outside areas integral to his architectural plan. The loggia exemplifies this focus. Arches in the medieval Spanish-Moorish Mudéjar style frame a view toward the garden pavilion at the swimming pool’s end; doors open wide and stay that way.
“The loggia serves as a threshold, but not in the traditional sense,” Davies-Gaetano says. “Rather than separating the home from the landscape, it blurs the boundary between them.”
The furnishings follow suit. Vintage pieces mix with ones suited to everyday comforts, curated to encourage “dining, relaxing and connecting with the surrounding beauty,” she says, adding that the result feels “collected, welcoming and deeply integrated into the life of the house.”
Pool Pavillion
The pavilion that the loggia gazes out upon is its own little world. “Our clients envisioned the pool cabana as a quiet retreat — a destination within the estate,” Davies-Gaetano says.
If the main house unfurls like a narrative, the cabana is a pause between chapters. “It serves almost as a viewing pavilion, allowing one to engage with the beauty of the home and landscape from a more contemplative vantage point,” the designer says. “There is a sense of privacy, protection and stillness.” [END]
