A Gut Renovation
With the help of interior decorator Craig Wright, Cohen effectively gutted the house, keeping a few design elements.
A star pattern on the original kitchen floor caught Cohen’s eye, for instance. “The star was very elegant, and from there I decided that I would continue the star [motif] throughout the house,” she says. (Stars duly made their way into the hammam they installed, as well as into the entryway and onto chandeliers throughout the house.)
Repeating elements, particularly oval shapes, include an oval bathroom, an oval dining room, and an oval pool.
Entertaining rooms, including a formal dining room that seats 24, a breakfast room (formerly Rutherford’s dining room), kitchen, and multiple living areas are all on the ground floor. Upstairs are three massive bedrooms, all en-suite.
The house also has two staff bedrooms. In total, there are five bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
The master suite has its own kitchen, laundry room, and office (in keeping with recent trends), and is totally “self-contained,” says Cohen. “Everything is very manageable.”
Art Deco Fixtures
Cohen went to great lengths to decorate the house in 1930s art deco style, including a variety of art deco glass from the likes of Lalique and Simonet Freres. “All the glass in there is very collectible,” Cohen says. “I was told that I had the largest collection of art deco fixtures on the West Coast.”
Similarly, Cohen filled the house with antiques and antique decoration, including 200-year-old Chinese export wallpaper she bought and had restored.
Many of the decorations, Cohen adds, can accompany the house—“though not necessarily for that price,” she says.
Mature Trees
Cohen took a similarly comprehensive approach to the exterior. At purchase, “it was sort of overgrown, like a typical Beverly Hills house,” she says. “Big palm trees, almost like a jungle.”