In 2006, when philanthropist and gallerist Shulamit Nazarian bought the famous Smalley House designed by A. Quincy Jones in 1973 on Holmby Hills in Los Angeles, she did not have the house redesigned, only the garden. And even that was a bold move as the garden was also a masterpiece of modernist design originally envisioned by Walter Gropius-trained landscape architect, Garret Eckbo (1910-2000).

The 7,500 square-foot (697 square-metre) house is known as the Smalley house because Jones originally designed it for his friends, the Smalley family. It is one of Jones?s largest single-family residences. The split-level residence features a dramatic textured cedar wall that cuts through the house and leads to the sunken living room that is reached by a stunning staircase.
The living room ceiling soars at the height of 25 feet (7.6 metres) and the room features vast panes of glass. Sometimes Nazarian uses the magnificent living room as a gallery space and stages exhibitions and showcases art curated and managed by Shulamit Nazarian Gallery 
Another key feature of the house are the three interior gardens that feel as if they were as much inside the house as they are outside.

In 2006 Nazarian was quoted as saying that she wanted a home for her and her sons, not a museum of the modernist style. And while she left the house almost entirely intact, she did not furnish it with the traditional mid-century modernist Eames or Kagan pieces. Instead, she furnished it with modern Italian ...