When Sarah Lambert and John Dolan bought their 1940s ranch house in the hills of LA’s Studio City, it was the lofty setting, not the structure itself, that sold them. The place was a warren of poky little rooms that lacked a connection to the magnificent yard, and the couple planned to get to know the place before righting its wrongs.
That test drive ended up extending for nearly a decade, during which the couple (she’s a pastry chef who gives private lessons; he directs films and commercials) had two sons, now 8 and 9. When they finally took the plunge, they summoned a small army to help them give their ranch a full Hollywood-style makeover. Architect Barbara Bestor and team tackled the structural remodel. David John Dick and Krista Schrock of DISC Interiors came in three-quarters of the way through construction and worked on a clean-sweep of all the furnishings. And Judy Kameon of Elysian Landscapes fully integrated indoors and out, movie-star-worthy chaise big enough for the whole family included. Photography by Laure Joliet.

Above: No longer looking its age: Bestor Architecture reimagined the single-story, 3,100-square-foot house, creating an open-plan living space with interior and exterior flow (and full outdoor living room and kitchen under a canopy?read about the setup on Gardenista).
“Everything was opened up and connections were made with oversize glass windows in the front and back,” says Bestor. “We literally took t...