A Fashion Designer's Midcentury Revival in the Palisades Blends Nature and Nostalgia
Fashion designer Lela Becker and her family renovated a 1955 Pacific Palisades house originally by architect Mario Corbett, with help from designer Jed Lind and interior designer Kelsey Sundberg. The project added windows, expanded the footprint, and used durable materials like cedar and teak to preserve the midcentury character. The surrounding landscape, including a grove of redwoods and a creek, remains a central feature of the home's atmosphere.
The 1955 residence was the work of Mario Corbett, a San Francisco–based modernist whose Bay Area design sensibility shaped the original structure. The property's redwood grove dates to experimental plantings from the late 1800s and survived recent regional fires that devastated nearby areas. The renovation team included landscape firm Terremoto, who handled the outdoor spaces surrounding the pool and firepit.
Interior designer Kelsey Sundberg, formerly of Studio Shamshiri, developed a narrative of worldly expatriates settling in Los Angeles, blending French Provençal, Scandinavian, and California modern aesthetics. Custom furnishings came from the fabricators Dusk, while Angel City Lumber transformed a felled tree into a single-trunk bench for the entryway. Becker's own collections and crystal collections add personal texture throughout the home.
This renovation story may resonate with homeowners and design enthusiasts navigating the balance between preserving architectural heritage and adapting spaces for modern family life. In a region still processing recent fire losses, the survival of the redwood grove and the home itself could offer a quiet symbol of resilience. The project may also influence how midcentury properties are approached—prioritizing durable, natural materials and landscape integration over wholesale replacement—potentially shaping renovation trends in fire-prone areas.