Robb Report Luxury Home: Light Makeup
01/01/2008
"I built my house with lipstick," jokes Valerie Sarnelle, a makeup artist who owns the cosmetic boutique Valerie Beverly Hills. Her opulent 9,000-square-foot abode in California’s Westlake Village combines Sarnelle’s flair for interior design with the talents of builder Jim Ange of Liberty Investments and architect Charles Hefner.The home’s crown jewel, an octagonal bathroom with walls and
ceilings bathed in champagne-colored Dupioni silk, in-stalled by Michael
Kirkpatrick of Trianon, was designed to be a well-lit "sanctuary" where Sarnelle
could test cosmetics and create new products. "Because I look at so many similar
eye shadows, I have to
be able to see every hue," she says. "I need a
combination of natural light, the Courant chandelier, three spotlights and
several mirrors to reflect it all over. You don’t want light concentrated in one
place or you’ll create shadows."
Two Pella windows, affording both sunlight and views of Sarnelle’s five-acre estate, are softened with an Austrian shade in embroidered taffeta silk. Dangling from the shade, dark taupe and yellow tassels accent the Carrara marble floor, countertop and shower. "I worked very hard to find white marble with veins of taupe instead of gray."
Anchoring the bathroom is a freestanding Kohler tub, home to one of Sarnelle’s most divine beauty rituals: "Can you imagine lighting a candle, having champagne and filling the bathtub with roses?"
Valerie Beverly Hills, 800.282.5374, www.valeriebeverlyhills.com; Jim Ange, 805.584.6032, www.libertyinvestments.net; Charles Hefner, 818.793.1325 Michael Kirkpatrick of Trianon Co., 310.441.1600