Jon StojanFor the award-winning residential design firm BSPK Design, every project is an opportunity to create something timeless that reflects the unique vision and lifestyle of its clients. Their latest endeavor, a whole-house remodel and furnishing overhaul in Arcadia, California, is a testament to their ability to seamlessly blend tradition and modernity.
Image credit: BSPK Design
The Lili Home, a 6,000-square-foot home belongs to a well-traveled, open-minded couple who was born and raised in China and has been living in the US for over two decades. While the existing structure of the home exuded a traditional aesthetic with an overabundance of textures and colors, the owners’ tastes leaned towards minimalism and modernism. BSPK Design’s challenge was finding the delicate balance between honoring the home’s original soul while serving the family’s contemporary sensibilities.
Image credit: BSPK Design
“It was a dialogue between tradition and the contemporary,” explains Roman Reiterer, one of BSPK’s founding principals. “The goal was creating a positive tension where the historic and modern elements communicate without judgment, making each other stronger.”
The renovation touched every surface, allowing BSPK to reinvent the interior entirely. However, working within an existing shell and room layout added complexity. “You have the existing house giving something, and the clients bringing their own vision,” says Roman’s partner Chris Faulhammer. “Our role was modernizing it while ensuring it felt like their home.”
By stripping away the visual clutter and excess ornamentation, BSPK unveiled a clean, minimalist canvas to allow the furniture selection to become a direct expression of the owners’ globally-inspired tastes and personalities.
“The furnishings create an intriguing dialogue with the architecture,” notes Chris. “There’s beauty in the unexpected layering of influences, eschewing rigid definitions of style.”
Image credit: BSPK Design
According to Roman, this diversity reflects the owners’ identity as “global citizens” able to appreciate cultures without adhering to boundaries. “It allows you to be whomever you wish within this environment, freely creating whatever feels right for you.”
Image credit: BSPK Design
The lush, mountainous setting of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains only amplifies this sense of openness. Mature trees and dramatic peaks envelop the property, bestowing a sense of drama and natural splendor rarely found in urban Los Angeles. By emphasizing the indoor/outdoor flow, BSPK ensured the interiors remained intimately connected to these bucolic surroundings.
For BSPK Design, the Arcadia residence represents a reconnection with interior furnishings, albeit one still anchored in their core philosophy of timeless, personalized design. As Roman summarizes, “Every project has its own unique spin because we’re not following trends but rather our clients’ authentic selves based within a timeless frame.”
Image credit: BSPK Design
The home’s true success lies in feeling impossible to categorize into any particular era. By bridging heritage and modernism, tradition and globalism, architecture and furnishings, it transcends rigid stylistic definitions. Much like BSPK’s individual and complementary founders, it’s a seamless integration of contrasting yet harmonious influences.