British model Liberty Ross lived in the eye of the London storm, literally and figuratively. Storm is the modeling agency known for trendsetting “girls” who have brains, style, and unexpected beauty (e.g., Kate Moss). Ross signed with it after photographers fell for the aristo-ethereal élan that she came by naturally, having grown up in the bohemian arm of an upper-class family. Mario Testino then sexed up her image and she writhed, sweat-drenched and nearly naked in the Dior Addict campaign, into popular consciousness. But four years ago, at age 26, pregnant with her daughter, Skyla, she, along with her director-husband, Rupert Sanders, 32, longed for what she calls “a change of scene.”
They found it, after six months, in a perfect escapist Hollywood Hills perch nestled near the wilderness of Runyan Canyon. The hitch? The faux French (“but very wrong” says Ross) house. Four years, a new building, many transatlantic flights, and a two-year-old son, Tennyson, later, they are home.
The couple had already redone a townhouse, a loft, and a cottage in the UK, but this was the first time they’d invented their own architectural vernacular: L.A. modern meets English countryside.
With their Brit-reno passion, they knew exactly when to spend and when to save—an Ikea kitchen that looks B&B Italia, a pool that resembles a pond (“the opposite of Vegas blue,” Ross says), made from the old house’s slate. They built around a huge 50-year-old Japanese cherry the contractor wanted to chop down; the tree’s Ent-like gnarled limbs now stretch through the upper deck. They custom-cut windows in unusual shapes. “It’s all about framing,” says Ross. “In Skyla’s bedroom, a long strip captures this amazing downtown view, leaving out the mangy rooftops.” The window in the guest bathroom juts out, so you feel like you’re floating over the landscape.
Inside, bucolic Blighty reminders have contemporary twists: Silver birch trees decorate dining room wallpaper; English artist Tom Gallant’s climbing rose cut hangs in the foyer. A freestanding tub (“As we’re British, the bath is very important”) in the master bedroom faces glass doors.
But Ross’s favorite spot is the austerely chic concrete sandpit Sanders designed. Its lower half holds sand and the upper half has a cushioned parent bench. “While the kids play, we take tea and enjoy the Hollywood panorama,” Ross says. But lest the carnival seem a bit too far away, good friends Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Scott, and Testino are all within walking distance.