Centering the home is a new glass-enclosed gallery that Fabio Rigo de Righi of Domani Architecture helped integrate as a buffer between the interior courtyard and the house. A promenade through the gallery reveals a museum-quality gathering of works by Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Ruben Toledo, David Hockney and others. Russell Young's shimmery Pop Art manipulation of a 1954 photograph of Marilyn Monroe crying moves around the space as the homeowner sees fit. "She just started seriously collecting when we began the project." Berg says. "It was her full time job for more than two years while we were doing the house." The homeowner was not just engaged when it came to the art; she provided Berg inspiration and freedom from every angle."She was so open," says Berg. "When a space was looking too pristine, I would say. 'We need to mess it up--it needs to get funked up with some vintage or something.' And she would understand. It was a great project and so fun to do."

In addition to the contemporary artworks, the owner took a deep dive into black and white photography. collecting photos from Julius Shulman to Harry Benson to Ruth Orkin. Several hang in the dining room, their light and shadows reflected in the abstracted flamestitch Donghia drapery fabric resembling the needle markings of an active Richter scale. The gallery's charcoal and white stone checkered floor and the gray of the master bath's Greek key mosaic floor from Ann Sacks seem to carry a similar noir scheme. "We went to galleries together and I learned a lot about photography," says Berg. "I am so much better versed in it all now." The art continues throughout the house, and it's well edited. There's a Calder in the family room, and a Mr. Brainwash and a Jeff Koons puppy in a bedroom. "Artwork makes a room," says Berg. "It changes the vibe and takes it from good to great.

Outside, the house benefits from a verdant screen of mature trees-some of which are old enough to have shaded Power and Christian-combined with new, abundant plantings in the backyard. The original pool and poolhouse still hold court here, the latter covered in slowly creeping vine tendrils. Faithfully retained and restored, they are another reminder of the house's glamorous history. In fact, Power's signature remains immortalized on the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permits for the exterior improvements. Notes the homeowner, who echoes a common sentiment among those who own storied houses once inhabited by colorful characters: "If those walls of the poolhouse could talk." Cari Berg Interior Design, cariberginteriordesign.com

An elaborate Italian-style spec home in Silicon Valley is asking $42.8 million.

In the affluent town of Atherton, Calif., the 1.45-acre property has a 16,468-square-foot, six-bedroom main house and a one-bedroom guesthouse. Between them is a fire pit and an outdoor kitchen with a wood-burning pizza oven, a wok burner, a dual-tap keg dispenser and limestone counters.

According to developer Rafi Bamdad, the home has six hand-carved French limestone fireplaces as well as 15 security cameras. The “man cave” or office has a bar, a bath, a television and room for a conference table. The lower level of the home includes a whiskey bar and a 3,000-bottle wine cellar. There is also a gym and an 11-seat theater. An elevator goes to all three levels of the home. Mr. Bamdad said he planted Meyer lemons near the outdoor dining space ‘to make your own limoncello” and brought in mature landscaping including 150-year-old olive trees and more than 250 rose bushes. There is a 58-foot-long freshwater pool.

Mr. Bamdad said he and Kathy Nabavi, his wife and business partner, paid $7.25 million in 2013 for the lot and a ranch-style home that they tore down. The median sales price for a home in Atherton was $4.8 million for the period Nov. 25 to Feb. 24, up 8% from the previous year, according to real-estate website Trulia.

LARGE, LUXURIOUS home bathrooms with resort-hotel style can be glorious. But that's not what a Del Mar Mesa couple wanted - even though their master bathroom was large enough to accommodate such a spectacle.

I didn't want anything too fancy," Shelley Aberle says. "We're a very casual family, and we wanted it to feel natural.”

That's why designer Paul Schatz of Interior Design Imports infused their big space with intimate style. Stealing the scene is the laid-back charm of a new bath alcove that is elegantly framed with plaster arch details; has a cory, coved ceiling and features a freestanding hydrotherapy tub.

“Shelley loves her garden, so we put in an iron-paned window, reminiscent of another era, to highlight the exotic hanging garden just outside the tub area," Paul says. "Theresa Clark designed the garden, which is an L-shaped trellis system with a variety of plants.”

On the other side of the bath, a steam shower features slabs of honed Halila limestone, trimmed in custom stone moldings and decorative base tile.

"Prior to the remodel, our shower was larger and, without an enclosure, had a cold feeling. "Shelley says, "Paul made it smaller and put the glass door on it.”

He spiced up the shower's spirit with a dramatic limestone, built-in bench that has arched details and a backsplash of hand-painted tiles. fast outside the shower, in between the bathing and shower spaces, is a vestibule for drying off.

An art-glass picture window featuring mouth-blown glass roundels, ensures privacy while allowing for plenty of natural light. Between the vestibule and tub area, a soapstone screen, designed and hand-carved in India, visually joins the spaces.

"I like to incorporate found objects into architecture, like the soapstone screen." Paul says. “It's incredible that you can take a piece made in India, ship it out here, not have it be broken, and install it. This is not a local resource that you can just order. The screen is carved on both sides and is a work of art within itself.”

Paul also transformed the Booring into a work of art. The bathroom bas an elongated shape: bat by creating a carpet effect with the limestone and mosaic tile floor, the space appears more balanced.

"Enhanced Jerusalem honed stone and coralina drop-set mosaic tiles with Botticino dots create distinct rug motifs across the floor." Paul says. "By using not unusually expensive material in a creative way. we had the necessary funds for other areas, like the moldings we did."

Seamless moldings, a signature of Interior Design Imports' style, were incorporated in the wall, sinks, countertops and mirror backsplash areas.

“The moldings are made as extensions and are put together very tightly." Paul says. "The glass part of the mirror opens independently of the frame, and there are glass shelves inside for lots of storage. It takes artistry and great contracting skills working together to be able to do this."

The new master bathroom triggers visions of mysterious, distant lands.

“The lighting and the pattern and color of the tiles give the bathroom a Moroccan feel," Shelley says. "I wasn't intentionally looking for that, but that's what comes to mind. It spoke to me. I really liked it."

LANTERN MASTERS IS A FAVORITE with the architectural trade with an impeccable reputation for creating innovative lighting solutions. So much so, that it is considered a trendsetter in the custom interior and exterior lighting industry. Founded over 36 years ago by Stu Olesker, the firm includes the "lantern ladies" Jackie Olesker and Sharyn Olesker. It's their personal assistance and the expertise of their team of lighting engineers and designers that sets them apart from other lighting companies.

"Typically, as architects we work with lighting consultants and then present the resulting vision to the client," explains Fabio Rigo de Righi owner of Domani Architecture. "With Lantern Masters, we can bring them directly into the client meeting because of their knowledge of product and design."

Exterior lighting is an important element of the finished product, but it is often overlooked. Yet exterior lighting complements the architecture in both a tasteful and practical way.

"In the case of this particular residence, the client purchased the home because of the historie architecture which reflected their taste," says Fabio. "The challenge was to respect the existing character detailing and massing of the home while providing larger spaces and flow to meet the needs of current-day lifestyles."

Solving problems like these are what Lantern Masters does best. From inception to completion, they detail all the important nuances involved in each and every project.

"Lantern Masters works as a team effort, collaborating with the architects and designers on each project. They look to us for architecturally appropriate lighting." says Jackie Olesker, President, Lantern Masters. "Just a glance at our portfolio of chandeliers, sconces, pendants and lanterns on our website gives one an overview of the classic and contemporary fixtures available."

"The evidence of their reputation and level of service is seen in Lantern Masters' long list of talented architects and designers who return to them year after year. Working with Lantern Masters on this project and other projects was a pleasure," says Fabio.

A first glance at some of Lantern Masters' portfolio of chandeliers, sconces, pendants and lanterns can be seen on their website at www.lanternmasters.com.

IT'S THE FRONT YARD'S sloping hillside garden with its purple haze of lavender, the bright magenta bloom of bougainvillea, the light greens of agaves, the striking burgundy black hue of cordyline and a contrasting smatter of white roses that first catches your eye when you drive by architect Fabio Rigo de Righi's remodel of an early 1970s La Jolla Shores Ranch-style home.

Get a little closer, though, and you'll see that the new meandering Santa Bar-bara/Spanish Colonial floor plan, designed around three courtyards, is as graceful as the landscaping.

"This is the vernacular of Southern California," says the architect, "and it isn't about opulence and being grandiose like the Tuscan villa. It's not a show house. It's low in profile and makes a simpler statement. There's not a lot of stone detailing and not as much ironwork as you would see in a Mediterranean-style home. It's more of a simple elegance with expanses of thick stucco walls with punched openings and deep recesses in doors and windows."

Stairs, with decorative face tiles on the risers, are neatly framed by retaining walls with reclaimed terra-cotta caps. Inside the walls, olive trees flank the bottom of the hillside, adding a sense of symmetry to this pie-shaped lot. The stairs lead to the wrought-iron gates of the entry courtyard. Here, the front door opens to a small, self-contained entry foyer.

"The homeowners entertain a lot," says Rigo de Righi, "and they have two young children, so there are lots of little kids around. There's general family chaos beyond the foyer, so they wanted a more private foyer that's not looking through the house. When you turn the corner, you walk into the great room where there's a beautiful wooden header, which goes across an arch defining the entrance to the private family-occupied rest of the house."

Although the interiors are not ornate, the homeowners wanted lighting, wood and tiling to be eclectic.

"We found our interior designer, Janette Seltser, through Fabio and she did a lot of creative things in regard to these materials," says the wife. "For example, she did our entry ceiling with reclaimed old tile and a reclaimed terra-cotta paver floor with a patterned inset tile. The kid's bathrooms are more modern with glass tile everywhere, including the floor, and in our bedroom she used Jerusalem stone with (metal tile inserts on the floor."

No room uses the same wood, and the doors, windows and built-ins all have different wood with varying finishes. Lighting fixtures are also different for each room. Many are big statement pieces, focal points that create the room's mood and ambiance. In fact, the one main accent feature in the mostly wood great room is a custom wrought-iron, 4-foot-wide chandelier.

"When my client was concerned about how this expensive chandelier would look," says Rigo de Righi, "I built one out of card-board, so we could hang it in the great room to see if it would work before the approximate $17,000 was spent for the real thing."

The great room's ceiling was given as much volume as possible to open this room to the kitchen. The kitchen's range, big copper hood and mosaic tile back- splash are directly opposite the great room's fireplace. The decorative range wall is the feature focus when looking at the kitchen from the family room.

"My husband loves to cook - it's his hobby," says the wife, "so we took a lot of time designing a functional space. He's a creative cook with international flair. He does gourmet Mexican, homemade Chinese, Thai food, Indian food, and, of course, we have the pizza oven in the outdoor kitchen. The kids, who are 6 and 8, just love to make the pizza."

The kids were kept in mind when the house was built. Other than a semi-formal dining area, there are no formal spaces and no off-limit rooms to them and their friends - who often come over to play on the outdoor sport court, swim in the pool, or watch Dora the Explorer on the 60-inch TV in the playroom. No wonder all the home's wood - including cabinets - has a distressed finish rather than a sleek one.

"When things get nicked, it looks like it's supposed to be that way," says the wife with a laugh. "The kids run in a circle through the house. There's a kind of circle loop that runs from the living room, down the hall, to the family room, down another hall to the bedroom, down a hall to the master bathroom and outside.

"When we redid this home," she continues, "we had our heart set on creating a Spanish-style house that emulated The Clubhouse at Santaluz - a warm and inviting atmosphere with big, arched windows, vaulted ceilings and lots of wood. But most importantly, we wanted this to be a great family home."

Guess they got just what they wanted.