House Tour: Flamingo Estate
Seventy-five brick stairs lead to the terraced garden on Richard Christiansen’s hilltop estate.
Chandelier Creative’s Richard Christiansen spent months courting Flamingo Estate’s owner, John, who once ran an erotic film studio before he agreed to hand over the keys.
Interiors unseen, Christiansen enlisted the help of Studio KO designers Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty to help him. Together, the three worked to restore this 7-acre property in the hills of Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, into his dream playground, a place he imagined would be “engineered for parties.”
The two-year restoration underscored Christiansen’s need for self-reflection and care. “In a way, this is also about bringing myself back to life,” he says.
When they set to work injecting new life into Flamingo Estate, Christiansen and the Studio Ko team brought in materials from Morocco, Japan and Mexico. The property earned the nickname “Epcot Center” because of its hodgepodge of cultural inspiration.
The house’s perimeter is marked with terra-cotta pots — each engraved with tiny flamingos — that were hand-thrown by Moroccan artisans.
“The entire space is an imprint of people and places, and those stories bring me great pleasure,” Christiansen says. “Even when I’m here alone, I feel like I’m surrounded by my friends.”