Diamond in the Rough

While flipping houses, a couple discovers a Talmadge jewel they just have to keep

Judging by its location on a quiet street in Talmadge, you might expect the master bedroom in Bob Pellaton’s home to be traditional. Perhaps with décor suited to a cozy bed-and-breakfast. Or a Spanish-inspired palette in honor of Cliff May’s influence on the neighborhood. From atop the teak-and-limestone staircase leading to the second floor, however, the mode that comes to mind is downtown chic.

Double doors open onto a suite that feels more like a contemporary boutique hotel than a 1920s subdivision home. On one end of the room is a Ralph Lauren bed with views to the canyon and beyond. A wall of slate housing a sleek fireplace separates it from a sitting area with sofas wrapped in gray flannel and club chairs clad in caramel-smooth leather. There isn’t a bathroom, per se, but a long narrow “wet room” lined top to bottom with miniature tiles of slate and outfitted with European-style showerheads and an Asian-inspired Kohler vanity to emphasize the room’s spa-like Zen. Another vanity, this one custom-built of alder, leads to a walk-in closet as wide as the dining room below and complete with a chaise longue and wet bar.

“Once inside the suite’s double doors, you can be self-contained, with a refrigerator and sink, a washer and dryer, even two decks,” says Pellaton, a former national and international pairs-skating competitor who now instructs kids in the sport. “You wouldn’t have to go downstairs again.”

The only problem is you’d miss out on the rest of the house: the spa-like guest suite that opens onto a lanai; the kitchen where you can stir-fry dinner on a wok burner while enjoying views of the lushly landscaped backyard; the vanishing-edge pool with a rowboat to drift the day away.

All this and more is in a home that once was dark, compartmentalized, lined in oak paneling and so dilapidated that when Pellaton and his partner, Anthony Cottam, came to view it, “Rain was leaking through holes in the roof and onto the dining room table,” Pellaton says. Both native San Diegans, Cottam and Pellaton flip houses for a living, so they’re accustomed to finding—even buying—homes in poor condition.

“The worse a house is, the more I love it,” says Cottam, a contractor for more than 20 years. But this one “felt like a trailer,” so after extra consideration they bought it with full intent to repair, update and then sell. To their surprise, however, seven years and three remodel stages later, Cottam and Pellaton are calling it home. They have since sold their Palm Springs residence, fallen in love with their new neighborhood and hosted many parties in a home that truly reflects their signature style.

“This is my favorite view,” Pellaton says as he opens the doors of the guest bathroom and steps onto a lanai flanking one side of the backyard. The view, with its many elevations and textures, is indeed stunning. In preparation for an evening soirée, Pellaton has lit the fire pits and turned on a waterfall that cascades from an upper deck onto the pool below. Pygmy palms, bamboo and mounds of mondo grass dot the backyard, which is paved in a quartzite flagstone gleaming with green, gold and silver. Sylvia, his rowboat, bobs in the late-afternoon sun and invites a quick dip in the pool.

“Our goal was to create the feeling of the house floating on water, whether you are looking in from the pool or out from the living room,” Pellaton says. The pool was designed to lie like a shadow of the house, and that required putting 10 30-foot caissons into the canyon floor for support. “We basically have a bridge in our backyard,” he says.

The result was worth the two years it took to build the pool. Now Pellaton and Cottam have an outdoor space reflective of the contemporary, Asian-inspired style they adore. To make it their own, however, they added Hawaiian flair throughout. On the lanai, tiki torches provide ambience around a bed upholstered in outdoor fabrics.

“We’ve had as many as 50 guests so far,” says Cottam, who had entertaining in mind when drawing plans of the “new” house. Three decks on the second floor provide ample views of poolside activities and the canyon below. The kitchen—the only room that maintains its original footprint—flows freely into the family room and backyard, with counter space to prep a meal for a crowd. Custom-designed teak cabinetry and bronze hardware pieces that “look like they’ve been under water for years” lend to the home’s tropical feel and allow for easy maintenance.

Throughout the 3,200-square-foot house, wide glass doors blur borders between indoor and outdoor spaces. “In the summer, we open up every door in the entire house, and it feels like we’re living inside and out,” Pellaton says. The family room further bridges the gap, with only a narrow strip of concrete separating it from the pool. The homeowners joke that it’s one way to ferry friends to the other end of the backyard.

“We wanted to create the Frank Lloyd Wright feeling by selecting surface materials and designing lines that fit into the surroundings,” Cottam says. “Even if we didn’t put any furniture in this house, it would still look beautiful.”

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