Sara Haag of The Scale Collective transforms a white box penthouse into an ethereal sanctuary for an art-loving East Coast transplant.

In the living room, a carefully curated menagerie of pieces mingle, including an &Tradition Little Petra chair found at Garde, Arflex’s Marenco sofa (designed by Mario Marenco in 1970) and the Murici stool in Ash by local Los Angeles designer and furniture maker, Nikolai Lafuge, found at Stahl & Band and customized for the space.

THE PROJECT

After moving from the East Coast to Los Angeles for work, Sara Haag of The Scale Collective’s client—a young beauty executive and art collector who loves animals, the ocean and the arts—reached out needing help decorating her high-rise apartment overlooking the Los Angeles Country Club. While the apartment was already built, it was bare when the project began. “We visited the site before the client moved in and were instructed to create an entirely new design direction and that they would not be using much, if any, of their previous items. They wanted a clean slate and a new direction.”

The Scale Collective’s Sara Haag fits in beautifully at her recently completed project at the Ten Thousand building in Century City.

THE INSPIRATION

“From our first visit to the space, we realized what special conditions and attributes it had, and we knew our design needed to be deeply connected to the sense of place,” Haag shares, explaining that sweeping vistas from the 39th floor—with views of the ocean on clear days—played a key role. “This setting informed our design ideas and concepts for the space: airy, modern, feminine, romantic, layers of textures in the space, a neutral and warm palette and art as focal points and pops of color,” she adds. “The home was conceived as both a place to relax and entertain, to be comfortable in and not too stuffy, and a place to inspire creative projects and ideas.” Since the client travels often, she wanted a sanctuary to come home to and space to entertain family and friends.

Sweeping views of Los Angeles shaped the project’s narrative early on. “We chose to use a warm neutral palette with pops of terra cotta and dusty rose and layered more modern sculptural pieces with some rustic ones to bring life into the home and accentuate the feeling of being enveloped in a cloud,” Haag explains.

THE PLAN

Haag and her team initially planned to plaster the walls, but due to the high cost, they opted to use wallpaper in select areas to mimic its look and feel, adding a lot of depth and warmth to the space. Incorporating art was also a priority. “[The client] is young, so she wanted the art to be a little more wild, carefree and edgy to offset and bracket the more neutral palette and refined furnishings and forms,” Haag explains, adding that certain furniture pieces needed to be incorporated, including the Pumpkin chair by Pierre Paulin—one of the designer’s personal favorites of all time.

“Early on in our process, we visited a bunch of showrooms in Los Angeles and sent the client a lot of imagery to get a better feel of what she liked and was responding to,” Haag says. “We found a few key pieces early on that the client liked, including the Little Petra chair in a beautiful shearling and the Marenco sofa. Early on, these two overlapping styles from the 40s and the 70s influenced the soft curves and sculptural forms that would evolve in the project.”

Haag’s client was looking for something with a bit of an edge, something youthful and desired a touch of color for the large wall behind the living room. The painting “What We Thought We Knew” (2020) by Robert Kingston from Dolby Chadwick Gallery did the trick.

THE LIVING & DINING ROOMS

“The living room and dining room are one big space, so we viewed this as a landscape of objects,” says Haag, who calls out the Oak Framed lounge chair by HAOS, designed by two architects out of Paris, as a favorite. “We worked with Studio Twenty Seven to customize this chair, and it is only one of two chairs ever sold—out of an edition of 30—to be made in leather,” she says.

The dining room features a table and chairs by L.A.-based Cuff Studio, Apparatus Lariat pendant lights, an antique bar cart found at 1stDibs and a vase from Spartan Shop. “We worked with [Cuff Studio] owner Christy to customize the Paddle table and C Back chairs to create something that didn’t overpower the sweeping view and remained comfortable,” says Haag.

Beetle counter stools by Gubi upholstered in a sumptuous pink velvet pair with a piece by young artist Nelio Riga called “Voodoo Punks,” which Haag found at Rome’s Varsi Art Gallery & Lab.

THE PRIMARY BEDROOM

“We showed some test renders of various wallpaper options to the client and were enamored with how the Famke mural wallpaper by Drop It Modern made the space feel more alive,” Haag shares. “We loved the detail of how the eye matched up with the Helix sconces by Windy Chien, and we were able to work with Drop It Modern to scale the paper appropriately so this detail was not just a render, but became a reality. It’s a beautiful moment in the space.”

THE PRIMARY BATHROOM

“Focusing on art and accessories here, a vintage female sculpture and vase along with a custom carved redwood stool all warm up and bracket the modern space to create layers and moments of quiet contemplation and reflection,” says Haag. “The client is passionate about art and chose the cheeky but edgy work of Yoshimoto Nara to complement the space.”

The primary bedroom’s “sanctuary in the clouds” concept reveals itself through bold feminine details, a neutral palette and sumptuous textures. Pierre Paulin’s Pumpkin chair anchors the room, as do the handmade custom sconces by Brightbound and Bay Area artist Windy Chien. The bold mural wallpaper is by Drop It Modern, the canopy bed is by RH, the bench is by Cuff Studio and the silk rug is by Mehraban.

THE HIGHLIGHT

Haag’s favorite room is the primary bedroom, which she considers a true sanctuary. “The way the light hits the room throughout the day— particularly at golden hour—really sings with the warm sandy tones, woods and creamy palette we brought into the space. Keeping things simple but selecting a more bold mural wallpaper really hit the mark.”

Found at The Future Perfect, the Bolt vase in white glazed ceramic by Floris Wubben couples with an antique sculpture in a more classical style of a woman seated. Both of these elements offset the modern architecture and details of the primary bathroom. “Real One” by Yoshimo Nara is featured in the mirror’s reflection.

THE OUTCOME

After a year, Haag and her team completed the project. “The home came out exactly as we envisioned: soft, layered, sculptural, ethereal [and] comfortable with nods to Los Angeles in the ’70s and a Parisian pied-a-terre,” she says. “The client absolutely loves the home and has told us it has been pivotal in informing her own tastes and design aesthetics. The success of this project created the entry into our Miami Beach project for the same family.”

DESIGN DETAILS

TYPE
Penthouse

LOCATION
Beverly Hills/Century City

DESIGNER
Sara Haag, The Scale Collective
thescalecollective.com

RESOURCES

APPARATUS
Living room lighting
apparatusstudio.com

BENJAMIN MOORE
Paint throughout
benjaminmoore.com

CUFF STUDIO
Dining room table and chairs, primary bedroom bench
cuffstudio.com

DESIGN WITHIN REACH
Entryway hooks by Muuto, kitchen stools by GUBI
dwr.com

MEHRABAN
Rugs throughout
mehraban.com

RH
Primary bedroom furniture
rh.com

STAHL & BAND
Entryway custom console, living room tables
stahlandband.com

THE FUTURE PERFECT
Living room sofa by Marenco and Arflex, primary bathroom wood stool by Dan John Anderson, decor throughout
thefutureperfect.com