THE RESTORATION

The aim of the 2021 restoration of Onna House was to make the space comfortable by today’s standards while maintaining Paul Lester Wiener’s original architecture to the largest extent possible.

Throughout the house, materials and architectural features were preserved to retain the strong language and intrinsic qualities of the historic home.

Onna House was Lisa’s tenth collaboration with architect Christine Harper of Harper Design + Build. Their ideas develop throughout the project, and Onna House was no exception. Originally intended as a personal studio, the restoration revealed the beauty of the house and gardens, inspiring Lisa’s mission of Onna House, to give visibility to women artists and designers. Christine chose the most important through-points from the original design to carry out in the updated version, resulting in a more modern and stronger design language.

The kitchen and bathrooms were renovated. The current kitchen is artfully pared down and minimal to reflect a more contemporary style and usage. The original Paul Lester Wiener square black tile kitchen backsplash inspired the tiles used in the new bathrooms.

The house’s primary purpose as a place to display art inspired the creativity in the bathrooms’ design, with art as mirrors and an open shower without a glass surround.

In keeping with the Japanese modernist style, the house’s restoration and renovation also saw a stronger connection to the surrounding outdoor space and nature, creating a more obvious indoor-outdoor flow.

Finally, the architect altered the guest house and studio space, using the same language seen in Onna House.

Moss garden outdoor space

Studio space exterior pre-renovation