Cashmere designer Greg Chait’s 600-square-foot Venice bungalow: “I don’t dream of anything bigger.”
By David A. Keeps
Greg Chait designs handmade cashmere sweaters and blankets sold at exclusive stores across the country. Just one of his Ten Pound cashmere blankets can command $2,000 – or more. But despite his focus on the luxury market, Chait prefers to make his home in the simplest of settings: an old
Chait’s cottage is hidden by a wooden gate and tucked behind another house. It feels like you are on a boat, he says. Its its own little universe, a tiny but fantastic one. An Indonesian teak table and daybed purchased at Oasis Furniture in Malibu creates an outdoor room on the front lawn. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
I like an overall comfy vibe, things that look refined, but nothing too precious, Chait says. His terrier, Dylan, lolls on a cotton couch draped in cashmere throws. My dog has been on every single blanket, he adds. Though not the ones people are going to buy. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A railroad lantern turned into an electric light reflects the semi-rustic architecture of the house, built more than 75 years ago. The lantern’s vibrant orange packs a visual punch against the living room’s white walls and wood-beamed ceiling. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
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Chait keeps his kitchen uncluttered. The cast-concrete counter resembles a free-form slab of wood. In the niche below, the designer stacks books topped with framed artwork by his grandmother. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A projection screen pulls down from a ceiling beam, turning the living room into a screening lounge. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Chait mounted a DVD projector on the ceiling. A vintage childs chair with nailhead trim, left, serves as a place to stack books but can be pressed into service as an ottoman for guests. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Outside the bedroom closet, a pole lamp from the store French 50s-60s has been tricked out with silver-top light bulbs. It doubles as a rack for his collection of European and Turkish scarves. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
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When not in use, a window air conditioner is camouflaged with three framed drawings by his grandmother. They sit on an Amish bench purchased at Nickey Kehoe. He zeroed in on all these pieces most people wouldnt naturally put together, store co-owner Todd Nickey says. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Im a bedscaper, Chait says of his penchant for layering colorful covers and pillows. He uses vintage Japanese futon covers on the bed and on the wall. A pile of pillows includes cashmere shams from his line, the Elder Statesman, as well as plaid throw pillows and squares made from vibrant-yellow horsehair. The two pendant lights made from old-fashioned flytrap jars hang at different heights. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Beneath a stack of surfboards, flowers wait to be planted in a grid pattern that Chait has laid out in his frontyard. The effect is intended to be colorful and eccentric, a botanical garden on acid, the designer quips. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Chait relaxes in a leather campaign chair set under a vintage lightbulb. The sunroom, originally the porch, has bamboo matchstick blinds that screen out a view of his ping-pong table and work studio. I dont dream of anything bigger and I dont lack for anything, Chait says.
To peek inside more Southern California homes and gardens, check out our Homes of The Times gallery. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
