jesse +
Jonathon
L.A.
L.A.
LA
LA
jesse + Jonathon
L.A.
Inspired by her friend Caius Pawson (son of architect John Pawson, famous for his extreme minimalism) and his immaculate home in London, where she stayed briefly during the pandemic—“Literally he did not even have a clove of garlic out on the counter,” she says—she wanted to chase that zen in her own living space.
But also, a good event producer would never let go of all control, and the former New Yorker was adamant about finding a home in L.A. “The events industry, as you can imagine, is just so hectic, so it was important for me to find a house where I could retreat and find my center,” Chan says. “As I get older, my goal is to reduce the friction in my life, and I think California and the house that I chose here really allowed me to do that.”
While most of her furnishings are minimal, “I wanted the furniture to also play the role of decor,” she says. Many pieces, such as her Vince Skelly stools and chairs, are from her friend Alex Tieghi-Walker’s Tiwa Gallery, and most of her lighting comes from glowy paper sculptures by Isamu Noguchi. It’s a serene scene full of functional art, right down to the bathroom’s Chen Chen & Kai Williams chain-link toilet paper holder.
That’s not to say Chan is all minimalism, all the time. “Books are my weakness,” she admits. “I don’t have enough room for all the books I want to buy.” Her collection rests on custom shelves behind her sofa. And although she doesn’t entertain at home—it’s a tough sell when it’s your day job—her Reform kitchen cabinets are still put to good use storing her overflow of platters and glassware, as Chan is known to cook a giant pot of dal to feed herself for the week and enjoy it solo at her dining room table. For her, that’s all the party she needs.
Before she started on the interior layout, Chan invited a feng shui master to come over. She chose her bedroom to face the patio because “I’m on a hill, and I wanted my bed to be placed in the power position, with the hill behind my back,” she says. Then she had her architecture and design firm OWIU, who also added the office structure and led all renovations, commission a Japanese shoji screen to section off the sleeping space. She also didn’t love that guests would be walking through the second bedroom to get to the bathroom, so it became a walk-in closet and a place to do yoga. And the agave plant she owned? He told her that was good luck.
In her two-bedroom Echo Park bungalow, that looked like redoing the floors, transforming them from red-stained wood to European white oak, and adding a stand-alone office structure on the second landing of the four-tiered space. “Now I have a bit of a commute,” she jokes. And being a born-and-raised Californian (Chan grew up in San Diego), she also prioritized natural light via a skylight in her kitchen and access to multiple outdoor spaces, like her sprawling patio and even her car park, where she planted a cacti garden.
Left: Vintage Hans Wegner Table and Heart Chairs, 1stDibs; S.R. Vintage Tray Deco Clear, Louise Roe; Mario Bellini Counterweight Pendant Lamp Area 50 by Artemide, 1stDibs; Kitchen Cabinets, Reform. Far right: Custom Japanese Shoji Doors, Daisuke Mochizuki. Opening Portrait: Bos Large and Small Vases, LF Archive.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Justin Chung
WORDS BY Julie Vadnal
STYLING BY Randi Brookman Harris
“As I get older, my goal is to reduce the friction in my life, and I think California and the house that I chose here really allowed me to do that.”
Work Hard,
Chill Hard
Creative producer Sue Chan brings the cool kids together for the parties everyone Instagrams about. Her minimalist L.A. retreat is the antidote to the chaos.
Sue Chan almost didn’t get the house. It was peak pandemic time, and her offer was one of 35 others. Naturally, a bidding war broke out. But also, it was peak pandemic time, and people were backing out of offers left and right. When one fell through, the seller asked if Chan was a serious buyer. She was, and so the house was hers.
With a day job as a creative producer for the cool-kid parties in New York and L.A. (her company, Care of Chan, counts A24 and Palm Heights as clients), Chan knows that letting things come together organically—instead of forcing them into existence—is how the magic happens at events. Turns out, that’s also true for home buying.
Left: Vanessa Chair, Willo Perron.
Top: Como Sofa, DWR; Vince Skelly Stool, Tiwa Select; Fountain Vase 02, Louise Roe; Photograph, Shaniqwa Jarvis. Bottom: Vince Skelly Chair and Stool, Tiwa Select; Akari 33N Lamp, Noguchi Shop.
Clockwise, top left: Dana Arbib Avvolegere Candlesticks, Tiwa Select. Center: Vintage Linen Bed Cover, Parachute; Akari 50EN Ceiling Light, Noguchi Shop; Glo-Ball Wall Sconce, Flos; Dana Arbib Laguna Vase, Tiwa Select. Top right: Balcony Dining Table and Chairs, Hay; The Roe Studio Collar Object 008, Louise Roe. Bottom left: Quilt Curtain, Megumi Shauna Arai; Cassina Leggera Chair, DWR.
Left: Toilet Paper Holder, Chen Chen & Kai Williams. Center: Charlotte Perriand Lamp by Nemo, Finnish Design Shop; Waffle Bath Towel, Parachute; Floor Tile, Heath Ceramics. Right: Ray Bowl, LF Archive; Max Lamb Stoneware, March; Travel Alarm Clock, Braun.
Center top: Bennet Schlesinger Lamp and Jonah Takagi Green Glass Vase, Marta Gallery; Vintage Eames Soft Pad Chair. Center bottom: Anna Ullman Splatter Painting #73, LF Archive. Right: Fermob Bistro Table and Chairs, West Elm.
GET THE LOOK
Balcony Side Chair, Hay
Fountain Vase 02, Louise Roe
Vintage Linen Bed Cover, Parachute
Akari 50EN Ceiling Light, Noguchi Shop
