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The way actress Stephanie Beatriz and her husband Brad Hoss tell the story, their backyard came to be the way a lot of projects start these days: social media. They had recently purchased a 1921 home on the Eastside of Los Angeles about a century after it had been built, and wanted to give the roughed-up bungalow a fresh chapter—including the outdoor space. “We were really excited when we saw the backyard, because even though there was an existing ADU and a shed, there was still a lot of space,” Beatriz says. “We knew we wanted to expand the home’s footprint and do something special with what was left.”
Beatriz had found landscape designer Denise Staffa of Outside In on Instagram and liked how she created al fresco living areas that felt tailored to each of her clients. So, Beatriz wrote to Staffa asking if she’d be interested in renovating her own dirt patch. At first, Staffa wasn’t so sure. “I remember reading her email and thinking it was a scam,” Staffa says, laughing. “I thought, Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine is emailing me, a little designer in Western Australia? No way.”
Staffa didn’t respond for a week, but then she decided to just go for it. She was up for the challenge, even if it meant constantly converting meters to feet and planning over Zoom. With help from project installer Paz Josefzon of Danny Wang, who kept everything running as Beatriz shot the second season of Twisted Metal during construction, Staffa ensured Beatriz and Hoss would have a backyard where good memories could be made. Here are three big takeaways from the transformation.
Raise the Pool
During the first phase of their renovation, Beatriz and Hoss expanded the back of their property and added a deck. When it was time to move on to the yard, they had visions of it being an enduring entertaining hub: a place where Hoss could serve his signature cocktail, “the last word,” to friends and family now, and where their young daughter, Roz, could bring friends later. The best way to make that happen? Give the pool an Aussie upgrade—literally.
“I’m used to working with elevated swimming pools, but they had been picturing it at ground level,” Staffa says. “I think those cultural differences are what made this project so fun.”
Giving the pool some height made the deck and the rest of the yard feel cohesive. “It’s easy to have a conversation with someone in the pool if you’re on the deck, and then the ledge of the pool almost acts like a bar,” Beatriz says. “We can rest our drinks there from both sides.”
Bring on the Hotel Vibes
Beatriz always liked the pink and green color scheme of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and saved photos of the property on the Pinterest board she shared with Staffa. She also asked for a checkerboard pattern that reminded her of her father’s childhood home in Colombia—but with a smidge more color. “I just didn’t want it to be stark black and white, like it had been in his house,” Beatriz says.
To Staffa, this request seemed like an ideal opportunity for personalization. She picked rosy squares for the floor to bring Beatriz’s memory to life, and opted for sage rectangles on the pool enclosure as a nod to the famous landmark. The slight geometric variation creates dimension in a color scheme that’s playful but not too punchy.
“I spent a lot of time figuring out the right tones, and this is the trick,” Staffa says. “I kept the braver color on the ground and the more subtle color at eye level. That keeps both from feeling overbearing.”
Make the Deck Extra Inviting
Last fall, Staffa traveled to Los Angeles to see the home in person. Not only was it the first time she could talk to Beatriz and Hoss without an Internet connection and major time difference, but it was also Staffa’s very first trip to L.A. “Isn’t that funny?” she says. “And now I think I know the housing regulations better than some locals.”
During the visit, Hoss served up his sweet-meets-sour cocktail and they all gathered gathered around the fire pit on the composite deck. Beatriz and the designer echo each other when they say that this was a project in patience—it took about 18 months for the yard to be completed—but it was worth it in the end.
“There were years where we would be hanging out with friends or on vacation saying things like, ‘Oh, I wish we had something like that in our home,’” Hoss says. Now they can open up the accordion door at the back of the house and step into their personal oasis.