Out of the shadows of its dated past
“The house was not without its shadowy allure,” says architect John Bertram, who was hired to renovate a 3,800-square-foot 1962 house in Pasadena after Jenny Levy and her husband purchased it. Still, he said: “Its somber elegance and cool aloofness was the kind you might find in a certain sort of funeral home.” Bertram’s goal: Create an open and informal house that worked for Levy’s family of four without compromising the original Smith & Williams design.