REATH DESIGN

IF YOU CAN create The Wizard of Oz on a soundstage, then there really are no rules.” Beneath Frances Merrill’s warm, multicolored originalism lie strong crosscurrents of old California: a prospector’s spirit with strong shades of 1930s architect Julia Morgan, and indeed, the boundless innovation of Hollywood’s early days of cinema. “Those set designers left a mark, a legacy that anything is possible,” says the Los Angeles–based founder of Reath

Design. “I love taking that imaginative ethos, then adding quality to make it last and feel good to live in.” What she calls “breaking the story”—unlocking the livability challenges of a house—feels like an extension of this experimental algorithm, as is her embrace of craft and workmanship. “I love the tactile, human feeling in things that are handmade,” she says. “If someone spent an absurd amount of time making something with their hands, then I am probably going to love it.”