The inside of Mary Nichols “granny flat.” (Nolasco Studios)
After 40 years in the historical Los Angeles home where she raised her family, Mary Nichols knew she wanted to make a change. She was ready to design a so-called granny flat — without the fuddy-duddy connotations.
Nichols, a respected environmental lawyer and former government official in climate policy, needed a space that was bright and modern, reflective of how actively she is still engaged with the world.
By converting the attic, a former teenage rec room, into a self-contained apartment, she was able to define a space of her own while giving the home’s main floors over to the next generations.
Mary Nichols approached her son and daughter-in-law with the idea of living together about a year after her husband died. (Rick Loomis for The Washington Post)
“It had always been our idea that my son and his family would move into this house one day, but when my husband died in 2016, I followed conventional wisdom and didn’t make any big decisions,” Nichols recalls. She spent a year on her own and realized she didn’t want to leave the neighborhood. “I really wanted to stay in the house.”
Nichols decided to approach her son and daughter-in-law with the idea of living together and embracing the growing trend of multigenerational housing. At first, she worried about being seen as “a built-in babysitter,” she says. “I’m still working and traveling a lot.” Last year she was part of a United Nations expert group clarifying net-zero emissions standards. Advisory roles with nonprofits and universities frequently take her to New York City and Washington, D.C., and she recently returned from Italy’s Lake Como, where she was writing a forthcoming book about her climate work.
To consider what life might look like under one roof, the trio went to a favorite restaurant for dinner and pulled out their respective checklists. “Luckily, there was a lot of overlap!” Nichols says.
Mary Nichols's “granny flat” is located on the third floor, where plenty of natural light is available. (Nolasco Studios)
The living space is about 750 square feet and includes a sitting area, small kitchen and workspace with plenty of storage. (Nolasco Studios)
The family called on Steve Pallrand, founder of Home Front Build, a design-build company that specializes in environmentally responsible remodels. “Turning the existing attic space into her own separate home was essentially a tiny house project, which is all about living beautifully and efficiently in a small space,” Pallrand says. “The main challenges were working within the limitations of the existing parameters, and how to create this separate living area without impeding on the home’s grandeur.”
Nichols was used to adapting her home to her family’s needs. Over the years, she had updated the 1918 Craftsman with new bathrooms, a motorized chairlift for her late husband, and a converted carriage house — which she happily decamped to with her rescue dog, Mutti, as work crews once again filled the home.
The new project’s most significant structural addition was an elevator that now safely carries Nichols from the ground floor to her third-floor apartment. “We all agreed that it was a good idea, but my son was pretty insistent on it,” she says. (The only one who doesn’t love it is Mutti, who needs a little extra coaxing to hop into the cab.)
Pallrand found space for the lift by relocating basement access, repurposing the butler’s pantry on the first floor, and removing the entire back staircase on all three levels, which also gave Nichols’s children the chance to do a few second-floor renovations of their own. With new windows and skylights, new insulation and upgraded electrical and HVAC systems, the once dark and uninspired garret became a sunny penthouse. “I’m self-sufficient up here — I have my own computer, my own television — and there’s lots of natural light. Daylight is critical for me,” Nichols says.
The renovation included the addition of an elevator, as well as a “front door” to Nichols’s apartment at the top of the stairs. (Nolasco Studios)
“Mary is a vibrant and stylish lady,” says Goli Karimi, design director at Home Front Build. “She has beautiful art, clothing and furniture, and this apartment really reflects her.”
The third floor offered about 750 square feet, just enough room to accommodate Mary’s specific needs: a comfortable sitting area, a breakfast table and small kitchen, and a workspace with plenty of storage. “We approached the design like a great room, making different zones,” says Karimi.
Removing the back stairwell also created newfound space that let them design a more private and comfortably proportioned bedroom with generous closets and a bathroom that could be fitted with a separate tub and shower and the most un-granny appliance of all: a smart toilet.
Environmentally conscious design was “a given,” Nichols says. Karimi brought in naturally durable cork floors, paints with no or low levels of volatile organic compounds, water-saving plumbing fixtures, and LED lighting. She also collaborated with Nichols’s longtime interior designer and friend, Michael Blakeney, who returned to help choose colors and repurpose existing pieces, including Nichols’s Saarinen dining chairs and her late husband’s desk, a simple wood trestle table.
“I wanted things to be light and bright, but I also wanted things to be small and efficient,” Nichols says.
Though the family often dines together downstairs, especially for Friday night Shabbat dinners, a kitchenette offers Nichols just the right amount of culinary freedom. A convection-microwave oven, slender fridge and dishwasher drawer are all concealed behind the cabinetry, and a plug-in cooktop sets up easily on the counter when needed.
And it’s cheery, too. “The bright orange cabinetry is a wonderful balance to Mary’s love of blue,” Karimi says, noting the blue and white zigzag tile backsplash that packs a graphic punch.
Built-in cabinetry helps save space and keep the flat tidy. (Nolasco Studios)
“I like color,” says Nichols, “and I definitely didn’t want this apartment to be all neutral.” It’s anything but. It’s as authentic, no-nonsense and as lively as its inhabitant.
Built-in cabinetry and bookcases throughout the home keep things tidy and add even greater flexibility to the layout by reducing the need for bulky storage pieces. “I have a tendency to pile books and papers, but this is an easy space for me to keep uncluttered,” Nichols says. It’s also given her space to exercise. “After the move upstairs, I started working out at home, first with an online Pilates coach and then with someone who comes over. It’s really a very good space for exercising!” And while Nichols may occasionally host large meetings in the bigger rooms downstairs, her apartment’s sitting area is perfect for smaller gatherings.
But it wasn’t until the pandemic struck, shortly after the project was finished, that Nichols saw the renovation through an entirely different lens.
“My family was my lifeline,” Nichols says. “They did all the online ordering. We shared chores. We all looked after each other.”
These days (when she’s home, anyway), she still happily pitches in by running errands and popping down to sign for packages.
“I haven’t slowed down at all and coming home to this apartment after traveling makes me happy,” she says. “I really enjoy having this private space where I can be completely self-sufficient.” But in true granny spirit, Nichols is most excited by the fact that she gets to see and talk to her family more often. And despite Mutti’s hesitations about the elevator, she, too, has settled in comfortably. “She owns my entire place!” says Nichols.
Maile Pingel is a writer in Los Angeles and a former editor at Architectural Digest.
