Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Garret & Garage Owners at Home in Paul Williams Cottage

Beatrice and Kim Higgins, co-owners of Garrett& Garage. Photo ©JohnMilios.
Beatrice Novoa (l)  and Kim Higgins (r), co-owners of Garret & Garage, in their 5th Street home. Photo ©JohnMilios.

Ever wonder what’s behind those garage doors, or just beyond that front door that beckons so warmly as you stroll thought the neighborhood?

We had an opportunity to go inside one of those doors to a quiet home home tucked in the east side of Windsor Square – and found the owners of Garret & Garage, a relatively new collaborative design firm.

Beatrice Novoa and Kim Higgins have lived in the neighborhood since 2005 when the small 1250 square foot home designed by architect Paul Williams came on the market and they snapped it up within a matter of days. The home was built in 1942 as a cozy cottage with English roots, possibly for a single woman whose husband was at war and didn’t want to be ambling about a large house alone. Or so the story goes.

The living area flows into the dining room and library, and outside to the patio.
The living area flows into the dining room and library, and outside to the patio. Photo ©JohnMilios.

“We both grew up in big spaces,” Novoa told the Larchmont Buzz. “But this is like living in the heart of your body. It’s al here, in one tight space. We like to be ecologically sound, and living in a small space can be a good thing to do. It’s also easier to maintain,” she noted.

Not that the space feels small. It has 20 foot high celings in several of the rooms, and opens to the outdoors and a drought-friendly garden and guest house. The space gives the owners all the room they need to raise a son, entertain friends and even hold creative dialogues with clients in the “library” that flows right into the living room.

The kitchen showcases a brass nautical lamp that Novoa created for the space.
The kitchen showcases a brass nautical lamp that Novoa created for the space. Photo ©JohnMilios.

Higgins, a design and trade liaison for Restoration Hardware and recently in charge of launching one of their  flagship stores, serves as the business and design mind behind Garret & Garage. Novoa is an artist who jokingly calls herself a “junk dada revivalist” and works out of the garage and garret above, to create furniture and ojects d’art out of old pieces, antiques and what others might leave behind. Like the brass sconces hung in the library made out of old bathtub clawfeet and brass shades, or the 1920’s old French wooden bathtub in the dining area that has been topped with glass to showcase a collection inside.

Sconces made out of various found objects, including the feet of an old bathtub.
Sconces made out of various found objects, including the feet of an old bathtub. Photo ©JohnMilios.

The design duo has raised their son Janek in the neighborhood where he attended Third Street Elementary, Wonderland and Crossroads, and is now perhaps following in their footsteps by studying in the five year Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)  program here in LA.

All three can be found walking their dog around the neighborhood. or dining on Larchmont Blvd. If you’re lucky, you might also find Novoa and Higgins with the doors flung wide open to reveal the designers at work inside, and get your own taste of what’s being created behind that closed garage door.

All photos courtesy of John Milios.

Higgins with pooch Cody.
Higgins with pooch Cody. Photo ©JohnMilios.
Novoa in the 'garage' - a truly creative space.
Novoa in the ‘garage’ – a truly creative space. Photo ©JohnMilios.
The 'garret' above the garage serves as an office space.
The ‘garret’ above the garage serves as an office space.Photo ©JohnMilios.
A new fountain outdoors commemorates Paul Williams, the architect who designed the home, with his initials and date it was built.
A new fountain outdoors commemorates Paul Williams, the architect who designed the home, with his initials and date it was built.Below is an old pig trough. Photo ©JohnMilios.
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Julie Grist
Julie Grist
Julie co-founded the Larchmont Buzz with fellow buzzer Mary Hawley in 2011 and served as Editor, Publisher and writer for the hive for many years until the sale of the Buzz in August 2015. She is still circling the hive as an occasional writer.

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