Flying A silent film studio restored as a live-work beauty

Agave attenuata stand at attention outside the property that Becker bought in 1999. Though most of the studio buildings had been razed, the green room, where actors waited to go on set, as well as dressing rooms for the stars, were still standing. Tenting for termites caused a number of plants to die, and Becker called in Santa Barbara landscape designer Jim Melnik to help restore the garden.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Becker and Melnik began by reinforcing the original redwood pergola with steel plates and augmenting the existing Cecile Brunner roses, planted circa 1913, with eight new plants along the edges of the pergola “to make everything even rosier,” Becker says. Visitors can’t tell the difference between the old and new plants “unless they look down and see the 2-foot-diameter root balls that look every bit of their 100 years.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The soft pink Cecile Brunner roses bear successive flushes in spring, summer and fall. “Indeed, they seem to be in bloom year round,” says Becker, who believes his Cecile Brunners may be some of the earliest plantings of the rose in Southern California.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

At the end of the pergola is a classic Edwin Lutyens teak bench that offers a cozy place to take in the fragrance of nearby citrus trees ¿ tangerine, lemon and lime.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Although the garden’s predominant color is green, the foliage is accented with flowers, including bird of paradise and ¿  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Geraniums.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A hanging mulberry vine, accented with ¿  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Calla lily.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A small pond has a sculpture fountain by artist Ruth Speidel. The sculpture had been in Becker’s family since the 1950s but was never used.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Broken pieces of the original walkway were pieced together as more remnants of the property’s past.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Ned takes a break with blooming orange clivia as his backdrop.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The clivia: accent color in a sea of deep green.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

An artful umbrella with folding wrought-iron arms designed by local artist David Shelton, near the back of the garden, offers a shady spot for Becker and his associates to make a private call, have lunch or just take in the garden.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Becker painted the garage a dark color to hide its cracks, then planted more Cecile Brunner roses. Child actor Arleigh Adams, an early owner of the property, added the garage and used dressing room doors from inside the building to fashion the garage door.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The entrance to Becker’s home and architecture studio has sculpture by Simon Toparovsky.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The view from the bedroom, looking into Becker’s library.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The kitchen used to be the dressing room of silent film star Mary Miles Minter, remembered by avid film buffs for her exploits in “Faith,” “Youth’s Endearing Charm” and “Peggy Leads the Way.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A photo of Minter hangs in Becker’s office.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Becker, right, turned the actors’ green room into his office.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Becker enjoys giving people a tour of the garden. “I’m always telling them how small can be beautiful and, well, not feel small at all,” he says.

More profiles: Southern California homes and gardens
Our blog: L.A. at Home  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)