He dreamed of a midcentury haven in L.A. He found it in an iconic rental off Sunset

Growing up successful a tiny municipality extracurricular of Cleveland, Tyler Piña was fascinated by Los Angeles and the glamour of Hollywood.

“My dada grew up retired here, and it’s wherever my parents met,” says the 33-year-old screenwriter and Emmy Award-winning manager of “Next Level With Lauren Goode.” “I retrieve looking astatine aged Polaroids of them successful the ‘80s and seeing however overmuch amusive they had.”

In this series, we spotlight L.A. rentals with style. From cleanable assemblage walls to impermanent decor hacks, these renters get creative, adjacent successful tiny spaces. And Angelenos request the inspiration: Most are renters.

His attraction to Los Angeles, however, was much than conscionable nostalgia. “I was mesmerized by the landscapes and architecture,” helium says, noting the Santa Monica Mountains that tally alongside the Pacific Ocean and glass-and-steel Case Study Houses specified arsenic the Stahl House, perched connected a hillside overlooking Los Angeles.

“I had ne'er seen thing similar it successful Ohio,” helium says. “It felt similar different world, truthful acold from reach. Yet it was a beingness I aspired to unrecorded 1 day.”

Looking back, helium can’t judge helium realized his imagination of moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco successful 2018 and yet renting a Midcentury Modern penthouse steps from the Sunset Strip.

“It’s a small spot of a fishbowl,” Piña says, lasting wrong his surviving country with views of a Netflix billboard done the unit’s floor-to-ceiling windows. (It’s an advertisement for “Happy Gilmore 2” that reads “When Life Gives You S— for Breakfast … Go to Your Happy Place.”)

More than once, Piña has been caught sitting connected his sofa successful his underwear, penning scripts connected his laptop, arsenic Hollywood circuit buses halt astatine the postulation airy outside.

In different instances, friends person driven by his gathering and texted him, “‘Hey, I conscionable drove by and saw you successful your surviving room,’” helium says, laughing.

Although helium feels similar helium is surviving successful a fishbowl astatine times, Piña draws vigor from the metropolis extracurricular his windows.

The two-story, 22-unit Sunset Lanai flat complex, designed by acclaimed midcentury designer Edward H. Fickett and built successful 1952 by developer George Alexander, is an oasis successful the mediate of a bustling portion of the city. That is due to the fact that Fickett designed the West Hollywood apartments to look inward, toward a lush courtyard and swimming pool, avoiding the enactment of the Sunset Strip.

Piña’s penthouse flat spans astir the full apical level and boasts galore of the architectural touches that Fickett was known for including an indoor-outdoor level program that connects to a lanai, vaulted ceilings, partial walls and tons of glass.

Over the years, the apartment’s owners and the West Hollywood City Council person debated its relevance arsenic a historical landmark that needs preservation. But speech to Piña, and he’ll archer you it’s special.

The Sunset Lanai apartments were designed by noted modernist designer Edward Fickett and constructed by George Alexander successful 1952.

“I walked by the flat each time earlier I moved successful and was ever funny what it looked similar inside,” helium says. “When I saw the ‘for rent’ sign, I instantly went connected a tour. But the terms was a small precocious for me, truthful I waited.”

His patience paid disconnected arsenic the flat stood vacant for 7 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following respective terms reductions, Piña, his fellow astatine that clip and a person of theirs rented the 2,850-square-foot portion for $5,200 a period successful 2020.

“Right distant it felt similar home,” helium says of the archetypal clip helium stepped inside. “This was the spot I grew up dreaming about.”

Piña, right, and his boyfriend, Vittorio Manole, basal successful the lanai successful beforehand of the apartment.

The lanai has capable country for a gym, washer and dryer and a lounge. It besides has ample built-in storage.

Inside, the flat is simply a treasure trove of unsocial features. The expansive surviving country seamlessly connects to a ceremonial eating room, which successful crook leads to an updated room with stainless alloy appliances, each with a presumption of Sunset Boulevard. Two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, each with much built-in retention than they tin use, beryllium disconnected an intersecting hallway.

At the halfway of the surviving room, a stylish enclosed bedewed bar, an archetypal plan by Fickett, exudes a “Mad Men” vibe. On the partition down the bar, Piña hung a peel-and-stick wallpaper that helium recovered connected Etsy, reminiscent of the iconic banana-leaf wallpaper astatine the Beverly Hills Hotel, and a yellowish neon motion that reads “Lost successful euphoria.”

“There’s thing truly peculiar astir a Fickett building,” Piña says. “A Midcentury Modern penthouse connected Sunset Boulevard successful the bosom of West Hollywood, with a barroom successful the surviving room? I mean, does it get much iconic? I am, successful nary way, chill capable to unrecorded here.

“In a way, I conjecture decorating is conscionable different mean for maine to explicit my creativity similar I bash with movie and writing,” Piña says.

“I tried my champion to bash this abstraction justice,” Piña says, referring to his frantic two-week effort to decorate the flat portion moving connected “Comeback Coach” and “Women successful Business,” 2 world shows sponsored by Verizon. He has besides worked connected trailers for Amazon, changeable and edited commercials for Google, Levi’s and Sephora, edited “Making Emilia Perez” for Netflix and wrote and directed the award-winning documentary “88 Cents.”

“At my erstwhile place, I dilatory decorated implicit time,” helium says. “By the clip it yet felt perfect, it was clip to determination out. In this space, I wanted it to consciousness lived successful close distant truthful I could bask it afloat for arsenic agelong arsenic possible.”

Working until 3 successful the morning, Piña sourced midcentury-inspired furnishings from the online retailer All Modern, CB2 and respective section vintage shops. He besides purchased a assortment of furnishings, plants and accessories connected Etsy and Offer Up arsenic good arsenic artworks by section artists, photographers and friends.

Inspired by a people connected wood by Australian lensman Sarah Bahbah successful his eating room, Piña decorated the surviving and eating country successful a complementary colour palette. Similarly, copper-colored barroom stools helium spotted successful a tiny store successful San Francisco inspired the barroom area.

The chamber is acheronian and moody, with windows that look retired implicit the Sunset Strip.

Explaining his decorating process, Piña says helium likes to commencement with a connection portion specified arsenic an artwork, rug oregon portion of furnishings and past physique a communicative astir it. “In a way, I conjecture decorating is conscionable different mean for maine to explicit my creativity similar I bash with movie and writing,” helium says.

Adding to the spacious level program is simply a lanai, which has capable country for weights, mats and a Peloton, arsenic good arsenic a lounge area, washer and dryer, descend and a immense walk-in retention space. “I person a projector and person hosted movie nights,” Piña says.

The ceremonial eating country connects to an updated room with stainless alloy appliances that faces Sunset Boulevard.

At night, Piña says his flat glows from the streetlights and soaks up the vigor from the neighborhood. “It’s the champion spot to person a bully cry,” helium says. “Because you ne'er consciousness alone. I enactment truthful overmuch emotion into this apartment. And it’s fixed maine truthful overmuch backmost successful return. And the tears I cried here, the immense struggles that I faced — a pandemic, losing enactment from the strikes, aggregate relationships that came and went. But adjacent successful the hard moments, determination was truthful overmuch beauty. The architecture brings this spot to life.”

But similar truthful galore bully things that travel to an end, Piña precocious decided to determination retired of the flat aft his roommate left.

Piña moves connected with thing but blessed memories.

“I’m acceptable for the adjacent dream,” helium says.

Last month, Piña sold and donated each of his furniture. He plans to question to Europe and Asia and enactment remotely for a while. “Just maine and a suitcase,” helium says.

According to the director, helium enjoyed selling his furnishings connected Facebook Marketplace and plans connected utilizing it arsenic a root for his adjacent home. “I met truthful galore chill radical from each implicit the city,” helium says. “The full conception of passing items down versus buying caller conscionable makes the location consciousness much lively successful my opinion, similar each point comes with its ain communicative and a spot of emotion — not to notation it’s mode much cost-effective.”

He leaves Los Angeles with his Polaroids, conscionable similar his parents.

“And each the astonishing memories,” helium says. “Those are coming with me.”