Hidden Oasis

Los Angeles-based Richard Shapiro is a world-renowned art collector, antiques dealer and designer of the Studiolo home furnishings line. He is also an accomplished- and daring- landscape designer having shaped a surreal retreat at his Holmby Hills Spanish-Moroccan style residence. In the heart of bustling LA, Shapiro has created a tranquil paradise, as his objective was to design an eccentric garden in a setting of Mediterranean antiquity. This half acre garden has been his obsession for over two decades where he views his property as a vast installation of land art. Vivid green year-round with rare botanical species; sculpted boxwood; snakelike topiary hedges and a tromp l’oeil Palladian villa, Shapiro’s outdoor world has also become his fascinating private world.

Before its transformation the property was just another ordinary Southern California backyard with a lawn, some palm trees and a pool. After living for over 20 years in this atmospheric 1920’s villa, Shapiro decided that improving the land around it was the next step. Aiming for complete seclusion and mystery, he wrapped the grounds with 20-foot-high ficus hedges and giant Japanese timber bamboo, and built a Roman-style temple that now rises at the far end of the pool. He also incorporated Italian cypress; jacaranda; Juniper trees; Boston ivy and Eugenia, as well as modern sculptures that evoke an utterly private domain. Shapiro feels obliged to work on the landscape almost everyday… when he’s not seated by the outdoor hearth, reflecting in his secret garden. www.studiolo.com