Los Angeles Home & Decor - Fall/Winter 2003

Cape Cod Estate: Nestled In The Equestrian Ranch Community of Hidden Hills

If decorating is the sum of ones life experience, then Tracy Murdock began her design education when she met and married her mentor David H. Murdock, a developer and entrepreneur. It was here she began what she calls her "intellectual enlightenment". She describes Murdock as a postmodern renaissance man who is a voracious reader and whose mantra is "knowledge is power." David was extremely generous to me with his knowledge and my tutelage under him was extremely accelerated and very intense. He provided me with all the necessary resources to flourish. A whole world was opened up to her indeed as they traveled the world exposing her to a myriad of influences from St. Petersburg, Russia to Chiang Mai, Thailand, and they have imprinted and shaped her style today.

As Robert Adams used peaches and light blue in his famous rooms in England in the Eighteenth Century, Murdock fancied yellow as his backdrop. Today, Tracy continues to use her own "Murdock yellow" as a foundation in many of her rooms, "with yellow you cannot go wrong, it soothes and gives warmth and everything looks great against it, especially a wonderful piece of mahogany furniture," the designer says.

"David exposed me to the finest and taught me to learn by studying the best. He would say, "Only then can you immediately identify the inferior." From this philosophy the designer has adopted extremely high standards and learned the importance of quality in not only furniture but fabrics and craftsmanship, as well. "We would visit the antique shows and if it wasn't a superior show, we would just leave. I would rather go home to David's Bellagio House(Featured in Architectural Digest) and I would sit there and marvel at his exquisite collection of English antiques and Chinese porcelains from decades of collecting for exclusive Stair & Company Antique House in London."

"David is a Anglophile and I learned the classics from him. He is purist in the Georgian Style and I respect that, however, he never liked it when I would mix styles, even fabrics (I am not a purist). I like taking risks and find it very confining to be limited to only one style. I believe that the beauty is in the mix and that punctuating the room with a different period or style keeps things fresh and unexpected."

While Tracy cites the Adams brothers, Thomas Chippendale and Andrea Palladio as sources of inspiration, another profound source of inspiration for the designer was her instructor of Architecture, Jody Greenwald, who spearheaded the U.C.L.A. Interior Design Program. "During her slide lectures she would move me to the point of tears, listening to her lecture was like listening to a great opera, she had a way of transporting you into those great houses and bringing you back in time to another world as only a great instructor can do. The knowledge I gained from studying a particular style and understanding the background it grew from was tremendously exciting. There is something to love and learn about all the periods and styles. I do not want to limit myself to just one. Something might catch my eye while working on a project and then I discover a new appreciation for something I would never have noticed before. I am always learning and my tastes always evolving. I believe that if the foundation has the necessary strength and proportions then you can afford to choose baroque or a very sophisticated object because of their efforts or their craftsmanship, but never just to show pretentiousness."

In a recent first time visit to her motherland of Japan, Tracy was attracted to the discipline and the simplicity of the Japanese living. In the future the designer is interested in studying and experimenting with Art Deco and the Japanese Style. She cites her current favorite designers as Anthony Hail and Mario Buatta and her favorite room is still a great English room. She is fond of sumptuous fabrics and she has a taste for stark contrasts and vibrant palettes. She loves a good crisp chintz or a stripe, whether in a cotton ticking or a silk taffeta.

The designer, whose light filled interiors are sophisticated, yet cozy and comfortable, believes that personal belongings bring harmony to a house and that comfort is the greatest luxury. The most memorable spaces should be inviting and hard to leave-and her spaces are indeed memorable and hard to leave.

This exquisite Cape Cod estate is located in the prestigious equestrian ranch community of Hidden Hills, California. Set majestically up on a private hilltop, this secluded ranch style home rests on almost two acres with spectacular views.

The interior features include six bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, gorgeous maple wood floors, a bird aviary and a fully detached private guest suite. The designer purchased the residence, completely gutted the interiors and transformed the classic Cape Cod home into a cozy yet sophisticated sanctuary.