Citizens of Humanity’s Santa Monica home base

Jerome Dahan, the former creative force formerly behind the hip denim line 7 for All Mankind and, more recently, founder of Citizens of Humanity, shares a 1927 Santa Monica house with Lela Tillem, his fiancée and Citizens’ head of sales. The Paris-born Dahan and Tillem have infused the house with vintage French style mixed with kicked-back Californian charm. The goal is a timeless look — “like a high fashion coat from the ‘60s that you wear today and no one can tell if it’s contemporary or vintage,” Tillem says. The couple, shown here on a bed dressed in Calvin Klein linens, likes to shop flea markets and estate sales, the source of lamps shown here. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

July 15, 2013 3:04 PM PT

Jerome Dahan, founder of Citizens of Humanity, shares a 1927 Santa Monica house with Lela Tillem, Citizens’ head of sales. The Paris-born Dahan and Tillem have infused the home with vintage French style mixed with kicked-back Californian charm.

Potted bamboo and foo dogs stand guard in front of the home’s formal entry. Across the threshold, a mirror-topped console — a display table at I. Magnin in a previous life — is complements ed with a printed canvas by French surrealist painter Jean Lurcat. The piece is part of Dahan’s striking midcentury tapestry collection, which also lends the house its French flavor. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The procession from the street to the house includes two entries: An industrial, rusted steel doorway leading to the front part of the yard, and then this old Moroccan door framed by pink and peach bougainvillea. Beyond it lies an inner courtyard with all-weather furniture grouped around a concrete water wall. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tillem walks past another vintage tapestry. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tillem’s silhouette appears on a closet door in the master bedroom, where designer classics mix with furnishings of unknown origin. The Deco tub chair shown here, for example, complements two dressers by the highly collected T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A lamp and mirror at the entry of the house. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

One of Dahan’s design tricks: laying colorful Hermès beach towels atop bathmats. The towels don’t slip, and the vibrant palette enlivens a space that Dahan felt was too blah in plain white. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tillem walks from the house toward the backyard, where the family likes to hang out. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The black-bottomed pool. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A built-in daybed gives the family a Zen-like space to relax. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The two-story, three-bedroom house is reflected in the inky pool. The backyard also has a small kitchen for entertaining. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Not surprisingly, rich fabrics play an important role in the living room. Dahan had the two chairs built and covered in a rich stripe reminiscent of Missoni. The pharmacy lamp and Gucci clock on the right sit atop a Ralph Lauren table. The 1960s coffee table is walnut and brass. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Skylights brighten the kitchen, with its iron campaign stools and white cabinetry. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Right off the kitchen with a lovely garden view, a massive banquette covered in glove-quality brown leather wraps three sides of an X-based table. The Moroccan lantern hangs from sandblasted oak beams. Previous owners imported the floor from a French monastery. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tillem settles into the reading nook off the bedroom, furnished with a tufted velvet settee bought in Palm Springs and a wall filled with books, gifts and the occasional flea market purchase later looked upon with regret. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)