Chasing Sunsets

Businessmen Joey Luna and Lee Imperial collaborate with celebrity interior designer, Nate Berkus, to create a chic Hollywood pied-a-terre

- Stephanie Zubiri

“Based in Las Vegas and having to travel to Manila for business many times a year, my partner, Lee Imperial, and I found ourselves having to stop in Los Angeles each time we boarded a plane,” shares the international businessman, Joey Luna. “Having both lived in Los Angeles most of our lives, we decided that it was time to create a pied-a-terre in a city we both love.” So in 2017, the couple purchased a 93-square metre apartment nestled right above the Sunset Strip in a 1960s building with both a Hollywood and a rock’n’roll pedigree.

“One of the previous owners of our apartment happened to be a set designer for the Star Trek movies. When we first walked into the space, we realised that the kitchen resembled the command centre of the Starship Enterprise!” exclaims Luna. “Although I was not convinced that the preparation of chicken adobo would match the setting, the explosive view of the entire city, which ran the full length of the apartment, was a signal that we found our LA home.”

Working together with celebrity interior designer, Nate Berkus, the couple wanted to create an abode that could maximise space and storage without sacrificing style. “Very often, the biggest challenge of a small apartment is storage,” the homeowner says. “Nate addressed that by researching yachts and the manner by which many of these floating vessels can become truly luxurious functional homes.”

The couple wanted to create an abode that could maximise space and storage without sacrificing styleTatlerFeatures188