Amanda Pays - Open House

Open House

Reinventing Space for Simple Living

Amanda Pays & Corbin Bernsen

Open House

Reinventing Space for Simple Living

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2017 Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen

Photograph credits as noted. Front cover and opening photographs Max Kim-Bee.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236-4736-2

by Corbin Bernsen

When I hit the scene with the sudden explosion of LA Law, it essentially put me on the map, and to be very frank, I quickly adopted the blind notion that I was the Be All and End All. I was easily fooled into thinking that all things related to memy thoughts and ideas specifically, having come from me, had an irrevocable place and order that was final. The result of that brilliant outlook: unhappiness. Despite an outward trajectory that was skyrocketing, there was an emptiness, and dare I say, a dark pall over what should have been days filled with light.

Before all that, however, I put myself through college as a carpenter. I framed houses. I loved to swing a hammer and build things, though more often than not I found myself digging trenches for the foundations of the houses. Not bad, learning about and appreciating foundations and their metaphorical extension. It was and remains an invaluable education.

So years later, when I was able to purchase my first house from the riches of my newly minted Hollywood success, it was no surprise to friends and family that I would immediately proceed to deconstruct the basic Laurel Canyon home that Id purchased and turn it into something special. The style of the day was Santa Fe. Given my Cherokee roots and a general leaning toward spirituality, it was a match made in heaven, so to speak. Three months and several thousand dollars later, I had transformed my basic dwelling into what I thought was a New Mexican masterpiece! It had round beams, salvaged doors from Mexico, Saltillo tiles, and my first art purchasea John Nieto painting of a colorful Indian chief to hang over the fireplace. Perfection! The disorder of my life, created in part by my new success, I suddenly found back in orderor so I thought. Then I met Amanda. Having her own deep roots in design and renovation, courtesy of an incredible father who not only was handy but genuinely enjoyed moving and fixing up homesif even as a survival mechanismshe developed an early skill and remarkable eye for the necessary components of what it takes to make over a room or house.

I met Amanda in a nightclub (very Hollywood) and declared to a friend the following day with great excitement and commitment, Im going to marry that girl! And why not? I had a career, a Corvette, a few bucks in the bank, and my newly self- renovated Santa Fe casa in the hills. What girl could ask for more? Well . . . Amanda! The full story has more hours and days than suggested here, but the short version is that she walked into my masterpiece of a home, took one look at it and said, All this has to go! Talk about a potential deal breaker and the ultimate ego killer! But I had this other thing going onthis committed vision of a life with Amanda that I had shared with my friend. Destiny was not to be denied! So I had to make the first truly big choice of my new success as the it guy in town: tell Amanda Paysalso on her own trajectory in townto take a hike or... God forbid... yield! Was I willing to knock down the walls behind my gut reaction and impulsive resistance to allow another view in? Was I willing to create a window to my soul that might allow new light? And heres the funny thing: beyond some of the design stuff, it was also exactly what she was suggesting I do with my home! Open up walls, create windows, allow in new light and experience a view of the hills that I had simply neglected to see. And so it began, a shared adventure in the designs of our homes and our life together.

Amanda and I have been married for nearly thirty years now, and over the course of our marriagehalf our livesthe question we are asked most is What is the key to a successful marriage? Several answers have come up, from the obvious Were best friends and We share common interests to the longer view of having built a solid foundation of trust and a strong bond.