“Gambrel-roofed Barnhaus,” the ad said, “next to the best burritos in town.”
Their photos revealed something unusual for Inglewood, which is famous for its mix of architectural styles, including RM Schindler's midcentury modern homes and Googie-style diners: a brick-red barn-style home on a large corner lot, listed for $449,000.
When Meeshie Fahmy and her husband, Aaron Snyder, toured the house, they discovered the burrito's claim was true. However, the photos had clearly been photoshopped to make the house, located just a few miles from the Kia Forum and SoFi Stadium, look better than it really was.
Outside, the former dirt lot is now a lush garden with arched towers of colorful black-eyed susanas, planters filled with nasturtiums and greens, a fire pit and a pergola.
Inside, the house had “wall-to-wall carpeting on both floors that was badly stained and worn, dated wood paneling on the walls, holes in the walls,” Fahmy says.
Despite these flaws, the couple saw the home's potential and decided to purchase it, even though a leaning retaining wall nearly derailed their escrow deposit. “It was a blank canvas for us to play with and experiment with,” he recalls a decade later.
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After they moved in, neighbors revealed that the house was not original to the site. Years earlier, the original Craftsman had been torn down; The current house, the prize of the raffle, arrived in two pieces by crane. “Our neighbors remembered it was quite a sight,” says Fahmy.
At the time, Fahmy, 44, was working as an events planner at the Getty Museum. When renovations began and she pursued her passion for interior design, Snyder proudly introduced her to the staff at the local Butcher Shop as an “interior designer.” She replied, “That's not what I do.”
“I told him, 'If you don't start saying it, it won't happen,'” says Snyder, 49, who pursued his own dream of becoming a professional skateboarder before turning to video editing. “Tell it to existence.”
Finishing the house took years, patience, and many DIY projects due to their budget. But Fahmy didn't just dream: he made it come true. In 2018, she began working for interior designer Willa Ford, who mentored her at WFord Interiors. In 2020, Fahmy launched her own design company, Haus of Meeshie. “It's been a progressive layering of colors, furniture, reupholstery, adding art, wallpaper and lighting,” he says. “Low and slow; the flavor is richer.”
Meeshie Fahmy and Aaron Snyder's family room is a colorful maximalist dream with thrifted furniture, art, and layered textures and patterns.
Ninety percent of the furniture is second-hand. “Nothing is too valuable,” says Fahmy.
Today, his house reflects Fahmy's intrepid approach: it is a true “Petri dish for experimentation.” The vibrant, layered four-bedroom home is a maximalist fever dream, packed with furniture, accessories and art sourced from Facebook Marketplace, vintage stores, flea markets (the one in Long Beach is a favorite), estate sales and thrift stores in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
She estimates that about 90% of the furniture and accessories in her home are secondhand, antiques or things she found on the side of the road, and nothing is too precious, reaffirming her playful approach to decorating.
A Jonathan Adler dining table, which is for sale, faces a wall full of artwork arranged in a living room style. Among the pieces is Fahmy's favorite: a wedding portrait painted by her father, Walter Fahmy.
The speakeasy features a vintage Craigslist bar, stools and a Geo pendant light by Los Angeles designer Jason Koharik, and a mirror Fahmy found at an estate sale in the neighborhood.
She likes to refer to her decorating style as “creatively unhinged.”
“Everything flows,” she says, curled up with her dogs on a CB2 couch she found on Craigslist. “There is a rhythm. Each piece tells a story. Pick one, I'll share it.” He remembers throwing himself on a vintage Baker sideboard at a Florida Goodwill, not knowing how he would bring it back to Los Angeles, and laughs when Snyder discovers a small portrait of Jack Black as Jesus hidden in a gold oil painting in the dining room.
The sink and vanity in the guest bathroom? It used to be a dresser he found on Craigslist.
Although others have questioned the purchase of their home, Fahmy never doubted that they could transform the space into something special.
Color unites the house. The powder room is purple, the entry hall is red, the kitchen has blue cabinets, and the hallway is painted pink.
“When I first saw the house, when they bought it, I thought she was crazy,” Meeshie's friend and former colleague Talene Kanian says in an email. “In addition to maintaining the 'barn' shape, it completely transformed the interior. Now when you walk in, you are welcomed into a home full of color, pattern and joy.”
Snyder adds, “Meeshie is able to visualize things 10 steps ahead of everyone else, even things that look like a complete disaster.”
Working together, the couple removed shag carpeting and wood paneling from the first floor and staircase, and installed drywall in its place.
Then they painted the walls, there is no beige here. The deep green living room sets a bold scene: a Dali-worthy clock, leopard prints, pink Persian rugs, a snake-shaped ottoman, and a thrifted tufted chair with Art Deco vibes from CB2.
“I didn't formally venture into interior design,” says Fahmy. “I feel very lucky to have found this passion.”
The color story flows through the home: the powder room is purple, the entry hall is red, and the dining room walls are pink, with one wall featuring a bold '70s-style mushroom-print wallpaper by Londubh Studio. The speakeasy features a vintage Craigslist bar that Snyder smuggled into his car, stools and a Geo pendant light by Los Angeles designer Jason Koharik, and a mirror Fahmy found at a nearby estate sale.
In the kitchen, they removed the 1970s-era wood cabinets and Formica countertops, replacing them with pinker walls, Moroccan-style tile floors, and blue cabinet fronts from Semihandmade, which creates doors for IKEA cabinets.
Fahmy painted a Keith Haring-style black-and-white mural at the top of the stairs and continued on the second-floor walls using a paintbrush taped to a broomstick. He finished by painting the banister bright blue and wrapping each staircase with a Persian-style runner.
Outside, the couple leveled the once-dirt backyard, added gravel, built a pergola with a handyman, and installed a fire pit where they enjoy entertaining friends.
The master bedroom has burgundy walls, while the adjoining bathroom has Persian rug-print wallpaper from House of Hackney.
Now the once-empty backyard is a lush garden: towers of colorful black-eyed susanas on arches, pots of nasturtiums and homegrown vegetables. A dripping fountain greets visitors as they walk through the French doors. Snyder, an avid cook, can easily go outside to simmer fresh herbs, making the outdoors a true extension of the home.
The couple's home is filled with memories, and as you walk through it, you can feel how much they care about their stories. In the hallway below, Snyder smiles as he points to photos of his family in Wisconsin. Similarly, Fahmy proudly displays a photograph of her great-great-grandmother Theresa “Tessie” Cooke Haskins, a noted harpist whose daughter Maud Haskins was the first harpist to perform with the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl.
Art is everywhere, from the Polaroids pinned to the powder room walls to the ceramics and masks hanging throughout the house. However, Fahmy's favorite possession is deeply personal: a portrait of her on her wedding day, painted by her father, Walter Fahmy, who studied art in Egypt before coming to the United States.
Upstairs, Fahmy created a Keith Haring-inspired black-and-white mural at the top of the stairs, then continued along the second-floor walls using a paintbrush taped to a broomstick. He ended up painting the banister a bright blue and wrapping each staircase with a Persian-style runner.
French doors connect the house to the garden, so the backyard feels like a natural part of the house.
For Fahmy, these details are important. “I feel like our house is a love letter to my upbringing,” she says, referring to her parents, both pharmacists. “It's an ode to them and the sacrifices they made for me.”
Visitors feel the same. “Her home is a true labor of love, which is evident the moment you walk in,” adds Kanian. “It radiates warmth and love.”
Snyder feels it too. “I feel immense pride when I enter our house,” he says.
Like a barn that brings people together, his house has become a welcome part of the neighborhood with its blue siding, bright yellow front door, and a fun mural by Venetian artist and skateboarder Sebo Walker. “We've had neighbors knock on our door and say, 'We love what you're doing,'” Snyder says.
“I love color,” says Fahmy. “I love to experiment.”
With the main house finished for now, Fahmy hopes to convert the garage into an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, in the style of Mexican architect Luis Barragán: bold with colors and textures. “I'm imagining a mini boutique hotel,” he says. “Easy to execute, but unique to Los Angeles. I would love a pink building.”
Like the possibility of a pink building (or not), Fahmy's freestyle proves that it's okay to experiment and make mistakes. (Want to demo the kitchen next to give it a new look.)
“You're not tattooing your face. You're painting the walls,” he says as a way to encourage others to experiment. “Your home should be a reflection of who you are. I hope our home inspires others to live how they want to live.”
