He’s definitely not a household name, but if you happen to be one of Facebook’s 2.8 billion active users, you’ve come across the handiwork of Aaron Sittig. There’s that nifty little “like” button, for starters, plus the ability to tag all your friends in pictures. As the first designer and ninth employee ever hired at the social media juggernaut, Sittig was the guy behind both those creations; though he left Facebook in 2013 to become a managing partner at San Francisco-based branding and design firm Public Studio, his tenure at the social network made him a very rich man, with an eye for style and more than enough cash to acquire a gorgeous Hollywood Hills hideaway.
Records reveal Sittig and his longtime wife Jessica — who met at Facebook, and were married in a 2011 ceremony with Mark Zuckerberg as best man — have just paid Parisian architect/interior designer Jean-Louis Deniot and antiques dealer William Holloway $5.2 million for the 1930s home, which had recently undergone a European-inspired renovation and re-imagination by the previous owners.
Nestled in the hills high above Sunset Boulevard, on a 0.34-acre double parcel of land fronted by a detached two-car garage, the Tudor-esque home sports two bedrooms and three bathrooms in just over 2,700 square feet of living space. Two levels of honey-hued interiors stun with textured plaster, hand-chiseled stone, wide-plank oak floors, leaded glass windows, arched doorways and wood-beamed ceilings. Walls of big windows and French doors allow for a seamless indoor-outdoor flow, while modern updates include Nest and Sonos smart-home systems.
Among the main-level highlights: a spacious living room adorned with a decorative fireplace and 17th-century Spanish chandelier dangling from a pointed vaulted ceiling, along with a formal dining room boasting a custom chandelier embedded in a coffered ceiling, fireplace, and French doors that spill out onto an outdoor patio ideal for al fresco dining amid a duo of towering Grecian columns and massive stone fireplace.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin An attractive library/office clad in Phillip Jeffries wallpaper also stands out on the first floor, replete with a fireplace and wet bar. There’s also a wine cellar, plus a wraparound kitchen sporting high-end stainless appliances and an adjoining breakfast nook outfitted with a built-in banquette.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin A floating staircase heads upstairs, where the sumptuous master retreat is tricked out with a custom Marie Christophe chandelier, as well as a walk-in closet, and private terrace and balcony. A spa-like bath features bespoke cabinetry with Anthropologie hardware, a metal soaking tub by Aston Matthews, vintage light fixtures and a circular Karl Springer mirror.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin Tucked away into a turret on the upper level is a guest bedroom with its own bath, walk-in closet and balcony.
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Image Credit: Redfin Though there’s no pool to be found, the lush park-like grounds dotted with sycamore and maple trees still rise to the occasion. Amid a series of low-terraced walls are a Koi pond featuring a centerpiece culled from a Los Angeles estate, an outdoor kitchen with a dining area and a cozy fireside conversation pit.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin In addition to their new Hollywood Hills home, the Sittigs also maintain a Marmol Radziner-renovated midcentury residence in San Francisco, originally built in 1963 and recently featured in Architectural Digest. They’ve also got homes near Lake Tahoe and in the tiny Sonoma County town of Occidental, Calif.
As for Deniot and Holloway, they own a historic French manor in Paris, and just sold a waterfront home in Miami Beach for $5.2 million.
Andrew Rhoda of Compass served as the listing agent; Shaun Alan-Lee of Compass repped the buyers.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin