As seen in VALLEY SCENE, an entertainment and lifestyle magazine for the San Fernando Valley
(page 13 in the January 7 – 20, 2005 issue)

One thing is for sure, when Justin Berfield, the up-and-coming feature film investor and producer, was recently searching for a stylistic Old World Spanish home in the loftier heights of Studio City in celebration of his 18th birthday, he wasn’t looking for Grandma’s digs. Berfield scrutinized a number of potential buys before settling on the trendy abode.

Not only does the new home of Berfield have a storied history of Hollywood proportions, its recent incarnation bespeaks of contemporary showbiz antics, given that it is the former home of actor George Clooney. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Clooney tore down the original dwelling and produced the current approximately 4,000-square-foot configuration (which was later sold to actress Jamie Pressley).

The imaginative Berfield really dug the character, aesthetics and history of the house; right down to the authentic Mission bell that Clooney had installed from Syd Chaplin’s (half-brother of Charlie Chaplin), former estate in Beverly Hills. What he didn’t dig was the dark brown interior paint and stifling carpet. He simply toned down the brown and repainted, ripped out the carpet and installed wood floor and terra cotta tile throughout.

Berfield indeed is a young man imbued with high energy and ambition. A native of Agoura Hills, he began acting in commercials at age five but also spent five years in the TV series, “Unhappily Ever After,” a Warner Bros. Product, before co-starring with the then fledging comedian Drew Carey in, “The Good Life.”
Presently, Berfield plays the older, wisecracking brother Reese on Fox’s, “Malcolm in the Middle.”

But wait. With all its fetching amenities, the two-story hugger had a build-in roadblock to the road to “fun.” In order to access the home’s coolest haunts, like the newly renovated patio, outdoor kitchen and barbecue station, not to mention Jacuzzi and fire pits, one had to go through either the master bedroom or a guest room. This didn’t’ sit well with Berfield, so he called the contractor who originally rehabbed the house, Shell Burton Construction, also of Studio City, to render a solution.

The contractor dryly pointed out that to make Berfield’s path from Pint A to Point B work, he’d have to remove an upstairs window on the northwest side of the living room and install a door as well. But, the idea of having concrete attached to the side of the house went over like a cement balloon.

“I don’t want some hunk of concrete attached to the side of the house. Can’t we jazz it a little?” Berfield queried. Well, if you want to go for something your Grandma might not “aha!” to; you could always try a spiral staircase, the contractor suggested.

With the building team on board, Berfield began researching stairway manufacturers and settled on The Iron Shop, a Pennsylvania-based purveyor/installer with a branch in Ontario. The company sells a variety of units including custom as well as do-it-yourself kits and choices using wood, steel or aluminum. Other than checking local building codes, most staircase buys are good to go in quick order.

Shell Burton Construction not only completed the staircase in less than 48-hours but also matched the paint on the 20-step steel serpentine. Total cost was near the $20,000 mark.

Berfield’s pad is an ideal place to unwind after demanding days of rehearsing and acting. Under the J@ Entertainment shingle, Berfield just finished co-producing and co-investing in the Coen Brothers/John Turturro-ready for this? - The musical comedy, “Romance & Cigarettes,” slated for a summer ’05 release.
At the end of the play, as it were, Berfield wasn’t content with the road more traveled. Something different definitely was called for. You can love your Grandma with an abandon unknown in nominal ways. You just don’t need to replicate her warm and fuzzy hearth.

Not at 18, for as a verse in Led Zeppelin’s rendition of, “Stairway to Heaven,” supposes, “Yes there are tow paths you can go by/but in the long run/There’s still time to change the road you’re on.”

For more information on spiral staircases, visit www.TheIronShop.com or call 800-523-7427.

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