John Iloulian Rugs

Designers from all over the country come to John Iloulian Rugs on Melrose Place in Los Angeles looking for the perfect carpet for their clients’ homes. From the moment they walk in the door, Wendy Iloulian, who operates the business with her husband, John, starts listening. Very carefully. As she listens to the designer, Wendy is mentally trying to match what she has on hand with what the client wants. “Our inventory is closed,” she says. “So unless I want to be pulling out a hundred carpets, I need to have a pretty good idea of what they’re looking for.”

Los Angeles is home to some of the world’s best dealers of fine antique Oriental carpets.  The Iloulian family has been buying and selling carpets for three generations, so when Wendy married John, she essentially made a commitment to the carpets as well.

The union has been a happy one.  “I love being around things that are so aesthetically beautiful,” Wendy says of the carpets that she and her husband hand select from among the top 10% of antique rugs on the market—the best of the best, in other words. Wendy also says that Oriental carpets are unique among antiques because they are functional, decorative, and true, original works of art.

When asked whether there will be a fourth generation of Iloulian carpet dealers, Wendy, whose children are all in their 20s, says, “No, not yet.  But there’s still time.”

John Iloulian Rugs

8451 Melrose Place

Los Angeles, California

323.651.1444