Category: Coastal Style

International Meets Industrial in a Brooklyn Attic

Artist Alina Preciado and designer has a knack for finding beauty and possibility she goes. She spends much of her time traveling to places like India, Spain, Japan and the Middle East, highlighting handmade goods for her business, Dar Gitane. “‘ Dar‘ is Arabic for ‘house,’ and ‘gitane‘ is French for ‘gypsy,’ that is basically me in a nutshell,” she states.

Preciado’s eclectic loft in an 1890s industrial building in Brooklyn, New York, subscribes to a similar worldly, accumulated style that combines new and old. “This used to be a woodshop, and it had huge machines that made divots and scrapes across the floors, so it is great to have the ability to observe the background,” Preciado states.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Alina Preciado along with her 2 cats
Location: Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York
Size: Around 2,000 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom

Chris A Dorsey Photography

Preciado’s loft flows together with openness. The huge windows and high ceilings keep it lit, with an airy texture. “I invest a great deal of time in the hammock,” she states. “It’s a huge hit with my friends’ children, and also the trapeze bar is great for stretching.” The leather sofa is vintage from the 1960s, along with the ladder that is leaning was picked up from a warehouse.

Rug: Cow Hides International; bookshelf: Rakks; poufs: leather, Dosa; forged metal tables: Dar Gitane

Chris A Dorsey Photography

The living room has a large wood-burning stove that keeps together with the industrial motif but supplies much-needed warmth from the winter months. “The distance is spacious, and the windows and floors can get a little chilly, but sitting by the fire really gives the area a coziness that I adore,” Preciadosays. “Since it has a double-insulated chimney, so I can have an open fire which not only looks beautiful but keeps me warm also. One of my favourite things is to put citrus peels on top and allow the smell waft through the apartment.”

Wood-burning stove: Vermont Castings; armchairs: vintage, 1940s

Chris A Dorsey Photography

Storage in any New York City apartment tends to be scarce, and Preciado’s distance is no exception. So she built this storage room with a sleeping loft at the top.

Hooks: gathered over time; hanging artwork: custom by Preciado

Chris A Dorsey Photography

Preciado shows collected pieces from all over the world, such as this hundred-year-old metal incense burner from Morocco which sits one of three metal tables purchased in the Middle East. “I think it’s my favourite piece in the apartment,” she states. “I burn sage inside, and there’s something about the way the smoke flows from it that is so beautiful.”

Chris A Dorsey Photography

Preciado created a walled-off bedroom with curtains that allow sunshine in or close for privacy.

Artwork, stainless steel mesh chair: custom by Preciado; bed: antique, circa 1890s

Chris A Dorsey Photography

One of those unique pieces adorning the loft is the human hair artwork hanging on a bedroom wall. “I really like to weave,” Preciado states. “Some time back, I purchased some human hair to weave for a job, which was left. I just thought it was beautiful, so I decided to hang it up as a piece in itself.”

Rug: hides from Mexico; crimson chair: antique, redone byPreciado; artwork: custom by Preciado; black desk: antique; Bedouin dowry trunk: purchased in Morocco

Chris A Dorsey Photography

With a little TLC, Preciado attracted these 90-year-old dining chairs back to life. “When I got them, they had been in bad shape, but among the things I’ve discovered is that even very old leather can nevertheless be preserved,” she states. “It requires time and care, but over time with the right conditioning, older leather can bounce back to its original beauty.”

Table: Big Sur, Crate & Barrel; artwork: Joseph Maruska; pendant lighting: purchased in Murano, Italy

Chris A Dorsey Photography

“One of my favourite things to do if I travel is bring back plenty of spices and gift them to my buddies,” Preciado states. “I also love bringing back things such as dyes from Iran, frankincense and myrrh in stone form, metals, one-of-a-kind trays and trinkets which are not on my website yet. One of the first items I brought back for Dar Gitane was a grouping of one-of-a-kind teapots,” that she shows on open shelves in the kitchen.

Sink: architectural salvage; black barrel: Dar Gitane; workbench: Revival

Chris A Dorsey Photography

The worktable was a holdover from the prior owner’s woodshop; it fits perfectly with Preciado’s style. “I really like these worktables,” she states. “They were really left here from the distance from the older woodshop — likely because they are so heavy. They have 1/4-inch-thick steel tops and are perfect for designing, as they are so sturdy, flat and durable. I really do wonder what will happen if I move, though. I don’t understand how I would take them out.”

Pendant mild: architectural salvage

Chris A Dorsey Photography

“Little touches can make a place feel like home,” Preciado states. Seen here’s her design philosophy of blending fresh, old, discovered and designed objects under a collection of cloches.

Chris A Dorsey Photography

Preciado’s style extends into a spacious bathroom, where she adds easy touches from her travels. “I think it’s very important to present products into your house that are soulful,” she states. “My view is that your house is alive; it lives with you and frees you, so you always want things around you who are both beautiful and useful.”

Bathtub: architectural salvage; pendant lighting: Droog

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October 2, 2020
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Coastal Style

Do You Dare Bring Home Some Liberace Razzle-Dazzle?

I just finished watching Creating Behind the Candelabra, and it has me more excited than an undercover rhinestone salesman prepared to land a Liberace lover’s account. Soderberg, Douglas, Damon, Debbie Reynolds and each one of the over-the-top, overdecorated, overbedazzled, overmirrored fabulousness that was Liberace’s costumes, sets, cars, mirrored pianos and homes in the late 1970s and early 1980s all in one movie? Yes, please!

Liberace did all of his own decorating, and he loved surplus. He likened himself to King Ludwig II, another king of bling. He overshopped, and once one house filled up, he’d purchase a different location. As someone with a loft full of things for “my lake house” (I don’t have a lake house, and at this rate, I will) I totally relate. Behind the Candelabra premieres on HBO Sunday, May 26, 2013, and I Can’t wait. Here is a peek at the movie sets and some approaches to add only a dash of Liberace’s exuberant style to your home.

Home Box Office (HBO)

Liberace got lots of repairs of his own image through mirrored walls, doors, pubs, cars, pianos … even some of his costumes resemble mirrors. A candelabra on the piano was Liberace’s trademark (as well as crystal-encrusted and mirrored pianos). In addition, he utilized candelabras and chandeliers extensively throughout each room in the house.

Home Box Office (HBO)

The moviemakers utilized Zsa Zsa Gabor’s house in Los Angeles to stand in for Liberace’s Las Vegas home. Liberace decorated in a style he dubbed “palatial kitsch.”

Home Box Office (HBO)

Liberace could not get enough of his own image and had a wonderful sense of humor about it. He had portraits of himself everywhere — fulfilling a cardinal, his face floating over his Grecian tub, etched into mirrors … everywhere. Within this picture, I’m sorry that Michael Douglas is obstructing the one of himself as Liberace playing with the piano, however you can also see his shape to the left of Matt Damon. Portraits e-ver-y-where.

The film’s set designers painstakingly re-created many of the pictures from the originals they obtained via the Liberace Foundation, but together with Douglas as Liberace.

Home Box Office (HBO)

Liberace not only had lots of bling, but he had a lot of swag. Windows were adorned with as many layers as you can, in luxe fabrics trimmed out in fringe, tassels and other finishes.

Home Box Office (HBO)

Liberace commissioned his variant of the Sistine Chapel for his bedroom. He also loved to collect items; one of the set designers notes she bought most items for the sets in pairs, such as you see in his sack (he even had a pair of elaborately mirrored pianos, which appear in the movie).

He had a mural on his Grecian toilet’s ceiling.

Home Box Office (HBO)

Liberace’s had one of the world’s most extensive collections of their most elaborate costumes, some of which weighed over 100 pounds. His $300,000 white fur and crystal coat had a 16-foot-long train. (Do not fret, animal lovers; for the movie version they employed faux fur.)

Laura U, Inc..

Hints of Liberace Around ?

Mirrored walls have come back into style but with some fresh designer twists, such as the diamond pattern found here, in addition to antiquing. The Venetian design and marble inside this toilet make mirrored furniture and walls glam and sexy again.

If you watch the trailer, you’ll spy a full mirrored wall in Liberace’s dining room. The appearance is obsolete, however there are ways to enjoy reflective surfaces while dining.

For example, antiquing gives this centered grid of mirrors today’s popular patina-style look in a streamlined way. It is a great mixture of old and new.

Robeson Design

Statement draperies stand up to the scale of big rooms and high ceilings. These are lavish yet tasteful — streamlined long curtains hanging between custom valances. If you look at the high windows above these, you can find an notion of just how much window treatments changed this room (without going full Liberace).

Sean Gaston Interior Design

Statues and busts. Component of Liberace’s “palatial chic” included many statues and busts; many many many statues and busts.

The statue in this photo is actually from Liberace’s estate. Its classical form is complemented by the new crude, minimalist Palm Springs structure surrounding it there is a pleasing balance between conventional and modern here.

Heavenly Homes

Ceiling murals. Today many designers add artificial architectural components via ceiling murals. To me, this bathroom is an elegant, toned-down variant of Liberace’s.

Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

Candelabras make you think of many dangling crystals in the case of Liberace, but streamlined contemporary versions can be found, and they still add the same quantity of romantic candlelight to a dining table.

Elizabeth Dinkel

An apple-green chandelier shape is an unexpected touch in this outdoor area.

Habachy Designs

Luxe cabinets. Liberace’s elaborate costumes deserved an equally fabulous home, like this modern closet. It seems to be channeling Liberace, by the mirrored doors to the chandelier, the blue rug to the white throw, and it is all a fantastic thing. If you have the means and Liberace design, don’t wait when it comes to the location where you store your outfits.

Tracy Murdock Allied ASID

A grand piano needs not only a lot of room, but a place that can highlight its acoustics and the player’s skill. This beautiful foyer suits its own grandeur. I believe Liberace might have oohed and ahhed within this curved staircase and intricate railings.

Home Box Office (HBO)

If you watch the movie, please come back and tell us what you think!

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September 8, 2019
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Coastal Style

A Fantasy Indoor-Outdoor Home at Nicaragua

Peta Kaplan and Ben Sandzer-Bell first traveled from Chicago into Nicaragua in 2005 for a family holiday, but volcanoes, wildlife, markets, colonial architecture and beaches made them wish to call the area home. “On the last day of our trip, obtaining all agreed that indeed Nicaragua was the type of location our South African and French backgrounds resonated with, we found ourselves looking at five properties in Granada,” says Kaplan.

They bought a colonial house on the border of a historic district with plans to remodel, but the house was in such poor shape that they demolished it — only the red clay roof tiles were salvageable — and rebuilt in a typical colonial-Granada style that celebrates earth tones, organic shapes and a fuzzy line between indoors and outside.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Painter Peta Kaplan and sculptor Ben Sandzer-Bell
Location: Granada, Nicaragua
Size: 1,292 square feet; two bedrooms, 2 baths
Cost: $54 per square foot

Louise Lakier

The couple created an open-air space for a profound relation to the surrounding character and animals. The coffee table is part of a repurposed door from the couple’s layout and construction firm, CO2 Bambu, which generates bamboo shelters.

Kaplan’s original paintings hang across the house. Her collection “Stray Dogs of Nicaragua” was shown extensively throughout the U.S.

Louise Lakier

The rooms open into a central courtyard and small swimming pool. “The kitchen is our backyard, and the pool is in our living space,” Kaplan says.

Using its open layout layout, the home was a magnet for drifting creatures. The couple shares the home with three dogs — Mango, Princessa and Dwayne — along with six cats: Salvador (Dalí), Diego (Riviera), Georgia (O’Keefe), Thurgood, Stubbie and Ziggy.

Louise Lakier

The pool’s undulating lines and untiled finish are meant to embody a river. “Our biggest splurge item was our river-inspired pool, as we knew it could be essential for the Granada heat. It was our best investment, and not a day goes by when we are not inside,” Kaplan says.

“Our style is best described as respectful of vernacular colonial architecture, combined with touches that permeate our home from Morocco to India to Peru to Argentina — all of areas that have impacted us throughout our journeys,” Kaplan says.

Louise Lakier

Kaplan painted murals to expand the backyard. The wall sconces are from San Juan de Oriente, a village known for its ceramics.

A vibrant cascade of tile intended to resemble a waterfall adorns a narrow stairway into a terrace used for biking and stargazing.

Louise Lakier

“The terrace is the best place for moon bathing and enjoying the night wind,” Kaplan says. “When we lie and have a look at the birds flying overhead at the conclusion of each day as the sun goes down, we have the feeling of a permanent vacation.”

Louise Lakier

Arching, organic shapes come up across the space, in doors and other openings, partitions, shelves and counters, while natural earth tones inspired the colour scheme.

Louise Lakier

Arched doors and windows appear in the main bedroom also, letting light and garden views in.

The ceiling is made from sugarcane, although the apparel is cedar.

Louise Lakier

The couple’s biggest design challenge was finding a way to bring light and air into the restroom.

Louise Lakier

They solved it by creating an opening into the sky over a little rock garden next to the shower.

Sandzer-Bell’s relief-figure sculptures hang on the enclosure wall.

Louise Lakier

More earth tones and curved forms show up in the main toilet, where relics from the couple’s travels also show the appreciation and influence of varied cultures in the couple’s design aesthetic. “We store in local markets searching for exceptional artistic pieces that catch the heart of local culture,” Kaplan says.

Louise Lakier

Like most of the rooms, the main bedroom opens into the courtyard, where among the few six cats stretches on cement tiles sourced from local factories because of their organic, organic coloring.

Louise Lakier

Local organizers assembled all of the wood doors in the house out of pochote, also called spiny cedar.

Louise Lakier

Sky-blue tiles in the kitchen produce among their house’s few bursts of vibrant colour. The cabinet doors and shelves are cedar. The door hardware is from India.

Louise Lakier

Mint, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, basil, oregano, tumeric, ginger, aloe vera and lemongrass all grow within reach of their kitchen.

Louise Lakier

Sandzer-Bell coated his piano in Financial Times posts about peak oil, flooding in New Orleans, Iranian conflicts along with also the election of President Ortega in Nicaragua. “Doing a collage on the piano was his second option, after wanting to cover his vintage Mustang convertible in newspaper clippings, but our boys vetoed that idea, so he depended on the piano,” Kaplan says.

The bamboo dining table was formerly part of a doorway in the couple’s Granada office.

Louise Lakier

Kaplan and Sandzer-Bell fell in love with the lot when they felt the wind current traveling up the broad street from Lake Nicaragua five blocks away.

“Our town is authentic, unique and architecturally rich. We can sit outside our house and watch the street go by — a horse, a family of goats, four individuals on a bicycle, or a horse and cart,” says Kaplan.

The couple hired a local artist for U.S.$200 to paint the large exterior mural of a Paul Klee painting that has sentimental value to them.

Louise Lakier

Sandzer-Bell and Kaplan sit inside their backyard with their dogs Mango and Dwayne, and kitten Ziggy.

“Our lifestyle goal for this house, beyond the architectural and design elements, was for every one of our four boys to utilize it as a vehicle for traveling in Latin America, to be exposed to new cultures, life in the growing world, and to get Spanish. Proudly, we may say that has become the case,” says Kaplan.

One of their sons, Oren Pollack, also relocated to Nicaragua. He resides in a custom bamboo home assembled by Kaplan and Sandzer-Bell’s company.

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July 30, 2019
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Coastal Style

Grand Openings to Get a Dallas Ranch

Although this midcentury Dallas ranch house had good bones, the closed-off layout just didn’t work for Lori Golman and her husband. Working closely together with Mark Domiteaux of Domiteaux + Bagget Architects and overall contractor JR Rowan, they opened up the tiny spaces to create the house feel larger and more entertainment friendly. An interior designer, Golman built the house in a soothing neutral palette, combining contemporary art and furniture with cherished inherited antiques. A resort-like backyard completes the picture.

in a Glance
Who lives here: Rick and Lori Golman
Location: Dallas
Size: 5,000 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms

SLIC Interiors

A previously closed-off pub area now connects to both the living area and the living area. A neutral color palette combines both spaces that are inviting.

Fireplace surround: ceramic tile, Ann Sacks

SLIC Interiors

A new little butler’s kitchen behind the bar produces a handy space for organizing snacks and beverages for parties. “I love my new bar area,” Golman states. “It was my dream to rip down the walls and generate a bar area where everybody could stand during parties.”

Constructed bookshelves create an ideal backdrop for the couple’s collection of antiques and art.

Wood and Glass side table: Donghia; urchin-like lighting fixture: Mecox Gardens

SLIC Interiors

Durable Caesarstone quartz covers the butler’s kitchen counters. Ann Sacks ceramic tiles wrap round, doubling as a backsplash and since the fireplace surround.

Floating shelf: Poggenpohl; sink, faucet: Dornbracht

SLIC Interiors

Golman splurged on these custom sliding doors; she loves how they create the space feel much more open.

Laundry appliances: Miele; sliding doors: Lumicor copper mesh glass; door hardware: TKO; builder for doors and cabinets: Charles Tate Company

SLIC Interiors

Mecox Gardens chairs along with a steel table from David Sutherland create a modern and sleek seating space just outside the pub.

SLIC Interiors

Golman loves clean lines and simple wallpapers. “I enjoy tailored appearances,” she states. “In most ways I design like I dress. I utilize monochromatic color schemes, adding in pops of color to add uniqueness to some space.”

She discovered these blue leather tufted armchairs from Mecox Gardens and paired them with a vibrant painting of her favorite flower, a peony.

Painting: Joe Mancuso, from Conduit Gallery

SLIC Interiors

The small nook that previously hosted the property’s pub now has a tiny, intimate seating space.

Wall covering: Phillip Jeffries; pub stools: Crate & Barrel; pillow: Mary Cates & Co.; java table: Ligne Roset

SLIC Interiors

Golman attracted the white quartz in the pub into the kitchen counter tops. Combined with maple cabinets and a blue glass mosaic backsplash, it makes the space feel refreshing.

Appliances: Thermador, KitchenAid and Sub-Zero; pendant lighting: Alison Berger for Holly Hunt; glass mosaic tile: Ann Sacks; apron sink: Kohler

SLIC Interiors

Lori Golman stands in front of the Kohler work sink having a attached cutting board, ideal for flower trimming.

Blinds: Conrad

SLIC Interiors

A serene master bedroom provides a retreat in the end of the day.

Rug: Stark Carpet; bedding: Frette; lamp: Donghia

SLIC Interiors

A treasured piece of art from New York hangs above Christian Liaigre Latin seats in a cozy sitting area with views of the backyard.

Side Effects: Knoll

SLIC Interiors

Landscape architect Peter Godat helped Golman construct her vision for a contemporary backyard area. An acid-washed concrete deck flows together with the blue slate pool surround.

Outside furniture: David Sutherland Teak Collection

SLIC Interiors

Aluminum-framed doors offer access to the backyard during the informal living area, family room and master bedroom, creating great indoor-outdoor flow.

SLIC Interiors

The home’s unique layout was divided into little spaces. Golman as well as the architects opened up these spaces to make the house feel larger and more entertainment friendly. This formal living space, place right behind the dining area, benefit from one of these smaller spaces.

Wall covering: Phillip Jeffries Manila Hemp; daybed: Donghia; seats: Christian Liaigre; table: Donghia; ceiling pendant: Stanley Korshak; art: Cameron Martin

SLIC Interiors

On the left side of this living room sits a classic Louis XV desk and ottoman given to Golman by her father, who owned an antiques showroom in Dallas. Another cherished gift, a classic Baccarat Boulle liquor collection, is on the desk.

Lamps: Donghia

SLIC Interiors

The formal dining area feels elegant and grand, with a classic table, a Baccarat chandelier and ivory toile textiles. An antique Japanese medication cabinet anchors a back corner.

Painting: Charles Andresan

SLIC Interiors

Frosted aluminum and glass doors in the entrance set the tone for the inside’s contemporary design. A Venetian mirror and antique rococo console create an eclectic combination.

Sconces: Vaughan; background: Fromental silk chinoiserie

SLIC Interiors

A miniature modern chair from Christian Liaigre and a art piece that Golman purchased in New York contrast with the more elaborate elegance of this rococo design on the other side of the entrance.

“I enjoy combining different elements. In this space I combined my father’s elaborate antiques with contemporary art and furniture to create something unique and relatable,” states Golman.

Pillow: John Robshaw for ABC Carpet & Home

SLIC Interiors

White walls and light floors create a gallery-like atmosphere for Golman’s father’s antiques and its art collection. This vignette sits between the living area and the entrance.

Rug: Madeline Weinrib for ABC Carpet & Home; chest: antique carved teak; art: Aaron Parazette

SLIC Interiors

Now that the interior is finished, Golman’s next project is a facelift to the front part of the home, at the beginning of 2013.

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July 26, 2019
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Coastal Style

the Life-Changing Decision and The Orchard

In 2005, Robert and Linda Cordtz took a remarkable leap of faith by leaving their longtime home and investing their life savings in an ailing orchard. Inspired by their enthusiasm for green living and their love of healthy food, they bought a conventional orchard in Eastern Oregon and began the tender and dull job of transitioning the trees from conventional to organic.

Robert used to work for the Forestry Service removing toxic waste from organic places. Throughout this time he watched more than his share of ecological destruction from chemicals and man-made contamination. “When I retired from this job I decided I didn’t want to touch another toxic thing ever again,” he says. When Linda talks of their job creating a sustainable future, she becomes severe and says that any poison on this house “stops”

at a Glance
Who lives here: Robert and Linda Cordtz, their dog and a few laying hens
Location: Eagle Creek Orchard at Richland, Oregon
Size: Around 1,700 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
That’s intriguing: The orchard consists of 5 acres and homes 1,200 fruit trees watered from Eagle Creek, which flows directly out of the Wallowa Mountains.

Sarah Greenman

The couple sells their natural produce at the Boise and Baker City farmer’s markets. They also have a fruit stand on the house for people prepared to make the drive. And after having tasted their succulent tree-ripened peaches, I can guarantee you the drive is quite worth it.

Sarah Greenman

The Cordtz house is sprinkled with glowing red accents, from the red roof, to the classic stove, to the red bench in the entryway, to the crimson pears that hang heavy on the branches this season. Linda invites me to the kitchen where she is peeling, cutting and dehydrating peaches. She moves to the sink, saying, “We are headed to the marketplace in Boise this weekend, and there’s a lot that must occur before we proceed.”

She bought the cooker secondhand for $250. “It works beautifully. The girl who offered it to me didn’t like the color,” she says. “Could you imagine? I just love it”

Cooker, oven: circa 1950s, O’Keefe & Merritt

Sarah Greenman

Linda’s tools are within easy reach of her or her heirs. Open shelving, hanging baskets and pans along with a multipurpose kitchen table help her to stay focused and efficient.

She quits working as we discuss the home and the orchard. The sink is first to the home and shows signs of age and use. “I don’t mind living with older things. It reminds me to take care of things and be thankful,” she says.

“Ten decades back, I didn’t know what brown rot was or cling peaches,” she adds. “I’m not some sort of organic elitist. I just knew that I needed to live in a fresh way.”

Sarah Greenman

Both discovered the property online. “Linda and I had been frequent visitors of Hell’s Canyon, so we were familiar with the region,” Robert says. “My children had moved off, and we’re ready for something different. We wanted a place where we could grow our own food.”

For a kid in California, Robert’s family had an avocado orchard. “After high school, our family bought a vineyard collectively, which was very successful until Gallo transferred in and radically changed the price index,” he says. “So I’m pretty familiar with farm life.”

In their wish list: “Four seasons, gates to the property along with a nearby national forest,” Linda says. “The very last thing on the list was, I swear, ‘a few fruit trees.'”

The orchard contains 17 varieties of peaches in addition to prunes, apples, pears, plums, apricots, walnuts, hazelnuts, grapes and much more. There is also a steady supply of fresh eggs from laying hens.

Sarah Greenman

The entry is a welcoming and busy jumble of farm gear, art and paperwork. A bright red chair serves as a catchall for wide-brimmed hats, everyday crop lists and other essentials.

“Well this is us,” says Linda, motioning to the overflowing daily life of her property.

Sarah Greenman

Knotty pine walls cloak the upstairs bedroom at a warm glow. A very simple bed and side tables are the only furniture. The majority of the artwork in the Cordtz house is curated from local consignment and thrift stores.

A side table offers space for family photos, vintage postcards and other meaningful items. Linda shows me a picture of a family war veteran. “I’m constantly amazed by and curious about the people who arrived before me,” she says.

Sarah Greenman

Another room throughout the hall serves as an office and a guest space. A Tongan staff along with a thrift store butterfly adorn the hallway wall. Linda has a special love for tribal artwork. Even the “finders, keepers” nature of thrifted art means that lots of bits in the Cordtz house have unknown origins.

Sarah Greenman

A hodepodge of work, correspondence, artwork, keepsakes and invoices makes up the home workplace. A midcentury dining table and chair set act as a desk and seating. The remainder of the area is full of traditional pine furniture to match the trim and the ceiling. Robert constructed the hanging chimney on the far wall.

Sarah Greenman

Linda is a talented artist and appreciates mask making, among other art forms. This green mask hangs alongside the property’s exterior with pieces of foliage stuffed into the top. Linda laughs at her invention and says, “Now he’s doing the Rastafarian look”

Sarah Greenman

Though the orchard certainly takes a high level of labor during the high seasons, it also provides its owners with reflective space, peace and serenity. In their quiet moments, Robert or Linda might be located within this hammock.

Sarah Greenman

As soon as the Cordtzes moved on the orchard, the trees had been in pretty poor shape. The property invested several years as a conventional orchard and was suffering from liberal use of toxins. “Petroleum-based fertilizers are hard to come off,” says Robert. “We moved on the house and stopped it daily. It isn’t important just how long something has been at a state of mal use, you can always choose to end it. And that is exactly what we did.”

Sarah Greenman

On a schoolroom chalkboard pinpointed to the side of their fruit stand, Linda has produced a recommended reading list to its own clients. “I guess I’m a small evangelical about my job. Some people go door to door selling their own religion, but here on the orchard I’m living my religion,” she says.

Sarah Greenman

The Cordtzes believe there’s not any greater way to feed your family than to grow your own food or buy it from a local ranch or farm.

“Know that your predator,” Linda says. “Go to their farms and see exactly what they are doing.”

Sarah Greenman

The Cordtzes are deeply dedicated to their job at Eagle Creek Orchard and to providing their community with fresh, healthy food. Here is Robert walking up to the home with two buckets of peaches.

“This may sound out there, but Robert is talented intuitively to commune with the trees,” Linda says. “A couple years into our job here he said, ‘I can believe that the trees are healing.’ He was right.”

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July 10, 2019
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Coastal Style

Sleek Swimmer's Retreat in Buenos Aires

This modern house in an exclusive waterfront Buenos Aires neighborhood takes the homeowner’s love of swimming into a different level. Principal architect Alejandro Amoedo helped his client, a surgeon using a passion for swimmingpool, achieve the house of his dreams by constructing a house celebrating the pool. “At first, of course, the house appears extravagant,” says Amoedo,”but if you’re knowledgeable about the region, there are a great deal of extraordinary homes here that have pool designs.”

at a Glance
Who lives here: A surgeon who likes to swim
Location: Nordelta, Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Size: 4,919 square feet; 3 bedrooms; a ceremony room; six baths

Vanguarda Architects

The pool’s simple lines reflect the angular architecture of the house. There’s the lagoon fronting the house and visual continuity between both indoor and outdoor pools. “It was my client who asked this interior-exterior pool placement,” says Amoedo.

Unadorned picture windows heighten views of the lagoon and an equally expansive house in the distance.

Vanguarda Architects

The TV placement may seem odd, considering the prospect of water splashes in the pool. But that wall is the only place.

Vanguarda Architects

A steel bar describes the main entry in a facade of wood, concrete and glass.

Vanguarda Architects

Amoedo oriented the living room and dining table in regions with plenty of natural lighting and views.

Vanguarda Architects

From the main living room and indoor pool areas, the cooking station and kitchen island are obscured by cabinetry and modular appliances, but the cook still has a gorgeous view of the lagoon.

Vanguarda Architects

Views of the environment are all magnified on the next floor. A narrow walkway leads the eye into a home office with sliding doors, which open to a balcony with stunning vistas of neighboring properties and an infinite skies.

Vanguarda Architects

More: 16 Wonderful Home Pools

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July 8, 2019
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Coastal Style

Japanese-Style California Beach House

Anthony and Shannon Demma’s House is steps away from East Cliff Beach at Santa Cruz, California. Anthony had bought it as a spec home — something that he planned to remodel and sell. But as he and wife Shannon started the remodeling process, they fell in love with it and could not let it go.

Both are accredited green contractors. Together they own Living Design (Shannon handles the layout, side and Anthony the structure ) and he also owns A D Structure. They worked together to unite Shannon’s modern aesthetic with Anthony’s Craftsman design. “It was not easy, and it required a great deal of compromise,” says Shannon. “There were times when we were saying,’no way!’ To every other.” The family lived here for five decades. The home is their Santa Cruz beach getaway and a holiday rental.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Shannon and Anthony Demma
Location: East Cliff Beach, Santa Cruz, California
Size: 1,200 square feet; two bedrooms, 2 baths

Shannon Malone

The few had the option to make a second narrative, but that could have meant getting rid of the studio at the back. They decided to stick with the design along with the studio, which is currently Shannon’s mother’s house. “It’s nice to not have a monster home,” says Shannon. “It’s a wonderful scale for the area, and I have people come up to me all the time telling me just how much they love it.”

This cherry blossom tree, red door and matching outdoor furniture hint at Shannon’s love of Japanese style.

Shannon Malone

The home before the remodel.

Shannon Malone

Anthony wanted every facet of the house to feel private and hand-crafted, therefore that he created a Craftsman-style picture invisibly with custom elements. The cement tiles of the porch had been hand-cast by Anthony, along with the front terrace was custom made by Albert Borges of Studio64 Ironworks.

Shannon Malone

Shannon loves to mix comfortable, cozy pieces with more modern decor. These vintage tufted heirloom chairs are some of Shannon’s treasured bits. “I love them,” she says. “They’ve been re-covered like, four times.”

The accent cushions, from a Santa Cruz store, are also some of her favorites. The light was custom made by Johnson Art Studio in neighboring Watsonville.

Couch: Couch Potato; rug: Modern Life

Shannon Malone

The couple’s color palette and layout are substantially influenced by a Japanese aesthetic. The house is filled with thematic adornments and heavy red hues. Local artist Glenn Carter and Lucas Carter of Definitive Nice Painting painted the red living room wall. The fan over the TV has been passed down to Shannon from her grandma.

Shannon and Anthony wished to raise the roof and ceiling to give the home more space within the guidelines of the county’s construction restrictions. At the time, many of the choices were gruesome, till they found that the Japanese farmhouse style. The few were drawn to the Japanese style due to its own woodworking and joinery. “The lines are easy, yet there’s a sophistication and thoughtfulness to the way everything comes together,” says Shannon.

Shannon Malone

The kitchen has plenty of closets, drawers and built in closets, maximizing storage space so that everything has a location and the space is not cluttered.

The few used reclaimed Douglas fir and redwood throughout the house.

Shannon Malone

Anthony had the Sub-Zero appliances built into the cabinetry, allowing the beautiful timber to be the middle of attention.

Bar stools: Crate & Barrel

Shannon Malone

Among the couple’s next projects is building a bench below the dining room window to make a cozy space to enjoy the surroundings. “This will be my new favorite spot in the home once it is completed,” says Shannon.

Dining table and chairs: Crate & Barrel

Shannon Malone

Shannon provides this advice to remodelers:”Think about it a great deal before you build anything. I truly wish we’d sat down and thought about it more before we started; it would have focused us.”

Shannon Malone

The windows were created by Anthony and handmade using reclaimed Douglas fir.

The few chose to utilize a very dark brown color on the walls to draw attention to the windows along with their craftsmanship. “Dark colors draw your eye into the windows and place emphasis on the facts,” says Shannon.

Paint: Mink, Benjamin Moore

Shannon Malone

The silver foliage at the living room ceiling has been another customized addition done by Glenn and Lucas Carter.

Shannon Malone

Because the house is a holiday home, the beds don’t have any frames, making them easy to move about and maintain.

Duvet cover: Crate & Barrel

Shannon Malone

The master bath was an addition made by the couple to give the space a more luxurious feel. Its spacious layout and sliding door allow it to feel large and inviting. The timber detailing on the ceiling is another nod to Japanese style.

Shannon Malone

The few waited months to get their stone order for the master tub but say it had been well worth the wait.

Stone: Walker Zanger

Shannon Malone

The little guest bedroom employs every inch efficiently, with matching twin beds plus a bookshelf that doubles as a nightstand. The large windows and a skylight fill the space with light.

Duvet covers: West Elm

Shannon Malone

The 3form panel sliding doors, such as this one in the guest toilet, help light flow freely, and also the sheer panel produces a serene and soft atmosphere. They used the exact same style doorway between the kitchen and the laundry room.

Shannon Malone

The panel doorway fills the guest toilet with soothing light, ideal for relaxing following a day at the beach.

Shower and countertops: Fossil Green stone, Integrated Resources, South San Francisco

Shannon Malone

The sunny loft, now largely used for additional storage, is accessible only to the family.

Shannon Malone

The couple designed the tiny back patio with efficiency and scale in mind. They built in closets, with a surface hand-cast by Anthony, as well as a bench for additional seating. Mirrors across the fence give an illusion of more space.

Shannon Malone

Anthony doesn’t believe in wasting anything, so when he had some additional pieces of stone from another building job, he generated this chevron-patterned pathway adjoining to the home.

Shannon Malone

Shannon enjoys her cozy heirloom chairs.

Wide plank floors: Carlisle

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June 16, 2019
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Coastal Style

Roots of Style: Midcentury Designs Respond to Modern Life

While the architectural profession created several distinctive styles of residential design before World War II, it wasn’t till the mid-20th century which Americans embraced new lifestyles that caused a completely new architectural style. The war resulted in a housing shortage in the U.S., and Europe needed to rebuild. Europeans preferred to revive their historical past, while many gifted modernist architects moved from Europe to America (others had left prior to the war) and found an eager audience.

Regardless of the popularity and importance of contemporary design, mid-20th-century home building still contained a variety of fashions, though their form and nature evolved according to changing lifestyles and building practices. Colonial revival, Spanish diverse and several other designs were developed during this period.

These styles were more specifically influenced by contemporary design theory and new ideas for how contemporary families wanted to reside.

It’s important to note that, as always, elements of one style are often adapted to a different completely different fashion. Some designs may even be thought to have distinct tastes nevertheless remain a different single class — as is the case with minimalist conventional homes and split levels.

Chioco Design

Minimalist Traditional

These initial three homes resemble their predecessors largely in a couple of information or in shape, but are less specific in their articulation. Though this first house was constructed in the 1930s, it could easily be compared to a lot of vernacular examples throughout the country. Notice the double-hung windows, characteristic of colonial revival nevertheless lacking muntins (which split the window panes to smaller segments). Additionally, it has a lesser side-gabled roof pitch, but there’s a steeper forward-facing gable having an extension comprising the entrance, a trait found in American Tudor houses.

CG&S Design-Build

A long front porch and flanking gables, and a side-gabled principal body with dormered roof vents, give this house its own character. The windows are the double-hung type, as in the previous case. Clapboard siding and minimal trim are attributes common to dozens of homes constructed during the mid-20th century.

AHMANN LLC

This two-story version feels darkened, particularly because of the shutters, but the entrance is not classically detailed, and the elevation is slightly asymmetrical. Its kind has a shed roof wrap the second degree to cover the entrance porch and part of a room, along with an extension of this single level into the right — characteristics which can be found on many suburban homes across the U.S.

Can You Live in a Minimalist Traditional Home?

Bud Dietrich, AIA

Ranch

possibly the most common of 20th-century U.S. regional fashions is the ranch. Similar to other fashions of the age, examples could be contemporary, traditional, Spanish or rustic. The style originated in California around 1930; architect William Wurster is credited with producing a lot of its influence.

Most fascinating about the style is that it’s a synthesis of Spanish colonial, Craftsman and Prairie architectures incorporating a semirural lifestyle determined by the automobile. Its mid-20th-century proliferation coincided with the growth of the suburbs all across the U.S., when property was cheap as well as an expanding highway system created commuting a new method of life.

Emblematic of this style, this house rests peacefully on a wide, green lawn. Ordinarily, a long rectangular strategy is centered on a large square parcel with the extensive side facing the road, leaving a spacious front yard and backyard. Roofs may be gabled, like this one, or hipped, or even a mix of the two, in which a gable sits atop a hip.

Kaufman Homes, Inc..

This hipped version echoes the Prairie type with wide eaves and a huge, masonry chimney. Notice the half-height stone-veneer walls with wood siding above, further exaggerating the flat lines of this style.

Robinette Architects, Inc..

Important to the style is also a covered terrace on the rear elevation, as seen in this case. This was an obvious contrast to the Prairie and Craftsman homes, which frequently had generous porches facing the road. This terrace is much like the private-facing porches or loggias of Spanish colonial architecture.

The proliferation of air conditioning and swimming pools, in addition to the importance of a personal, fenced backyard, eliminated the taste for front porch.

Merrick Design and Build Inc..

Split Level

Although this style is more correctly a class and may be implemented in a number of fashions, it’s presented separately because of its kind, and its significance, for the numbers of regional variations which exist.

As suburban development quickly spread after World War II, builders adapted to rolling bucolic settings by putting garages, or less formal spaces, at lower elevations over the landscape. Putting another floor only a couple of feet higher and adjacent to the reduced degree produced a sensible transition from support regions to formal living spaces. Bedrooms and bathrooms frequently are placed on another level above the bottom, establishing a gentler connection between the public and private spaces of the house.

In this remodeled minimalist conventional split degree, a prominent entrance porch has been added to set up a more substantial experience for the visitor. Notice the crossing gabled roof types. Frequently in the split-level mode, the greater degree has a front-facing gable, while the lower part runs from side to side. This further enhances the branch of amounts.

WORKSHOP8 architecture planning design

This Denver split-level house has been converted into a contemporary and chic abode. Notice the single-car garage on the primary level, a variation of the previous case, though the first roof formation is nearly identical. Also smart is the stepped landscape, relating well to the subject of this split level.

KUBE architecture

This remodeled contemporary split in Virginia exemplifies the chance for vaulted ceilings on the primary level. This theme is frequently in California suburbs on contemporary and Mediterranean-style houses, in which you enter a foyer, locate a living room to a side and locate a center stairway ascending, with the vaulted ceiling into the top level.

Keycon, Inc

California Contemporary/Midcentury Modern

This style developed chiefly out of this Case Study House program started in 1945 in Southern California, also out of mid-20th-century improvements built by Joseph Eichler. Case Study architects embraced the contemporary motion, in which precedents were eschewed in favor of minimalism and efficacy, akin to International style.

Eichler employed several architectural firms to design wood post and beam structures which allowed the placement of large expanses of doors that were adjoining, open floor plans and seamless relationships with the outside. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Alexander Construction Company filled Palm Springs with hot and distinctive modern-style holiday homes that established a flourishing and fashionable desert oasis.

Although there were many different roof forms used in contemporary styles, this house indicates the common very low-sloped gable edition. Notice the mixture of substances: vertical groove wood siding, wood posts and beams, linear expanses of concrete and glass block walls (stacked), assimilated at a Mondrian-like composition.

Gary Hutton Design

Indicative of this style is structural transparency, as may be seen in this Eichler-built house. Exposed rafters encourage a gabled roof, where the tongue and groove roof decking becomes a key architectural element in the expression of its style. Further, beams supporting the flat roof portion extend from inside to out, detailed here with clerestory windows placed between them.

See more of this revived Eichler about the water

Bernard Andre Photography

Higher-style examples of this period involved expressive structures, as evidenced by this Rancho Mirage, California, home constructed in 1960. The open and free-flowing spaces of those houses symbolized the ambitious and progressive values synonymous with cultural changes as well as the prosperity of the times.

A fascinating side note to midcentury modern architecture is that Palm Springs hosts an annual modernism week every year in February that attracts fans from around the world. The week includes parties, displays, tours and lectures of important modern homes.

Malcolm Davis Architecture

Contemporary Fall

Sea Ranch, California, is the birthplace of shed-style dwellings. In the mid-1960s the MLTW partnership, which comprised noticed architects Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Jr., made a series of condominiums and homes for an isolated Northern California coastal development.

Responding to a regional aesthetic of big wooden barns with wood-shingled roofs, the architects cleverly borrowed native cues to mould their creations. The resulting architecture defined a particular type of contemporary design that departed from the rectilinear — and frequently cold — International fashion, offering a warmer and subtler contemporary theme.

This newer house in Sea Ranch follows all of the characteristics originally established. This style can be found across North America, largely in architect-designed custom houses constructed in the late 1960s through about the mid-1970s.

Liquid Design

The readily identifiable shed style is evident in this North Carolina house. The combination of several shed forms and other flat-roof portions is typical. Picture windows are placed to frame exterior views, and clerestories bring in daylight at vaulted ceilings.

Elliott + Elliott Architecture

This house illustrates the shed design’s suitability to a variety of settings and climates. Notice the shingled siding on this case, which nicely echoes the common materials of the region and differentiates the house from the California cousins.

What’s next: The consequences of conservation and market conditions. Trends in house design began to change around 1975, following the price of energy ballooned. The taste for contemporary architecture diminished, and more conventional styles began to dominate vernacular building. California embraced strict energy codes in 1978, which foreshadowed the taste or requirement of these codes for the remainder of the country.

Most house building for the last 30 years has produced some type of previously recognized style. It’s the exception that architects create an entirely new vocabulary for a client; they are more frequently limited by market conditions for most of their job, necessary to guarantee the achievement of the actual estate developers who employ them.

Notice that not many houses are actually designed by licensed architects. Most house builders follow an established native vernacular, which conforms to local building customs. Another important phenomenon is that now that there’s an enormous inventory of home that was constructed over the previous hundred years; remodeling existing structures comprises a considerable element of the home building market.

The recent enchantment with midcentury modernism has included another stylistic interpretation into a very long collection of fashions available to homeowners. Advances in technology and an increasing emphasis on sustainable design promise to invent still another specific architectural expression — and that definition has not yet been determined.

More:
Tracing the Deep Roots of Design
6 Inspiring Midcentury Australian Homes

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February 9, 2019
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Coastal Style

Universal Design at San Francisco Home

For general builder Jeff Kann, universal design goes beyond outfitting the space for wheelchairs. It is about allowing people take part in family and community life for much, more. Sound universal layout avoids early moves and generates safer and sustainable spaces, she states:”It is about making the living spaces easier and simpler for all ages.”

This remodel was conceived to make a comfy and expanded living space on the first degree of a two-story home in San Francisco’s Sunset district, creating an choice to get around the use of stairs entirely as the customers grow old. Meanwhile, the homeowners can use the remodeled first degree now as a guest suite for visiting family members and friends.

at a Glance
Who lives here: An active retired couple
Location: San Francisco
Size: 2,100 square feet
That is interesting: The home was part of a housing project done from the early 1920s through 1950 using a production technique modeled on Ford assembly lines.