![[title of show]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/ShephardSummers/titleofshowsm.jpg)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday's House and Home 12
This one is special.
When I said Japanese meets East Indian meets Craftsman, I'm sure no one could picture the final combo. It's done with real taste with the elements adding up to it's own flavor.
A gate. +10 points. And a wall. +20 points. Exclusive neighborhood? Not even. 
Near-Craftsman facade - porch and face. Maybe it's more Frank Lloyd Wright than Craftsman, I don't know. But it definitely has Craftsman elements, the lines etc. This area is crawling with Craftsman homes.
The front yard behind the wall is a Japanese garden. So serene. 
That's the front door ajar. And you come into this living area. The open space to the right is....
A mini dining room. Here is wear we start to see really nice touches. The owner is an actress, but out of respect for her, I won't say who. She works solidly, but not many would recognize her name anyway. But she did work with a decorator/friend, and it really shows. 
Two wing backs and a double-seat together. Love that. The light pouring in is from the kitchen-pass-through. 
Turning back into the living area, you see opposite the front bank of windows... a floating, double-sided fireplace. This photo is actually from the kitchen side, and we're facing the front area behind that fireplace, but you get the idea. Personally, I don't like floating fireplaces that bisect rooms. But I loved that the sides (not visible) were bookshelves and storage cupboards with frosted glass. So many details in his house. 
Turning around, we see the Bay Nook straight ahead and a kitchen counter left. Let's look closer at the Bay window area.... 
Wow. Me likey. Orange is so cheery, and she used it liberally but tastefully throughout the house to wake up the eye and brighten spaces. (that's the hottub beyond the window). I have always wanted a banquette, but this is even better. My own private "Jeannie Bottle." 
Turning back around from the Bay window area... the kitchen.... 
I felt claustrophobic in it. But it was super efficient. Even with that generous pass-through at the end, and a window and skylight and open side, it still felt cut-off from the house for me. 
Tiny sink. 
Looking back toward the "Jeannie Bottle." (happy face) 
Across the Thermador (!) rangetop, you see a hallway doorway that leads to Master suite right, guest bedroom left. The stairs lead up to a landing, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. 
W/D located behind a pantry door between the kitchen and Jeannie Bottle.
An understair desk area and sliding doors that lead to the back yard pool and hot tub, and a garage. Sorta. It had been converted into a music studio and tiki-bar. Sorta. 
That little slat-gate leads into a Tiki-Bar area. But it felt too "shut away" from the pool to me to add any real atmosphere. As it used to be a STABLE, I can understand the space for what it was intended. Yes. There are Equestrian-friendly areas in Los Angeles. :) 
Tik Tik Tiki-Bar lounge and back alley with wall. Turning left..... 
and then turning left again toward the pool and house.... 
I suppose it is at least convenient to the hot-tub, if not really the pool. Another 10k and it could be pretty cool. 
Back inside... the little hallway... Master Suite above and door to it's own bathroom. Those French doors face the very private and serene walled front yard. Master bath below: 
Bigger and deeper than my photos suggest. Asian themed bath off the East Indian raw silk fabrics in the bedroom. It all worked tho! 
I did not like the gold Japanese wall-painting. But it was very tasteful. 
Bathtub.
Looking back out toward master bedroom. Even her robe is cute. 
Back out and down that little hall from the master is a guest room. Closet doors removed and wall-papered with a dark rich bronze Asian pattern. 
A TINY 1/2 bath in that hall was adorable... black wallpaper with red & white cranes, and a cute tile inset of a Koi fishy! I loved that. And the little square mosaic tiles. Loved it. 
And it had a great sink too. Zoom, the sink has a pattern on it! :) 
The house was full of details, and I imagined she had a lot of fun shopping for just the right light and decor for each space. Moroccan, East-Indian colors and raw silks and tassels, Lead Crystal, tapestries, carved woods, Japanese use of natural stones, water and wood elements, and traditional Japanese dark black walnut with low luster finish. 
Looking up the stairs... and I loved that the railing was painted mustard (very Indian). 
Landing book nook... or guitar nook? I forgot to mention she is a musician as well. 
One child's room.... more fanciful lighting too... zoom in. 
Upstairs bath... cute cabinet. It had a big wooden folding screen and a bathtub with a shower curtain set up not unlike the canopy over the child's bed. 
Backing up....
...and then looking down again... you see fireplace, and kitchen on right. 
And around the floating fireplace to the living room again. 
Living room view... 
Stepping out the front door.... 
Turning left... quiet front sitting porch. LOVED that. And the yard is walled in with huge foliage, so it was very private. 
And a splashy fountain.
Turning back toward the porch. Oh, and you can't tell from the photo maybe, but that's astroturf... the really high end nice kind, that actually has little faux-blossoms in it, I kid you not. This house was lovingly detailed and crammed with so many nice touches that I'm sure most people didn't notice and overlooked. But I noticed. :) And I loved seeing it. 
Front gate from porch. Here you can kind of see the astroturf better. Wish I'd taken a macro of it so you could see the blossoms. The rest of the greenery is the real thing. I loved the house in so many ways. It was even close to B's work. 
Strike One: The backyard pool area. No yard at all really, and the pool felt dirty and cementy to me. More astroturf. Back of the house was ugly. Huge cost to fix.
Strike Two: A lot of wasted design space. The upstairs was wasted space to us. We don't need rooms that are cut off and far away. Perfect for someone with tweens, teens or visiting spawn, but not for us.
Strike Three: Floor plan was 2 claustrophobic floors (but at least the master was down). The configuration made the kitchen/living/dining areas feel tiny. The kitchen was especially cut off from everything. Hard to tell from the photos, I know. But I felt very caged on the bottom floor. I felt like there was really only two places to actually live... the living room and kitchen. We need and crave an open flow.
But I did love the house. And I hope she is moving for wonderful reasons. Because I'd hate to think she was parting with a home she clearly put a lot of loving energy and time into. I wish all the houses we saw were this thoughtfully put together. :)
We continue to search for our home. :)
~Shephard
Labels: House and Home
posted by Shephard @ 
Monday, April 26, 2010
Freeze and Thaw
Frozen is how life feels at the moment.
Or, possibly pregnant and moving very slowly?
We all have our moments of floundering and searching. This post is just me exorcising my demons, feel perfectly free to tune it out and scroll down to the FUN HOUSE POSTS BELOW! :)I sprained my toe, it's healing very slowly. Sounds like no big deal. But it prevents me from walking and exercising, which prevents me from taking off the 10lbs that I gained because of all the late nights and stress and (the sometimes but always temporary) loneliness, which makes me stress about clothing fitting and upcoming events and self-esteem, which depresses me, which makes me not care, which makes me eat things I shouldn't more often than I should.
We search for a house, and worry that people will keep out-bidding us. We try to remember that what's ours will be ours, and we remind each other not to settle for better than what we have, instead of exactly what we want. We know better. The houses we love are always priced higher based on the location rather than accurate value criteria like square footage and renovation history. People still think it's the market from 4 or 5 years ago. I watch and predict with accuracy most of the houses that have to drop their prices. But there are more buyers than houses right now. So people bid stupidly. We choose not to. We keep searching.
We've been on a rollercoaster schedule for nearly 3 years now. I marvel at where it has taken us. I have real gratitude. And I've traded something in the process. I have virtually no say and no control in the structure of our lives. For 3 years, I've soldiered on, only complaining when I hit a wall; I've rallied and resourced and been a trooper and a team-player and had the best attitude I could muster, while the things I really love increasingly fall by the wayside . . . because we're too exhausted. We're at the mercy of B's job.
Mokee passing last week (or was it the week before?) was hard on us, and I'm sure some of this mood is born of that experience wearing down our resistance. I have thought about how much having these little beings in my life has benefited us. Our cats have helped me through these 3 years.
My relationship with my mom has changed. As she advances into her 80's, she's becoming more self-absorbed and out-of-touch. She twists reality to support delusion. She has chosen not to hear me, not to understand. I don't take it personally, because it has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with her. So, I'm adjusting.
This FB thing... is a two-edged sword. It's hard to remain on good speaking terms with the past. It's a challenge. Every backwards glance ends up being a faceful of blech. I'm going to start ignoring friend requests from the past. I can learn from and be respectful of the past without having to be friends with it.
I continue to look for the bright side in everything; the lesson understood today will make tomorrow's that much easier. I look at the metaphor of those who live in frozen worlds... and they make their worlds more colorful, embracing the season. If this is my frozen season, I can do the same. 
It's almost May. I'm almost there.
I can make it to October easily. If one detail will thaw, just one... I'll have something to focus on, something to grab hold of.
If we find the house, that would be more than enough. If my foot would heal. If it would quit raining and damaging our kitchen ceiling. If no other ugliness raises its head. If I can manage not to dread and long-for the fall at the same time, and stay in the moment. I actually saw a bumper sticker the other day: "One Day At A time" (and I waited for the person to get out of their car, in hopes that it would be Bonnie Franklin). If I had the energy to make theatre nights happen, or if there was a necessary NYC recording trip required of B to enjoy, or if there were friends to spend quality time with... or something just as good as any of the above that I haven't thought of that is coming down the pike.
Looking back, I'll have worried for nothing. I'll have used my time efficiently, resulting in a completed novel. And things will have gone well, every challenge having found solutions. I'll realize the necessary good that came from it all. I'll know that these 3 years were highly unusual, not indicative of future requirements, but rather a wild and necessary shortcut. A worm-hole to happiness. And I can go back to being the "me" that I miss, a little wiser and well-seasoned after the thaw.
~Shephard :)
Labels: Of Mice and Mondays