about that vampire house in twilight

unlike just about everybody these days, i didn't read the twilight books. but i did have a lovely afternoon with my best diva friend watching the movie {dvd}, in pj's and chillaxin'. although i thought it was a mediocre film {gasp! how could i say such a thing & risk the sneers of teen vampire admirers everywhere??}, the main thing that stood-out as fantastic to me was the cullen house ~ the house where the vampire family lived, supposedly in the woods near forks, washington. this house is a beautiful architectural and design marvel of modern styling made to fit elegantly well in the woods; and i'm ready to move in! it's been a nice little quest to figure out where this house is truly located and who designed it. how can i live in it if i don't even know where it is??
low and behold, this beauty is actually located near portland, oregon and was designed by a star-studded pacific northwest team: skylab architecture. originally set as a spec home it was quickly purchased up by one of the owners of nike. darn! i'll keep my eyes out for it to go on the market again. ;o)
in real life it's called the hoke house and the genius behind it is named jeff kovel. this guy pretty much rocks every project he's ever done. . . . maybe he's looking for a design assistant? i am so impressed with his vision and style, and this hoke house is one great example of just what jeff can do. to learn more about jeff and his portfolio, and more about the hoke/cullen house, check out this fabulous interview on design tavern.

and to continue with the house tour, do ya wanna peek inside?? ah, yeah, of course you do:gorgeous, gorgeous, and more gorgeous!
it occurred to me after doing the research for this post that maybe it's already been blogged to death? i have been so out of the blog-loop the last several months. . . .so my apologies if this is so yesterday. i am truly inspired by skylab's incredible work in this house and the photos all make me smile, so i'm blogging it no matter how many others have done so before me. ;o)
{photos found on skylab's website & on design-tavern}

oh, to live in a barn

if you've been a studio wellspring reader for a while you'll know i have this thing for barns turned in to homes. whenever i see one i get weak in the knees. it's a long time dream of mine {we're talking i've been drawing up floor plans on graph paper since 6th grade} to use modern interior design in a vintage barn. so it's always incredibly inspiring to see what others have done with similar dreams ~ to see how ingenius their concept is, or to imagine how i'd do things differently. lately i've stumbled across several great resources for aquiring & moving barns, renovating barns & decorating in barn-house style.

first off, the barn pages ~ it lists more than 200 barns for sale, which are priced according to condition. most of the barns need to be moved from the land they're on ~ which is just fine, since often barns are located in an out-of-the-way place without easy access to utilities & such. so you can buy a barn and have it disassembled and shipped to a more desired location, where it can be put back together again. or you can just use the barn timber to build something new. it's a fantastic recycling concept, isn't it?

for help with the restoration and reassembly of barns, check out the barn people in vermont, berkshire barns in massachusetts, and the new jersey barn company. they've all been dismantling, restoring and reassembling vintage barns for over twenty-five years. even if your favorite barn isn't in the north east, they would still be great resources for any project location.

for lots of lovely barn related decor items & furnishings, the barn house blog is a lovely place to visit.

and to take part in a blogger's project of turning a barn into a modern home, check out bare hill barn ~ it's fascinating.
lastly, some eye candy from the barn pages:

bay area architectural voyeurs.....

the sf chronicle has nicely listed all the home tours available this fall for those of us living in the bay area, so i thought it might inspire some of us {i.e. yours truly} to go to some this year if i posted about it here too. there are a lot of compelling options with different themes. . . . from historical victorians to ultra modern homes with living roofs ~ something for nearly every house voyeur taste.

and the best part is the tours are benefitting worthy causes such as children’s enrichment programs, architectural preservation, and families in need.

here's the schedule of tours:

sept. 13-14: american institute of architects' san francisco chapter home tours weekend
sept. 20: junior league's "a day by the bay" house tours
sept. 11-15 and sept. 18-22: dickens house design tour
sept. 28: alameda legacy home tour
oct. 5: shades of green home and garden tour
oct. 19: victorian alliance's fall house tour

and here's a sneak peak at just some of the homes you can get inside of:

{all photos from sfgate}

p.s. i'm also counting down the days until the cas opening {17 to be exact} ~ oooh, so much anticipation for the spectaculars within! for those who don't know: the california academy of sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, a planetarium and a natural history museum all under one roof. and the best part is: it's a platinum-level leed certified architectural & design marvel. talk about instant adoration, before i've even stepped foot inside!

a grown-up fort

after being in vegas for 3 days i'm ready for a retreat. so imagine my delight in finding the exact place i'd love to run off to this very minute when perusing kirtsy this morning. . . . . the shack at hinkle farms. designed by broadhurst architects, it reminds me of a grown-up fort, complete with the basic necessities including a great view. and even more wonderful, it's completely off the grid. i just started digging into the sakyong's latest book, ruling your world, and oh how would i love to have a sitting practice in this adult fort to really take in all the wisdom i'm enjoying from the book {i highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of experiencing it yet}.

knock knock

and the door shall open.....

i'd love to be able to walk through every single one of these. my mind spins into daydreams about the stories that lie within each one. which is your favorite?

fool's abodes

happy april fool's day!

stal tre hus ~ steel tree house

a couple of years ago in lake tahoe, california, joel sherman of jls design set out to prove it is possible to create modern design that fits into the landscape in that high-end residential market. veering completely from the usual "bear-moose-fish-motif" found in the tahoe mountain setting, joel sherman's decidedly contemporary design lifts the house up into the canopy of surrounding trees. the narrow lot drops away substantially at one end so sherman used this to a great design advantage by creating a plan where vertical plaster towers step down in to the lot supporting the bulk of the residence and elevating it to a treehouse effect.

the largest portion of the 2,500-square-foot residence, the garage, is subtly designed into the program of the house and hidden behind opaque shoji-like doors. at the same level as the garage, a wooden plank leads to the residence's main entrance. once inside, access is available to the lofted master bedroom, master bath, the private porch, as well as the garage. a glass-and-steel enclosed stairwell leads to the level below which houses two bedrooms, a living room, and kitchen and dining area.

the design shows an excellent fusion of indoor and outdoor spaces. from the tasmanian red oak floors to the cherry wood cabinetry to the panels of redwood juxtaposed against the plaster towers on the house’s exterior, the natural woodland theme is reflected continuously. another means of merging interior and exterior spaces is the use of transparency. not only did joel sherman use large panels of glazing and glass-wrapped corners, but he also designed the interior spaces so that the residents would have access to outdoor views from a variety of locations, not just from rooms on the house's perimeter.

another fascinating aspect of stal tre hus is the fact that it's the result of the combined efforts of architect and client. the architect successfully brought a modern design sensibility to the area, while the client, an owner of a wood construction company, actively participated in the building of his dream house. wanting to be as much a part of the construction as possible, the client became certified in welding and personally welded every piece of steel throughout his new home. i really appreciate a symbiotic process like this, and would love to see this house in person some day.

{photos and info from jls design & architectural record}