to tour neutra

a new flickr friend of mine, steven keylon, visited a richard neutra house for sale in the hollywood hills and took tons of wonderful photographs of the place. this is a rare glimpse at a home neutra designed in 1936 for journalist josef kun. and i'm so excited to share it with you.
at only about 1700 square feet, it still has a feel of 1930's mod glamour and the incredible style that's a trademark of neutra's designs. you are brought in through an airy entry pavilion, which opens onto a huge deck, with an amazing vista. the entry pavilion has a fabulous uplight, and like most of the house, has the original aluminum silver paint magnificently restored. the next level down has the living room and dining room, kitchen and laundry room. down one more level are two nice bedrooms and two bathrooms. each of these levels have very spacious wraparound decks. below this are several terraced levels of landscaped grounds.
please take a moment to experience this lovely photo tour ..... {and feel free to click on the image to enlarge}

if you're curious, more property information can be found here.

interesting side note: this house ignited the career of architectural photographer julius shulman ~ he was captivated by this house in 1936 and he took some casual snapshots of it, which somehow made their way into the hands of richard neutra. neutra was so impressed with his eye that he used shulman nearly exclusively for the rest of his career.

{thanks so much to steven keylon for permission to share all this!}

just a reminder

{great shot found on sfgate's day-in-pictures section, and great song by billy joel, just click on the photo}

rex ray for real

thought you might like to see a few images from the gallery 16 opening night of rex ray's new work and book signing.....

it was great to meet rex and see his work up close. so much detail & thought & energy goes into each piece. and his new book is eye-candy gallore.

tango color palette

this gorgeous painting by dvora kanegis {found on tango cherie's compelling blog} has been in my mind a lot lately. it would look really really good in my new bathroom project. hmmm.....

through another shade of grey i discovered this really fun online toy: the color palette generator. you can upload any jpg and it will automatically pull a color palette from it for you. enjoy ~ but beware there is a slight tendancy towards addiction.

tonight i meet rex

i've had a crush on rex ray's work for several years now, and tonight i'm finally going to get a chance to meet him, and hopefully i'll get his autograph on my book too. but don't be too jealous, because you can do the same! {that is, if you live in the bay area} his new works are opening at gallery 16 tonight and he'll be there, signing books from 6:00pm - 9:00pm
it's located at 501 third street {at bryant}
happy, happy friday!

shayna shines

i'd like to introduce you to my friend shayna ~ one very inspiring lady.

we met at jenni's dance class and then connected over girl design {which we're planning to rekindle soon!}. for quite some time i've been admiring her ecclectic style and good taste on her favorite colors blog, and i've been in absolute awe of her do-it-yourself skills chronicled on her cabin house blog. in her spare time she's a full-time designer at a collaborative product design partnership in berkeley called room creative.
now to add to all that, shayna just became the newest posts author at the apartment therapy sf site. check out her first post here. it's all about one of my fave local shops, the gardener.

many congrats shayna ~ i'm so privileged to know you and admire all you do!

beach house master bath

i think this will be my last post on the east hampton's beach house. there are more photos of other lovely aspects of this home, but i think the master bath is a good place to rest. it has a simple, soft theme ~ floor to ceiling silver travertine to incorporate the sands and waves on a grey atlantic day. the custom millwork is finished to match. the shower walls are waterworks glass mosaic in ice blue and the shower floor is ann sacks white river rock. this is the largest master bath i've ever worked on, and i'm delighted and proud to have had the opportunity.

the ones that got away

i wish i had the cash to purchase this beautiful poster....

and this perfectly time-warn coffee table and chest....

and this delightfully iron-spirally door....

or even one or two of these lovely kettles....
..... on this past sunday at the alameda antique fair. instead, these fine photos and my memories will have to do.
perhaps in december, jendita, yes?

but i did purchase one thing. and hopefully i'll be able to show it off in its new home by tomorrow.

sf living hometour

i was sorry to have missed this year's san francisco living: home tours back in september, so blogging about it is the next best thing. this annual event gives visitors an opportunity to explore 10 or so spectacular bay area homes ~ thanks to the sf aia chapter and the kind homeowners who open their doors to the public, anyone can peak into a dreamy standard of living to be inspired, to be amazed, and maybe to be a bit envious.

for a slideshow of this year’s tour, take this jump.

{saw it first at apartment therapy}

bourbon & branch

password: speakeasythrough this inconspicuous door is a prohibition era speakeasy with a ton of charm, a huge drink menu, a dash of pretention, and some very good interior design. you'll need reservations ahead, and a password to enter, but bourbon & branch is certainly worth the extra effort.

{low lighting from dramatic sources, rough-hewn stone walls, wide plank reclaimed wood floors, hand tooled tin ceilings, and cozy tables with wooden bench seating makes this a place you want to bask in for hours. they keep the noise levels to a soft purr by limiting the number of patrons attending so you can get caught-up in easy conversation without strain}

{todd smith, shaken and stirred. notice the tractor seats for the bar stools ~ simple fabulousness}

{the drinks are superb ~ the novel length menu offers wonderful classic old-fashioned drinks as well as modern twists. they use only fresh ingredients and muddle everything to order}

{niches in the stone wall hold 100's of libation choices and are highlighted by candle sconces}

{close-ups of the main chandelier and the gorgeous ceiling}

{images from friends, from the b&b website and from yours truly}

cote bastide

offering the opportunity to rediscover daily pleasures, cote bastide is one shop i would love to visit whenever i'm in france. based in provence, they have a showroom {open april-december} at lourmarin. but until then, we can satisfy our desires by shopping at the one place in the u.s. that distributes their lovely products: the french look.

holiday ornament swap 2007

the fabulous ladies of freshly blended and cake & pie have just launched this year's holiday ornament swap. i had a blast participating last year and can't wait to do it again. there is something really special about exchanging handmade holiday specialties ~ nothing like it to get you in the spirit. people from all over the world share in the fun, plus you can see and share everything the participants come up with on the ornament swap flickr site. so jump on over and sign-up ~ but hurry, the sign-up ends on november 9th. the rules & such are here.

1st anniversary

studio wellspring is 1 year old today and to celebrate i gave it a re-design. it's still going through some adjustments, so please bear with me for a day or two as i get it all set-up properly.

i'd like to take this opportunity to make a toast to you:

thank you all so much for joining me here ~ participating in your own special ways and giving me a better blogging experience than i ever could have hoped for. it's been such a joy to meet multitudes of inspiring new people and to learn invaluable wonderful things through blogging ~ my life is so much richer for it.

so, here's to you, the studio wellspring contributors ~ i raise my glass high, overflowing with gratitude!

of bats & spooks & witches beware

happy halloween my ghoulish friends. i'll be back tomorrow with a whole new look. oooo la la!

tv pop

tv's are a regular fixture in most american homes, but sometimes the less electronically focused, more artfully sensitive person may not want to always see the monstrosity when it's not in use. as tv's are becoming larger in scale they pose a new challenge to designers to incorporate them into room design without always making them the dominant feature. one idea is to hide the tv inside a cabinet that is designed with a pop-up lift system {hydraulic or electric}. there are several new units being sold by well-known manufacturers:

{more traditional style ~ pop-up hdtv & black wood cabinet by edison}


{more contemporary style ~ pop-up lcd tv & red laminate cabinet by sharp}

and then you can also get one custom designed for your space and needs if you don't see the right thing being offered in stores:

{i realize this is pretty huge and not the norm, since we designed a 60" tv that lifts out of the same unit that houses a 103" tv, but it still can give you an idea for possibilities that are out there. plus that is some serious design eye-candy}

{just for a sense of scale of this thing ~ i saw this from design drawing stage to built reality & i'm still amazed by it}

the great pumpkin

i'm a huge peanuts fan & the halloween spirit is definitely taking me over ~ so please allow me a little diversion to let ya'll know this is on at 8pm tonight on abc. the kid in you will be grateful i'm sure of it.

pssst....pif

i have two open spots in the winner's circle for the pay it forward handmade giveaway. just post a comment here if you wanna join in giving and receiving of the craftigoodness.

p.s. handmade could mean music cd'ing, drawing, collaging, beading, writing, knitting....anything you make yourself. i know there are a ton of you who do such out there. so please don't let the pay-it-forward chain break here.

{the picture is from the learning to love you more project: make an encouraging banner}

to report back

the western interiors design+home show was smaller than we expected, but packed full of fabulousness. it was so nice to meet some of the incredible artists and designers in person, and to see & feel their work for real. i took a ton of pictures so i'm just posting a few of my faves for now. if you want to see them all, feel free to jump on over to my flickr set for the show.