Julia

Craftsman Home Gets Three Major Remodels

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

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The first time the Los Gatos house got a makeover, Betsy and Dan “Whizzer” White just needed a bigger house for their growing family. The house they bought in 1977 was 900 square feet and with one child and another on the way, they added a second story in 1984. In 1991, they did a major kitchen/family room remodel. Then on New Year’s Eve 2003 while Whizzer and Betsy were at a party, they got a call from a neighbor: “Your house is burning.”

4846048651_a2c6fdfcbd_b[1]A lit candle left  on her daughter’s bedroom desk had destroyed nearly the entire house. With the help of architect Phoebe Bressack of Bressack and Wasserman Architects in Los Altos, ) Chateau Construction (theirr builder for 30 years), interior designers Ann Sonnenberg of Palo Alto and Susan Hoffman from Los Gatos, the house was redesigned, rebuilt and redecorated. With all the loss, chaos and rebuilding, Betsy said, “The day I cried was when I found I could have the same tile in the kitchen,” that she had loved when she remodeled it in 1991.

As much as she loved her house before the fire, the third incarnation has it’s benefits. Along with increasing from a three bedroom, two bath, the house –built in a Bernard Maybeck craftsman style and shingled — now has four bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths. They reconfigured the downstairs space to add an office and laundry room. All the bonuses came inside an extra 400 square feet.

4846048825_18d2cd225d_b[1]The stair railing also saw an upgrade, from what Betsy affectionately called “barnyard chic” to an elegant iron railing with a leaf motif modeled after the magnolia tree outside the window. The couple enjoyed weekends at garage sales and antique shops to replace their furnishings and collected Mexican pottery and other crafts from one of their favorite destinations: San Miguel de Allende.

The house sits on nearly a third of an acre and the grounds are gorgeous, from a shady patio  in front to a lush vegetable garden in the back.

While Whizzer’s wife considers her husband a “farmer,” because of his 60 tomato plants, chili peppers and other fruits and vegetables, Whizzer simply considers himself a “foodie.”

With his heirloom tomatoes, “I  freeze 50 pounds a year for cooking and give away about 200 pounds,” he said.  He’s also proud of his “pimientos de padron,” a chili pepper made famous by writer Calvin Trillin that is popular in Spanish tapas.

 Whizzer is well known in Los Gatos for supplying the enormous squash for the annual march of the “Cucuzza Squash Drill Team” in the town’s Christmas parade. “We’re the successors to the Pigmy Goat Herders that were kicked out a few years ago,” he said. “They got too outrageous.”

And while Betsy still finds herself “going for light switches in places that were there for 20 years,” she loves the third makeover of her home. The couple have no plans to do it again.Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos Knock on wood.

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Sunset Dream Remodel:Living Large in Small Space

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

IMG_6629When I think of a Sunset house, I usually picture something a bit grand, perhaps on a hillside overlooking California oaks. So when I drove by the latest Sunset Dream Remodel in Los Gatos, I almost passed it. It’s small — a 1,550 square foot Mediterranean bungalow on the corner of a somewhat busy street. But the whole idea, in these tough economic times, is to showcase the wonderful things you can do in a small space. And when you look at it that way, this house really measures up.
IMG_6655“This project shows how big a small space can live if done right,” said San Jose builder, Mark De Mattei, who marks his sixth Sunset house with the renovation of this Los Gatos bungalow.
The Sunset Dream Remodel opens to the public on July 23 through Aug. 15, 2010, only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. But here at Lookiloos, we love nothing better than to give a sneak peek, with a full slideshow, of some of the great ideas and products.

IMG_6650When De Mattei first bought the property, the house was even smaller — 1,300 square feet, and faced the busy University Avenue. To take full advantage of the corner lot, he lifted up the house, built a new foundation and turned it to face Town Terrace.
From the outside, you appreciate that this little house retains all its charm –including original arched windows at the front. But every inch, inside and out, is maximized. The front garden, designed by Tamura Designs of San Jose, with gravel pathways in a lovely geometric pattern with pea gravel and planting beds makes me want to do the same in my yard. I love the big urn as a centerpiece in the middle with herbs and vegetables growing in the beds –in the front yard no less.
IMG_6654A side yard leading to the sidewalk and busy street was also put to best use with a deck right off the dining room. A
One of the tricks to making a small space seem large, De Mattei said, is to keep spaces open. From the front entryhall, you can look right through the living room, dining and kitchen to see the lovely back courtyard. Wide wooden floors run the length of the house, fooling your eye to think the floorplan goes on and on.
Instead of dividing living spaces with walls, different ceiling treatments do the trick, from a flat 8-foot-ceiling in the living room, to a higher, beamed-ceiling in the dining room.
And you can always count on Sunset to have beautiful decor, from handmade tiles in the kitchen to my favorite thing: the gray trefoil tiles in the masterbath. (Those might be lovely in my pending bath renovation!) Julia Looking Left - LookiloosRoom and Board supplied most of the furnishings, and Anteo Home in Los Gatos brought in the dining room chairs and special pieces.
If you want to see the house for yourself, it’s well worth it. Here’s the skinny:

Friday, Saturday and Sunday
July 23 – August 15, 2010 Time:10:00 am – 5:00 pm Tickets (purchase on-site):$15 adults
$12 seniors 65+ Fridays only
$5 children 12 and under Location:100 Towne Terrace
Los Gatos, California 95032

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Small Bathroom Remodel: We Need Help!

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

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My husband, Chris, and I are finally ready to bite the bullet on our so-called master bathroom. Ever since he took the sledgehammer to our tiny shower eight years ago because the pan leaked through to our laundry room, we have been using the kids’ bathroom down the hall. Our shower became storage for our Costco supply of bath tissue.

In those eight years, our 1970s-era irridescent green tile on the floor and walls has come back into retro-fashion. But it’s too late to salvage. The sledgehammer took to the bathroom floorboards as well when we replaced the plumbing with copper piping some years ago.bathroom 003
What remains is a funky patchwork of neglect and afterthoughts. Like an unhappy housewife, our master bathroom has “let herself go.” One of the cane doors on the cabinet beneath the sink has a hole in it. The towel rack fell off the wall long ago leaving big holes where the screws once were. And even though the entire space is barely eight feet by four feet, I still manage to have three separate piles of Vanity Fair and Elle Decor magazines: on a book shelf along the wall, a rolling cart between the sink and toilet and on a vintage rack on the floor. A once-special Navajo rug I bought from a shaman’s wife seems contrary and disrespected underfoot. And as much as I like a newly-purchased, vintage mirror with an Asian motif, the whimsy I was going for falls as flat as a bad joke. And please forgive me, my fellow Lookiloos, the metal blinds. (I can’t believe I even committed that to print!)
Our bathroom needs a makeover and we need help!
Our house is 1938 unadorned art deco-style. It is angular and asymetrical, with windows meeting in the corners. The only special touches are the glass block on either side of the front door, which has a chevron pattern matching the garage doors. When it comes to the bathroom, we want simple, clean lines. Nothing tumbled. Nothing too trendy. I like the idea of gray and white (I’m thinking Deco cruise ship) with pops of accent color. Chris likes a warmer palette, perhaps yellow tile.
bathroom 005We need storage and two “stations” in this tiny, one-sink bathroom: one for my husband shaving at the sink, another for me drying my hair right behind him (cheek to cheek so to speak.)
We’re open to ideas. Please share!Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Homeowner Leaves Town:Eichler Gets New Decor

Friday, July 2nd, 2010
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Be honest. How many of you would trust a friend to completely redo your home decor while you’re out of town for three weeks, especially when that friend plans to do most of her shopping at thrift shops and consignment stores?

Well, Stephanie Peters did when she invited Linda Marx, an independent-minded bargain-hunting maven, to have at it.

4657894782_ba323b8410_b“I wanted the challenge to do it as inexpensively as I could,” said Marx, who loves nothing better than finding a cast-off sofa here or discarded end table there. “They’re little orphans. I like giving them a home.”

Peters, a Sunnyvale marketing consultant, wanted a home makeover that “shows my personality,” emphasizes comfort and reflects her penchant for all things Asian.

She lives in an Eichler, the 1950s-era, one-story homes with open floor plans, atriums and courtyards. Mid-century modern furnishings are experiencing a resurgence of popularity these days, but Marx was reluctant to shop in that direction: “I lived through that” era of design, Marx said, “and I didn’t particularly like it then.”

And with popularity often comes a big price tag, and that simply is not Marx’s style. Marx promised she could completely swap the decor of the living, dining and family rooms for a grand total of $4,000, which included everything from furniture delivery to moving lighting fixtures. (That would buy mid-century purists one Eames lounge chair and ottoman, thank you very much.)

4657274101_fd417abb06_bThe last time the house had a makeover was in the early 1990s, a few years after Peters bought it. As was the style at the time, she decorated with a palette of black, white and chrome, including white marble flooring in the living and dining rooms. But over the years, the space had grown tired and cold. And Peters had little time to pay attention to it. She made brief attempts at repainting the interior, but when her artwork came down, including her collection of Asian masks, she never put it back up. In her entry hall, all she had was a plant.

“All right, enough,” Peters told herself. “I entertain a lot. I’m sick and tired of people coming over and I’m embarrassed.”

She called Marx, who calls her fledgling redecorating business “Shoestring Design.” The women became friends through Marx’s son, who worked with Peters years ago. Peters had been to parties at Marx’s house and while there, couldn’t help but admire her home. She asked for help on hers.

“I said I wanted modern and Asian,” Peters said.

“I wanted the house to feel warm and nice,” Marx said.

“I wanted chrome bar stools,” Peters said.

“I didn’t bother with it,” Marx said.

“Never mind,” Peters conceded. “Do it.”

4657893570_5c3ed01637_bWith that, Peters cleared out the entire living, dining and family rooms of furniture, handed Marx the key to the front door, and took off for three weeks.

“I had never done Asian before,” Marx confessed.

She began her thrift store circuit up and down the Peninsula, stopping in the Salvation Army on Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, where she found a dining room table and chairs for $149; to the Consignment Store in Westgate Mall in Saratoga, where she landed a living room sofa, and the Goodwill on Almaden Expressway in San Jose for the Asian bar for $89. She bought a bamboo wall hanging at Cost Plus World Market for $49, Asian coin wall hooks for $3 from Savers in Redwood City for the entryway, a coffee table from Not Too Shabby in San Jose for $49. A large Persian rug ($120) that covers the cold marble floor came from D.G.W. Auctioneers and Appraisers in Sunnyvale.

4657891864_02b7972476_bMarx mined Peters’ garage for lost treasures, pulling out her old trunk and a collection of masks. She hung Peters’ prints and some Chinese silk panels she had bought at auction and arranged everything just so. For finishing touches, she displayed martini glasses on the bar and filled a glass vase in the kitchen with fortune cookies.

Then she waited. “I was sweating bullets when she came home,” Marx said.

“I stood in awe in the entryway for 30 seconds,” Peters said. She barely recognized the place. “I walked back in three or four times. There was so much and it had changed so drastically.”

Peters loves her new decor and “everyone who comes to my house is flabbergasted. I’ve had wonderful feedback.”

Now on to the bedrooms! As soon as Peters leaves town, Marx will be ready.Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

If you like bargains and didn’t see the story Desiree and I wrote about the Asian fretwork chairs we bought for a bargain price at Not Too Shabby, read this:

Smackdown:Lookiloos-style

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

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From Beige to Bright: Backyard Makeover Gets Colorful

Monday, June 28th, 2010

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With a number of summer parties planned, from a graduation to a school fundraiser, Kristin Savini wanted her backyard to look beautiful. But when she gazed outside, “everything was beige and brown.”  She loved her pool. patio and brick fireplace, but her flowerbeds and the cushions on her outdoor furniture  seemed overwhelmingly  “blah.”

4737066453_eaf7da62dc_bSo she called in the pros. First, Steve Gilbert from Willow Glen Home and Garden suggested using the color of the pool as inspiration. He brought in bright turqoise cushions for the furniture and no fewer than 11 ceramic urns. To Kristin, it all looked “elegant and fun.” But that was a lot of urns to plant. So she called in her friend and container gardener Dhelia Fahrner of La Jardiniere.

With the bright cushions and pots, she knew the plants needed to be one thing: saturated with color. “It couldn’t be pale,” she said. At Summerwinds Nursery in Campbell, she and Kristin pulled out bright orange-gold “Easy Does It” standard roses and a big chartreuse ginger plant for height in the middle of some of the taller pots. They also added purples, fuschias 4737702286_689981c562_band oranges with geraniums, lantana, verbena, petunias and alyssum of various heights and textures.

The results were spectacular. Here are some tips for vivid container gardening from La Jardiniere:

1. Before going to the nursery, take measurements of your pots, both width and height, to figure out how many plants are needed to fill each pot and how tall the plants should be to balance the size of the pot. At the nursery, find an empty corner to arrange your chosen plants to see how they would appear together in the pot.

2. Know the sun exposure so you know whether to get sun-loving or shade-loving plants.

4737065369_c6b58609ba_b3. Choose a style — tight, loose, abundant, minimal — to fit your style or the architecture of your home.

4. If you’re planting several pots, purchase some “foundation plants” that are perennial and can last from season to season. Buy colorful annuals in six-packs that are less expensive to replace.

5. Use quality potting soil and fertilizer and water, water, water.

To see what Dhelia did to her own backyard and another project open these:

Dhelia’s Dahlias

Before and After:Spanish Courtyard Gets Makeover

Julia Looking Right - Lookiloos

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Bathroom Remodels from Cottages, Tudors and Ranches

Monday, June 14th, 2010

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Will this be the year my so-called master bath gets a makeover? My husband took a sledgehammer to our shower seven years ago when the pan leaked into the laundry room below. Silly me, I thought we were going to re-tile!

A tour through Willow Glen homes earlier this spring certainly gave me some inspiration. Desiree took some nice photos to study…  I love the simplicity of this one above. with the grey marble and black detail.

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I love Asian, with this big soaking tub. But I can tell you right now, it would never fit in my tiny bathroom!

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Another simple marble slab top. Lovely. And those orchids are gorgeous.

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I like the idea of going with a neutral palette and adding a splash of color with great accessories.

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Adding color in the border is fun. I also like artwork on bathroom walls to add personality.

Which do you like best? Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

English Garden Gets Gussied Up

Friday, June 11th, 2010

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It wasn’t until Suzanne Comaroto’s sister came down from Washington that she got serious about improving her backyard. The old oak tree had died. The roses weren’t doing well. The dirt was so hard, the plants were choking.

“My sister made a honey-do list for my gardner,” said Suzanne, owner of Move It Elsewhere, a warehouse filled with estate sale furnishings in San Jose. (It’s only open one weekend a month, and it’s open this weekend, June 11-13.) She rented her 1920s craftsman bungalow for 14 years before convincing the landlord to sell it to her three years ago.

4654093013_2859d3bc21_bTop on the list was replacing the brick on the curving path that was caked with old mortar, probably from a demolished fireplace. They handed the list to Suzanne’s longtime gardner, Carlos Arrioja, who owns the  Los Gatos landscape business, “A Touch of Quality.”

He prepared the soil, lifted and replaced the brick, widened the path and mounded soil into berms to give the plantings some visual interest. He built a trellis at the back of the property to mirror the trellis attached to the back of the house.

“When I moved here, they touted, “Oh, you have an English garden,” Suzanne said. “Everyone said it was pretty. But it wasn’t interesting. There were no gates, no benches, no hand.”

4654711840_a33a4754a4_bThe hand is a sculpture Carlos came across. He had to re-attach the broken thumb. And it has become the signature piece in the garden, adding a bit of whimsy.

“I really like that hand,” she said. “I had to have it.”

As owner of Move It Elsewhere, Suzanne  has access to an endless parade of home and garden furnishings. And true to form, she bought her patio set from a client and painted it black. She also bought a broken two-tiered fountain that was cracked and didn’t hold water, and turned it into a planter.

The work was completed last September. This is the first spring to enjoy the blooms on her new flowers, including roses and bearded iris.

The only problem, she said, is that she’s so busy, she doesn’t get to spend much time relaxing in it.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, “ from my bedroom window.”Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Tudor Remodel:Old World Style Gets Chic Makeover

Friday, May 28th, 2010

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When you’re getting your house ready for a home tour, it’s great to have a loyal crew. Into the night, homeowner Anna Pizzo, her designer Kathleen Monarch and stager Margo Leal pulled out their favorite things to create sumptuous tablescapes, indoors and out, to complement Pizzo’s updated storybook Tudor. And a home tour just isn’t complete without floral designer Jose Ibarra coming in with his finishing touches, including a dramatic spray of dogwood in the front window.

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 (Don’t you just love it when homeowners make the front window look great from inside and out, instead of just leaving the back of a couch for all eyes to see? A big thank-you from Lookiloos everywhere!) Take a look at the ceiling beams. Those were added as part of an extensive remodel, but they look like they’ve been there forever. “We made the house authentic to the time period and added special architectural details that weren’t there to begin with,” Monarch said. “We plastered, stuccoed, glazed. You name it, we did it.”  Pizzo’s husband, Chris, of C. Pizzo Construction, made the vision a reality.

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Pizzo has her own catering company, Zona Rosa, so half the fun was pulling out her extensive collection of china, candlesticks and other tabletop decor to create elaborate tablescapes. The vignette above is part of an “outdoor room” in Pizzo’s backyard under a grand trellis. ”Anna wanted everything to be fresh,” Monarch said. “That was the main thing and it had to feel like you were walking through Provence.” For lookiloos walking through the Willow Glen home tour in early May, they were greeted by the smells of  fresh bread and lavendar and lemons. 

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As part of the house remodel, the Pizzos brought in designer Lori Kagan to update the kitchen, using Emperor Light marble for the countertops. (I wish I had succulents like that.) In the adjoining dining room, a closet was turned into a wet bar.

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Monarch of Monarch Design and Studio also helped Pizzo with the master bedroom and bath. Some of Pizzo’s favorite things came from the Alameda Flea Market and other “funky vintage shops,” Monarch said.

  Monarch also helped with the interior of the Kouretas home on the tour last year. (see story below.)

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How lovely is this? Check out the zebra print on the back of the blue silk. Yummy.

You might also enjoy these stories:

Design Inspiration:Big Remodel Maintains Homey Feel

Jose’s Tabletop Decor Inspired by Chinese Take-out

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Carmel hideaway with Big Sur Vibe:My fantasy

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

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If I were to pinpoint one house that truly made me a Lookiloo, it would be this Carmel hideaway. I first went through it in 2003 when it was on the market, and now, as I gasp for breath, it is for sale again. I saw it last weekend and have been obsessing about it ever since. It doesn’t look like much from the front — a brick wall spans across  — but it hides a midcentury modern masterpiece inside.  Enter through a gate, wander down a brick path and step inside the front door. Stand on the elevated landing and you look across a sunken living room to a wall of windows. Outside is a courtyard with three live oaks and a stone fireplace.

IFV_2903 This house actually has a Lookiloos provenance: I wrote about it in June 2003 in an essay about my open house obsession for the San Jose Mercury News. I wrote about Lookiloos like me — and this was some five years before I co-founded this website. (I’m true blue!)  In it, I wrote this: “A wall of windows overlooking a courtyard of a Carmel open house makes me imagine myself a famous novelist with a salon of literay friends who drive down to Nepenthe for inspiration.”  I called myself the “Walter Mitty of real estate.” Is it so hard to believe, I wrote, “that living in a great space can be inspiring and life-transforming?” I still believe that.

The house has an open staircase with one end attached to the wall and the other suspended by cables.  The whole house is less than 1,400 square feet, with one bedroom and a loft, plus a studio guest house. But with the open, airy feeling and 18-foot ceilings in the living room, it feels huge.

IFV_3033The house was designed by John Gamble, who designed a number of modern homes on the Monterey Peninsula.  And now it’s for sale again, for $1.29 million. If you buy it, please let me know. Maybe you can invite me over.

For more information about the house, contact Merritt  Ringer at Alain Pinel Realtors at mringer@apr.com.

And I’d love to know, if this house were yours, how would you decorate the living room?

You can also look at a couple of my other favorite Carmel and Big Sur house stories:

Big Sur’s Nepenthe Turns 60, But Log Cabin is still home

Dreaming of this Carmel Cottage Compound

Julia Looking Right - Lookiloos

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Willow Glen Cottage Remodel with Modern Flair

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

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Lately, I’ve become enamored with houses that are unassuming from the front,  but have a major ‘wow’ factor on the inside.

From the front of this white-washed Willow Glen cottage, you might expect a chopped-up floorplan.  The only feature on the facade that gives you a sense of what’s to come is the bright yellow front door. Walk inside and you’re flooded with openness and light. And you can see right through to the charming backyard.

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Homeowner Stephanie Angeli, an  ”empty nester” who moved from San Francisco,  first saw the house with her sister. “We did an ‘Oh my God,’ when we went through it,” she said. “Every room was perfect.”

The house had been remodeled by the previous owner who added space and lots of windows on the back of the house, looking out to the courtyard. The sisters got in their car, did a U-turn, she said, and went to the realtor’s office to put down a deposit. The house was featured on the Willow Glen Home Tour earlier this month.4612692834_70d0918c47_o

The kitchen is also a gem, with white Carrarra marble counter tops and a sink in the corner looking into the family room.

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And the interior decor is lovely, from the the little vignette of green stemware in front of al painting on the kitchen counter, to a nicely-appointed front guest room and office. Carmen Grande of Willow Glen Home & Garden on Lincoln Avenue helped Stephanie with the furnishings and Steve Gilbert added charm to the courtyard.

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Take a look at the slideshow and tell us what space you like the best. Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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