Kitchen

Craftsman Home Gets Three Major Remodels

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

4846046619_2c3670ecb4_b[1]

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.

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Homeowner Leaves Town:Eichler Gets New Decor

Friday, July 2nd, 2010
4657272159_ac34d2f710_b
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/

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Tudor Remodel:Old World Style Gets Chic Makeover

Friday, May 28th, 2010

4611916891_f7aeee0945_o

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.

4612528152_e748e21576_o

 (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.

4611918707_946c324501_o

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. 

4611916067_a94e095947_o

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.

4612529222_58436b095f_o

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.)

4611917321_9ffc7a2605_o

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

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

 

 

.

Willow Glen Cottage Remodel with Modern Flair

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

4612695136_487423ff6d_o

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.

4612691452_82446fcaaf_o

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.

4612694754_409de1052c_o

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.

4612691820_d1a5934d66_o

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

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Kitchen Remodels Galore, Craftsman, Neoclassical

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Depression-Era Charm, with Sparkle

Depression-Era Charm, with Sparkle

Nearly every house at the recent Naglee Park home tour in downtown San Jose had a remodeled kitchen, and all of them had something special. Which one do you like best? 

depression era charm-breakfast nook

depression era charm-breakfast nook

This kitchen, with the chandelier over the kitchen sink and the white table in the breakfast nook, looks right out of the 1930s.  It’s the home of Cindy and Phil Olow and was built in 1903 by Wolfe & McKenzie. The kitchen was “gently updated” with new counters, but the cabinets are original.

Tin Ceiling Kitchen in Eclectic Shingle Style House
Tin Ceiling Kitchen in Eclectic Shingle Style House

Tin Ceiling in Kitchen of Eclectic Shingle Style

Tin Ceiling in Kitchen of Eclectic Shingle Style

The kitchen of this 1905 eclectic shingle-style home, remodeled by architect Steve Hinderberger of Hindesign, added subway tile and new counters, but preserved the great pass-through window to the deck.   Owners Mike Howerton and Gary Rucker  helped install the cool tin ceiling. Click here to see a backyard landscape Hinderberger  did in the Hanchett neighborhood.

 

(keep scrolling for more kitchens..)

 

 

 

Neoclassic bungalow kitchen

Neoclassic bungalow kitchen

This wonderful kitchen of a 1911 neoclassical bungalow has been featured in “Bungalow Kitchens” because of its unique cove ceilings. When owners Lori and Jeffrey Leonard, the fourth owners of the home, moved the old refrigerator, they were surprised to find a pass-through to the dining room.

 

 

 

Eclectic neoclassic kitchen remodel

Eclectic neoclassic kitchen remodel

The owners of this 1904 eclectic neoclassical house remodeled the kitchen to include black soapstone counters and craftsman-style cabinetry. Lori Littleford and her husband, John Pearson, found hardware for the cabinets at Briarwood antiques on W. San Carlos in San Jose.

Which kitchen do you like best? Anyone dreaming of a kitchen remodel?

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

From Tudor and Art Deco to Zen, Willow Glen Home Tour Inspires

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

IMG_9067When four girlfriends and I escaped our kids for the afternoon, piled into my mini-van, and headed out for the Willow Glen Lifestyles Home Tour, we made a pact that we wouldn’t get green with envy by getting a glimpse into others’ beautiful living spaces. We’d be inspired.

There were many things to love about these homes, opened up by generous owners to benefit the San Jose Day Nursery. All were very different from each other ranging in style from Tudor to Art Deco to Southwestern Zen, and I walked away with several ideas. Some I can implement now, with not too much time and money, and some for later requiring more resources.

For my immediate inspiration, it turns out décor doesn’t have to be highbrow.  In more than one home, family photos were artistically photographed, framed and placed.  And in the wine cellar of Erin and Michael Craig’s 1929 home hung a shadow box containing a German 9mm Luger.

We all really loved Anna and Chris Pizzo’s Tudor, which I think had less to do with square footage and more to do with all the little details–like the faded IMG_9102stenciling in the hallway–and eclectic accessories, many of which came from the Vintage Flea Market in Alameda.

With a little more planning and money, I’d copy the Pizzo’s outdoor dining room exactly—an impressive arbor with a chandelier hanging from it. I’d add a concrete couch decorated with colorful pillows like the Hermosa home along with concrete raised garden beds painted bright colors. I’d turn myTV into art , and if I ever purchase bunk beds for my boys, I’ll wire a light switch high on the wall so you can reach it without getting out of bed.

With a much bigger budget, I’d add on to the front of my house and not worry about the fact that I just remodeled my kitchen with a corner sink overlooking the yard. Because in Stephanie Angeli’s home, such a kitchen sink overlooks the family room that was an add-on and it turned out uniquely great.

IMG_9249If I had a bigger lot, I’d consider a swimming pool with different lounging levels and contrasting materials like Kris and David Gambelin’s home. If couldn’t get such a lot and wanted to get really creative (or crazy), I’d move next to my sister, tear down the fence between us, and create one big, shared, drought resistant landscape like the Gilliand home. This was the home gave me the case of the envies. I’m not sure if it was the Japanese soaking tub, the utility room bigger than my bedroom, or the calmness that permeated the air, but I didn’t want to leave that space.

I guess for now, I’ll pull up a cushion in some quiet corner of the house and dream. Thanks to the tour, I have some images to reference.

Kim Koooyers is a freelance writer in San Jose and blogs at gratitude365.

Also, keep coming back for more indepth stories and slideshows of the six homes on the tour!

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Zem Joaquin’s House is Ecofabulous — Take a Green Tour with Us

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Green ChairsLookiloos and Scene Magazine,  produced by the San Jose Mercury News, teamed up to profile Ecofabulous founder Zem Joaquin. Here’s  the story of Zem’s fascinating life  written by Julia Prodis Sulek, and photos and slideshow of her own sexy, sustainable house by Desiree Northend:

She was born in 1970 with a name that means “earth” in Czech on a commune in Palo Alto called “The Land.”
Zem Joaquin was a dark-haired pixie with patchwork pants who played with chickens, danced in the central longhouse and sang with Joan Baez in the squatters camp off Page Mill Road.
The darling of the draft resisters back then, she became the subject of their illustrated fairy tale about  “Zem, the little queen” who unites a strife-torn world. Even Baez, who founded the commune and lived there for a time, included “Zem Zem” in her 1975 song, “Children and All That Jazz.”
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that she was destined to make a name for herself in the environmental movement. Unlike her parents’ generation that reveled in the counterculture fringe, though, she is helping create a modern movement in the mainstream.
And she’s doing so with her own sense of rebellion: She’s making green glamorous.Blue Dining Chair
Founder of Ecofabulous, she created a Web site that gives readers eco-friendly lifestyle options, from modular furniture made from recycled paper to chic throws made of hemp and flax. Going green needs to be less about sacrifice, she realized, and more about motivation. (The site’s motto: “sexy.sustainable.style.”) After all, she muses, “People weren’t too interested when organic cotton looked like oatmeal and felt like a burlap sack.”
Step inside the 1960s-era home in Marin County that she remodeled for her family and you’ll see what she means.
At 39 years old and just 5 feet tall, she opens the front door with bare feet and a big smile. Behind her, vintage black-and-white curtains she found at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire frame a pair of chairs she recovered in remnant lime green silk. Sleek kitchen counters are made from newspaper wood pulp and fly ash. Her vintage Laszlo dining room chairs are refilled with natural rubber.
“Being fabulous is feeling like you’re getting what you really want,” she says. “At the same time, you’re not taking more than you need and you’re giving back.”
Hall ArtSo how did this commune kid become such a design diva?
She may have been raised on granola, but she came of age living in London for two-and-a-half years in her early 20s with her godmother – a stylish critic for the Evening Standard who took her to theaters, boutiques and Paris for weekends and “taught me everything I know about design.” Joaquin (then Spire, her maiden name) finished her degree in organizational communications at Pepperdine, where she started a recycling program. And after a stint managing male models in Italy (she followed a boyfriend there), she returned to San Francisco in the late 1990s to help her best friend, Gina Pell, start Pell’s fledgling fashion and beauty Web site, Splendora.
“She was my VP of business development because she’s so good with people. She has a way of developing and nurturing connections,” Pell says. “I always told her that if she was a superhero, that would be her superpower – the ultimate connector.”
It was Pell, though, who connected Zem with her husband, tech entrepreneur James Joaquin.
They met at a cocktail party in 1999 in San Francisco, married and had two children. She was volunteering for homeless causes and political campaigns when her children were diagnosed with severe asthma. The family was living in an old Craftsman in San Francisco at the time, spending many a night in the emergency room when she decided she had to “save my children and create a healthy home.”Girl's Dressing Area
The Marin County house, tucked among blackberry bushes and towering trees, became her eco-incubator. Old painted beams were stripped with beeswax, wall-to-wall carpeting was replaced with recycled wine-cork flooring and solar panels were added to the roof.
But finding sustainable products, and stylish ones at that, wasn’t easy. “I realized there was this enormous gap,” she says. “There were no resources for eco-design and people interested in design.”
It was her husband who handed her a copy of “Cradle to Cradle,” the environmental manifesto of architect William McDonough, whom James Joaquin had heard speak at the 2004 TED conference for technology, entertainment and design in Monterey.
“This is what you’ve been talking about,” he said at the time to his wife, “what you’ve been spiraling in towards.”
She was so enthralled by the book, which professes ecologically intelligent design, that she invited McDonough to lunch with “some of my friends that I think can change the world.”
The guest list included her husband’s good friend, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar; Segway inventor Dean Kamen, whom she had met at a dinner party; and inventor, entrepreneur and Disney “imagineer” Danny Hillis.
This time, it was McDonough’s turn to be impressed. He invited her to attend his annual eco-summit in Iceland the following year with some 20 “thought leaders” and activists.
ZemUnlike some in the environmental movement who preach doom and gloom, he says, Joaquin takes a positive approach.
“It’s a big dark world out there, and we need brightness,” he says in a phone interview from Abu Dhabi where he was talking to real estate developers about green design. “Zem is a sparkle.”
And she knows how to throw a party. Over the past several years, she has raised nearly $1 million dollars for Global Green, an L.A.-based nonprofit that activates its Hollywood base to bring attention to green issues, including the sustainable rebuilding of New Orleans and Haiti. At her first party she threw at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco several years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio showed up. Salma Hayek and Orlando Bloom came to the second.
“She actually seduces people into doing the right thing,” Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post said when she presented Joaquin with Global Green’s Founder’s Award last year. “She always makes people feel that the right thing is the fun thing.”
Plus, she added, “she’s adorable.”
While Joaquin founded Ecofabulous in 2006 to chronicle her environmentally friendly remodeling resources, she has since expanded it to include organic beauty, fashion and lifestyle choices. She consults with such companies as eBay and Safeway and has been a frequent “green” guest on radio and TV shows. She raises chickens in her side yard, grows tomatoes and herbs, and even has her 6-year-old daughter weighing in with her opinion about kids’ green products. And over the past few years, she’s convinced every one of her closest friends to drive a hybrid.
So what’s next?
“I never thought in a million years I would want to have a commune,” she says.
But lately, she’s thinking about it, maybe bringing her closest friends together, living sustainably off the grid. She doesn’t have the details worked out yet, but one thing is certain: Unlike the A-frames and outhouses she grew up with, she says, “this commune would be stylized.”

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Warmenhovens Share Mediterranean Estate, Tea Garden with Charities

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Pool and ViewBy Julia Prodis Sulek for Lookiloos and Scene Magazine, photos by Lookiloos photographer Desiree Northend

Charmaine Warmenhoven was in high school in 1964 when news of the notorious murder of Kitty Genovese on the streets of New York spread across the country, a shocking story because even though many heard her screams, apparently no one did a thing to help.
Charmaine was fascinated, though, less about the bystanders who did nothing and more about the idea of those who “try to do something.”
With a strong foundation as a woman of faith and a psychology degree from Princeton, reaching out to others in need has become a guiding principle of her life as a philanthropist and educator of special needs children.Living
“It’s part of our value system,” she says. “You are meant to provide service to others. I’ve been doing so ever since I can remember.”
From the graceful Monte Sereno home surrounded by acres of gardens that she shares with her husband, Network Appliance board chairman Dan Warmenhoven, the couple open their doors to fundraisers benefiting causes ranging from cancer research to local arts groups to Catholic charities. In June, she is hosting the Silicon Valley Heart Gala for 250 to raise money for the American Heart Association. With Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz chairing the event, the nonprofit is expecting the guest list to include some of the valley’s tech luminaries. If all goes well, the charity hopes to raise more than half a million dollars (maybe a million, dare they hope) at this single event.
“Dan and I feel we’ve been given a lot, and we need to give and to share,” she says. “It’s more than a habit. It’s a lifestyle.”
And Keri  Janssen, CEO of the Silicon Valley American Heart Association, couldn’t be more grateful.
“They are very down to earth and very dedicated to making a difference in the community,” Janssen says. “Opening your home to an event is totally different than giving money. They are dedicated to the mission and the cause and have been for over 10 years.”
Hosting the fundraiser at a home rather than a hotel is much more intimate, she says. Besides, “who wouldn’t want to see the Warmenhoven home?”
Kitchen WindowA winding driveway leads you past oak trees and a sunken Japanese tea garden to the grand estate atop a hill. A 17th-century wishing well and a stone gazebo adorn the front garden that overlooks the lights of the valley below.
The back yard, with terraces surrounding a pool and cabana house, will be the setting for the June party. A saxophonist will play during cocktail hour from the balcony, and tables will be set up around the pool. Each guest will be given a candle to light, representing heart disease survivors, and float them in the pool.
“It will be the feel of a romantic, starry night,” Janssen says.
The causes Warmenhoven supports are close to her heart. As a child, her mother was a concert pianist, and she was a dancer. As an adult, she has served on the boards of Ballet San Jose and the Montalvo Arts Center.
With her father in the military, her family moved around a lot, she says, and going to Catholic church on Sundays wherever they happened to live “felt like family and it gave me a sense of stability and belonging.”
After teaching disabled children for a number of years, she went on to work for  the Catholic Diocese in Santa Clara County, helping people with disabilities feel included in church life. Just last year, the Warmenhovens hosted a garden party for the Knights of St. John, an organization ounded to take care of wounded soldiers but that now donates frequently to children’s hospitals.
Charmaine’s father died of cancer when she was 13, and the Warmenhovens have been supporters of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Barons’ Ball each year.
“I do a variety of different things,” she says, “but they all make sense to me.”Rear View of Home
She and her husband met sitting next to each other on a plane on their way back to Princeton from the West Coast when she was a junior and he was a senior.
“He asked me to dinner,” she says, “and we were married two years later.”
After moving around the East Coast with his jobs for IBM and HP and hers in teaching, they arrived in Santa Clara Valley in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Dan Warmenhoven became president and CEO of Network Appliance, employing 45 people at the time. It has since grown to 8,000 employees worldwide.
The Warmenhovens moved from their house in Saratoga, which their son and daughter-in-law now own, to the Monte Sereno estate three years ago. Even though the house is grand, the rooms feel intimate. And she loves the indoor/outdoor flow of the house, which is perfect for entertaining.
She enjoys planning gatherings for her family and close friends, but she leaves the big parties to the pros. She has her list of favorite local party planners, florists and caterers.
“I just sit back and applaud,” she says, “and open the door.”Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Growing Family Downsizing with Style

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Desk in Breakfast nook

Desk in Breakfast nook

Meg Picanco has quite a home decor pedigree. For years, she and her  late mother, Nancy Biagini, owned and ran the highly-regarded Casa Casa store on San Jose’s Lincoln Avenue. And until last fall, she was a  partner in Willow Glen Home and Garden just down the street.

So you would expect the home she shares with her husband and two young children to be well appointed. But several life-changing events over the past few years have forced her to rethink the importance of belongings and what it truly means to make a house a home.
The top of a bookcase serves as a spot for special things

The top of a bookcase serves as a spot for special things

Like many families in these tough economic times, the growing Picanco family has downsized to half the space they were used to. And leave it to 41-year-old Picanco to do it with style.
She has turned the 1,400 square-foot cottage she rents in Willow Glen into a charming oasis filled — sparingly — with carefully chosen, quality furnishings from her retail days as well as the family heirlooms she cherishes most.
From her grandmother’s spice cabinet with a needlepoint inset to her mother’s glass-topped coffee table, the house has a feeling of warmth and deep roots no matter how temporary the rental may be.
“Bringing things into your home that have history give it a special aura,” Picanco said.
4414854286_145d8f0942_bHer journey to the rental house has taken a circuitous path. Picanco, her husband, Mario, and their two young children, Gabrielle and Giancarlo, were living in a 2,800 square-foot home in Boise, Idaho — “in search of a calmer life where we could live on one income.” But less than a year into their lives there, she was confronted at the same time with two frightening realities: her mother was diagnosed with colon cancer and her 19-month-old son was confirmed deaf.
Not only did she want to be close to her mother in San Jose as she fought the disease, but Picanco and her husband discovered that a top preschool for the deaf was located just up the peninsula in Redwood City.
“We knew we had to return to California,” she said. San Jose is where she studied interior design from San Jose State University and when she was 23, opened Casa Casa with her mother. Her sister joined later. When children came along for the sisters, the trio decided to sell the business. Picanco stayed on as a buyer for the new owners for a year before moving to Idaho in 2006.
They had been homeowners in San Jose before they moved and her husband holds a solid job in high tech, “but we could not afford to buy back into the market when we returned.”
So what did she do? She did what any woman would do: she held a garage sale. And she was compelled to sell “all the things that were wonderful, beautiful things I loved.”
But she kept a painted chest that her grandmother had left to her (and had tucked a note addressed to her inside for posterity,) a pair of her mother’s table lamps, a set of nesting tables her aunt brought back from Florence, and a delicate, bamboo-style chandelier that has stayed with the family through their moves and is decorated with holly berries at Christmas and streamers for birthdays.
4414024163_5f71b43c5d_oAfter a stint in one Willow Glen rental distinguished by a pink tile kitchen with a butterfly motif, she found the house her family now calls home, a place she hopes to stay in for at least the next several years.
It is the simplest of floorplans: small living and dining rooms, a newly-remodeled kitchen with a tiny breakfast nook, and three small bedrooms and one bath off the back hallway. No family room. No walk-in closets. The only extra is a quarter-basement that is just big enough for the washer and dryer and Picanco’s hanging clothes, folded sweaters, and neatly stacked shoes.
She maximizes every inch with function and style. She has turned the breakfast nook, that was practically too small for a table and chairs, into an office with one elegant, oversized desk topped with a computer. When the kids come home with backbacks and school papers, “everything gets filed immediately,” she said.
clock collection

clock collection

Perhaps the most surprising personal touch is her decision to invest in shutters for the dining room and bathroom. “I knew when we rented it , we would be here for at least several years, so why not make it our own home?” she said, “and I couldn’t live with metal mini blinds.”

She painted every room a separate color — coating the master bedroom with the same heathery hue she has used for her bedroom in every house. She filled her dining room hutch with her sterling silver and blue and white china as well as a pair of rhinestone-studded starfish. One had been her mother’s, and when she died in 2008, Picanco nestled it in a bowl with her own.
The Picanco family has lived in this house for just a year and in that time, their daughter has adjusted beautifully to her new school and their son has excelled at his. With cochlear implants, he can carry on conversations. “Every five minutes is a miracle,” Picanco said.
Their neighbors have become some of their best friends.
“I can’t deny I wouldn’t love to own my own house,” she said, “but we’re so happy here.”Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer