Painting

Palo Alto – Addison Antique

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

Palo Alto - Addison Antique

You know when you see something that you just love, but you don’t buy it, then you can’t stop thinking about it? That happened to me at Addison Antique in Palo Alto _ an eclectic shop with everything from deer-footed lamps to Louis IV furniture. It’s on the corner of Addison and Alma, right across the street from Anthropologie.

Palo Alto - Addison Antique - Dance Painting

Well, there in a dark corner was a dark painting _ but to me it had such life! Couples dancing in an impressionistic bar scene with a small jazz group behind them playing the night away. It reminded me of a painting in the living room of my Lookiloo partner Desiree _ a painting she sees through her front window when she comes home at night and gets the feeling there’s a party going on inside. The painting at Addison Antique is from the 1960s and was about $400 _ more than I was ready to spend. I still think about that painting. And if it’s not there when I’m ready to buy, if I’m ever ready to buy, I hope it goes to a good home.

Julia - lookiloos.com

Here’s the complete slideshow:

English Tudor in Woodside

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

English Tudor in Woodside

When Judy Cottingham Sieber walked up the driveway of the old English Tudor along the edge of Woodside Road, her heart sank. Hiding behind the tall privet hedge stood a little white cottage with a brick stoop and a wood-shingled roof with moss growing on it _ just the kind of house Judy imagined would be her own one day.

But this was a garage sale, not a house for sale.

“I turned around and walked away,” Judy said. “It’s the only garage sale I’ve ever walked away from.”

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Reviving a Spanish Revival

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

Reviving a Spanish Revival

Mention the grand Spanish Revival building on Eleventh Street that is home to the San Jose Woman’s Club and some old timers might remember a dance in the grand ballroom there in the 1940s, or a sorority luncheon in the tea room in the 1950s.

But for many locals, this architectural gem on a busy, one-way street _ with ornate tile work done by the same artisan who worked on Hearst Castle _ has gone unnoticed. Now, though, with the efforts of stalwart club members, donations from the city of San Jose and a good-hearted painter, the Spanish revival is reviving. And for all the recent improvements, it still looks remarkable the same as it did when it was built in 1929.

It’s amazing that it has survived at all, really, …

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