Autumn Updates & Design Healdsburg
It has been a busy third quarter for us this year; we’ve permitted 5 projects in Sonoma, Napa and San Francisco and we’ve started work on 2 huge new-build and interior design projects. We’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly fun clients who trusted us and the design vision we’ve created, so we look forward to sharing those projects as they develop.
We recently attended Design Healdsburg (events curated by Design Bay Area) and thought we’d share some of the insights and inspirations we gained from the weekend-long event. Private home tours, intimate group discussions with artists and new product showcases drew together hundreds of Bay-area designers which made for a thoroughly inspirational weekend.
We had a lot of fun with this recently completed a small bathroom and pantry project in St Helena, part of a larger full-home remodel that we are looking forward to showcasing in the future. In the meantime you can see the project here: Squares & Stripes.
One of our larger projects at the moment is a new-build home and pool house in Sonoma. We’re designing for an overarching aesthetic and color palette for the whole property, yet each main space within will have it’s own distinct identity. To do this we start with a progenitor palette, then using strong visual anchors for each room (such as natural stone countertops or patterned wallpaper) we build a family of colors and textures around it that takes from the progenitor palette. More updates on this project as it progresses.
At Design Healdsburg these two fascinating wine country remodels left a big impression on us. The first was a remodel of Mediterranean-inspired home. The original home had a hodgepodge of many different clashing Mediterranean styles, which the remodel aimed to fix into cohesive vision that had a distinctly California flair, obviously they succeeded. We loved their use of tastefully luxurious color to elevate a quiet sitting room into a destination that works to frame the outside. In terms of the exterior, we loved the reclaimed granite firepit & courtyard. This reclaimed granite motif was continued throughout the landscaping in the project. It adds a lovely textural quality to the landscaping that contrasts well with the “lush but dry” desert friendly plantings.
The other home was inspired by Balinese longhouse architecture, and originally featured one long great room with just bedrooms at one far end. We love how in the remodel the architects decided to break up this floor plan into distinct spaces while still affording a sense of openness through its use of large space-separating doors. The tasteful & subtle use of wood slatting & grooved wood paneled ceilings helps to add texture to this expansive space. All of it works together so you really feel the cathedral-like ceilings that the center cupola from the original design creates. One detail we especially liked was how they took advantage of the separate tub deck in the corner of the new master suite bathroom to create a really luxurious centering space, complete with soft linen curtains. While not a good fit for every project, having a separate tub from the shower area really opens up the canvas for some fun design details like this.
We had the opportunity to tour the McIntire Tile factory that has been in operation since the 1970’s, it was fascinating to learn about their production and made-to-order process. By pre-assembling finished designs with custom colors on substrate and shipping them to the job site in sheets installation of more complex tile patterns is more streamlined.
Kala Stein is a charismatic ceramic artist who’s work is iterative and experimental, playing with organic forms and processes, her work is as much a celebration of the craft of ceramics and its inherent unpredictability; both Kala and her work were truly inspiring to our personal practice.
esigned in the 90’s for different owners we were lead around the winery by the project’s designers Richard & Amy for a very personal and insightful interrogation of the work they’d produced decades earlier. The sustainable attitude and rationale behind their work was so ahead of it’s time; designing for longevity by making spaces flexible enough to grow and change function isn’t something that earns prestige, for them it was (as still is) a duty to the environment and local neighborhood that architecture should stand the test of time. We are so grateful to Richard & Amy for the tour and their willingness to answer our weirdly specific design questions!
Inspired by the Arts & Crafts legends in America Greene & Greene, this incredible home was commissioned in 2003 and designed by John Malick & Associates. It was hard not to be in awe of every bespoke detail on this project; custom light fixtures, stained glass, expert joinery and tile work. We were elated to be joined by the project mason on the tour who gladly answered our questions, their exterior work especially reminiscent of Greene & Greene’s Pasadena House project using local stone and brick work in an organic fashion. The home was the perfect canvas for the owner’s extensive collection of Arts & Crafts objects, from furniture and lighting, to artwork, ceramics and so many boxes.
On our last day at the Design Healdsburg weekend we went to the Healdsburg museum inside the old city library. It was disheartening to learn about the forced relocation of Western Wappo and Southern Pomo people from the area, with examples of their intricately woven baskets and personal histories both beautiful and solemn.
After experiencing the ever-strong ceramics culture and professional design scene of today it was gratifying to learn about Healdsburg’s early pottery and graphic design culture, the resident’s reactionary environmentalist movements and turbulent relationship with civic planning authorities. As a base for counter-culture, wellbeing, tolerance and the arts it was a pleasure to learn that Healdsburg residents also played a major role in early queer culture and it’s public acceptance, pushing back against proposition 6 in 1978.
We are incredibly thankful to Aaron at the Healdsburg Museum for spending time with us to walk us through the Bicentennial exhibition he created.