look north

A great article on Northwest Modernism from the University of Washington alumni magazine. This article precedes the release of “Modern Views” a film by the UW Dept of Architecture and Studio/216. 

The documentary takes a look at the NW School’s roots in the 40s-60s with particular emphasis on our unique Pacific NW environment and UW influences. 

Featured in the film are some of our favorites including Paul Kirk (Magnolia Library, Meany Hall) and Paul Thiry (’62 World's Fair, The Frye, the endangered Normandy Park House). The film is set to premier May 20th at MOHAI Seattle.  

spring sprung

Surprise! There were bulbs planted in the yard before we moved in.

eichlers in the midst

The winter issue of Atomic Ranch arrived just in time for our holiday flight down to LA. Much to our surprise there was a feature about an Eichler house in Thousand Oaks- my hometown. I knew LA had pockets of these “California Modern” mid-centuries, but little did I know they were right in my backyard this whole time.

Joseph Eichler (1900–1974) was one of the only post-war developers to build modern homes aimed at the masses. Between 1949 and 1974, he partnered with some of the most progressive architects (including Anshen + Allen, A. Quincy Jones, Claude Oakland and Raphael Soriano) to build more than 11,000 modernist homes. Key Eichler characteristics include open floor plans and floor-to-ceiling glass which help blur the line between indoor and outdoor living. The resurgence of mid-century architecture and the Eichler cult following has pushed average prices into the 800s. They frequently appear in advertising and film.

We quickly pieced together the location and headed down for our architecture fieldtrip. Most of the homes are in great shape. You can certainly tell which owners know they have an Eichler on their hands. Here are some of our favorites and the full gallery. Supposedly there are about 100 of these homes in the Thousand Oaks area. I hope to find the rest on our next visit.

real simple weddings feature

A year and change later we are still basking in the awesomeness of our wedding day. Hot off press- Real Simple Weddings 2010. We are honored to have been selected for the annual wedding publication and even more amazed that Real Simple is on the masthead. A million thank you's to Belathée for their beautiful work and the once in a lifetime opportunity.
 

 
 

reusable bulleits

We love Bulleit Bourbon. It's not only a tasty whiskey, but the bottle + label meet our lofty design standards. Rather than recycle each bottle once the tasty contents have been vanquished, we try to find other household uses for the glass. So far we're using them as water carafes and mouthwash bottles (it is alcohol after all).

*Cork included.

holiday scenes

Hard to believe Christmas is just three days away. It's been a busy past few weeks filled with card authoring, technical tree lighting, conifer hydro-maintenance, massive baked goods generation, holiday imbibing and misc merry making.

saarinen in a can

A homage to the original while we figure out what we want to do with the dining situation. Goes well with our found Eames collection.