Jason Statham's Mid-Century Home

I'm fond of the handsome British action star, Jason Statham. He's appeared in a lot of lackluster films but I get a kick out of The Transporter movies and loved him in films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Bank Job. Apparently his taste in architecture is a bit more refined than his ability to choose a decent script. Statham's Los Angeles home has recently gone on the market and it's a real beauty!

I couldn't resist sharing some photos of this beautiful mid-century gem (originally built in 1957) that I swiped from the Redfin real estate site after reading a news headline about the sale. The actor is supposedly shopping around for a new home right now but I can't imagine why he's giving up something like this. Maybe his next house will be just as spectacular? Statham's decorating style is a little too sparse for my own taste and it's definitely got a masculine edge. It's easy to imagine the star of The Transporter films relaxing here after a hard day at work.

The following text is from the original listing: "Reminiscent of the famed 'Glass House' by Phillip Johnson this meticulously manicured home boldly displays fine lines with its post and beam motif throughout. Outdoor and indoor blend harmoniously as from all aspects natural light flows through the countless floor to ceiling panes of glass. Crisp uber chic finishes in the interior, complement the Jay Griffith designed landscaping throughout the whole property. Culminating with the essentially private pool and bathing area presenting the finest home of its kind on the hill today."

 

Interested in purchasing Statham's home? It will cost you a whopping $2,749,000! More details available at the Redfin site.

Napa's 2010 Holiday Candlelight Tour

Over the weekend my husband and I made some time for Napa's 2010 Holiday Candlelight Tour. This year the tour showcased some beautiful mid-century homes in Napa's Monticello Park area. Here's some information about the area borrowed from the tour brochure:

"... The population explosion led to a post-war building boom, and the area in and around the City of Napa saw the construction of seventy-one subdivisions between 1946 and 1951. Though Monticello Park was part of this post-war expansion, these houses were much larger and more substantial than the nearly identical tract houses intended for working-class families. After its subdivision in 1950, the houses in Monticello Park were developed individually over the next 15 years. The ranch-style architecture that dominated the neighborhood was inspired by architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and popularized in the California Bay Area by famous builder Joseph Eichler. The rambling one-story homes of the Monticello Park area epitomized the rise of the suburbia in post-WW2 America. Wide streets accommodated the large cars of the era and huge lawns were perfect for families at play. Design features developed in California, such as large expanses of windows oriented to the back yard, were associated with the desire to bring the outdoors inside, and gave rise to the term "California Modern." The size, quality, and innovative features found throughout the neighborhood quickly made Monticello Park a desirable neighborhood for Napa's professionals and business leaders, especially those with growing families."

And here's some more photos I snapped.









As locals, we really enjoyed the tour because it gave us the opportunity to learn more about our home town. Small details like finding out what kind of locally quarried stones were used on home exteriors and interiors helped us familiarize ourselves with aspects of Napa's architectural history that we didn't know anything about. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and helpful, which we really appreciated.

The tour organizers must have gotten a few ideas from the Sacramento Mid-Century Home Tour because they also had vintage cars parked outside each of the homes on the tour. This was a great idea that made it much easier for us to spot all the houses on the tour. The only disappointing aspect about the tour was the home interiors. Only one of the homes on the tour (an incredible and extremely unusual modern house designed by Grant Perkins in 1965) contained period furnishings and interior details that I really appreciated. The rest were more conservatively furnished. But many of the homes still maintained original features such as floors, etc. In a way this helped us focus more on the houses themselves instead of getting distracted by lots of designer eye-candy. We also didn't have the opportunity to really meet or chat with anyone besides the generous tour guides because we were trying to hurry a little so we could see the homes before it got too dark.

Overall we were just really happy that we got to see some more mid-century homes in Napa and learn about the history of the area. In conjunction with the Holiday Candlelight Tour, the Napa County Historical Society and Napa County Landmarks have organized an exhibit called "From Battleships to Apron Strings: How WW2 created Napa's Swingin' Fifties" on display downtown at the Goodman Library; 1219 First Street Napa, CA 94559 starting Dec. 14 and ending Feb 28, 2011.

I'm really excited about the exhibit and I hope it will give me the opportunity to learn more about my own neighborhood, which blossomed in the '50s. I've been trying to find more information about my home such as the builders name, house plans, etc. but the city hasn't been able to offer me much help. After I visit the exhibit I'll be sure to report back with my findings.

LINKS:
- My Flickr Gallery with more images from Napa's 2010 Holiday Candlelight Tour
- Local newspaper article about the event: Holiday Candlelight Tour visits Napa’s mid-century modern neighborhood

A Napa Mid-Century Architecture Tour

I was surprised and extremely excited to learn that the theme for this year's 22nd Annual Holiday CandleLight Tour presented by Napa County Landmarks & the Napa County Historical Society will be "Mad Men Meets The Valley." This self-led tour will highlight Monticello Park, a mid-century modern neighborhood in Napa. Accoding to the organizers Napa's Monticello Park contains "large and lovingly maintained mid-century homes" that "demonstrate the beautiful and innovative design features of post-war architecture and landscape design."

I've only lived in Napa 7 months so I'm still getting to know the area but I've been surprised by the number of beautiful mid-century buildings, houses and neighborhoods I've come across so far. One of the many reason's we moved here was because we loved the area but we continue to be surprised by Napa's diverse neighborhoods. From the lovingly preserved Victorians, to the California modern ranch homes, Napa is easily one of the state's most beautiful small cities and it contains some of of the most wonderful examples of California architecture that I've ever seen.

I'm currently researching my own neighborhood in Napa, which was called "Napa Rancho" at one time. It contains many cute and modest ranch homes and more modern houses as well that I plan to share photos of soon. Our own home seems to be a sort of hybird between the two types of houses we're surrounded by. Needless to say, I was thrilled to discover that there are other mid-century neighborhoods in Napa that I hadn't heard of yet as well as other mid-century enthusiasts who are obviously interested in preserving and maintaining their period homes. I had a great time at The Sacramento Mid-Century Home Tour back in June and although the Napa event seems to be much smaller in scale, I hope it will generate a lot of interest in Napa's mid-century architecture.

The Napa Mid-Century Holiday CandleLight Tour takes place on Saturday, December 11th from 3pm-6pm and starts at the Hay Barn Gallery at Gordon Huether Studio, 1821 Monticello Road. For more information please visit the Napa County Landmarks site or the Napa County Historical Society site where you can purchase tickets online.

The Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour

Over the weekend my husband and I attended the fabulous Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour & Car Show. We had a great time and saw some amazing homes and lovely old cars. We were eager to see how other people had renovated their mid-century houses and the tour provided us both with a lot of inspiration and fresh ideas. The crowd was great and we were surrounded by an incredibly diverse bunch of people of all strips who were obviously interested in Mid-Century design. Unfortunately we weren't able to take photographs of the interiors and we didn't get as many photos as we would have liked to due to camera troubles but here's a few highlights.


The Stecher Residence designed by Carter Sparks.

Jung Residence designed by Joseph Eichler

The Koutchis Residence designed by Joseph Eichler

The Sheridan Residence designed by Joseph Eichler

Landscape detail

If you'd like more photos from The Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour & Car Show you can find them in my Flickr Gallery.

Here are some other lovely photos of homes featured on the tour taken by other Flickr users (the small preview images link to larger versions of the photos hosted at Flickr):

1. Sac MCM Home Tour, 2. Sac MCM Home Tour, 3. Sac MCM Home Tour, 4. Sac MCM Home Tour, 5. Sac MCM Home Tour, 6. mcmhometour.2010.00142, 7. mcmhometour.2010.00124, 8. mcmhometour.2010.00107, 9. mcmhometour.2010.00144, 10. mcmhometour.2010.00132, 11. 1964 Robert N. Hill, 12. 1958 Carter Sparks, 13. Custom Carter Sparks, So. Land Park Hills, 14. Eichler Home, So. Land Park Hills, 15. Eichler Home, So. Land Park Hills, 16. mcmhometour.2010.00143

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Mid-Century Modern Home Events

Lately my hubby and I have been so busy trying to get settled into our new home and becoming familiar with Napa that we haven't a lot of free time to just relax and have fun together. Since we've become focused on home restoration and repair we've been looking for interesting local events that might help us with our endeavors as well as get us out of the house.

In the next few months there are two events happening within 80 miles of us that we might attend. The first event is the Eichler Remodeling Faire taking place in Mountain View on May 15th. According to the event site here's what attendees can expect:

"You're invited to Keycon's Eichler Remodeling Faire 2010, a FREE party-themed educational event where Eichler experts help you realize your remodeling dreams! SAVE TIME AND MONEY! Learn about the latest time- and money-saving strategies for KITCHEN, BATHROOM, ADDITION, and WHOLE HOUSE REMODELING! Enjoy complimentary food and beverages and kid-friendly activities!"

Of course we don't actually own an Eichler but according to our home's previous owners our custom built ranch home was "inspired by Eichler designs" and was advertised as such when we bought it. We don't know if we'll be able to make it all the way to Mountain View for the event yet but if we do go we hope that Eichler owners won't thumb their noses at us. At least we can point to the fact that my father in-law owned a beautiful Eichler home! I suspect we'd be able to get some tips and helpful advice for home restoration & repair at the Eichler Remodeling Faire so I'd like to go. More information about the event can be found on their site: Eichler Remodeling Faire 2010.

On June 26th The Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour takes place which promises to be a lot of fun for anyone interested in mid-century design. Here's the full scoop on the event from their official site:

"On Saturday, June 26, 2010 the Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour will provide enthusiasts of architecture and design an opportunity to discover what it’s like to live, work and play in more than 15 quintessentially Californian residential and commercial structures built between 1945 and 1970. This year's tour features homes within Sacramento’s South Land Park and adjacent neighborhoods, which contain hundreds of Mid-Century Modern residential and commercial buildings."

This event is a little closer to us so we're seriously considering trying to attend. I'm sure we'll get plenty of design inspiration if we do go. For more information about the event please visit The Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour site.

Final Walk Through

Yesterday we did the final walk through of our soon to be new home. We only had an hour to check everything and make sure there were no serious issues with the property. They left an old broken hot tub in the backyard so we're making them hall it away next week. The kitchen was added in the '90s and it's utterly falling apart and the bathrooms are just plain scary. The place is in desperate need of a good cleaning, a fresh coat of paint and some serious TLC but it's my home and I love it! Here's some of the pictures I took.

1954 custom built atomic ranch house

Original door (with kick guard added in the '90s that we'll remove asap)

Original clerestory windows

Original fireplace (they've added some insert we plan to remove asap

Dining area (we plan to remove the fan asap)

Pony wall

Kitchen seems to have been haphazardly updated in the late '80s or '90s and it's falling apart

Original tub in bathroom that needs a lot of work

Original kitchen floors
(unfortunately they were not cared for and need to be replaced)

Original wood floors we plan to clean and refinish

Will This Be My Home?

Top: Exterior shot
Middle: Example of what the front door looks like
Bottom: Interior shot

The past 4 months have been exciting and frustrating. While looking for a home that fits our budget we've occasionally wasted time looking at houses that we knew we could never afford. But the current housing market is unpredictable and you never know what to expect. This weekend we got an unexpected surprise.

We've had our eye on this custom built 1955 atomic ranch house for months and it suddenly dropped 40k from it's asking price. We immediately decided to make an offer on it and much to our surprise, it was excepted!

The house is the second home of a woman that actually lives in the neighborhood but it's a "short sale" which means the offer also has to be approved by the bank. At the moment we're in the beginning stages of escrow but until we get bank approval and go through inspections I'm trying to remain calm, cool and collected without getting too attached to the house since the deal could still fall apart.

The place needs a LOT of work and it will undoubtedly take us a few years to get it into tip top shape but if we do get the house I'm looking forward to the challenge of restoring it.

Adventures in House Hunting Part III.

The house hunting has not been going all that well. In the last month we've bid on two of the houses pictured below without success. After 3 months the house hunting adventure we've embarked on has worn me down, but I'm determined to not get too discouraged. There has to be a house out there for us and hopefully we'll find it.


Early '60s home with a fabulous original garage door


Cute storybook ranch house built in 1961


Mid-century modern home built in 1951


Atomic ranch house built in 1955