All posts by romicortier@yahoo.com

Architecture

Egyptian Revival at 2700 Glendower Avenue

August 18, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com 5 Comments

Egyptian Revival at 2700 Glendower, Photo Romi Cortier

Terrace at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy Redfin 2014

2700 Glendower, Dining Terrace off kitchen, Image courtesy Redfin 2014 — Dining Terrace off kitchen at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy Redfin 2014

Living Room, Top Floor at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy MLS 2010

Dining Room at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy MLS 2010

Fireplace at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy MLS 2010

Kitchen at 2700 Glendower, Image courtesy MLS 2010

Guest unit & back patio at 2700 Glendower, Photo courtesy MLS 2010

This Egyptian Revival Residence at 2700 Glendower Avenue in Los Feliz is my former residence. Granted, I lived in the mother-in-law apartment behind the house, but it made my first few years in LA pretty special. My view was of the golf course on the north side of the hill, with the ability to hear concerts at the Greek Theater… like Ms. Tina Turner.

Michele, who owned the house, was one of LA’s few female stunt car/precision drivers. Remember those Mercedes Benz commercials with Cybil Shepard in the 90’s? That was Michele’s handy work. I was living in an 8 week sublet when I met Michele at the salon and heard about her ‘room for rent’. I couldn’t move in fast enough. She also had 3 beautiful dogs that roamed the gated compound, so there was never any need to lock the doors. I’m going to do my best to dig up some photos from my archives of my time there. In the meantime, I’m using current and past MLS photos for this post, plus the ones I took from the street recently.

When I was taking photos at the Egyptian Theater this week, the trapezoid shapes triggered my memory of Michele’s home. So I decided it was time for a drive by to see how the house was looking. I was surprised to see that the home was for sale, and even more stunned to read it described as a Contemporary Brick & Glass Masterpiece. That’s not how I remembered it, so I looked it up on the MLS when I got home. Usually I’m all for renovating and updating, however, in this case, I think it was a huge mistake. Some homes are meant to have old world charm, and this is one of those homes. Michele had spent years working with a British Blue Blood Designer making the home into a rustic southwestern styled retreat. I realize that by now, that look was probably dated as well. However, the new images I’ve posted below from the current MLS listing show a remarkable change. The white kitchen looks like it belongs in a cape cod styled home. And the 60’s mod/hollywood regency great room looks ridiculous. It appears the fireplace as been removed, which makes me wonder about structural support. I was living in this home during the NorthRidge earthquake, and we came through it fairly unscathed. In fact, we had a large feast at the dinner table that night with about half a dozen of us, celebrating our good fortune.

My favorite room in this entire residence was the upstairs living room with the panoramic views. Sadly, the recessed soffits that echoed the exterior shape of the curved stucco trim, are completely gone. The room had previously been styled with vintage and rustic furniture that included an oval shaped wrought iron coffee table, previously used for a child’s casket. I know, sounds grim, but it was pretty damn cool. Her downstairs office was also lined with cowhide, there were rough hewn wide planks floors through out the home, with an overall casual elegance to it.

The home was built in 1924, and was completed about 6 months before Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis Brown Home down the street. I can only imagine what the ridge must have looked like in the 20’s & 30’s with only those Egyptian and Mayan structures. Michele had told me that the home was built by a Saudi Prince for his Mistress, however, research shows that it was built by contractor Arthur Holiday as his personal residence, and is sometimes referred to at the Arthur Holiday Residence… I think I like Michele’s story better. Also Michele had mentioned that she could have bought the lot across the street for about $15,000 in the early 70’s to ensure her view. She thought why bother, who could possibly build in the middle of that ravine. But this is LA, she should have known better. Once the home across the street was finally built, it took years to sell… lets chalk it up to bad feng shui.

The home was listed on 5/15/2012 by Carol Dotson at 310.927.4107, and was recently reduced by $200,000 to $2,395,000. I guess I’m not the only one who isn’t in love with the cape-cod/mid-century makeover. Hopefully it’ll sell to someone who has the vision to restore some of what’s been lost… this is after all, one of LA’s only Egyptian Revival homes.

Upstairs Living Room at 2700 Glendower, Photo Courtesy MLS 2014

Great Room at 2700 Glendower, Photo courtesy MLS 2014

Kitchen at 2700 Glendower, Photo courtesy MLS 2014

Architecture, Decorative Arts

Courtyard Murals of Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater

August 15, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Egyptian Theaters Ticket Office, Hollywood, Photo Romi Cortier

Egyptian Theater Mural, Hollywood, Photo Romi Cortier

Egyptian Mural at Hollywood's Egyptian Theater, Photo Romi Cortier — Egyptian Theater Mural, Hollywood, Photo Romi Cortier

Have you ever seen the Courtyard Murals of Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater? They’re pretty amazing and worth a visit.

Grauman’s Egyptian Theater (yes the same guy who built Hollywood’s Chinese Theater) opened in 1922 just 2 weeks before the discovery of King Tut’s Tomb. The original theater plans called for a Spanish Decor, with an Oriental influence, which proved to costly to build. So the developer turned to something less expensive that also capitalized on the euphoria surrounding the multiple expeditions searching for Tut’s Tomb.

As many of you know, Egyptophilia is a term used to describe the obsession or fascination with all things Egyptian. Structures built in the Egyptian style are referred to as Egyptian Revival. However, because of the association with Art Deco, many Egyptian structures are also referred to as Art Deco. The ziggurat, or terraced steps of the pyramidal structure, also influenced skyscraper designs in the 1920’s. The stair step feature allowed for less canyonization of the streets below, by allowing more light onto the street. That concept has all but disappeared in high rise construction today, however, that design element is also referred to as an Art Deco defining feature.

Other design features that I’d like to point out in the images above, include the zig-zag patterns on the wall mounted light fixtures, as well as the trapezoid shape of the ticket office windows, waterfall and wooden door. Zig zag patterning is a hallmark of art deco, and is often referred to as zig-zag moderne and can be seen on several building facades on Hollywood boulevard. It exemplified the exuberance of the jazz-age 20’s prior to the stock market crash of ’29. After that, art deco styles shifted to streamline moderne, with low slung horizontal lines… sometimes referred to as depression era deco.

During the 80’s and 90’s Hollywood was suffering an economic decline. The theater fell into disrepair and was given to the American Cinematheque in 1996 for $1, yes one dollar, with the provision that the landmark building be restored to its original grandeur and re-open as a movie theater. The theater reopened on December 4, 1998 after a $12.8 million renovation. One of the benefits of that restoration, was the completion of the large scale mural (2nd from the bottom), that had never been completed. All of these murals are inspired by actual Egyptian gods, pharaohs and hieroglyphs. They’re not simply made up for the sake of entertainment.

During my recent visit to the Egyptian Theater to take these photos, I was saddened at how few tourists actually noticed the building or stopped for photos. Hollywood boulevard was crammed with hot sweaty people checking out the trashy stores and the stars embedded in the sidewalk, but the Egyptians courtyard was empty. Therefore, I feel like there’s a missed opportunity with this wide open courtyard, that is sadly starting to look very shoddy. (I will admit I did a little photoshopping to clean up my images for this post). What about a relaxing garden cafe or seating area attached to the Pig & Whistle next door? Or the restoration of the water fountain with a some public seating areas and a few tall Palm Trees as one vintage post card shows? So much could still be done to capitalize on the history of this grand movie theater that predates the Chinese Theater just down the street, and bring in more tourism. Maybe that’s not the objective of the American Cinematheque. I will say that I’m very grateful that the murals have not been graffiti tagged and are in such excellent shape.

Stay tuned for my next blog post, which will include an Egyptian Revival home in the Hollywood Hills. It’s one of Hollywoods best kept secrets and is currently for sale.

If you’d like to read more about this theater, the Coincidental Dandy has an extraordinary blog post from 2011 that’s truly informative.

Art

Palm Springs Pool Series Paintings

August 13, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

'Bigger Towel', Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Bigger Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Towel' Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Curved Towel' Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Curved Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Pink Striped Towel', Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Pink Striped Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

This is my Palm Springs Pool Series of Paintings, inspired by photos that I took around the pool of my mid-century home in Palm Springs. It’s amazing how something as simple as a Barbie Towel from Target can take on a whole new life when draped over the edge of the pool. Faded after years of use, the old towel’s tones became richer and more saturated in the water, which made for great photos and even greater paintings.

I painted this sequential series of paintings (the top three) all at the same time. This was a new approach for my work, as I’d never had the required studio space to work on so many paintings at one time.

These paintings are larger in size than their actual environment, and they’re also very tight compositions of moments that most people don’t notice. Therefore, when they’re viewed in person, people have a difficult time understanding what they are. They often see the geometry in the images, but not ‘what they are’. Once they finally see it, there’s a big ‘ah hah’ moment.

I’m a big fan of the artist Francoise Gilot. I had the pleasure of meeting her about 8 years ago at a spectacular gallery opening of her works on the upper east side in Manhattan. I was so captivated by the large scale geometry of her work, that it challenged me to see images in a different way. At the time of the show, she was about 85, and I found the boldness and modernness of her work remarkable for someone of her age. But why should age have anything to do with the quality or tone of your work? It was my perception of how I thought an older woman should paint. But this is a woman who has been painting for over 70 years, and who spent a decade with Pablo Picasso. In her book, Life with Picasso, she talked about how Pablo challenged her to distill her work, and say more with fewer strokes of the brush. Reduce. Reduce. Reduce. Paint the image, then take some of it away.

Over the years, I’ve continued to let this concept resonate with me. In the above paintings, I also focused on texture. Francoise will often use her fingers to create surface texture in her paintings, so I gave that a try with the different colors of the towels. I used a stippling brush technique with the concrete pool coping, and chose an uber smooth finish for the pool tile. The water brushstrokes are very horizontal and blended, creating a mirroring effect of the surrounding tones. These elements combined together, create a true richness to the overall finished product. Interestingly enough, I haven’t sold a single one of these paintings. So lets hope the test of time works in my favor and some savvy and sophisticated collector falls in love with these works and simply has to have them. If not.. I’m happy to enjoy them myself.

Architecture

John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence

August 11, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Bedroom Firelplace, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Bedroom Firelplace, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Bedroom Window Detail, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Bedroom Window Detail, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop, Interior Atrium, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop, Interior Atrium, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Entrance, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Entrance, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Lower Level Studio, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Lower Level Studio/Guest House, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Carport, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Carport, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner's Silvertop Residence, Infinity Pool, Photo Romi Cortier — John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, Infinity Pool, Photo Romi Cortier

John Lautner’s Silvertop Residence, also known at the Reiner-Burchill Residence, has just been listed for sale. Asking price: 7.5 Million.

I visited this legendary residence during the 2008 Mak Center Tour organized in conjunction with The Hammer Museum‘s exhibit Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner. This home was next on my list for the blog, so I was thrilled when I discovered via Curbed LA that the home was now up for sale. I wondered how much had changed since I’d toured the home. Namely, were those cork ceilings still there? Interestingly enough, the images on their web site, aren’t much different than the ones I took 6 years earlier. Obviously they’re better quality images than mine, with proper lighting etc. (I’m sure the hired photographer wasn’t madly jumping off a tour bus first, and climbing back on last, frantically snapping away while moving through the space ahead of the others). However, judging from what I see on their website, not much has changed, in fact, even the chairs and sofa in front of the fireplace are the same. The cactus framing the window appears to have been replaced with a smaller one, so as to not obstruct the magnificent view, and the gardens have been cleaned up, but for all practical purposes the home looks pretty much spot on as it did during the home tour.

Silvertop took seven years to construct, and was completed in 1963 for Kenneth Reiner (ladies hair clip baron) at a cost of nearly $1 million, a tad over the $75,000 estimated cost. Sadly, Reiner ran into financials problems and was forced to sell the home. In 1974 the current owners bought the home and hired Lautner to finish the job. I’m not clear by the timeline I’ve found online if there was another owner from ’63 – ’74, or if the home sat vacant for those years.

The home’s construction was groundbreaking for many reasons: It’s concrete dome, which was a first for Lautner, the cantilevered driveway that has no support columns, faucet-less sinks that automatically fill with water, controls for lights and appliances that were set into walls and door jambs, and lights that pivot into the ceiling.

One observation that I’ll point out, is the cylindrical use of beams in the guest house. It reminds me of Lautner’s 1950 Harvey Residence , which I’ve written about in a previous post. I’m guessing he found this system successful, which is why he used it again in this residence. Additionally, the guest home is surrounded by that circular cantilevered driveway, thus the circular room construction makes perfect sense. So. Those cork ceilings… they’re still there. If Lautner were alive today, I have to wonder if he’d opt to have them removed. They do look cleaner than when I toured the home… maybe they’ve been carefully replaced. I know, I know, it’s best not to mess with such an iconic Los Angeles Jewel such as Silvertop.

Decorative Arts

ALESSI is Artful Luxury for Daily Living

August 4, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Citrus Basket by Mario Trimarchi for Alessi, Photo Romi Cortier

Teapot by Michael Graves, Alessi, Photo Romi Cortier — Teapot by Michael Graves for Alessi, Photo Romi Cortier

I’ve been a fan of Alessi and their Artful Luxury for Daily Living since the 1980’s. Why? Because lets be honest, the Italians do it best when it comes to high quality design. They’re always on the forefront of cutting edge design, from exquisite furniture to expensive sports cars, setting the trend for others to follow. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, you’ve heard of those cars, right? And what about the furniture of Roche Bobois, B&B Italia and Kartell… Italian is synonyms with passion.

Alessi began almost 100 years ago in 1921 when Giovanni Alessi, along with his brother, founded FAO. Giovanni’s eldest son Carlo joined the already highly regarded company in 1932. From the mid 1930’s to 1945, Carlo designed the majority of their collections. In 1970 the founders grandson Alberto joined the company and laid the foundation for ‘Alessi’ as we know it today, becoming one of the ‘Factories of Italian Design’.

So why is all of this history important? Because this is part of what you’re paying for when you purchase one of their products. I began collecting their pieces over 25 years ago in the post-modern era of the 1980’s. My pieces still look as amazing today as the day I bought them, which is why I’m such a huge fan of their work. They were ahead of there time then, therefore, they never look dated. Simple. Stunning. Modern. And to keep their company on the forefront of design, they partner with established designers and architects from around the world to create new artful fashion forward lines. There’s an old saying, you get what you pay for, and nothing could be truer when it comes to Alessi. They’re not a company of knock-offs, they’re the real deal, setting the bar for others to reach.

As some of you know, I’m a relatively new blogger. Therefore, I was a bit apprehensive about walking into their store unannounced at 313 N. Robertson with hopes of taking photos. Fortunately, the staff their was very cool and very kind and let me have at it with my little iphone. While I have some established favorites, it was very exciting to see some of their new merchandise. I’d rather have fewer things of high quality, than lots of cheap stuff. In a world where less is more… I can never have to much Alessi. To quote Arnold… I’ll be back.

Where Art Inspires Beauty