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Sea Ranch: Al Boeke’s Legacy on the Northern California Coast

November 20, 2011 in Architecture, Art, Design, Luxury Travel, Sustainability with Comments Off

Respect the land. That is the legacy of one of the most significant architect – developers of the late 20th century. Al Boeke died on November 8, 2011.

Photo: Eros Hoagland for New York Times: Utopia by the Sea

Charles Moore Home Sea Ranch: Courtesy Wondersphere

When I was in Architecture School in 1980 I had an oportunity to spend a summer at the San Francisco Art Institute, studying with other students from around the country. We were mentored by some of the most innovative architects of the late 20th century: Joseph Esherick, Donlyn Lyndon, William Turnbull, Richard Whitaker and Lawrence Halprin, the landscape architect who drafted California’s Sea Ranch master plan. Charles Moore took us to Sea Ranch where we met Al Boeke. That same summer we also met Nathaniel Owings founding partner of SOM (Skidmore Owings and Merril). We met Mr. Owings with his wife, Margaret Wentworth, at their home “The Wild Bird House” at Big Sur. It would not be for another twenty years that I would realize the impact that these extraordinary Californian’s would have on my own work. Since the mid nineties my partner Gregg Wilson and I have been designing and building homes on the California Coast.

Photo: Courtesy Los Angeles Times. Read Elaine Woo’s obituary : Al Boeke dies at 88; ‘father’ of Northern California’s Sea Ranch

Gregg keeps opening a book The Sea Ranch given to us by Jack Warner and Johanna Barnes. After we purchased their home they moved north to Sea Ranch. I’m beginning to think Gregg wants to move there because he’s been checking out the length of the runway at the tiny Sea Ranch airstrip! The book, by the way, is great and is written by Donlyn Lyndon, one of our mentors during that 1980 summer in San Francisco.

See Also: New York Times Travel: A Seaside Experiment great slide show & Utopia by the Sea

A Perfect Weekend in New York City. Broadway to Broad Street.

November 6, 2011 in Architecture, Art, Luxury Travel, Media with Comments Off

Gregg and I had the perfect weekend in New York City. We attended the wedding of two women I have known since the 80′s who have been a couple since 1972. One of my favorite stories about these remarkable women is that they are literally responsible for the very first artist loft conversion in SoHo, on Crosby Street. Congratulations ladies! Gregg and I hosted a family breakfast for them at our hotel also on Crosby Street, The Mondrian Soho.

The Mondrian Soho opened in March. We were given a corner room on a high floor (24th) and we had iconic views of Manhattan looking north and down onto all of Soho. We could see all of the fabulous penthouses and gardens built on top of all of those early twentieth century buildings. We walked down to The Frank Gehry Apartment Tower on Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan. Check out HotLuxe.com and Departures

Photo: John Maienza

We took in a couple of great shows: In a word, Hugh Jackman was Terrific. A wonderfully talented Broadway Star…Clearly his passion. Here is the official Site

Jackman was gracious to his audience and his other performers. It’s truly an uplifting show.

On the other hand, another show we both highly recommend is not so uplifting but is a watershed dramatic performance for all five stars who perform in it:’Other Desert Cities’. Written by Jon Robin Baitz, with possibly a Tony coming for him…just a prediction.

I loved the mid-century architecture of the set of “Other Desert Cities.’ Along with the mis-matched Palm Springs kitsch furnishings, it seemed a fitting backdrop for the characters and the drama created on the stage. To me, the set evoked a completely believable absence of taste. The Tony- worthy performances of each of the actors may well result in it’s being the play of the season….in our humble opinion.

The Cast: Thomas Sodowki, Judith Light, Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach, Rachel Griffiths. Here is the New York Times Review. We had time for one museum. This time we had to see the much- talked- about Maurizio Cattelan Exhibition “All” at the Guggenheim.

Courtesy NYTimes.com Great article. Check it out.

In all, it was a perfect weekend in New York. Great Architecture, great Broadway performances, great Art– three great days in great New York City.

FANGUIDE Architectural Tours on ipad and iphone

September 17, 2011 in Architecture, Art, Design, Luxury Travel with Comments Off

I have to give a shout out to PrairieMod and a big thank you, because they made a visit by our D.C.- based architectural student nephew a breeze! We had invited him out to see our nearly completed project, a LEED for Homes Platinum, custom home, we are building in Santa Barbara. Additionally, I could not have this young architect leave California without a BIG DOSE OF MODERNISM and a dash of Gehry.

Gregg Wilson, Rich Collins at our newest project and Pics of Houses by John Lautner, Richard Neutra,Frank Lloyd Wright, Lloyd Wright, and the LAX Theme Building

Photo: Maienza: Mar Vista, Gregory Ain, 1946

I used Prairie Design Group’s app called FANGUIDE and loved it. We used our ipad and iphone while navigating around LA inside the app! I found FANGUIDE by doing a search at the app store for LA Modern Architecture and this better- than- anticipated app popped up in the results. To my great surprise, FANGUIDE also features architectural tours of my hometown of River Forest and Oak Park. This app is interactive, it uses a locator, google maps, video, lots of images and just the perfect amount of information. It takes the research and work out of discovering a city’s architectural treasures. To think about how I did this when I was my nephew’s age, also in architectural school…..what a difference. For me, this is a “I Love the 21st Century” experience. Rich was less excited, but thought it / I were cool.

Photo: Maienza: Case Study House No. 16, Craig Ellwood, 1952

Photo: Maienza: Lloyd Wright, Taggart House, 1921

CLICK: FANGUIDE

World Trade Center Freedom Tower & Memorial

September 10, 2011 in Architecture, Design, Luxury Travel, Media with Comments Off

Beautiful Photos and great article about today’s service at the WTC Site by: Daily Mail

I don’t know about you, but all week it seems as if I’ve been completely inundated by the horrific images of 9/11. Seeing The World Trade Center on fire and then evaporating before our eyes, I was reminded of the scorched smell of lower Manhattan weeks after the terrible events of September 11th 2001. It has made me wonder how the progress is going on the reconstruction of the site, the memorial and the new Freedom Tower. Just wanted to pass it on. I was surprised by a few developments that I was not aware of. It feels good to look forward now after remembering the tragedy, the fallen and and the heros.

Rendering Courtesy Silverstein Properties: See This Update from Larry Silverstein.

Studio Daniel Libeskind or SDL created the design study that was selected in 2003 for the master plan of the rebuilding of the World Trader Site.

Photo Courtesy: New York Observer. Also See Construction Updates Courtesy: LowerManhattan.info.

The skyscraper is being built according to a revised design released in June 2005. The new design retains essential elements of the original plan– soaring 1,776 feet into the sky, its illuminated mast evoking the Statue of Liberty’s torch — but features a smaller, cubic base set back further from West Street to protect the building against future attacks. Below are artist renderings of the WTC Memorial. See NewYorkCurbe.com for more.

See Also: Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation for more information.

Venice Water Taxis, Motoscafi, are Fun and Fabulous & Romantic!

August 12, 2011 in Air & Sea, Architecture, Design, Luxury Travel, Videos with 1 Comment

Venice Water Taxis or Motoscafi are in my opinion, the best way to navigate around Venice in the summertime to avoid throngs of tourists and to enjoy the beauty and Architecture of Venice.

Amber and Leo, en route to dinner with us in a Motoscafo from Palazzetto Pisani. Leo is a native of Padua and Amber a transplanted Californian living happily in Paris with Leo. Gregg and I were their guests at Leo’s family home Palazetto Pisani on the Grand Canal (Center below).

When arriving into Marco Polo Airport in Venice the Water Taxi dock is an 7 minute walk from the terminal. You really don’t need a reservation as there are always Taxis coming and going and a dispatcher on hand to take your credit card. But if you’re more comfortable with a reservation here is a link to Motoscafi Venezia

Water Taxis in Venice are not cheap. It will cost 100-110 Euro to Get from the Airport Dock to a hotel on the Grand Canal like the Hotel Bauer Il Palazzo. It is a fixed rate; no negotiation. If you’ve ever had the Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp fantasy from The Tourist, then go for it. We did and it was totally worth it. photo: OKmagazine.

If you are dying for more visuals of this romantic and dreamy place, see a video of the experience recorded by Wendy Perrin, Consumer News Director for Conde Nast and author of one of the top travel blogs, The Perrin Post. If you are dying to experience it for yourself, keep your eyes on LuxuryLink for deals in the Auctions section. The VirtualTourist will help you find your way.

And don’t forget to tell us all about it when you get back home.

Aman-Fabulous in Montenegro at Sveti Stefan

August 7, 2011 in Air & Sea, Architecture, Cuisine, Design, Luxury Travel with 5 Comments

The Aman Group, the Singaporean hotelier long known for their low key and uber-private brand of luxury is in the finishing stages of opening up what may become the most glamorous and private resort on the Mediterranean. The Aman Sveti Stefan. (Saint Stefan)

It happens to be located in the small country of Montenegro, a sweet spot on the Dalmatian coast tucked between Croatia and Albania. With its towering limestone cliffs and blue green sea, Montenegro looks more like an exotic James Bond locale than one of the oldest medieval countries of the region. Castles, fortress walls, and quaint fishing villages, tucked between orchards and the sea make for a very picturesque spot.

John and I with our two friends were invited to enjoy a private al fresco lunch amid the olive and pine trees on the small island’s tiny piazza which the Aman Resort has transformed into an enchanted dining terrace.

As for the Aman, well, they scored. They took over a medieval walled fishing village on a small island connected by a spit of land, and converted a tired old ‘converted’ hotel into a succession of limestone cottages dotted over the rocks. Overlooking the sea, pavilions and piazzas are intertwined with private swimming pools where food can be served by award-winning chefs and an extremely well trained international staff. It is no wonder that European and Hollywood elite, such as the likes of Sophia Loren and Queen Elizabeth, have favored this little- known coast and this impossibly picturesque isle. This ‘secret enclave’ is a respite on the sea like no other, and it won’t be long till Montenegro is no longer a ‘secret.’ Book now as the hotel is in its pre-opening phase, and rates are already slated to go way up by next season!