ISSUE 9 | 2020
A R C H I T E C T U R E • D E S I G N • A R T • L I F E S T Y L E • R E A L E S TAT E
KITCHENS MADE IN GERMANY
UrbanBonfire.com #YourKitchenOutdoors
Urban Bonfire’s outdoor kitchen systems have a wide array of functional and aesthetic options to choose from. Each custom kitchen is configured to maximize outdoor cooking and entertainment spaces while offering clients a vast array of colors and finishing options. For your complimentary digital design guide, or to begin planning #yourkitchenoutdoors, please visit urbanbonfire.com
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Essential OC Images of first responders, doctors, grocery store clerks, ferry captains, truck drivers, and other essential locals in a photo essay by Brett Hillyard.
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58 The OC Scene The best—and last, for now—fundraisers and philanthropic events in town.
66 Art and the Other
66 contents
OCMA’s Season 4 exhibitions will explore identity and culture as several artists and arts collectives look at the world.
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Background Check With digital meetings via Zoom and other apps now de rigueur, designers weigh in with tips about the most effective aesthetic backdrops.
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82 Interior Appeal Find inspiration while hunkered down at home with a look at some of the most beautiful rooms of the past century or so.
94 Design Matters Tips, trends, and aesthetic advice from design insiders and interior experts.
96 Real Estate Gallery
Blue Door Magazine members offer the most exclusive real estate listings in coastal Orange County.
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@BlueDoorMagazine
CONTENTS
112 112 Light and Space Anders Lasater offers a masterclass on how architects bring natural light and fresh air into a healthy home.
120 Modern Love A midcentury masterpiece designed in 1934 by architect Richard Neutra for a fading film star is ready for its close-up in Santa Monica.
128 Permanent Vacation A look at the architecture of getaway homes set in gloriously secluded global locations.
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138 Virtual Viewing
Blue Door Magazine member Michael Johnson of Compass elevates the art of the remote showing with a Laguna Village listing.
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146 Home is Where the Health Is
The safety and security of life at home— both indoors and out—will drive design decisions and creative solutions.
152 Past Poster Perfect
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Vintage WPA posters from the 1930s and 1940s offer familiar messages that inspire resilience and resolve.
The printing of this magazine is automated. Each issue is wrapped in a polybag by machine, untouched by human hands. The magazines are boxed and set on palettes wrapped again in plastic. Once delivered to coastal Orange County, Blue Door team members wearing gloves and masks distribute the magazines directly to your door.
BlueDoorMagazine.com
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Mark Tanner Photography
Building Building Southern Southern California’s California’s finest finest commissioned commissioned residences. residences.
Architecture: Homer Oatman Architecture: Homer Oatman Interiors: Errol Dejaeger Interiors: Errol Dejaeger
245 FISCHER AVE, SUITE A1 245 FISCHER AVE, COSTA MESA, CA.SUITE 92626A1 COSTA MESA,F:CA. 92626 T: 714.540.3700 714.540.3701 T: 714.540.3700 F: 714.540.3701
Staying apart to prevail together
3 0 1 CAR N AT ION AVENUE Corona del Mar | $16,995,000 valiaOC.com
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CONTRIBUTORS
IS A CO-OP BUSINESS OWNED BY OUR MEMBERS
Brett Hillyard
Alexandria Abramian
Elaina Francis
Brett Hillyard (aka “Hilly”) is a Southern California native with a Fine Arts Degree from USC. Hilly is a freelance documentary and advertising photographer known for capturing black and white candid photographs. He shoots and processes his own film and finds a genuine richness in the analog process. Hilly resides in San Clemente where the ocean plays a big role in his life, both as a surfer and openwater swimmer. If you would like to learn more, please visit HillyCollective.com.
Alexandria Abramian is a writer and magazine editor covering home design, architecture, and real estate. She has written for OC Register, Los Angeles Times, Elle Décor online, Veranda, Sunset, The Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and was a columnist for House Beautiful. Alex also provides strategic PR coaching for people interior designers, real estate developers and real estate agents..
Elaina Francis is a lifestyle photographer and mother of four children, nine and under. She specializes in families, newborn, and documentarystyle shoots, including birth photography. Her work has also been seen in OC Family magazine and in South Coast Plaza at 50, a coffee table book published by Assouline. Follow her work at @elainafrancisphoto on Instagram.
Annette Reeves
Anders Lasater, AIA
Jennifer Condas
Annette Reeves of PIRCH has 30 years of experience in the construction industry, including everything from windows and doors to plumbing, appliances, and outdoor. Her knowledge spans all elements of the design and build process, giving her the edge it takes to assist and coordinate every type of project. Reeves is dedicated to the needs of the client and the design community, and is excited to extend that connection as a contributor to Blue Door Magazine.
With 30 years of experience in architecture, the last 23 practicing custom home design in coastal Orange County. Anders Lasater is an award-winning architect specializing in custom homes, galleries, salons, restaurants, retail fashion boutiques, and specialized commercial projects. Anders served on the faculty of Cal Poly Pomona teaching architectural design and continues as a guest lecturer at colleges and universities. That dedication to education now extends to writing for Blue Door Magazine.
Jennifer Condas received a B.A. in Art History (cum laude) and an M.A. in History from UC Irvine. She is working on a monograph about Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and the founding of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She has been a guest lecturer at both UCI and OCMA, where she is an active docent. Condas also co-chairs the Visionaries Lecture Series at OCMA EXPAND. She is a long-time philanthropist, the mother of 20-year-old twin girls, and is married to attorney John Condas.
Creative Director
the board / staff / contributors
THE BOARD
Designer
Steven Short, Timothy Tamura, Casey Lesher, Mike Close, Michael Reeves, Michael Johnson, Jason Bradshaw, Carol Lee, Justin Williams, Shannon Ratcliffe
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@BlueDoorMagazine
Writer
Architect
Photographer
Writer
151 Kalmus Drive, Suite G1
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Costa Mesa, California 92626
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714.754.4040
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brandonarchitects.com
POWER HOUR from Shannon Ratcliffe
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kedric Francis
Blue Door Magazine pivots to provide even more content and collaboration.
kedric@bluedoormagazine.com
In these times of pandemic, we face challenges to every aspect of our lives and our livelihoods. When things seem beyond our control, that’s the time to step up, pivot, and bring some control and creativity to what was chaos.
the board / staff / contributors
Blue Door Magazine’s membership model brings unique content and engagement to its readers. It also brings collaboration, networking, and shared learning to its advertisers. Hardwired into our DNA is listening to the luxury, design, nonprofit, and real estate communities. Our relationships are fundamentally important and we realize the need to pivot quickly from face-to-face networking events to the online version. This was our opportunity to convene a symposium with key agents of change with 15 top architects, designers, real estate agents, and industry partners on a Zoom call, entitled The Blue Door Magazine Power Hour. We discussed industry trends to keep business moving forward and shared ideas for collaboration through this crisis. There were actually lots of smiles, laughs, and genuine camaraderie. As many of us have discovered, online connections
through Zoom and platforms like it, WORK! We were excited when Urban Bonfire partnered with us on a subsequent call focused on the brand’s unique storytelling about luxury kitchens outdoors. We look forward to collaborating with them and other unique local and global brands. Blue Door Magazine is taking a holistic approach to our relationships. We are embracing digital formats while never forsaking the relationship that readers and consumers have with the printed magazine. The visual, tactile, and aesthetic impact of a fine magazine cannot be replicated online. Print and digital content is being consumed at an accelerated rate. Our readers, members, and advertising partners can expect more “face to face” networking though new digital platforms, virtual showroom tours, and online product education seminars, as we learn to adjust to this new world. Our brand will continue to be the printed and digital voice connecting the luxury, design, art, architectural, and real estate communities. From our door to yours… be safe and well! shannon@bluedoormagazine.com
ART DIRECTOR Randi Karabin
randi@karabincreative.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Brett Hillyard
brett@bluedoormagazine.com
SENIOR EDITOR Alexandria Abramian COPY EDITOR Carole Lightner PUBLISHER Maria Barnes
949.436.1590 maria@bluedoormagazine.com
MANAGING DIRECTOR Shannon Ratcliffe
714.723.3501 shannon@bluedoormagazine.com
CFO Chip Pertel
408.616.0892 chip@bluedoormagazine.com
FOUNDER Justin Williams
208.720.2142 justin@bluedoormagazine.com ISSUE 9 | 2020
ON THE COVER
A R C H I T E C T U R E • D E S I G N • A R T • L I F E S T Y L E • R E A L E S TAT E
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The cover photo was conceived and taken by Brett Hillyard. “This image was inspired by filmmaker Wes Anderson. I admire his style with colorful outfits, distortion of scale, and linear symmetry. Symmetry in design, architecture, and photography is so important and always something I seek to prioritize. The dollhouse I borrowed from my niece Eva, and the ladder from my neighbor Bruce. My friend Minh Pham, who is an amazing photographer, was cool enough to model!” Contact Hilly Collective: 949.257.9011
Blue Door Magazine is published by Aspect Media LLC
Copyright © 2020 Aspect Media LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by the authors and contributors to Blue Door Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor and publisher. PRINTED BY PUBLICATION PRINTERS
P U RV E Y O R S o f H A N D C R A F T E D F R E N C H R A N G E S S I N C E 1 9 0 8 S e e L A C O R N U E a t t h e M I D D L E B Y R E S I D E N T I A L S H O W C A S E G A L L E RY LACORNUEUSA.COM
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MIDDLEBYRESIDENTIAL.COM
THE MIDDLEBY RESIDENTIAL LUXURY BRAND PORTFOLIO
R E Q U E S T a S A L E S C O N S U L T A T I O N o v e r V I RT U A L A P P O I N T M E N T f o r a n y o f o u r M I D D L E B Y R E S I D E N T I A L B R A N D S . C O N T A C T
ncooper@middlebyresidential.com
HUGO LANDA PHOTOGRAPHY
“Selecting the right products for each client is my absolute passion. Before I start a project I seek to understand the personal aspects of how the family interacts together, where they gather and how each member functions throughout the house. No detail is too small. Call to book an appointment, and start planning your dream home!” –Annette Reeves, Senior Advisor, Lifestyle Experience
ANNETTE REEVES 3303 Hyland Avenue, Suite D | Costa Mesa, California 92626 949.212.9101 | annette.reeves@pirch.com | annettereeves.com | pirch.com
DEJAGER DESIGN MARK TANNER PHOTOGRAPHY
PUBLISHER’S NOTE from Maria Barnes
“Kites rise highest against the wind—not with it.” —Winston Churchill
publisher’s note
The experience of putting this issue of the Blue Door Magazine together in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis has been so different than past ones—just as all of our lives, both personal and professional, have changed in ways we’d never have imagined. In this issue, you’ll see a photo essay of amazing images of front-line heroes, essential individuals, and incredible people keeping us healthy, safe, reasonably sane… and fed! In extraordinary times of hardship, there are extraordinary acts of generosity. I have been truly touched to see so many people whom I get to call friends offer support, recognition, and thanks to local businesses and charities. I have cried tears of gratitude many times throughout this process, and heard stories of sacrifice, hardship, and community. I have never felt prouder to call Orange County my home as I watch our community come together. Local business leaders—Tom Davis, Bob Mister, Greg Mech, Mark Christy and others in Laguna Beach—scrambled to create the Laguna Beach COVID-19 Fund, in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach and the Laguna Beach Community Foundation. Its focus is providing immediate financial aid to those who live or work in Laguna Beach, with emphasis on those in the restaurant, hospitality, retail, and personal services industries. Their goal is to raise $300,000 and as we go to print they are halfway there.
Thank you so very much to David Pyle and family (OneRoot Foundation) for their community outreach to workers at local restaurants and businesses, offering financial support so that they might secure food, rent, critical needs. The family businesses and people the Pyles are helping have been part of their lives for over 40 years. Mike Johnson from Compass, I commend you for giving back to those raising funds for those doing with less or nothing during this time, through The Food Pantry and Laguna Beach COVID-19 Fund, among others. Maura Short (also from Compass), kudos to you and your family for supporting Sally’s Fund and the Food Pantry in such a big way, both with your time and also your fundraising. I am very proud of you and all our Blue Door Magazine members and advertising partners, who have pivoted professionally, personally, and philanthropically with such grace and generosity. WE ALL THANK YOU. And finally, a note of gratitude to my friends—Kim Fox, Lynn Pyle, Karen Jaffe, Doug and Angela O’Donnell, Tom Davis, Yolanda Newton, the Hillyards, and Sherry Pollack—for your contributions to this issue, which are symbolic of your unselfish support of others during this unprecedented time. And on a note of economic optimism, I received a text from Blue Door Magazine member Casey Lesher from Coldwell Banker. Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, he had the biggest week of real estate sales in his entire career this past week. The future is still unsettling and there are challenges ahead, but it’s abundantly clear that as a community, WE’VE GOT THIS! From all of us here at Blue Door Magazine, we thank you all for your support. Please feel free to reach out. maria@bluedoormagazine.com
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BlueDoorMagazine.com
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RED SKY RESORTS
Managing Luxury Vacation Rentals Year Round | Park City | Deer Valley | Newport Beach
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RedSkyResorts.com
Larry Schott, President
949 285 0018
info@redskyresorts.com
Timeless Elegance & Superb Craftsmanship
714.536.6942 • gaetanoinc.com Custom Installation and Refinishing • Family Owned since 1955 PHOTO: MANOLO LANGIS. ESTATE BY: SPINNAKER DEVELOPMENT.
EDITOR’S NOTE from Kedric Francis
Safe at home—that used to be a sports phrase, right? In the past months, it’s been the new reality for those of us not called to essential work saving lives, producing and providing food, and protecting our safety.
editor’s note
I can’t think of a time when “home” has seemed more important. We have seven humans in ours—including one very vulnerable in the midst of a fight against cancer. Like everyone, my only goal during March and April was to keep my family happy and healthy by staying home, with the greater goal of helping to stop the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable to it. Is it wrong to admit that I’ve loved parts of it? Not the fear and anxiety, of course, nor the existential angst about the future of our community and economy, nor the aching empathy felt for those who have suffered and lost much more than we have. Still, being forced to focus on essential needs while faced with few distractions has included moments of pure joy. Watching my wife teach the kids at the kitchen table. And seeing them thrive. Planting a garden. Creating a magazine from home in collaboration with talented colleagues. Aiming a hose at squealing kids on a 90-degree day. Playing Frisbee in the backyard. “Daddy, can we go until we catch 100 in a row?” Sure, I’ve got no place to be. Yes, safe at home. Our perfect nests, made even more so by the hours, days, and weeks we’ve been offered by the universe. Time enough to obsess over every detail of our domestic environments. And those helpful, helpful partners, working from home now, so eager to chime in with a “why do you do it that way?” about some task they’d never paid attention to before, and which the other had long ago mastered. Photo by Elaina Francis 20
@BlueDoorMagazine
Why, thank you, I’d really never thought of that before! (I plead guilty to a bit of ‘mansplaining’ myself, with apologies to my wife and family.) And there are the wonderful children, called back from university, or home from grade school. So positive and engaged with their parents. So encouraging of their siblings, with arguments rare and quickly resolved— at least some of the time! Thankfully, we’ve had websites and social media to keep us informed, engaged, and focused on our common cause, rather than our differences. Too soon? It may be hard to find a touch of humor in our shared situation. It is and remains one of the most challenging times we’ve faced. Still, I have hope and confidence that our resilient and resourceful community will endure, recover, and prosper. And as it does, we will be grateful to those who have stepped up for us during this trying time. In the following pages you’ll see portraits of individuals, representing many others, who have been there for their neighbors. We offer it in appreciation of those who have given and risked much in recent weeks. Thank you to the first responders, certainly. And also to the ferry boat captains and truck drivers, to the delivery drivers and construction workers. Thank you to the business professionals working remotely while keeping our economy afloat. Thanks to the artists, actors, writers, and dancers creating and performing from afar, for now. Thanks to the donors and volunteers, giving generously to help others in need. We appreciate the cooks, bakers, and chefs delivering food to fire stations, hospitals, and healthcare workers, while pivoting their deeply impacted businesses to provide delivery and take-out for the rest of us. Thanks to the builders, planners, architects, real estate professionals, and designers helping us live better now, who will be key in driving the coming recovery. And to the scientists, health experts, and public officials making the hard decisions to help keep us safe—thank you, too. Finally, thank you to our readers, partners, and friends. I miss you. Enjoy the issue, and I hope to see you soon—in person, please! kedric@bluedoormagazine.com BlueDoorMagazine.com
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Home has never been more important. Home is where you are. It’s where we are too.
It’s the keeper of your moments and milestones. It’s the constant in all this change. It’s why we do what we do. And why we’re committed to helping everyone find their home whenever you’re looking.
#agentsofcompass
While things may look different right now, what remains the same is our commitment to you. We’ve been bringing clients home for years, and we will continue to for decades more. We will come back from this, and on the way, you’ll find us here dedicated to you as always. To your families. To your celebrations. To your peace of mind. To your investments. To your home. Because wherever the world goes, home is where you stay.
Mike Johnson Group 949.207.3735 mikejohnsongroup@compass.com DRE 01429647
Maura Short 949.233.7949 maura@compass.com DRE 01883774
Baumgartner | Young 949.290.5906 cari.young@ compass.com DRE 01148961
Hanz Radlein 949.245.4470 hanz.radlein@compass.com DRE 01954778
Carol Lee 949.395.3994 carol.lee@compass.com DRE 01402855
Kathryn White | Andre White 949.433.0315 kathryn.white@compass.com DRE 01346645
Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but has not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate.
Providing you with exceptional quality, craftsmanship, and personalized detail in every job. FINELINEWOOD.COM 714.540.5468 CA License Number: 857746 info@finelinewood.com
OC
ESSENTIAL
The Covid-19 crisis has confirmed that heroes live and work among us. Some sought the risk and reward of dangerous work, while others had essential status thrust upon them.
Photo Essay by Brett Hillyard
One of the most revelatory aspects of the ongoing pandemic is how quickly we have come to appreciate what is truly essential in our lives. Many we already knew about. First-responders, doctors, nurses, and scientists. Others, we’ve come to more deeply appreciate recently. We’ve all hopefully thanked grocery store workers in recent weeks for helping us feed our families—where would we be without them and thousands doing other jobs here in Orange County? Others have risen in support of those essential people—bringing them food, donating time, money, and supplies. While viewing the photographs that follow, think about the people who have helped you and yours through these difficult days, and what we can do to support them, starting with a simple “thank you.”
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
DANIEL CURTIS Lifeguard Crystal Cove State Park
BlueDoorMagazine.com
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DR. KARI KAJITANI Emergency Room Doctor El Centro Hospital
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
PAUL HOLADAY Fire Captain Orange County Fire Authority
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LIEUTENANT CHRIS CORN Harbormaster, OC Sheriff’s Department Newport Beach 28
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE CHRIS MASILON City of Anaheim Police Officer Huntington Beach
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
KATIE HIBBARD The Ecology Center San Juan Capistrano
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LESLI HENDERSON, SUSAN THOMAS, CYNTHIA CARSON Volunteers Laguna Food Pantry
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE WHAT GOES HERE?
DARLENE SOLARSKI Pavilions employee Laguna Beach
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ERIK ECKHOLM Driver, Harbor Distribution Costa Mesa
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
WING LAM Food delivery volunteer Hoag Hospital Irvine
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AMAR SANTANA
SHACHI MEHRA
Chef/volunteer at OC Baking Orange
Chef/volunteer at OC Baking Orange
@BlueDoorMagazine
SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
DEAN KIM Baker/volunteer OC Baking Co Orange
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
LAUREN DOUGLASS Balboa Island Ferry captain Newport Beach
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JEANINE HOLLEY Train conductor Irvine
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
RANDY Tank truck driver Costa Mesa
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE
LEON Bootblack Newport Beach Car Wash
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CASEY LESHER Real Estate Agent Corona del Mar
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SPECIAL PHOTO FEATURE WHAT GOES HERE?
MARCOS, HECTOR, AND BOB Construction workers Laguna Beach
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PATRICK O’DONOHUE Welder/installer at Baja HQ San Juan Capistrano
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DR. RODNEY BOYD Dentist Laguna Hills
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SUSAN VALADEZ Nurse Hoag Hospital
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PHOTO BY BRET T HILLYARD
The Short Family is grateful to Sally’s Fund for all they do…... Sally’s Fund is an outreach program that helps frail seniors with a variety of life’s challenges. Sally’s Fund has transitioned during this vital time by delivering meals and checking on our frail seniors. They continue to take these seniors to critical appointments.
Help support Sally’s Fund during this vital time. VISIT sallysfund.com
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I love that some wonderful individuals banded together really quickly to create an AMAZING GRANT PROGRAM to help those in our own neighborhood that are feeling immediate pain from the economic fallout our our current situation. This will make a difference for those in need. — MIKE JOHNSON
LAGUNA COVID19
RELIEF FUND
LEARN HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT THIS FUND. Contact the Laguna COVID-19 Relief at 949 637 3357 or lagunacovid19relief@gmail.com
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Supporting the A Market who has given us so much. —The Pyle Family
A MARKET
Families Forward is a non-profit dedicated to helping local Orange County families who are homeless or close to homelessness find a path back to stable housing and self sufficiency. I’ve been a front desk volunteer at Families Forward for about 6 years. It’s the most rewarding and humbling volunteer work I have ever been part of. The numbers of families on the brink of homelessness during “normal” times is overwhelming, the influx of families seeking help since the Corona Pandemic has been staggering. The food pantry shelves are running close to bare. I support this organization every week by running food pantry staples donated from neighbors and friends. People have rallied and pulled through with donations of bread, peanut butter, and cereal. —Yolanda Newton
FAMILIE S -FORWAR D.ORG
“The Bahn Mi sausage, the delicate cut of their fresh steaks and the bone broth sets Sections apart from all supermarkets. Walking in there and seeing the smiling faces of all of the butchers always makes me happy." —Kim Fox
SECTIONS FIN E MEATS (949) 432-5120 | 333 E 17th St #22, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 TUE-SAT - 10am-7pm | SUNDAY - 10am-5pm | CLOSED MONDAY
PHOTO BY BRET T HILLYARD
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OC PET CARE HAS BEEN MY SAVING GRACE FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS. My dogs are so excited to get picked up for daycare by her team every morning. She has helped my rescue dog work through her anxiety issues, and I trust her with any and all behavioral issues. She truly loves the dogs and uses positive reinforcement to get the most amazing results. —Kim Fox
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Bringing creativity to the community through DIY workshops and home decor since 2015. NOW OFFERING DIY AT HOME PROJECTS for adults & children with curbside pick up.
Leading the Pack Since 2012, Orange County Pet Care offers dog training, pack-walks, doggie daycare, and overnight boarding. OCPE TC ARE.com
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5/3/20 11:25 AM
20331 Lake Forest Dr. C-12, Lake Forest, CA 92630 949-916-0009 | studiovintagerental.com
S H E R RY P O L L AC K WA L K E R . C L E A R C A NVA S
Cr yst al C ove C o tta g e
Be ach Cruis e rs
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Seascapes
Landscapes
Underwater Sea Life
Florals
Abstracts
Lesa Vander Bie is an emerging Fine Artist/ Professional Oil Painter who is passionate about enhancing the sacred place you live and work through creating refreshing impressions in oils of landscapes, seascapes, underwater, florals and abstracts of all sizes, up to 6’ plus.
LesaVanderBieArt.com @lesavanderbieart
@lesavanderbieart
DURING THIS UNPRECEDENTED TIME, WE ARE INCREDIBLY APPRECIATIVE OF THE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE REMAINED OPEN AND MODIFIED THEIR OPER ATIONS TO CONTINUE SERVING OUR COMMUNIT Y. WE WILL NE VER FORGET THE GESTURES, BIG AND SMALL, THAT CRE ATED COMFORT DURING THIS TIME OF CRISIS. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK DALE ROHDE AND THE STAFF/FAMILIES OF MASTRO’S OCEAN CLUB FOR A JOB WELL DONE. WISHING E VERYONE CONTINUED GOOD HE ALTH AND SPIRITS. —DOUGL AS AND ANGEL A O’DONNELL
McCALL MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY
LAGUNA COVID19
RELIEF FUND
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE MINI-GRANTS | LAGUNA BEACH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
PHOTO BY BRETT HILLYARD
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LAGUNA BEACH
In an effort to support those most affected by this crisis, the Laguna Beach Community Foundation (LBCF) has launched an Emergency Assistance Mini-Grant program to provide financial relief to those most impacted by the COVID-19 in Laguna Beach by making funds available to individuals for rent, food, medical bills and other basic needs.
LEARN HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT THIS FUND. Contact the Laguna COVID-19 Relief at 949 637 3357 or lagunacovid19relief@gmail.com
It is quite an irony that those who provide us food and beverage each day are struggling to put food on their own tables.
These businesses serve us and our community in our daily lives each day. It is time for us to support them during this time of need.
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Donate
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Get meals/beverages to go
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Buy gift cards now for later use— cash flow for business owners to stay afloat
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Share about these activities with your friends
Sponsored by anonymous community supporter
Now is the time to build a healthy future. Together we can change how we nourish our families, connect to our land, and make what we all need to thrive. In this time of need we are focused on growing and distributing food. The Ecology Center donates at least 20% of what we grow and distribute, as a commitment to fighting food insecurity in our backyard. Visit TheEcologyCenter.org to join our email for farm updates and upcoming offerings.
REGENERATIVE ORGANIC FARMING
COMMUNITY-CENTERED FOOD DISTRIBUTION
In the middle of Orange County, a community farm for all to share. The Ecology Center farm serves as a model to nourish children, inspire our community, and train our future leaders
When grocery stores’ shelves were empty, The Ecology Center Farm Stand offered fresh, local, sustainable produce and pantry goods in a safe setting. Currently open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9am-5pm
32701 Alipaz St, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. Phone 949.443.4223.
SIGN UP for our quarterly community supported agriculture (CSA) membership, Farm Share, starting in June for consistent, reliable, family-sized produce boxes, packed with beautiful, fresh, seasonal, and diverse culinary staples and exciting varieties from our farm and our local artisanal partners. Choose the amount you want as well as the cadence, to ensure your family has all that you need.
TheEcologyCenter.org
The Ecology Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.
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TABLE FOR TEN SWAPS GOURMET DISHES FOR SICK KIDS’ WISHES By James Reed
Photos by Bob Hodson, Tony Lattimore, and Mackenzie Romano
Orange County’s coastal hotels have long been centers of culture, community, and cuisine—and charity. As mentioned in prior pages, nonprofits depend upon galas and gatherings to raise significant revenue to support their good work. We are thinking about the many individuals who support their families in hospitality, the event industry, and restaurant worlds. Blue Door Magazine was proud to be a media sponsor of an event that brought those worlds together: Table for Ten’s annual culinary extravaganza that drew some 320 food and wine lovers to Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa in Dana Point. The event raised more than $350,000 for Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire, which creates life-changing wish experiences for children battling critical illnesses. Since 1983, the chapter has granted more than 7,000 wishes to children living in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. Some 40 chefs and their support crews provided the signature Table for Ten experience during dinner: a six-course tableside dinner, with superb wine pairings, with each table uniquely decorated by a particular restaurant. As the ballroom doors open on the uniquely aesthetic scene, guests do not yet know at which chef’s table they’ll sit. 58
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4 1. Chefs Jessica Roy and Pascal Olhats 2. CEO Gloria Jetter Crockett with Honorary Executive Chef Chair Ron Fougeray of Splashes, Surf & Sand Resort 3. Presenting Sponsor Mary Murfey with Make-A-Wish America CEO Richard K. Davis 4. Celebrity Chef Chris Tzorin with XClusive Taqueria Moderna 5. Ryan New and Heather Lyon 6. Lisa Lantgen, Elizabeth Larsons, Jason Lantgen, Matt Larsons 7. Georgeana Ireland with her painting she donated 8. Venue Host Executive Chefs John Tesar and Salvatore Giuliano, The Outer Reef, Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort
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BLUE DOOR SCENE The host chefs were John Tesar and Salvatore Giuliano, whose much-anticipated new restaurant The Outer Reef was meant to debut at Laguna Cliffs this spring. Tesar is a celebrity chef/owner of Knife restaurants in Dallas and known for appearances on Top Chef and Kitchen Confidential, where he was one of Anthony Bourdain’s favorites. Tesar is a James Beard Best Chef semifinalist, and we can’t wait see him cooking in Orange County.
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Ron Fougeray of Splashes at Surf & Sand Resort was the honorary chef chair of the event, and Chris Tzorin, a regular on the Food Network and cochef at Xclusive Taqueria Moderna in Ladera Ranch, was also a headliner. Restaurants and chefs from the OC hotel and resort world were also front and center in support of Make-A-Wish, including AVEO Table + Bar, Monarch Beach Resort (Jason Adams and Donald Lockhart); Montage Laguna Beach (David Serus and Ben Martinek); Newport Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Andy Arndt); The Mayor’s Table at Lido House (Riley Huddleston); The Ranch at Laguna Beach (Kyle St. John); The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel (Steve Wan); and Watertable, Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa (Manfred Lassahn). Other key coastal culinarians donating time, tastes, and talent at Table for Ten included Craft House, Cannery Seafood of the Pacific, Bluegold/LSXO, Glasspar, Nobu NB, Seahorse at Pearl Street Laguna Beach, and The Pacific Club.
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A silent auction and cocktail reception before dinner featured (happily!) Chef Pascal Olhats from Café Jardin, along with other wine, artisan food, and chef favorites. A 57-bottle wine tree valued at $3,000, donated by Mona Lee Nesseth, was a huge draw. At the dinner, presenting sponsor Mary Murfey and three other generous attendees each contributed $15,000 in the Fund-A-Need portion of the evening, with a significant total reached to benefit the deserving nonprofit. Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire President and CEO Gloria Jetter Crockett and Make-A-Wish America CEO Richard K. Davis also attended the event. “Our organization provides children with life-changing wish experiences,” Crockett explains. “These children are battling critical illnesses with many enduring years of chemotherapy treatment, surgeries, and doctor’s appointments. Then, Make-A-Wish comes along, and we provide our wish children with hope, strength, and inspiration. Parents tell us that their children are more likely to comply with treatment when they have a wish to look forward to. They fight harder, they have hope.”
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Covid-19 Impact Make-A-Wish OC IE has moved the “It’s in the Bag” event from April 19 to September 13, 2020. All wish travel has been postponed until further notice, as well as wish child participation in all activities and events related to Make-A-Wish that involve large gatherings. “We have been in contact with each of the impacted families and we will grant each postponed wish as soon as we can safely proceed. The health and safety of our wish families is our priority – and, as always, we remain committed to our vision of granting the wish of every eligible child fighting a critical illness.” ocie.wish.org BlueDoorMagazine.com
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DINING IN THE DARK WITH BLIND CHILDREN’S LEARNING CENTER By James Reed
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Photos by Bleu Cotton Photography
To inspire additional empathy among those gathered at its fundraising gala, the Blind Children’s Learning Center invited 515 guests to don blindfolds as they dined in a darkened Marconi Automotive Museum. The dinner from Anaheim White House was delicious, as attendees came to appreciate the difficulties that the visually impaired face.
infant. Carol is a star in the local commercial real estate industry as a Senior VP with CBRE. The event raised nearly $250,000 through sponsorships, ticket sales, and a live fundraiser.
Lee performed to a wildly supportive and enthusiastic audience, displaying the talent that wowed the judges and viewing audience on the show. The third annual Vision Beyond Sight emphasized the work the center does with blind and visually impaired children.
The revenue will provide direct services to hundreds of children and families, as well as fuel a new strategic plan to offer more comprehensive and continuous care to meet emerging needs and support a greater number of families. The presenting sponsor was the Thompson Family Foundation, and the business and real estate industry was well-represented at the event, including sponsors Don and Victoria Thompson, FivePoint’s Emile Hadad and Lynn Joachim, Jack Toan of Wells Fargo, and Jared Moriarity, McDermott + Bull.
Carol Trapani, vice chair of the BCLC board and chair of the event, gave a dynamic and moving speech about her daughter’s experience at BCLC. Lucie, who is 18, has been going to BCLC since she was an
The mission of Santa Ana-based Blind Children’s Learning Center is to prepare children with visual impairments for a life of independence through early intervention, education, and family support. Families
Blindfolds came off and the lights came up for a concert by Kodi Lee, an alum of Blind Children’s Learning Center and the 2019 champion of the popular “America’s Got Talent” television program.
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8 1. Dining in the dark 2. Kodi Lee performing 3. Christine Park and Chirs Hsiung 4. Lily and Chris Gabora 5. Taniv Appa, Alpa Patel, Aparna Patel, Asha Mehta 6. David, Loriann, and Ali Bartholomew, with Cassie and Kayle 7. Brent Lamb, Jared Moirarty and Rick Warner 8. Alex, Carla and Nick Farnsworth 9. Madeline Hall, Victoria and Don Thompson
9 receive counseling and practical education to nurture their visually impaired child from birth to age 22. Early intervention helps babies establish a path to independence by promoting healthy development early in life. Developing a strong academic foundation and ongoing support helps children from preschool through high school graduation reach their full academic potential through adaptive means. The 16th Annual BCLC Destination Independence 5K Walk is still scheduled for Saturday, June 6, 2020. The event unites BCLC families with the community at large for a walk, carnival, and lunch party that will change lives forever.
Covid-19 impact: Based on strict guidance and careful attention to the fact that BCLC provides critical services to a vulnerable population, we have implemented the following policy for maintaining public health: To families receiving services, we are transitioning all services to “Telehealth� format. We remain committed to providing essential early intervention in order to promote healthy development and adaptive skills. Additionally, we will be sending learning and activity plans to students so that adaptive learning can continue in the home. Please continue to look out for updates from BCLC and your service provider(s) directly. One day of specialized education can change the life of a child with visual impairments. Thank you for continuing to support our children and families. Essential services at BCLC support the health and education of children at severe risk of delays. We are working diligently to make sure those we serve continue reaching important milestones. blindkids.org BlueDoorMagazine.com
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OCMA MODERNISTS BRING YOUTHFUL VISION TO THE OC ART WORLD By Kedric Francis Photos by Lauren Hillary
As life evolves and society reopens in the coming months, it may be that more intimate dinners will be an increasingly popular alternative (or adjunct) to large gala fundraisers. In February, the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) kicked off its newest museum support group, the Modernists, with just such an intimate event. Designed for philanthropists, collectors, and young professionals ages 21-45, the Modernists will meet (virtually, for now) for creative events, including viewings of private collections, visits to artists’ studios, and more. At the welcome dinner co-chaired by OCMA Trustee Tracy Schroeder and Mia Van Bergh, inaugural members heard LA-based artist Kyungmi Shin present a preview of her exhibition that will be part of OCMA’s next season. The intriguing artist has said of her work, “Ultimately, I am interested in making a piece that raises questions rather than provides answers, and if I can create a piece that can present a paradox, and engage the viewers with more questions than answers, I would be delighted.” While anticipating the reopening of the museum, OCMA is offering a wide variety of virtual experiences, including live programs on Thursday evenings, and fresh content available weekly, including curating cool content to “listen, learn, watch, and relax.” 62
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Social Distance, Haiku, and You was a favorite recent live event/ community interaction, as LA-based sound artist Alan Nakagawa invited all to write and record a haiku about their experience and send it to OCMA. Nakagawa then composed a sound collage comprised of the collective haikus. The event received national media attention. Guests at the Modernists dinner enjoyed Korean-American cuisine inspired by Shin’s work and prepared by Chef Ross Pangilinan of Terrace by Mix Mix at South Coast Plaza. The restaurant is currently offering to-go options, including a $30 prix-fixe dinner (terracebymixmix.com). The Modernists dinner was paired with fine wines selected by Argaux, a Costa Mesa wine importer that offers wine for sale and is an excellent virtual sommelier (argaux.com). The Modernists will be an increasingly influential group in support of OCMA, especially looking forward to the opening of the new museum which is still planned for 2021—remember, construction is an essential occupation! And it will be even more influential in the coming months and years for the recovery of OC culture, tourism, and economy. ocmaexpandtoday.org/ocmaevents
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1. Co-chairs Tracy Schroeder and Mia Van Bergh 2. Artist Kyungmi Shin 3. The scene at dinner 4. Chef Ross Pangilinan 5. Todd Smith, Max Gokhman, Tracy Schroeder, and Heather Gokhman 6. Erin Grody Kingsley 7. Curator Cassandra Coblentz and Edward Givis
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DREAM. DESIGN. BUILD.
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ART AND THE OTHER
OCMA’s next season will explore how identity and cultural legacy can impact how we see the world By Jennifer Condas
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to view the world through the eyes of another? And that this new way of seeing may provide an entirely different way of assessing the spaces we live in? Well, wonder no more, because one of OCMA Expand’s exciting new exhibitions in Season 4 will invite guests to imagine entering the mind of an ogre, a creature in fairy tales and legends that has often embodied the idea of “otherness,” a theme explored throughout OCMA’s Season 4 show.
Kyungmi Shin, Riding on that Carriage, 2020; courtesy of the artist; © Kyungmi Shin 66
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By having the opportunity to envision “becoming” a monster, visitors can navigate the ogre’s movement through video, sculpture, and sound, creating a multisensory environment, traversing a digital world that exists beyond museum walls. While guiding the ogre through a virtual landscape, guests simultaneously “hear” the ogre’s inner voice, which changes throughout the span of the exhibition, to simulate the ogre’s changing state of mind. The installation, entitled “The Harpist in the Ogre’s Mind,” is presented by the art collective ASMA, and focuses on themes of difference and otherness, most often drawing inspiration from folk tales and legends. The concept of otherness is one of several complex and important themes explored in OCMA Expand’s Season 4. Originally scheduled to debut on April 18 and currently delayed, the new season will feature seven exhibitions that display the work of an exciting range of Pacific Rim artists including the artist duo of Matias Armendaris and Hanya Belia (ASMA) (Ecuador/Mexico), Marisa Alexander-Clarke (Chile/Altadena), Carolyn Castaño (Columbia/ L.A.), Alexandra Grant (L.A.), Noé Martínez (Mexico), Maryrose Above: ASMA, installation detail of Half Blood Princess at Peana (Monterrey, México) featuring La gran esfinge morada, 2019; courtesy of the artist; photo: PEANA. © ASMA 68
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Cobarrubias Mendoza (Philippines/L.A.), and Kyungmi Shin (South Korea/L.A.). Many of these artists explore cultural histories, using text, language, and narratives—both personal and mythological—to consider the complexity of identity, including the impact of colonialism and immigration. “Amidst the worldwide coronavirus crisis dominating our consciousness, our new exhibitions feel especially timely and meaningful,” says Todd D. Smith, OCMA’s director and CEO. “As the people of the world have simultaneously experienced the same threat, it is fitting for OCMA to present these exhibitions that offer opportunities to consider ourselves as global citizens, especially in response to ideas about immigration, otherness, and ultimately, love.” Storytelling, some of which is intimate and deeply personal, is also incorporated in much of the work shown. All seven exhibitions in Season 4 are intriguing, thought-provoking and diverse, challenging museum guests to engage with art in a new and distinct way. Innovation abounds in Filipino-American artist Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza’s “Navigating Technics,” in which she plays with size and scale, altering everyday items (from a crayon enlarged
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OCMA ONLINE Orange County Museum of Art is currently closed to ensure the safety of its visitors and employees. Season 4 will be postponed until it is safe to open, with those exhibitions the next to be mounted. As OCMA’s Season 4 artists prepare for their upcoming exhibitions, watch behind-the-scenes video in their studios as they discuss their work, process, and how they are using this time. During this time, the museum is mounting compelling digital and virtual programming, helping turn our homes into sites of creativity and inspiration. LISTENING SESSIONS
OCMA commissioned artists to produce unique sound-based projects for an engaging at-home experience that doesn’t keep you tied to looking at your screen. GET CREATIVE WITH ARTISTS FROM OCMA’S COLLECTION
Artists from OCMA’s collection demonstrate their art-making process and inspire us to get creative in our homes. CINEMA ORANGE VIRTUAL SCREENINGS
In partnership with the Newport Beach Film Festival, OCMA is screening independent films from around the globe. For access to these programs, follow OCMA on social media. instagram.com/ocmuseumofart facebook.com/OCMuseumofArt twitter.com/OCMA
Top: ASMA, The Nymph by the Window, 2019; courtesy of the artist and Make Room; photo: Yubo Dong. © ASMA Above: ASMA, Soft Wax Night, 2019; courtesy of the artist; photo: PEANA. © ASMA BlueDoorMagazine.com
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to her own height, to lined—but intentionally left blank—binder paper that she has folded and crafted into a human-sized paper toy boat) and uses them as vehicles to unlock post-colonial narratives. Kyungmi Shin’s photocollages and porcelain busts in “Father Crosses the Ocean” help to explore the influence of Eastern philosophy on Western culture, while Carolyn Castaño’s “Cali es Cali” traces the trajectory of her family from Cali, Colombia to Los Angeles, incorporating the photographic archive of her father into her large-scale landscape drawings displayed with other potent and personal mementos. Noé Martínez’s “The Homeland of Images” confronts Mexico’s colonial past using powerful drawings and sculptures as well as poetry, stories and song lyrics, all to emphasize a transformation of identity that is simultaneously about learning and forgetting the past.
Above: Carolyn Castaño, detail image of Dad Archive 1, Estudio Calimagraphics, 2020; courtesy of the artist; © Carolyn Castaño Right: Kyungmi Shin, A Priest & a Merchant Sails to the East, 2019; and Portrait, Father Crosses the Ocean, 2019; courtesy of the artist; © Kyungmi Shin Opposite: Carolyn Castaño, Mochila Interruption, Magenta, 2017; courtesy of the artist; © Carolyn Castaño 70
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In “Ojos Profundos,” Marisa Alexander-Clarke’s multimedia installations include choral music to create a meditative experience of images and sound meant to explore cultural identity. “I was born to love, not to hate,” from Sophocles’ play Antigone, informs much of Alexandra Grant’s work, including her exhibition for OCMA, “Telepathy is One Step Further than Empathy.” Grant’s exhibition considers what love is and how it can be used to resist privileging one entity over another. Her large-scale works on paper and mixed-media interconnect with the philanthropic grantLOVE project, founded by Grant in 2008. The installation of a pop-up shop in OCMA Expand’s lobby will feature grantLOVE apparel, prints, and other products and all sales proceeds benefit the museum’s acquisition fund to acquire artwork produced by women and people of color.
Top: Marsia Alexander-Clarke, still image from OJOS PROFUNDOS, 2020; courtesy of the artist. © Marsia Alexander-Clarke Above: Noé Martínez, El intruso, 2019; courtesy of the artist and PARQUE Galería; © Noé Martínez
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Season 4 at OCMA Expand was curated by OCMA Senior Curator Cassandra Coblentz with guest curators Ruth Estevez and Ricardo J. Reyes, PhD. Once installed and the museum is reopened, it will be on view through January 3, 2021. Orange County Museum of Art South Coast Plaza Village 1661 W. Sunflower Ave. Santa Ana 714.780.2186 ocmaexpand.org
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Alexandra Grant, She Said to Creon (2), 2018; courtesy of the artist and Ochi Gallery, Los Angeles. ©Alexandra Grant BlueDoorMagazine.com
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BACKGROUND CHECK! By Alexandria Abramian
Video calls have you worried about your walls? Designers Zoom in to reveal what works best from behind the scenes.
THE VIBE: As home has transformed into a multi-hyphenate live/work/ learn/workout space overnight, video calls have suddenly put our abodes under the spotlight. And with it a new design question has emerged: Where will I shine best at home? Here designers delve into the background to frame your ultimate video setting.
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ERICA BRYEN
TIMELESS GLAM
Erica Bryen Design @ericabryendesign
If you aim your video call to a background with trendy elements, it’s going to become the star of the call—not you. I suggest people find a background that is timeless and speaks in a quieter way to complement, not compete with you. This custom-made metal art piece made by Chris McLaughlin adds this cool, unexpected 3D element to the room. If you move a table a few feet in front of it for video calls, it gives this modern and fashion-forward vibe, with a touch of glamour. But it does so in a quiet way, without stealing the show.
Photo by Ryan Garvin
DESIGN TREND
THE VIBE:
NATURE NURTURED Ian Patzke Photography
JANET McCULLEY McCulley Design Lab @mcculleydesignlab
Researchers have found that we’re more productive when components of Biophilic Design (natural elements) are present, so why not integrate the great outdoors into your background? POINT OF VIEW: You may want to impress a client and sit poolside to best
showcase your beautiful garden or ocean view, or if you’re meeting with internal team members who might not appreciate something so showy, you can’t go wrong with a beautiful backdrop of textural greenery or a hedge (see Elton John’s performance at One World Together At Home). INSIDER TIP: No matter how beautiful your outdoor background might
be, noisy neighbors, leaf blowers, barking dogs, or too much backlighting can be a deal-breaker. If you head inside, sit in front of anything other than a blank wall that creates mood, whether it is a colorful piece of art, indoor plants, or a stone wall. BlueDoorMagazine.com
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THE VIBE:
WALL POWER
Photo by Hugo Landa Garcia
ROBIN STRICKLER Founder, Design Works @designworkshome
If you want to exude a sense of someone who is powerful, isn’t afraid to take risks, and who also appreciates great design, a bold, graphic wall will instantly speak confidence and stature. I think that’s exactly what this wall covering, Coffered Wood Beach House by Phillip Jeffries (above), achieves. INSIDER TIP: If you’re going for big and bold, don’t dilute it with distrac-
tions. In this room, opt for a minimal desk lamp—maybe in brass to complement the other desk accessories. The idea is that you don’t want to take your eyes away from the main focus: the fabulous wallpaper and the visual contrast of the artwork to the left of the desk. 78
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DESIGN TREND
THE VIBE:
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL
JAMIE ADLER Circa Wallcovering @circawallcovering
I think those virtual backgrounds were fun the first few weeks, but later they became distracting, and for designers, this is a kind of cheating. This is such an opportunity to show your personal style and environment and there are probably more areas of your home than you think that can make great background vignettes. One of our wall coverings, Rock On by Kimberly McDonald (above), conveys a bold sense of confidence, a strong sense of style, and a not-so-subtle message for a glamorous Zoom room. INSIDER TIPS: Test as many angles as possible before
you actually join the conference. Even pivoting 15 degrees can completely change the way you and everything behind you looks. Also, coordinate what you are wearing with the tones and palette of the background for a cohesive visual.
THE VIBE:
ART WALK
Susan Hornbeak-Ortiz’s Ocean photo, framed in plexiglass
SUSAN HORNBEAK-ORTIZ Shine by S.H.O. @shinebysho
Artwork within the Zoom frame is more interesting than a blank wall or the weird shots of bookcases that seem to be on the news media lately. I personally love over-scaled artwork. INSIDER TIPS: Watch out for anything too personal, provocative, or super
colorful—either one could work against the purpose of the client focusing on the meeting at hand and be potentially distracting. During these difficult times, I think leaning towards art that is more calming is a plus. I also think displaying an art piece that can start up a conversation can be a great tool as it can potentially be a talking point or ice-breaker (depending on the nature of the call). Give yourself 15-20 minutes before the call to adjust the camera with you in the frame and play around. If the art is too strong, you will need to make it possibly a “partial” frame—maybe you are one-third and the art is two-thirds or vice versa—this will give a hint of the art without overpowering you. BlueDoorMagazine.com
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INTERIOR APPEAL Cuban-born designer Vicente Wolf renovated this former watch factory in Sag Harbor, a village on Long Island, into a comfortable loft space filled with natural light, texture, unique furnishings, and art. Many pieces were sourced on his journeys to far-flung destinations. 82
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A binge-worthy design book looks at the most beautiful rooms in the world
INTERIORS
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INTERIORS
“It’s important to have a home that makes you feel safe and comfortable. It’s a nice refuge from all the madness.” – NYC designer Sheila Bridges
Spending so much time hunkered down in our own homes as we all are, it’s natural to be appreciative of our surroundings while also thinking about ways we might improve our aesthetic environments. Everyone who has admired/ critiqued interior design choices (not to mention casual fashion sensibilities) as revealed during a Zoom meeting, please raise your hand. That’s what we thought. One way to satisfy our creative curiosity about alternative design options is to gaze admiringly at some of the most beautiful rooms from the past 100 years or so. Luckily, there’s a book for that titled, conveniently enough, Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century.
Opposite: The London home of interior designer Ashley Hicks is situated in the Albany, a prestigious apartment complex tucked discreetly off Piccadilly, which has been home to the likes of Lord Byron, J. B. Priestly, and Aldous Huxley. Inherited from his interior-designer father, David Nightingale Hicks, Ashley Hicks’ interior is a playful mixture of his father’s bold, eclectic style and his own modern and anachronistic sensibilities. Above: The first female architect to be licensed in California, Julia Morgan designed around 800 buildings, mostly in that state, including this fantastical castle for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The Doge’s Suite, replicating the loggia of Venice’s Doge’s Palace, was reserved for Hearst’s most important guests. Its 18th-century Italian ceiling is gilded with 22-karat gold. It was acquired from the estate sale of architect Stanford White, who had himself procured it from a palazzo in Italy.
Curated by the editors of publisher Phaidon and William Norwich, former editor of Vogue and Architectural Digest, the volume looks at 400 residential interiors from 25 countries created by decorators, architects, and designers, as well as fashion brand icons, movie stars, artists, and others. Gaze at rooms where Christian Dior, Cary Grant, Coco Chanel,
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The futuristic home in the foothills west of Denver featured in the film Sleeper was designed by architect Charles Deaton, who planned to live there before he ran out of money. The interior of the Sculptured House went largely unfinished and was vacant for almost three decades. New owners hired the architect’s daughter, Charlee Deaton, who expressed her father’s fascination with organic forms through the placement of similarly curving pieces of design: Eero Saarinen’s 1948 Womb Chair, Arne Jacobsen’s 1958 Swan chair design, and Warren Platner’s 1966 armchair are all present.
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Peggy Guggenheim, Karl Lagerfeld, Halston, and Frida Kahlo once lived. Each room is represented by a single photo and a short text describing the work and the designer/owner. Norwich’s introduction is a historic (and at times hysterical) essay that touches on the evolution of interior design; the influence of early designers such as Elsie de Wolfe and writers and tastemakers like Edith Wharton; the importance of photography for midcentury modern design; and the growth of shelter magazines. “It’s gracious living—paying attention to one’s environment so one doesn’t survive in chaos, but thrives with intention,” writes Norwich. “Isn’t feathering a nest the best kind of soldiering on, showing how the harmonies of a refuge of one’s own can soothe in an inharmonious world?”
Opposite: The living room of Frey House II, architect Albert Frey’s second home in Palm Springs, which was completed in 1964. One of the most famous elements of the property is the incorporation of a large boulder that divides the bedroom and living room. Above: Situated in a leafy neighborhood of São Paulo, this streamlined single-story home is the work of Studio MK27. Retractable doors on both sides of the space allow it to be completely integrated with the surrounding garden. BlueDoorMagazine.com
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Above: In this living room completed in 1950, a glass coffee table nestles into a corresponding curve in the outsized sofa, both designed by the influential modernist Vladimir Kagan (1927–2016). Kagan was a pioneer of sensual furniture with soft textures and dynamic curves still widely collected around the world and often echoed by modern designers. Right: An apartment in Manhattan’s Central Park West designed by Amy Lau features a collection of midcentury furniture. Lau has also designed for brands that include Kohler, Bergdorf Goodman, Lladró, and Baccarat.
Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century Phaidon Editors, introduction by William Norwich $79.95 Interiors is available in four different luxurious, collectable velvet covers: Midnight Blue, Merlot Red, Platinum Gray, and Saffron Yellow. 90
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Design Matters Blue Door Magazine asks design insiders and clients what trends, brands, and looks they’re loving right now.
Urban Bonfire
At Urban Bonfire they’ve developed a functional, beautiful and modular outdoor kitchen solution. Founded in Montreal, now available at Pirch and other leading dealer partners across North America, Urban Bonfire has emerged as the market leader in creating canvases for outdoor memories. With a fully integrated in-house design team, domestic manufacturing, compatibility with all major outdoor cooking equipment brands and Dekton countertops, Urban Bonfire is the market leader in creating truly memorable outdoor living and entertaining spaces. WHY WE LOVE IT This kitchen creates the perfect place to cook, gather and entertain outdoors. Not only is it fully customizable from the colors to the hardware, installation is simple and usually takes only a few hours. And their production/ shipping time is only about six weeks. Beautiful, functional, and rugged, this is #yourkitchenoutdoors!
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design@urbanbonfire.com urbanbonfire.com
DESIGN MATTERS
Fire Magic
Fire Magic Premium Grills define luxury in grilling. Manufactured in Southern California for more than 80 years, Fire Magic blends sophisticated styling, superior performance and the durability to be enjoyed for a lifetime. Their reputation for unsurpassed quality and patented features such as Diamond Sear cooking grids for faster and more even cooking, have earned them a place among the most coveted premium outdoor cooking appliances with grilling enthusiasts across the country, including television host and lifestyle expert Anna Rossi. WHY ANNA ROSSI LOVES IT “Having cooked competitively as a MasterChef finalist for Gordon Ramsay, and now as a food correspondent, host and writer, my time in the outdoor kitchen is valuable and what I prepare matters. I trust Fire Magic products to give me control and capability. Whether I am hosting a celebrity chef at my home for a photoshoot, roasting off the most outstanding porchetta on the rotisserie for 100 friends at a garden party, or baking my kids’ favorite skillet brownies, Fire Magic always overdelivers and keeps us coming back for seconds.�
Fire Magic Grills firemagicgrills.com 626.369.5085
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JON FLAGG
912 ZURICH CIRCLE Lido Isle, Newport Beach | $3,979,000 Settle into to this warm, Spanish Revival home on exclusive Lido Isle that evokes the 1920’s with a unique blend of contemporary and vintage Spanish style. The carefully crafted Home Tour residence was designed by noted architect Earnest Velarde and received favorable press after completion for its intelligent design, detail and use of space. Situated on the desirable eastern-most tip of Lido, on a unique, coveted, quiet, oversized corner parcel, 912 Zurich Circle enjoys a significant outdoor area, enclosed by a six foot wall ensuring privacy as it welcomes with an antique gate from Sante Fe. The private courtyard basks in sunlight, flows easily from the living areas of the home and is ideal for indoor-outdoor entertaining with a fireplace, built-in BBQ, cushioned sitting area, and small putting green. The 3 bedroom plus a generous den/office, 3.5 bath home is highlighted with custom arched doorways, high ceilings, clever storage and J. Nichols hardware throughout, while Mexican terracotta tiles create a seamless transition from the living areas out to the courtyard. The master suite, features the same exquisite custom vaulted wood ceiling as the living room, offering luxurious amenities including a fireplace, balcony, sitting area, walk-in closet, and large bathroom. Built in 2000 and timeless in style, the home is steps to the Lido clubhouse and beach or a short bike ride to the surf breaks, bay, shopping and dining at Lido Marina Village
jonf lagg.com
408 VIA LIDO NORD Lido Isle | $4,695,000
126 VIA KORON Lido Isle | $3,499,000
4 Bed | 4.5 Bath | 2,800 Approx. Sq. Ft.
3 Bed | 5 Bath | 3,400 Approx. Sq. Ft.
1807 WEST BAY AVENUE Balboa Peninsula | Offered at $3,495,000 6 Bed | 5 Bath | 3,500 Approx. Sq. Ft.
411 39TH STREET Newport Island | Offered at $2,495,000 or $8,995/Mo.
411 1/2 39TH STREET Newport Island | Offered at $1,795,000 or $7,500/Mo.
2024 AVENIDA CHICO Newport Beach | $1,399,000
3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,699 Approx. Sq. Ft.
2 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,741 Approx. Sq. Ft.
3 Bed | 3 Bath | 2,005 Approx. Sq. Ft.
JON FLAGG
949 698 1910 jflagg@villarealestate.com jonflagg.com DRE No. 01316048
503 FERNLEAF AVE CORONA DEL MAR | $1,899,000
thekristinhaltongroup.com
The epitome of Corona del Mar’s charming lifestyle. Desirably located on the oceanside of PCH, this unique single level front unit boasts the perfect blend of cute quintessential cottage with a recent luxurious remodel. The fragrance of the floral’s greet you through your privately gated front courtyard. Solid Mahogany Dutch doors provide an organic contrast to the bright open floor plan. The living and dining room open to the kitchen, which allows for unforgettable get-togethers. Down the hall you will find two secondary
bedrooms and a complete bathroom with Quartz countertops and a walk-in shower. The master bedroom with a gorgeous ensuite full bath is tucked privately at the back end of the house with a newly redesigned walk-in his and hers closet. A HIDDEN GEM is found steps away and below the main cottage. This completely separate guest apartment was grandfathered in as a rental and has its own private entry. Whether you’re looking to purchase as your main residence, a vacation home, or as an investment, this is it!
KRISTIN H ALT ON DOWNLOAD OUR FREE HALTON GROUP REAL ESTATE APP TODAY! The Power of the MLS at Your Fingertips
949.433.0202 kristin@thehaltongroup.com thekristinhaltongroup.com CalRE#01257593
Not intended as a solicitation if your property is already listed by another broker. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal (18907608) Opportunity Act
COL D W EL L BANK ER RE ALT Y
1025 Flamingo Road Laguna Beach Offered at $3,150,000
Perfectly situated on a beautiful ocean view parcel
spa-like master bath complete with soaking tub. Custom
just above Laguna Village, 1025 Flamingo awaits a
Warren Christopher wood flooring set a warm tone
discriminating buyer looking for quality, craftsmanship,
throughout the home. Artisan ironwork railings adorn
and panoramic views yet still close to town and beaches.
the staircase to the lower level which opens to a second
Every primary room in the home is oriented to take in
entertaining area flanked by two additional bedrooms,
the beauty of the coastline and city lights. Entering the
each with ensuite bathrooms. An additional covered
home from a peaceful courtyard, a beautiful loggia
terrace and sundeck invites you to enjoy the views and
overlooks a great room with soaring ceilings, a grand
ocean breeze. An abundance of finished storage/flex
fireplace featuring an intricate surround crafted from
space may be configured for your use. 1025 Flamingo
remnants of an 18th century Indian monastery, and jaw-
Road is a wonderful blend - comfortable home with a
dropping views. The great room is anchored on one end
dash of sophistication, stunning views while still close to
with a beautifully outfitted kitchen, and on the other with
town and beaches, a newer home with all the character
a wonderful outdoor view terrace. The main level master
of a vintage property.
bedroom comes equipped with two walk in closets and
Mike Johnson 949.207.3735
mikejohnsongroup@compass.com mikejohnsongroup.com
Mike Johnson DRE 01429647
Paulo Prietto DRE 01878796
Inge Bunn DRE 00641176
Sylvia Ames DRE 02021418
Nick Hooper DRE 01962012
Andrew Graff DRE 02024856
1100 & 1101 Balboa Avenue l Singer Estate
Laguna Beach l Offered at $2,350,000
Laguna Beach l Offered at $19,800,000
507 Canyon Acres l Tranquil Canyon Home
31121 Monterey Street l Lot with Plans
Laguna Beach l Offered at $1,395,000
Laguna Beach l Offered at $2,140,000
631 Cliff Drive l 5 Bedroom Oceanfront Condo w/ Beach Access
1179 Katella Street l Huge Views and Pool
Laguna Beach l Offered at $3,499,000
Laguna Beach l Offered at $4,400,000
Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. To reach the Compass main office call 310.230.5478
403 El Bosque l Monterey-Style Cottage
Nick Hooper 949.939.7083 nick.hooper@compass.com DRE 01962012
1025 Flamingo Road l Laguna Beach Offered at $3,150,000
403 El Bosque l Laguna Beach $2,350,000
1100 & 1101 Balboa Avenue l Singer Estate l Laguna Beach $19,800,000
Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. DRE 01991628. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal without notice.
940 Temple Hills Drive l Laguna Beach Offered at $2,340,000
HIGH | CORKETT
311 NARCISSUS AVENUE | NEW LISTING Corona del Mar | $6,995,000 | Visit 311Narcissus.com for a Virtual Tour This stunning, newly-built, Modern Farmhouse-style, Corona del Mar village home is located on a prime 45 wide lot, south of Pacific Coast Highway, within easy walking distance to Big and Little Corona beaches and all of the fun, shops, fine dining and more of the Village. Stylishly designed, and serviced by an elevator, the home has the elegance and intimacy of traditional style with a contemporary twist of modern design blending a rich mix of textured materials including white oak hardwood floors, gleaming white painted cabinetry and Carrera marble kitchen and baths. The clean lines and minimalistic design seamlessly blend indoor outdoor living with walls of retracting sliding glass doors that flood the home with natural light. The primary level of the home features a nicely proportioned great room with a fireplace and vaulted ceilings, a huge island kitchen with commercial grade, top-of-the line stainless steel appliances, white cabinetry, Calcutta countertops, a fantastic dining area, a private south facing patio with a dining area and seating, a downstairs bedroom with an ensuite bath, a powder bath and an abundant 3-car attached garage. On the second level there is showstopping master suite with a seating area, fireplace, an elegant marble bath with a free-standing tub, huge walk-in shower and marble flooring and accents; a covered outdoor patio, and three generous-sized bedrooms with ensuite baths. The rooftop deck features a covered seating area and ocean views .
1 COLLINS ISLAND Newport Beach | $9,995,000 | Visit 1CollinsIsland.com for a Virtual Tour Few locations in Newport Harbor rival historic Collins Island for spectacular harbor views, privacy and access to all of the fun of Newport Beach. Located on the western tip of Balboa Island, across a secured bridge, lies Collins Islands eight waterfront homes. One Collins Island is a stylish Traditional-style home with 140’ of waterfrontage & 270 degree views of Newport harbors main channel, turning basin and Balboa Pavilion; from this vantage point you have front row seats to the morning crew workouts, all of boating activity of the harbor, sailing regattas, the auto-ferry, paddleboarders, spectacular sunsets and the holiday boat parades. Balboa Island, Newports most famous recreational playground, is out your door, swimming, sailing, strolling the waterfront boardwalk, Dads Donuts, and Chocolate Covered Frozen bananas are just a short walk away on Marine Ave or a Ferry ride gets you to the World Famous Fun Zone and Balboa Beaches. Ready to beacon its next owners Balboa memories, this well-cared for house, rich with character and style, has it all; the perfect oversized waterfront deck, hardwood floors; a big kitchen with white cabinetry and counter seating, a large waterfront living room with a fireplace, a dining area with a fireplace, a downstairs bedroom and bath, a big bayfront master suite with jaw dropping views, and two additional bedrooms. The extensive private pier and slip can accommodate a boat to 60 feet. Remodel, or rebuild the home of your dreams.
STEVE HIGH
EVAN CORKETT
949 874 4724 SHIGH@VILLAREALESTATE.COM HIGHCORKETT.COM DRE No. 00936421
949 285 1055 ECORKETT@VILLAREALESTATE.COM HIGHCORKETT.COM DRE No. 00468496
WHERE EXCELLENCE LIVES
23 PINEHURST, BIG CANYON, NEWPORT BEACH
416 DE SOLA, CORONA HIGHLANDS, CORONA DEL MAR
$6,495,000
$6,195,000
460 SANTA ANA AVE, NEWPORT HEIGHTS, NEWPORT BEACH
421 HELIOTROPE, CORONA DEL MAR VILLAGE
$4,495,000
$3,995,000
7 DOLOMITI, COASTAL CANYON, NEWPORT COAST
115 CRESCENT BAY, NORTH LAGUNA BEACH
$2,995,000
$2,995,000
CASEY LESHER 949.702.7211
DOWNLOAD OUR CORONA DEL MAR REAL ESTATE APP C o r o n a d e l M a r H o m e Va l u e s t h e p o w e r o f t h e M L S a t y o u r f i n g e r t i p s . M o r e a c c u r a t e a n d e a s i e r t o u s e t h a n Tr u l i a , Z i l l o w o r R e d f i n .
caseylesher@gmail.com CalRE# 01795953
Not intended as a solicitation if your property is already listed by another broker. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not
CA S E Y LE S H E R .C O M
2821 BAYSHORE, BAYSHORES, NEWPORT BEACH
1227 SURFLINE, HARBOR VIEW HILLS, CORONA DEL MAR
$5,995,000
$4,850,000
3351 VIA LIDO, LIDO VILLAS, NEWPORT BEACH
700 POPPY, CORONA DEL MAR VILLAGE
$3,895,000
$3,345,000
312 DAHLIA, CORONA DEL MAR VILLAGE
708 AVOCADO, CORONA DEL MAR VILLAGE
$2,895,000
$1,195,000
COVID-19 IS EVANESCENT. REAL ESTATE IS EVERLASTING. During this period of instructed social distancing and self-quarantine orders, the time that you find provides critical moments to reflect on where you want to be when this interval is behind us. Working with a leader in the industry has never been more important than now. Backed by not only the leading brokerage, but a top agent, provides the opportunity to persevere and emerge from this national setback and help you come out on top and stronger than ever. Coldwell Banker Realty
employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a (19321956) subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act
CELEBRATING 360+ SUCCESSFUL SALES AND COUNTING
JUST LISTED | $3,298,000 29 CASTLEROCK, TURTLE RIDGE Single Level Home
JUST LISTED | $2,899,000 901 CLIFF DRIVE, NEWPORT BEACH
ACTIVE | $3,189,000 5 SUNDIAL, NEWPORT COAST
JUST SOLD | $2,450,000 1701 STARLIGHT CIRCLE, DOVER SHORES Represented Buyer and Seller
IN ESCROW | $3,189,000 132 SIDNEY BAY, NEWPORT COAST
JUST SOLD | $1,179,000 16 ARBORSIDE, TURTLE RIDGE Represented Buyer and Seller
Even in the most challenging and uncertain of times, we continue to meet and exceed our clients needs. With the use of safe practices, creative and virtual marketing, and our extensive network, we’ve managed to successfully open/close 7 escrow sides during Covid-19. Once again, we invite you to put the proven results of the Bradshaw Residential Group to work for you. Visit our Before and After gallery at BradshawResidentialGroup.com/Remodel
DARREN SMITH
JASON C. BRADSHAW
CalRE# 01233459
CalRE# 01304396
949.887.0643
949.433.3001
COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
Not intended as a solicitation if your property is already listed by another broker. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which (19369589) are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act
A Great Journey Starts with a Great Guide ®
235 Calliope Laguna Beach 2 Bed | 2.5 Bath | 1,450 Sq Ft Offered at $1,100,000 Nestled within a private gated community just one block from the beach in the heart of the HIP District of Laguna, this wonderfully updated home gives you easy access to the beach, restaurants, galleries and shops. Features include two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, living room with fireplace, updated bathrooms and kitchen. In the master bedroom enjoy views of trees and foliage from the private balcony, walk-in closet and calming ensuite bathroom make this a splendid retreat. Additional amenities include two reserved parking spots with elevator access, in-house laundry and a spacious private courtyard perfect for relaxing after a long day at the beach. Whether looking for a full-time residence or vacation home this tranquil abode checks many must haves. Contemporary, updated and close to the beach with all that Laguna has to offer.
Hanz Radlein Realtor® 949.245.4470 hanz@radlein.com hanzradlein.com DRE 01954778 Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. This is not intended to solicit properties already listed.
HOME HAS NEVER MEANT SO MUCH TO US IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. Home is now where we live... and work... and eat... and sleep... and exercise... and relax... and stress out... and play. Living rooms have become classrooms and exercise studios and virtual meeting rooms. Kitchens have become restaurants serving breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day and way too many snacks in between. Some bedrooms have become hospital quarantine rooms where we care for the sick while trying not to get sick ourselves. Home is where you are right now. It’s
H O M E...
where my family is too. My business is that
Founding Agent at Compass
of relationships, not transactions. Right now, the real estate industry is trading handshakes and open houses for virtual support and I am attending showings dressed up looking like a doctor. I am treading these waters of uncertainty with you. I am tracking the activity, watching the market, guiding my clients with the perspective honed by years of unwavering focus.
MY JOB IS TO BRING YOU HOME...
Maura Short 949.233.7949 maurashort.com DRE 01883774
Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. This is not intended to solicit properties already listed.
European steel windows frame the horizon view and allow an abundance of light and natural ventilation into this Laguna Beach home designed by architect Anders Lasater.
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SUNLIGHT AND SPACE
THE ARCHITECTURE OF BRIGHT, LIGHT, AND HEALTHY HOMES By Anders Lasater, AIA I firmly believe that a thoughtfully designed home is a naturally healthy home. A home that has taken into account the path of the sun throughout the day, a home that has accounted for natural ventilation by providing places for air to enter and exit the building efficiently, a home that employs honest and reliable building materials that endure and are neutral to the environment, that is a healthy home.
The good news is that all of those ideas can be explored within our existing homes, even for homes that were not conceived with these goals in mind. Take, for instance, our new work-from-home dynamic. What a great opportunity to look around your home and seek out the places that have the best daylight, the best air circulation, and the best environment to support your work. Chances are they may not be where you’re currently working. Maybe the quality of daylight is best at the dinner table instead of the “home office,” and maybe the fresh air from the patio slider in the living room offers a more pleasant breeze than the ceiling fan of the bedroom. Why not simply adapt your living environment to take best advantage of these realities? It could be as simple as moving some furniture from one room to another and creating a more suitable working space that capitalizes on the assets you have. Or, maybe a more significant remodel is in order to finally get your home working the way it should for you and your family. That’s been a new mantra for us, for our clients, and prospective clients: “You’re working hard from home, but is your home working hard for you?” PHOTO BY CHAD MELLON
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A hard-working home is one that brings you light where you need it, air where you want it, all in a way that gives you control of both. For centuries, architects have understood the power of light and air and sought to bring them deeply into their buildings. The Pantheon in Rome, a perfect spherical dome erected to honor the gods, is topped with an enormous oculus that projects the sunlight deeply into the space and allows it to trace a path over the floor and walls as the Earth turns steadily eastward. The architects of the great Gothic cathedrals sought to dissolve their thick stone walls into a latticework of stained glass where sunlight brought to life great scenes of Christianity for the masses, and the natural chimney effect of the tall spires circulated fresh air through the considerable space of the church. The industrial revolution of the late 19th century brought developments in cast iron and glass-making that allowed for spectacularly transparent buildings like the 1851 Crystal Palace in London. Designed as a pre-fab, modular building to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Crystal Palace demonstrated that natural daylight and abundant fresh air could be made available on a massive scale. In a defining move for 20th-century residential design, Le Corbusier created the Villa Savoye in 1928 to embody the search for light by lifting the building from the ground and slicing the exterior walls open with long, horizontal windows that brought light and air in with great equality to the interior space. The influential Modernist house even features a sink for handwashing near its entrance. Le Corbusier’s ideas spread quickly across Europe, and across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States with a wave of immigrant architects who brought the new idea of a “machine for living” to this continent. Among them were Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, Europeans who made their way to California and designed some of the most influential residential structures ever built. The two of them would go on to produce influential homes for the same client, Dr. Philip M. Lovell, a naturopathic doctor who was an early proponent of “healthy living” through proper diet, daily exercise, and plenty of sunlight and fresh air. 114
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“When we consider that we spend at least half of each day’s hours in the home, the importance of building a structure for health purposes is evident,” Lovell wrote in his weekly “Care of the Body” health column in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine. Dr. Lovell’s ideology was tailor-made for the new homes that Neutra and Schindler wanted to build. The resulting Neutra-designed Lovell Health House in Los Angeles built in 1927, and the Schindlerdesigned Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach remain two of the most influential modern homes today. Schindler’s beach house design is particularly amazing for having been built in 1926. Designed as a series of cast-in-place concrete frames that support the main living areas a full two stories above the street, the house is perfectly designed to capture the California sun, the Pacific breeze, and the tremendous horizon view that stretches along the glistening strand. This home remains a part of the architectural canon that is still studied by students of architecture today, and it’s right here in our own OC backyard!
ARCHITECTURE
Left: A home’s orientation to the sun is primary. In this case, the north-facing windows of this Lasater-designed Palm Springs home invite a generous amount of indirect light deeply into the living space without the direct heat of a harsh southern exposure. Bottom left: Lovell Health House in Los Angeles, designed by Richard Neutra. Below: Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach, designed by Rudolph Schindler.
TOP PHOTO BY MICHAEL SAGE
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Above: A clerestory light shelf traces around the living space encouraging sunlight to penetrate deeply into the home while softening the strong southern light. Operable windows above help cool the house naturally. RIght: Bringing in plenty of natural light was vital to making the home feel as spacious as possible. The more light, the more the space is able to be perceived.
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Far left: Conceived as a collection of light-filled and airy public spaces set above a base of private areas this San Clemente coastal home is at once protected from the street, while remaining open to the views, light, and breezes that surround it. Left: At the north-east corner of the house, this outdoor kitchen and lounge gathers light from all sides but is protected from the harsh afternoon sun. The pocketing glass sliding door allows light and air into the kitchen and offers the homeowner control over both.
Such a pedigree is inspiring to any architect, particularly one who, like me, gets to work in this same location and contribute to the built environment of OC. The homes we’ve designed are strongly influenced by the work of these past masters, and we continue to find innovative ways to bring daylight and natural ventilation into our homes.
seeking treatment in open air sanatoriums, which were designed to optimize fresh air and sunshine. Modern sanatorium design in the 1920s included large windows, balconies, flat surfaces that wouldn’t collect dust, and white paint, which offered the appearance of cleanliness and made residues and smudges visible. These design innovations can still be seen in homes today.
It’s no accident that some of modern architecture’s most significant homes are right here in Southern California. Nowhere else does the light play so favorably on the surfaces of a building. Just above 33 degrees north latitude we find ourselves in a “Goldilocks” setting where sun, sky, and sea conspire to create an unusually beautiful environment that is “just right.” The plein air artists of the early 20th century flocked here to paint it. The movie studios of Hollywood built empires here to capitalize on it, and the great architects of the early 20th century like Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolph Schindler, and Richard Neutra came here to bathe in it, filling their remarkable new creations of glass, concrete, and steel with light from all sides.
Wright knew this when he created his revolutionary “textile concrete blocks” for a series of homes in the Hollywood Hills. The subtle and rhythmic patterns of the blocks allowed the sun to create shadows and patterns of unrivaled beauty and complexity, a natural foil of darkness and depth to the sun’s brightness and intensity. Neutra and Schindler both understood the power of light and made a point of creating homes that welcomed it deeply within while framing and controlling the light through carefully articulated openings of concrete and steel.
Many of those architects were influenced by the experience of the 2019 Spanish Flu and other infectious diseases of the day. Many people moved to California for their health, including PHOTOS BY CHAD MELLON
All homes should take advantage of light and air, whether they’re in the Modernist tradition of Neutra and Schindler, or other architectural styles. Unfortunately, many new homes built today are not custom or spec homes, but part of a larger development. They are built by a developer whose primary interest is maximizing their profit, not necessarily maximizing the quality of life of the homeowner. BlueDoorMagazine.com
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A horizontal “eyebrow” roof acts as a visor, shading the lower windows of this Newport Beach home’s living room while reflecting sunlight up to the high ceiling above. 118
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for a home’s orientation to the sun could produce housing developments that offer a far superior quality of life for the homeowners. That quality of life is something homeowners are willing to pay a premium for as evidenced by the strong market for Eichler homes, both in Northern and Southern California—including in Orange County. Joseph Eichler, a post-World War II home developer, understood the value of natural light and ventilation when he hired prominent architects such as A. Quincy Jones to design unique home developments centered around courtyards and atriums that allowed light and air to permeate the houses. Built from 1949 through 1966, Eichler homes have become highly sought- after, proving the point that a thoughtful design creates a better living experience, and homeowners will pay a premium for that experience. Whether in an architecturally significant home like an Eichler or the Lovell Beach House, or in a new custom home or a remodel, sunlight is everything. Through it, a building becomes alive and is revealed to our senses. All that we know and perceive about a space and our relationship to it is because of the light that falls on it, and us. Spanning the central stairwell of this Newport Beach home, a steel and glass bridge allows light to cascade down into the lower level. Every room of this house is bathed in natural light, from above, from the sides, and usually both.
I’m generalizing of course, and many home developers do consider light and air, but there is typically a series of three or four variations on a home design theme that are replicated and flip-flopped throughout the development, regardless of their orientation to the sun. As a result, your home, and your neighbor’s home across the street, could have identical room, door, and window arrangements, but face the sun in completely opposite directions. The experience of natural light and air inside each of those homes will be radically different. One home could have the perfect balance of light and air while the other, identical home, has a significant deficiency of light and air. A better solution would be to design homes for a development that have a specific orientation so that properties that face north and south would have different room, door, and window arrangements than homes facing east and west. That kind of fundamental consideration PHOTOS BY CHAD MELLON
However, more than just revealing a building to us, daylight has an especially strong influence on our daily mood and our ability to function at peak performance. The natural circadian rhythms that govern our body’s functions are triggered and regulated by daylight. Having adequate access to daylight throughout the whole of the day, being able to see the sun rise, pass overhead, and intensify during midday, and then dip below the warm horizon at sunset is vital to a healthy and productive lifestyle. Now, more than ever, we need our buildings, and particularly our homes and workplaces, to acknowledge this need and provide innovative and significant access to daylight and fresh air, and ways for homeowners to freely control them. Only then can we lead a truly healthful and productive life. ANDERS LASATER ARCHITECTS 384 Forest Avenue, #12 Laguna Beach 949.280.7097 anderslasaterarchitects.com BlueDoorMagazine.com
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MODERN LOVE
RICHARD NEUTRA’S LIGHT AND AIRY MIDCENTURY MASTERPIECE IS ON THE MARKET IN SANTA MONICA. 120
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The living room includes a brick fireplace, steel-frame windows, and built-in seating.
by James Reed Photos by Marc Angeles
One of Richard Neutra’s Southern California architectural masterpieces, the Sten-Frenke House, has recently come on the market. The Sten-Frenke House was one of Neutra’s first major commissions, following the Lovell Health House.
Neutra went on to create many of California’s most famous homes, including the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, the Sidney Kahn House in San Francisco, and the Stuart Bailey House in Pacific Palisades. Recently refurbished and restored according to Neutra’s original plans, the house in Santa Monica Canyon is priced at $15 million. Designed for actress Anna Sten and her movie producer husband Eugene Frenke in 1934, the Sten-Frenke House features timeless California glass-walled architecture and clean geometric lines and angles. In 1934 it was the first modern home to ever win the top prize in the House Beautiful magazine competition.
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Right: The Sten-Frenke house designed by Richard Neutra on the left. On the right, the guest house and office designed to complement the original home.
Above: The two-story, 2,959-square-foot Neutra home has three bedrooms. Right: Rooftop decks on the original home and the guest house have views of the ocean.
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The owners had moved to California after Anna was discovered by movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, who saw promise after seeing Anna perform in German and Ukrainian films. When Anna and Eugene arrived in California to begin her movie career, they wanted a home that would impress their future Hollywood celebrity guests. They hired Austrian-born architect Richard Neutra, who was gaining notoriety as one of Southern California’s best young architects. Anna’s career did not go as planned. Today, she’s probably best known for a mention in the Cole Porter standard Anything Goes: “When Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction / Instruct Anna Sten in diction / Then Anna shows / Anything goes.” Even with the small fortune he invested in her speech and acting lessons, Goldwyn wasn’t successful in his attempt at turning Anna into a superstar. She was eventually referred to as “Goldwyn’s Folly,” and is seen as a victim of the transition between silent films and the new talkies. Eugene fared better in Hollywood than Anna.
Above: The ovular dining room features wraparound steel-frame windows with a view on to the lush garden and mature trees.
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Below: The master bedroom opens to an ocean-view deck. Right: Period details have been restored and renovated.
He twice collaborated with director John Huston on the films Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison and The Barbarian and the Geisha and went on to work with B-grade films, many of which starred his wife. Anna continued to act in small parts in movies and television until 1964. She died in 1993 at the age of 84 in New York City. Her husband preceded her in death in 1984. The residence has been through two renovations—first led by Biber Architects and later by Marmol Radziner in partnership with designer Mark Haddawy.
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The home’s current owner is director/writer/producer Marc Forster, known for Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace, and Stranger than Fiction, among other films. Forster engaged designer Mark Haddawy and renowned firm Marmol Radziner to study Neutra’s original plans in order to restore the main house to its original state. Forster also hired architects Johnston Marklee to design a $4 million work studio/two-bedroom guest house that complements Neutra’s design of the existing house.
INTERIORS
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Surrounded by lush landscaping but still open to a view of the ocean, the 4,000-square-foot house has five bedrooms and seven baths divided between the main house and the guest house. The house is located only a short stroll to the beach, restaurants, and shops.
Opposite, top: The Neutra-designed home is listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Opposite, bottom: The property’s pool has been featured in numerous films and photo shoots. Above: Offices and studio space make the property well-suited for those working from home.
The master suite has an upstairs terrace with ocean views and an office. In addition to three bedrooms, there is a large living room with fireplace and wrap-around windows, an oval-shaped dining room also with wrap-around windows that jut out into the garden, and an Old Hollywood-style pool. Courtesy: TopTenRealEstateDeals.com Theagencyre.com BlueDoorMagazine.com
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PERMANENT VACATION
A TOUR OF CONTEMPORARY GETAWAYS IN SECLUDED GLOBAL LOCALES
Designed by Fearon Hay Architects, a New Zealand firm with offices an office and Los Angeles, this retreat is on Waiheke Island, 40 minutes by ferry from downtown Auckland. The design principle behind the house is one of a camp: a complex of three separate dwellings gathered around a courtyard. A sunken living room has been fitted out with supple leather sofas, handcrafted wood furniture, and a blazing hearth around which to gather. 128
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Coastal Orange County remains the best place to buy first, second, and third residences, which is why our beach cities are where we choose to shelter in place by the sea—no yacht cruises in the Grenadines or compounds in New Zealand for OC’s own. That doesn’t mean we’re not intrigued by the idea of architecturally-inspired vacation homes in remote areas around the world. From sun-drenched private islands and peaceful lakeside cottages to intimate mountain hideaways and secluded desert villas— the most desirable vacation retreats are those that successfully combine location and architectural design to transform the poetic idea of the idyll into reality.
A new book of architecture and aesthetics, Living on Vacation: Contemporary Houses for Tranquil Living, offers a look at 45 serene spaces around the world designed exclusively for retreat and rejuvenation. Designed by prominent architects, the homes are meant to help the owners, guests, and visitors (remember those?) feel a sense of ease and peace through connection to nature. Mindful of the impact on such beautiful environments, the architects and owners of the homes often keep the retreats low-key and compact. Decks, terraces, courtyards, breezeways, and balconies predominate, and in warm climates, some retreats transform into outdoor pavilions. Many are designed as several volumes, drawing the inhabitants outdoors when moving from room to room. And of course, views are everything. Since privacy is not an issue in these secluded spots, homes can go all out with retractable glazing, dissolving the boundaries between inside and out. Living on Vacation features chapters organized by landscape and location: Islands; Mountains; Coastal; Rivers and Lakes; and Deserts. Key information accompanies each home, including the project’s architectural firm, house name, date of completion, and location. With images and descriptions excerpted from the book published by Phaidon and released in May 2020, Blue Door Magazine explores a select few of these stunning vacation homes.
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DESERT
Beloved of artists, mystics, and hermits, the desert is a place for contemplation and coming face to face with oneself; a place to fully detox from the outside world and enjoy the purifying nothingness of a vast, barren, empty space. Here the watchword is not abundance, but lack, and this lack is embraced by those who want total escape. Positioned to capture poetic moments—the way a mountainside reddens as the evening sunlight slides over it, or the first rays of dawn illumination—many retreats here function purely and simply as viewing apertures.
GLASS PAVILION GRANADA, SPAIN OFIS Arhitekti, 2018
In Andalusia’s remote Gorafe desert, a simple crystalline structure teeters on a plateau high above a valley pocked with scrubby grass and umber-colored rocks. As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but wilderness. This extraordinary little retreat is a place to disconnect completely and discover what solitude really means. Here, dwarfed by a gigantic landscape, visitors can lie back to watch shooting stars streak through a night sky unspoiled by light pollution. Though harsh, the region has had human inhabitants for thousands of years, and it is the site of numerous dolmens, or megalithic tombs. Designed by Slovenian studio OFIS Arhitekti, the Glass Pavilion began as a research project that aimed to prove that glass can be used as a fully structural element, and the residence is available as a vacation rental. Guardian Glass spearheaded the scheme and provided the glazing, which features a near-invisible coating that prevents the interior from overheating in the fierce desert heat. The triple-glazed walls keep the house warm at night, while photovoltaic roof cells use the location’s plentiful solar energy. The Y-shaped structure rests on a mirrored wooden platform. The pavilion has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living area with a strategically positioned sunken bath that allows for spectacular sunset watching. All spaces open out onto a covered veranda shaded by curtains that billow softly in the desert breeze. The reflective glass and mirrors, softened by sail-like folds of fabric, create a dwelling of abstract beauty and geometry, totally in tune with its wild surroundings. 130
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COASTAL
The coast calls to us with promises of restoration and well-being. Yet it is also a place of adventure, for looking outward and toward the unknown. Many coastal retreats draw on traditional forms, such as the fisherman’s hut or the Modernist family beach house, adding their own new twists to these well-loved archetypes. Yet many dare to rupture familiar typologies, choosing instead monolithic Brutalist aesthetics and concrete, or vast planes of travertine stone. Responses to steep, craggy, or waterside terrains vary—carving deep into an escarpment to avoid rockfalls, using concrete fins to lift a house above the sea, or designing a dwelling across several stepped pavilions.
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SUNSET ROCK HOUSE NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, 2012
A feast for the senses—the roar of the ocean and the smell of sea salt, and, of course, the vivid glow of the sunsets—will welcome the visitor when staying at this simple sea cabin perched on a granite outcrop next to the Atlantic. Concrete fins elevate the home so that any rogue waves cannot drench its underside. But a far corner of the cabin has a corner left exposed, creating a cantilevering terrace to bring inhabitants faceto-face with the elements. It was commissioned by a city-dwelling couple who fell in love with the nearby fishing village and landscape. They had spent many evenings watching sunsets from this rock long before the idea of building a house there was born. The wedge-shaped volume is pierced by a rectangular opening serving as a covered entry deck. This beautifully frames the sea and horizon, and the void also separates the master bedroom from the rest of the house. Sliding barn doors on either side of the space keep the house weatherproof. The structure is clad in galvanized corrugated aluminum to shield it from the worst of storms, while the underside is protected by the same marine-grade plywood that is used in local boatbuilding. Interiors are sparse and neutral so as not to distract from the views. Bedrooms have clerestory windows to allow dreamers to watch clouds float across the skies. The living area is fully glazed, and it is a place to sit quietly, as if in a natural cinema, watching the ever-shifting moods and colors of the sea.
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MOUNTAINS, FORESTS, AND RURAL
Mountains elevate. The higher one ascends, the farther one leaves behind the concerns of the everyday. Forests have the power to reconnect us with our environment. And the contrastingly wide-open spaces of the rural landscape provide a wilderness antidote to the urban and suburban. All three landscapes have in common their sense of otherness, their underpopulation, and their attendant sense of time slowing down. Hut typology is a persistent theme in the architecture, providing shelter from the elements, coziness, and simplicity. Some embrace a makeshift aesthetic and upcycle found materials, using corrugated steel, locally grown wood, and even ancient crates found lying in a nearby vineyard.
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OWL CREEK
SNOWMASS, COLORADO Skylab, 2015
Designed for a brother and sister and their respective families, Owl Creek is a place to kick back, reconnect, and recharge. The retreat’s spectacular location deep in the Rocky Mountains offers breathtaking panoramic views of jagged peaks and vast skies. The nearby town of Snowmass, hugely popular for winter sports, is a year-round destination for all kinds of outdoor activities. The concept was to create a place where connections can be deepened between friends, family, and the natural world. That principle informs everything : the use of local materials; the thoughtful collection of linked, lodge-like spaces; and the maximal glazing, which creates a constant visual bond with the extraordinary surroundings beyond—sometimes exhilarating vistas, sometimes tantalizing glimpses. Owl Creek’s soaring angular lines are a response to the vertiginous slopes of the surrounding mountains. The steel structure, a warm, earthy russet, gives the home an industrial aesthetic and will be allowed to weather over time. Steel is widely used inside, in a rich chocolate brown. Decor is unfussy but remains warmly luxurious, thanks to the copious use of wood. The internal spaces are intelligently designed to maintain a balance between extroversion and intimacy. Large gatherings are made possible by generously proportioned split-level spaces that open up onto outdoor decks, one with a triangular hot tub projecting out into the alpine landscape. Cozier social areas—such as the living room, hearth, bar, and lounge—allow the inhabitants to withdraw, but these spaces are never closed off completely, one flowing into another, separate but still connected.
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ISLANDS
No one is an island, but there are times when it is entirely necessary to escape to one. Whether a retreat is luxe or low-key, an island location creates particular challenges for architects and builders. Simplicity of design, to match a simplicity of lifestyle, is important. Architects frequently draw on local typologies, tried and tested over centuries in responding to an island’s topography, microclimate, and materials. By definition, these retreats have a relationship with water: they cantilever over it, frame views of its changing surface, are reflected in it, and can tune in to its booming or its murmurs.
WRITER’S HOUSE VEGA, NORWAY
Kolman Boye Architects, 2014
Vega is an archipelago of around 6,500 islands, islets, and reefs just south of the Arctic Circle in northern Norway. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it has a distinctively wild and spare beauty and is home to over 230 species of birds. Residing here, according to locals, involves “living your life slowly.” This writer’s retreat borrows the typology of the huts seen on the Norwegian coast known as naust. Naust were traditionally used for storing boats and fishing gear. This particular weekend and vacation retreat is inspired by some existing naust not far from the site, down by the sea. Built on a granite outcrop, with views over the water, it seems as if it has always been there. A path leading to the house lies concealed within a small ravine, so as not to scar the landscape. The house appears in splendid isolation, cut off from all civilization. Resembling two huts, staggered on plan, the building crouches on low stilts above the rocky ground, one volume higher up the slope than the other. Downstairs is an open-plan living area with a stone hearth at its center, while bedrooms lead off a galleried space upstairs. For such a compact home, there is an impressive feeling of openness and light. The cabin structure is built from larch, and interiors are clad in linseed-treated pine with detailing in birch. All the wood is intended to develop a patina over time, which will anchor the home even more firmly within its surroundings. This retreat feels comfortingly constant—a snug, secure haven amid the stark landscape.
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VIRTUAL VIEWING REAL ESTATE AGENT MICHAEL JOHNSON OF COMPASS ELEVATES THE ART OF THE REMOTE HOME SHOWING By Kedric Francis
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Once an 850-square-foot post-and-beam, this extensively renovated Laguna Beach home keeps its mid-century cred while gaining square footage and sweeping ocean views.Â
Back in a pre-COVID-19 world, Open Houses offered a full sensory experience to see, feel, and, yes, touch, an onthe-market property. With a massive migration to digital ever ything, however, the home tour has gone from high-touch to high-tech.Â
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The third-story master suite offers commanding ocean and views from two sides with resort-inspired amenities like an indoor fireplace and outdoor jacuzzi.Â
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A third-story deck continues the emphasis on outdoor living on all floors.
“Showing homes remotely requires a totally different approach to the process,” says Mike Johnson of Compass. “The pacing is different, the way you respond to your client’s cues is different, and even the way in which the house is revealed is different.” One of Johnson’s latest cinematic case studies? A multi-level, oceanview post-and-beam in Laguna Beach. Tucked in, up, and around its hillside location near downtown Laguna, the home is comprised of a series of strategically positioned, box-like structures that are stacked and staggered towards stunning ocean views. Purchased by James Kisel in 2004, the architect redesigned the original midcentury, 850-square-foot house into an expansive 2,000-square-foot, ocean-embracing retreat. “The big idea of the house is that we wanted to play off the midcentury post-and-beam vibe but bring it forward to today. We wanted light and views in every part of the house. One of my husband’s main goals was to see Catalina Island from the kitchen sink,” says Kisel of the new middle floor with the kitchen and family room. With an added third-floor master suite, the home now has three bedrooms and two baths. The architect also added a series of outdoor areas, including an expansive terrace on the second level, complete with outdoor fireplace and ample entertaining space. While the home offers no shortage of drama in the form of stunning design details and breathtaking views, translating that to the confines of FaceTime isn’t as straightforward as it may appear. “When you’re showing a home in person, you’re obviously going to start at the front BlueDoorMagazine.com
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door,” says Johnson. “With a video tour, that’s not necessarily the best place to start. For this home, I actually start on the terrace, outside the slider of the dining room looking up onto the yard. It’s a more cinematic opening to experience the home, and it gives a better sense of what it feels like to be here.”
Above: According to Kisel, ocean views are “locked in for perpetuity” not just with future construction, but also with tree height below the property. Opposite: The middle-level entertaining terrace connects to the first floor via cascading water.
From there, Johnson heads back into the home’s first level, which includes the original structures on the property from the 1950s. There, a dining room, living area, and two bedrooms all boast ocean views. Moving up to the more recently built middle level’s family room and kitchen, Johnson says he takes time to point out details that would be obvious in person, but easy to miss electronically. “It’s easy to get confused about where you are in space when you’re seeing a house on a device,” says Johnson. “I find that one thing that’s really important is to slowly show people how you transition from one room to another. That gets easily lost if you move too quickly.” Details like the fact that the kitchen is slightly elevated from the family room are entirely missed unless highlighted, while huge moments can lose their impact without the right approach: “I really emphasize how indoor/outdoor this home is. I make a point of showing how these amazing 15-foot-high Fleetwood doors open onto amazing ocean views from the terrace.” BlueDoorMagazine.com
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Top left: The middle-level great room and kitchen connect effortlessly to an expansive terrace via disappearing Fleetwood glass walls. Left: The original home’s ground floor living room offers ocean views, while the third-floor master suite looks down onto the Laguna Beach High School football field.
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Saving one of the home’s true scene-stealers for last is also part of the plan. Perched at the top of the property, the third-floor master suite with the slightly pitched roofline is “the home’s big moment,” says Johnson. “It’s this crow’s nest up high with wrap-around views, a fireplace, and windows all around. This is where I pause, don’t talk, and let people just experience this amazing space.” While allowing for awe is part of the process, Johnson says that surprise and delight are just as important. “One of the home’s great surprises is that the back wall of the master suite shower is a glass pivoting door. It opens onto the rear of the house, which is completely private, so you feel like you’re taking an outdoor shower.”
And while a potential buyer wouldn’t be able to feel the ocean breeze and hear the fountain that waterfalls from one level to another, Johnson says it is possible to get a true feel for the home without stepping foot within it: “Even though you can’t get the total body language of someone touring the home, if you listen enough and observe what they’re feeling, you bring them into a place, even from their phone.” Mike Johnson Group Compass 540 South Coast Highway, Suite 202 Laguna Beach 949.207.3006 mikejohnsongroup.com
James Kisel AIA LPA, Director of K – 12 Architecture lpadesignstudios.com
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HOME IS WHERE THE HEALTH IS The safety and security of life at home—both indoors and out—will drive design decisions and creative solutions. By Annette Reeves
Finding any form of certainty in current day-to-day life is a challenge. As people embrace what is now called the “new norm” it carries with it the weight of undefinable answers and a vision of a world we’ve never experienced. How will society evolve in the future? What will social gatherings look like? Will our hearts skip a beat every time we shake hands or embrace? Where, in fact, will we find peace and safety? Industry experts believe that peace will be found at home. Home, our safe haven, the only place where we can control who comes and goes, what’s clean and isn’t, and where the threat of the outside world and its endless uncertainties can be shut out by closing the door and drawing the shades. This Mark Singer home’s interiors were designed by Grace Blu Interior Design with family in mind. Photo by Ryan Garvin. 146
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Right: The warmth of this kitchen by Laura Brophy Interiors is created via vertical grain cabinetry, natural Quartzite countertops and CLE Tile backsplash with custom hood. Below: Modular outdoor kitchen by Urban Bonfire featuring the Urban Collection.
So how will this new normal shape how we look and design our homes? As we follow the pleas to “stay home,” the safety of that structure is intensely magnified. Families are cleaning and organizing, every room and space is being used for new functions… school desks, home offices, and happy-hour Zoom rooms. Husbands and wives are looking at their real estate investments in a completely different way than they did only a few months ago. This is not simply where we sleep, raise our children, eat, and live, this is safety, this is predictable, this is home. Ryan Bloom, co-founder and president of Urban Bonfire, agrees that people will see new opportunity in their homes, both as a staycation with luxury vacations canceled and, more importantly, as an opportunity to improve economic value. “The safe place that people have today is the home. As we move out of this, I think there is going to be an overall trend toward people wanting to do more in their homes because that is where they have complete and full control.” And as the months 148
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Left: Hanging swings, white painted ceilings, and indoor/outdoor furniture allow for cozy gatherings outdoors, thanks to Skout Interior Design. Photo by Ryan Garvin. Below: Black contemporary shelving and desk space creates the perfect multi-functional area in the home, by Erica Bryen Design.
pass and summer approaches, Bloom believes that the outdoor area will most certainly become a focus. He, along with co-founder and chief design officer, Stefan Marchant, created Montreal-based Urban Bonfire in 2013 out of a love for the outdoors but, more importantly, out of a desire to provide clients with the ability to turn their outdoor spaces into real rooms. The heightened sense that home is safe and that’s where people can socialize free of unseen germs will only increase. Bloom also sees the outdoor zone as a vital part of raising a home’s economical value and something that is on trend to becoming one of the key focal points of the construction and renovation industry. “Even before COVID-19, the outdoor living and entertaining room has been an emerging trend and tops many homeowners’ wish lists of where and how they want to invest their dollars for maximized economic and experiential returns. And now, more than ever, people will be freer to take a step back and evaluate what is important. The idea of family
and friends together will come to the foreground. Whether you’re cooking outside on a $150 Weber or a $25,000 Kalamazoo, it’s not what creates the memory, it’s who creates the memory.” Bloom and Marchant developed Urban Bonfire to offer people a platform for creating outdoor memories. For some people, the question of how life will look as we evolve along the path of COVID-19 brings a heavy level of stress in its unpredictability. But for others like Principal Designer Rona Graf of the Orange County-based design firm, Grace Blu Design, the query presents a positive and uplifting opportunity and offers the chance to reshape our future and the ability to design homes. As we alter our lives to homeschool our children and adapt our houses to include home offices, classrooms, and outdoor gymnasiums, the respect for what we’ve had and the beauty of what we can create is the excitement, in Graf ’s opinion. “This is an appreciation BlueDoorMagazine.com
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for everything…nature, teachers, home, and peace of mind. I think people will come out of this a little bit changed. That’s what we should be focusing on… we will see what we can do when we band together.” And that’s exactly how Graf plans to move forward out of this. “The way I’m looking at it is, let’s make lemonade out of lemons.” Bloom shares the same sentiment. “Most of the articles we read are kind of doom and gloom, but in fact, everything will get better. In the most horrific of times, real leaders emerged, people came together, visions were aligned, and great new ideas were born.” Thankfully, the construction industry is deemed an essential business and builders and designers continue to manage jobsites and maintain construction schedules despite the pandemic. While many building departments remain closed to the public, many, like in the cities of San Juan Capistrano and Newport Beach, are working virtually while continuing to process building permits and plans. Graf finds that some of her clients are unaffected by the pandemic while others are exercising caution. “People are telling me, let’s touch base, but no one is pulling the plug.” Urban Bonfire is maintaining virtual work through their employees, continuing to design and support by phone and email. Bloom says people are moving forward, starting new projects and planning for the future. “While there is obvious caution in the market, many people now have the time and creative space to think and dream up their future living and entertaining spaces,” Bloom shares.
Colorful painted accents, a grasscloth ceiling and citron yellow painted table base adds whimsy to this inviting dining nook designed by Grace Blu Interior Design.
Graf feels that the most important part as she works through this time with her design team is to heighten the sense of personal choice. “We look at design as timeless, that’s how I’ve always designed. More importantly, as people spend more time in their homes and find this to be their safe place, I believe design needs to reflect their personalities.” Graf believes that people will truly own their spaces, the formal living room that’s now a school classroom will transform to what is functional today, not what society has viewed it historically. Rooms will evolve in Graf ’s prediction because people will say, “I want it to be this way because this is me, they will put their own personal twists on their homes.” Most importantly, what both Graf and Bloom believe is that as we emerge from this experience, the positive aspects of these unprecedented times will continue, and people will embrace the fact that life is not on hold forever. Graf says, “The world will go on, and I think this is good for people to appreciate family, to remember what we did while we were forced to stay
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home, and we will hopefully maintain those practices long after COVID-19.” Bloom thinks that although this is a monumental time in history, great things will come as a result and people will ponder what they’ve learned. Most importantly, he senses that the bond of family will be the pinnacle of these memories. “We really are in the middle of history and I think that this chapter is something that will be talked about in schools long after this. If you think about the worst of times— the Vietnam War, 9/11, or the market crash of 2008—families and communities adapted, and many found new strengths. From epic tragedy came creation and innovation that changed our future. This is no different, we will recover and that is in fact the silver lining.”
Top left: A traditional clawfoot tub by Kohler was painted citron yellow and high gloss black to pop against the black resin mosaic from Ann Sacks on the floor. Top right: A design detail from Grace Blu Interior Design. Above: This craft space by Grace Blu Interior Design features a Caesarstone quartz countertop and Benjamin Moore painted cabinetry. Custom pull-outs hide clutter but allow for a functional working and crafting space within the home’s laundry room. Photos by Ryan Garvin.
Ryan Bloom Co-Founder and President Urban Bonfire urbanbonfire.com Rona Graf Grace Blu Interior Design graceblu.com Annette Reeves Home by AR annettereeves.com BlueDoorMagazine.com
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Left: This Is the Storekeeper, artist unknown. Federal Art Project, 1937. Opposite: Forging Ahead, by Harry Herzog. Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1941.
PAST POSTER PERFECT The messaging of WPA posters from the 1930s and 1940s serves as timely inspiration and a reminder of the resilience of the American spirit.
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Grow It Yourself by Herbert Bayer, NYC WPA War Services, between 1941 and 1943.
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As Orange County and the country face the medical, social, and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, life is uncertain. After four months, we are eager for things to return to normal, or whatever our new normal becomes. In times like these, history can provide insight—inspiration, even— as we face the future.
We are not the first generation of Californians united in confronting a crisis. Our grandparents and great-grandparents faced virulent diseases with no cures, overcame economic disasters, and fought world wars. During that era, inspirational and instructive messaging took the form of patriotic and educational posters.
Top: Tuberculosis Don’t Kiss Me!, artist unknown. WPA Federal Art Project, District 4, between 1936 and 1941. Above: Pneumonia Strikes Like a Man Eating Shark, by G.S., Jr., Federal Art Project, WPA,1936.
Some of the messages resonate today: Wash your hands. Plant a garden. Volunteer. Keep clean. Endure and forge ahead. The posters were among millions created by artists working for the U.S. government during the Great Depression.
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Above: Help Your Neighborhood, artist unknown, Federal Art Project, 1936 or 1937. Top: Join Now, by John McCrady, WPA War Services, 1943. Right: Keep Clean, by Erik Hans Krause. WPA Federal Art Project, 1939.
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With unemployment as high as 25 percent, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal provided financial aid and/or employment to many Americans. The Work Projects Administration (WPA) employed more than 8.5 million people in a variety of industries and endeavors, including the design and construction of nearly 85,000 civic buildings, as well as jobs building roads, parks, and infrastructure. Artists, architects, photographers, and other creative individuals found work courtesy of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which in the first four months of its creation in 1934 hired 3,749 artists and produced 15,663 paintings, murals, prints, crafts, and sculptures for government buildings around the country. Be Clean In Everything That Concerns Your Baby, by Erik Hans Krause. WPA Federal Art Project, 1939.
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Ultimately, the federal arts project produced 2,500 murals, 18,800 pieces of sculpture and 108,000 easel works. Photographers like Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein created images that defined the era. Artists who would go on to fame and fortune such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack depended upon the government checks early in their careers. In addition, thousands of original poster designs were created to publicize art and culture exhibits, community activities, theatrical productions, and public health and educational programs. Artists were paid to design posters that advertised activities such as visiting the zoo or enrolling in art classes. The WPA poster division printed some 2 million posters, most of which were lost or destroyed. Of the remaining originals, the Library of Congress collection includes some 907 posters, including those seen on these pages. When the U.S. entered World War II, certain segments of the programs were repurposed to promote the government’s efforts, with the artists producing patriotic posters in support of the war effort. The war also lowerd unemployment rates, making large-scale government job programs less necessary. The federal arts funding officially ended in 1943. Today, funding for programs to help small businesses, the unemployed, and the millions of others affected by the pandemic are underway. Few believe that a program paying artists to be creative is in the works. Though as Harry Hopkins, the official whom FDR put in charge of work relief programs, said about including artists in the programs: “Hell, they’ve got to eat just like other people!” Above: Sew for Victory, by Pistchal. WPA War Services, between 1941 and 1943. Opposite: Planned Housing Fights Disease, artist unknown. Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1938.
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IN CLOSING WADING IN This summer will be different, there is no denying. Picking up the kids on the last day of school, the pomp and pride of graduation ceremonies, a hot day at Disneyland, or a jet-setting jaunt to a destination several time zones away—none are on the summer schedule this year. But for all that’s out of reach, much remains. The sound of the waves. The laughter of children. The comfort of family and friends. Sunsets. So as the world opens back up, let’s wade in slowly, savoring each step while appreciating all that we have, right here at home.
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