Toujours Mag Issue One

sept. | oct.

tou jours

issue 001

magazine

in the issue FRESH | Keeping it New

The Melrose Project; a new showroom located in the heart of LA’s design district.

FRESH | Jewelry for Your Lamp

Hillary Thomas Designs dresses up your favorite lamps with the perfect finials.

FRESH | Falling Into Style

Designer Emily Ruddo gives styling tips to ready your home for the fall season.

FRESH | A Wounded Healer’s Radiant Beauty

A new botanical product line emerges from a difficult time in a mathematician’s life.

PRINTED MATTER | Wanderjahr

Take a guided tour of the year in the Los Angeles art scene.

FEED AND FUEL | Apple of My Eye

Celebrity chef and entertaining guru Lulu Powers readies our palates for fall.

FEED AND FUEL | Apple and Root Vegetable Soup

Granny Smith apples meet butternut squash to form the perfect comfort soup for autumn weather.

INSIDE ART | Drawing with Clay

A glance into the work and life of sculptor Mason Sullivan.

TAKE A DAY | Small Town Big City: Claremont

Escape Los Angeles with a quick ride to a relaxing college town.

BON VOYAGE | Las Olas

A surf camp getaway in Sayulita Mexico that is an enticing blend of relaxation and adventure.

SEASONAL SKETCHINGS | Title

David Saracino makes light of the ups and downs of fall.

LIVING | Glass Brass + 3 Year Olds

Chicago based designer Wendy Labrum balances style and a lively toddler.

LIVING | Mostly Mayberry

Explore the hidden garden of designer Mosies Esquenazi in his West Hollywood craftsman hideaway.

COVER | Not Your Grandmother’s Pre-Fab Dawn Moore’s pre-fab home rests beautifully overlooking Topanga Canyon.

LAST WORDS | Can’t Live Without Designer Jeff Andrews shares his top ten necessities.

letters from the editors Welcome to Toujours magazine. We look forward to sharing with you the incredible world of art and design.

Meghan and I are excited to bring you the many aspects of design from the smallest detail to the largest project. In all the years I have been photographing, I am seeing more innovative design then ever before, this creativity is my inspiration. Meghan and I, in a general way, over many coffees, and then getting more specific, and more excited, have felt, and seen this creativity. Our solution is Toujours Magazine.

-Grey Crawford Co-Editor-in-Chief

Six years ago when I met Grey, I had no idea that he would change the course of my life so dramatically. I shifted from a girl climbing the corporate ladder to photographer. And now, over the past year, I am shifting once again to see myself as an editor.

This magazine has been a roller coaster of fabulous emotion and has allowed Grey, our amazing team, contributors and me to find a creative voice that we have all been searching for. I am so excited for this premier issue and equally excited to go out and find beauty in the world to share. Inspiration is always around us and we hope you join us on this journey of defining and capturing attainable beauty.

-Meghan Beierle-O’Brien Co-Editor-in-Chief

DANA BEIERLE

DAWN MOORE

Art Director

Editor at Large

Dana lives in Brooklyn NY where she hosts rooftop dumpling dinners for her starving artist friends. She wears clothing she finds on the sidewalk in Chinatown and listens to Hall and Oates. She draws, plays keyboards, and she and her cat Satchmo can sleep through just about anything. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

California Girl to the bone.

Former corporate exec, turned bohemian recluse, Dawn now sips her martinis from her deck in Topanga Canyon. Designer, writer, kayaker. “Authentic is far more important than impressive - in art, interiors or personal adornment. Soulful living is the key.”

on board Meet our premier issue contributing team.

KARYN R. MILLET

JEFF MARK

SASHA KINENS

LULU POWERS

Photographer

Writer

Artist

Entertainment Editor

If something wants to be photographed, I’ll shoot it. If there’s a story that wants to be written, I’ll find it.

Jeff Mark is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Community College of Philadelphia.

Though primarily a fiction writer, he has recently published poetry and creative non-fictitious stories “Too Tough for Tetherball” and “Two Gents on A Church Lawn” His first novel Into the Everything was published in 2011

by Punkin House Press.

Sasha Kinens is an artist living in NY after a recent stint in Florence.

Her narrative and figurative paintings are based on images that are styled and shot in the home she shares with her sculptor husband.

Lulu will contribute sage advice on all things entertaining, and we will also be featuring her recipes.

Lulu started her catering business in 1994, and she delights one and all with an inspired take on life. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Stephan, a photographer, and their 3 dogs.

toujours | 001 contributors

KRISTY FIREBAUGH | Writer

Kristy Firebaugh lives in Denver in a hundred-year-old house, and she spends her weekends painting, decorating, and trying to convince her husband to help her refinish furniture or knock down walls. She is currently working on a Ph.D. dissertation in English literature at the University of Denver. When she’s not writing or daydreaming about wallpaper, she likes to hike with her dog.

EMILY RUDDO | Design Editor

Originally from Maryland and now an Angelino, Emily Ruddo enjoys her bicoastal clients and lifestyle. She loves hunting for fantastic fabric and when not decorating, enjoys anything involving the outdoors: from golf to hosting an impromptu gathering on her terrace. Her dream is to have homes on both coasts decorated to fit the lifestyle of each, and is constantly dreaming of Italy.

KAT O’BRIEN | Writer

Kat O’Brien is a born and bred California girl. She got an English degree from Long Beach State and divides her time between fiction and reality. She can often be found online, buried in a book, kneedeep in notebooks, or hopping the border to Canada.

DAVID SARACINO | Illustrator

David is a freelance Illustrator & Designer living right outside New York City, in Astoria, NY. He likes to cook and has more polaroid cameras than you can count on both hands.

Falling Into Style

As the nights get cooler, add warmer throws to your living room and bedroom spaces. Orange & Brown Throw by CocoCozy.com $285

Swap out summertime accessories for these Nina Campbell brown inlay boxes for storing jewelry on your bedside table or vanity.

With fall comes more family gatherings and this Jonathan Adler Ulu Convex table adds perfect sparkle while adding extra seating in the family room.

This new lacquer Bridgette desk from Bungalow 5 is perfect for gender neutral home office or bedroom update.

Add warm tones and sparkle to your table top for fall with these Michael Wainright Truro Gold plates available at Bloomingdales.

As the season begins to change you will want to check out these 10 tips & products to transition your home from summer to fall. With so many new products for fall with hues from fog grays to deep cinnamon, you are sure to warm up your home.

o

with

Change up your light colored cotton rugs and step onto a warm moody ikat shag rug for fall. Anthropologie.

Don’t forget about your outdoor rooms!

Updating your outdoor pillows with these spicy hued outdoor fabrics from Chris Barrett Textiles would be an easy and quick update for fall.

Fall Entertaining gets even more fun with this Napa Cheese Board conversation starer.

Wisteria $49

udd R y mil

E

Loving the masculine autumn colored check in this new Missoni “Mark” bedding collection available on AllModern.com

Add some metallic glitz to your vanity with this Anthropologie Wish Tree jewelry holder.

Folklore suggests that bringing offerings to certain symbolic trees can lead to the fulfillment of wishes!

JEWELRY FOR YOUR

LAMP

Hillary Thomas Designs has created a fresh new collection of lamp finials. While finials are sometimes overlooked by the design world, Hillary has taken inspiration from an era when attention to detail, whimsy and unique cultural flair were celebrated in even the smallest of home furnishings.

Hillary is an LA-based designer known for melding her East Coast retro-chic background with modern, eclectic, bohemian style. She has hand selected and designed each of the finials in her line and thinks of them as “candy for your eyes… jewelry for your lamps”. They add a splash of glamour and sophistication to even the most basic lamp.

Photography by Grey Crawford and Meghan Beierle-Oí Brien

WHATS HER STYLE? Hillary believes in “wabi sabi”; the Japanese design terminology that means “finding beauty in the imperfect” resulting in interiors that are refreshing, surprising and intimate.

Illustrations & Styling by Sasha Kinens

“whimsy and unique cultural flair...

...celebrated in even the smallest of home furnishings.�

WHY WE ď‚Ş HER

Rooted in her belief that life is multicultural, multilayered and inspiring, Hillary harmonizes her clients’ lifestyles, tastes and beloved objects into a well-designed and highly individual living space.

THE FINAL BUZZ ON FINIALS

cardella Rancho Mirage, California

www.cardelladesign.com

Books For Your

Wanderjahr, [van.dar year of wa PHOTOS AND STORY

r Consideration

r.yar] origin german: andering.

BY GREY CRAWFORD

I

n 2011-2012 the art world will go on a wanderjahr, exploring a little known continent, when the city of Los Angeles has what is in many respects the first retrospective for a city.

Of course there are artists involved, solo shows, group shows, hundreds of events, every museum taking part from “the desert to the sea”. To navigate this adventure there is a timely, and wonderfully written guide for us all, Hunter DrohojowskaPhilp’s new book, Rebels in Paradise. In Hunter’s earlier book, a biography of Georgia O’Keeffe, she did her own continental reconstruction by taking on one of the art world’s largest landmasses, Steiglitz/O’Keeffelandia. Breaking it apart and reassembling the crucial influences, that of Paul Strand, and OKeeffe on each other in their dance of realism to abstraction.

Now closer to home and events within her own lifetime she is our travel guide. While hers is a literary adventure, there are visual treats on this trip. In the beginning there was Semina Culture, a book by Michael Ducan and Kristine McKeena. A beautiful book, well illustrated with work from a wide range of artists, starting in the 50’s and moving up to the 70’s, ending with Berman’s death.

Wallace Berman, a Los Angeles artist, who is just unknown enough to be rediscovered by each generation of young artists, who then claim him as their own. Both the book, and the art and artists it features are well worth the discovery. Closer to our time and on the other side of Venice Beach, there is a tome on the artist Charles Arnoldi, noted for being the youngest, and “natural one” of the Venice group. (Rauschenberg warned him about that label).

There is pleasure in this book, a collaboration of artist (Arnoldi), dealer (Charlotte Jackson), and press (Radius Books). Providing sumptuous reproductions and stretching out over the whole of Arnoldi’s work. To round out the Wanderjahr, and worth a trip to Book Soup, we return to: L.A. Rising. Giving a page to each artist to stake her or his claim to history, Lyn Kienholtz takes us on a journey of known and under known at a brisk pace. She is unfailing in her selection, knowing the city from the inside out.

If while reading, It Happened In Pomona, At the Edge of Los Angeles, 1969-1973, you decide you want to visit, go to our travel story, and we will get you there without a car.

So, have we traveled from Lala Land to an art capital?

It seems so and the coming year is going to show it.

toujours | 001 | printed matter

1.

Rebels in Paradise, The Los Angeles Art Scene and the 1960’s Hunter Drohojowska-Philp Henry Holt and Company

2.

Semina Culture Wallace Berman & His Circle Michael Duncan, Kristine McKenna DAP Santa Monica Museum of Art

3.

Charles Arnoldi A Conversation Dave Hickey Radius Books

4.

L. A. Rising, SoCal Artists Before 1980 Lyn Kienholtz The California/International Arts Foundation

5.

6.

7.

It Happened At Pomona Art at the Edge of Los Angeles 1969-1973 Rebecca McGrew Pomona College Museum of Art Pacific Standard Los Angeles Art 1945-1980 Rebecca Peabody Getty Research Institute The Ferus Gallery Kristine McKenna Steidl

L.A. Rising on display at Book Soup

A WOUNDED HEALER'S

RADIANT BEAUTY PHOTOS: MEGHAN BEIERLE O’BRIEN | STORY: KRISTY FIREBAUGH

S

pend five minutes talking with Priya, owner of Priya Means Love, and you’ll immediately notice her radiant, positive energy. She laughs easily and often, and you can hear her smile in her voice— especially when she starts talking about her line of skincare and haircare products. Priya has developed a handmade, organic, allnatural collection of lip balms, shampoos, face scrubs, and lotions—first as a hobby, but after prodding from family and friends, she decided to turn this passion into a business.

Her sense of radiance combines naturally with the second half of her shop’s mantra: “without compromise.” Priya’s passion for her handcrafted products has a serious side: she is unwilling to compromise on the quality of any product she creates. Her goal is to formulate products that are “radically natural.” She explains that so many beauty products may start with seemingly natural ingredients, such as coconut oil, but are then engineered and processed to the point where the base is almost nonexistent. She aims to be a purist when choosing her ingredients and methods, avoiding anything that is derived in a complicated manner.

One might think that Priya has a background in chemistry or horticulture to understand the properties of her ingredients. On the contrary—prior to beginning Priya Means Love, she was a PhD student in mathematics. Priya found that the stress of graduate school seemed to have odd effects on her, and she began experiencing unexplained physical pain that eventually forced her to leave school. She was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a syndrome that causes intense muscular pain, among other symptoms.

toujours | 001 | fresh

She noticed that her symptoms were less severe when she ate carefully and chose only organic and natural foods. She also realized that conventional body products bothered her, so she began experimenting with her own formulas for shampoo and muscle balm—and she realized that what she made worked quite well!

While the jump from mathematics to craftsperson may seem a far stretch, Priya sees may parallels between the two. She seeks out simplicity and purity, whether in math or in the completely natural ingredients in her products.

This appreciation for purity combines with her willingness to experiment: when she was little, she says, “I used to combine all the toiletries in the bathroom into one to see what would work!”

She also speaks passionately about cooking: “When I lived in Chicago, I used to come home from the farmer’s market and pile all these fresh ingredients on the counter and just daydream about what I could make.” This cook’s sense of experimentation led her to advanced mathematics, and it also led her to create her unique products. She feels the same about food ingredients as she does about those in her products: “When the ingredients I start with are so beautiful, all I have to do is combine them in the right way to create something sublime.”

Simply the Best In the world of off-site building, Silvercrest has been held as the gold standard for over 40 years. With the buzz on pre-fab and the language ranging from modular to mobile to manufactured, I felt an educational factory tour was in order. Hmmm…a 3,000 square foot house built inside another building? Since I was raised by a father who assembled my swing set inside our garage and then couldn’t get it out, I was skeptical.

The short drive from Los Angeles to Corona winds through some beautiful California terrain and soon the Silvercrest logo on the factory’s façade was looming in the distance. The massive site is a surrealist’s wonderland; sections of different colored houses are scattered on the parking lot waiting for delivery like so many pieces of Legos just begging for exploration. Or explanation.

Known for their unique ability to custom design in a manufactured setting, every major architect wanting to delve into pre-fab has come to them for their expertise. Once inside the five acre (!) factory, I marveled at, well…. everything. The efficiency of material usage, the dozens of craftsmen working simultaneously on the same house; the cleanliness of the facility; the extreme desire to please the client and the pride displayed by each and every workman.

“Building off-site in a controlled environment maintains the integrity of the materials and reduces their waste by over 30%,” notes Al Whitehouse, General Manager. Being a native of earthquake country, I was dubious about the structural strength, but learned that since Silvercrest homes have to withstand the move from factory to site, they’re actually even more densely constructed than stick-builts. Ceiling heights, however, have to cooperate with the freeway overpasses along their final journey. You can imagine.

Energy Star rated, cost efficient, built on steel I-beams and delivered on wheels. So smart and so sustainable. I don’t know why anyone would build any other way.

KEEPING IT NEW The Melrose Project, a new showroom located in the heart of LA’s design district. The Melrose Project will bring together some of the most creative and reputable visionaries in the world of antiques, fine art and contemporary furnishings.

By Grey Crawford

toujours | 001 | fresh

------------------“I wanted to pull together the best dealers, galleries and furniture designers and let them collide in a single, shared space.� -Tommy

-------------------

KATHLEEN, & TOMMY CLEMENTS opened The Melrose project just over a year ago. Already they have changed the look with a new mural to face Melrose Ave. Their motto seems to be TAKE THE NEW AND MAKE IT NEW, AGAIN!!! On the wall and on the floor our eyes are dazzled with an array of art.

Included in their various collections they curate, none is more interesting then the Gypsy/Mautrin line of rugs co designed by Tommy Clements. The rugs are hand embroided with Turkish kilim, plush hemp, and mohair. The use of iconic imagery sets them apart from the usual abstract imagery we associate with rugs. The rugs are available from Woven Accents in West Hollywood.

--------------------------

INSIDE ART: DRAWING WITH CLAY

WRITTEN BY ///// JEFF MARK PHOTOS B Y ///// MEG HAN BEIERLE-O’BR IEN

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND LOOK AT THE WORK OF SCULPTOR MASON SULLIVAN

I

In his art studio in New Jersey, a sculptor asks his model to think of the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen, then cuts into clay the eyes of his sculpture, attempting to capture the little elements of emotion betrayed by the proverbial “windows of the soul.”

When asked why he focuses on sculpting the human body, Mason Sullivan says, “The human body is something we’re innately set up to respond to,” which is why, in his nine years of sculpting, he has moved from his first love of surrealist art to a more classical/ realist observation of the human form and its subtle ability to communicate with viewers. “Realism is the punk rock of sculpting. It’s selfless and carries with it a vaster message.” He suggests that surrealism maintains a psychology to it, wherein the viewer has to understand the artist in order to, in effect, understand the work. Realism, conversely, is its own art, where the reaction of the viewer is as important as the artist’s original intention. French literary theorist Roland

“Realism is the punk

Barthes communicates a similar concept in literary art, suggesting that the artist and the viewer of the art are in an equal dichotomous relationship. When the writer (or in Sullivan’s case, the sculptor) puts down his pen (chisel), they take on the same function as the viewer.

After spending time in formal art education, both in the United States and as an expatriate student in Florence, Mason Sullivan now teaches at the Grand Central Academy of New York and is gearing up for the inaugural year at Beaux Arts Atelier at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, which integrates a variety of arts in order to craft a “complete” artist. “People go to architecture school and never learn to draw or study nature,” he argues. “My job is to pull art back together.”

The Beaux Arts Atelier is a workshop-focused intense year of architectural study. Rather than limit the students to the pragmatic fundamentals of contemporary architectural curriculums, the Atelier combines neighboring artistic fields, such as geometry, drawing, design, history, theory, and (in Sullivan’s case) sculpting, in order to craft a comprehensive student, capable of combining the fundamental practical uses of buildings with the beauty of their design. Students in the program use New York City’s myriad structures as bases of exploration and spend a sojourn in Rome, to do the same.

“Teaching keeps me honest,” he says, regarding his pedagogy. Ruminating for a moment, Sullivan insists that there is natural talent in artists, but that “anyone can become a good artist though the study of craft and the development of the talents they have.” He explains his theory

rock of sculpting.”

“nature is more beautiful and elegant than [our]

brains’ shortcuts.”

that visual artists must see what they’re looking at, a concept that at first doesn’t seem so esoteric and elusive in that we are certainly capable of identifying the objects we perceive.

He delves deeper. “If you ask a child to draw a house, you’ll get a box with a chimney and smoke coming out of it. No one lives in a house like that, but we accept that as a mental image of a house.” He believes that our brains create shortcuts for objects to categorize our experience and comprehension of the world. Contrastingly, artists “realize those mental images are deficient,” and that “nature is more beautiful and elegant than [our] brains’ shortcuts.” Artists, then, are the great rectifiers, teaching our brains a lesson.

toujours | 001 | inside art

Sullivan lives in New Jersey with his wife, a painter, and dedicates himself to the artistic lifestyle, what some people would call bohemian. In a culture that values art but does not usually offer many avenues for economic success for artists, Sullivan has integrated a fidelity to craftsmanship with a teaching of sculpture to students of the craft: the true bohemian life of an artist, indeed.

Beax Arts Atelier begins classes in the fall. In the meantime, Sullivan sees the impending smile on his model’s face, and tries to draw the subtlety of its nuance into clay lips.

APPLE OF MY EYE

BY LULU POWERS

toujours | 001 | food and fuel

I love apples.

If you ask me what conjures up fall, my first thought is of

apple dunking when I was a kid on Halloween. Growing up in Weston, Connecticut, our house, and our kitchen in particular, were like Grand Central Station year ‘round. And Halloween was no different. My parents always threw a Halloween Party and it was the place to be on October 31!!

In our back hall, my mother set up an apple dunking room.

(My husband, Stevie, calls my mother, Patty P the “master baker!”) She would put out the most delicious spread of homemade donuts and breads, cheeses, roasted nuts, grapes, and slices of red and green apples which she’d splash with lemon juice to keep from turning brown.

Who decorated with apples in the 70s? My mother!!

When my siblings and I would see weeds, grass and branches in vases and crab apples piled down the table we’d think, “mother is crazy!” But now I know she was chic long before her time with this idea.

Actually, both my parents were ahead of the curve. Who put mustard seeds in their soup in the 70s? My Dad did.

Who does now? Maybe anyone who has read my bestselling cookbook ”Lulu Powers Food to Flowers” and is using my father’s broccoli soup recipe. The highlight of Halloween night was always my Dad’s soups. He would make two soups that he served along with a glass of wine… or something stronger (Sparky, anyone? Will explain that in my next column!) for the adult goblins on those crisp nights.

Here is one of my favorite soups that my father premiered on one particularly chilly Halloween. >>>

Apple

and

Root Vegetable Soup

2 sticks (1/2 cup) salted butter 2 cups coarsely chopped onion 2 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped Granny Smith apples 2 cups coarsely chopped turnip 2 cups coarsely chopped butternut squash 2 cups coarsely chopped carrot 2 cups coarsely chopped sweet potato 10 cups salted chicken stock 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus additional to taste ½ cup maple syrup Cayenne pepper, to taste

small town

BIG CITY C L A R E M O N T Written by Kat O’Brien

Time and money are precious commodities in today’s economy. If you’re like most Angelinos, you might not have a surplus of either, but that’s no reason to pass up a relaxing trip to Claremont- sometimes referred to as “a small town in a big city” by locals.

Illustrations by Sasha Kinens | Photos by Meghan Beierle-O’Brien and Grey Crawford

toujours | 001 | take a day

T

o cut down on traffic and driving time, head over to Union Station where you can catch the train to Claremont for $17 roundtrip. Sit back and enjoy the ride with a book or play cards at one of the tables with friends. Once off the train, wander over to Somecrust Bakery on Yale Avenue for freshly baked scones, bear claws, pinwheels and other tasty pastries. You can either enjoy them there or while you peruse the local boutiques.

After sating your appetite, book a facial at Piel Fina just one block away on Second Street to cleanse your skin of the big city air. They have a great variety of facials and treatments, some of which include a mini neck and shoulder massage to ease out the tension of your week.

Once pampered, stop by the Folk Music Center; it is owned by Ben Harper and was started by his grandparents in 1958.

They have a wall of guitars and sitars, along with a huge assortment of other instruments that you can play. If the visual arts are more your style, check out First Street Art Gallery, an exhibition resource for adults with disabilities. They have exhibitions throughout the year, but they are only open weekdays.

The day doesn’t end there, so perk up with some cookies or a latte at The Last Drop Café on Harvard. Hopefully, you brought a picnic blanket, because the Cheese Cave has a fabulous selection of cheeses from around the world, as well as olive oils from the barrel and aged, thick balsamic vinaigrette. Put together a delicious lunch and mosey over to the great lawn in front of Bridges Auditorium on College Avenue.

Like the rest of the Claremont Colleges, the architecture of Bridges is well worth seeing.

If you’re feeling up for a stroll after the picnic, wander through the Scripps Gardens a few blocks northeast of Bridges.

The western section of the Margaret Fowler Garden features the sculpture “Eternal Primitive,” while the eastern section holds a Mediterranean-influenced wall fountain.

toujours | 001 | take a day

Claremont metro train station.

Avoid gridlock with a quick trip from downtown L.A.

GO TO GUIDE: ART: Vemont Fine Art First Street Gallery Art Center Loft 204 OBJCT Gallery BEAUTY: Piel Fina Estetica CAFE/MARKET: Cheese Cave Last Drop Cafe Ecoterra Health Market Some Crust Bakery and Cafe FUN: Replay Vintage The Chama The Little Dress Shop Wisteria Grove Bamboo Tea House No Sugar Added On A Mission Raku The Outdoor Room Home & Garden Design

RESTAURANTS: The Back Abbey The Press Eureka! Burger Viva Madrid

HOTEL: Hotel Casa 425

MUSIC/FILM: Video Paradiso Rhino Records Laemmle 5 Theatres

NIGHTLIFE: Hip Kitty Jazz & Fondue Lounge 425 The Press Flappers Comedy Club

The Back Abbey offers an array of draught beers to pair with their duck fat french fries and a gastro pub menu.

toujours | 001 | take a day

As the day winds down, grab

a gourmet burger from the Back Abbey. Pair it with an imported beer, served in the brewery’s glass, or some twice-fried pommes frites with horseradish chive sauce. They are worth every calorie incurred.

After dinner, enjoy some jazz at the Hip Kitty on First Street and finish off the evening with a nightcap over at Hotel Casa 425. They have a gorgeous outdoor seating area with a fountain, fire pits and comfortable lounge chairs where you can relax before catching the train back into Los Angeles. Mayhap you’ll decide to stay the night in Claremont after experiencing the quaint atmosphere of the town and do it all again the next day

Mostly Mayberry Photos by Grey Crawford | Story as told by Moises Esquenazi |

Translation by Erik Antunez

“Having come to the United States relatively late in my childhood, I developed a great appreciation and awareness for “Americana” that would later have a profound effect on my work as a designer”, says Moises Esquenazi, who now divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.

“Habiendo venido a los Estados Unidos relativamente tarde en mi niñez, Desarrollé una gran apreciación y conciencia por “Americana” (cultura popular de los EEUU) que tendría después un profundo efecto en mi trabajo como diseñador”, dice Moisés Esquenazi, quien ahora divide su tiempo entre New York y Los Ángeles.

toujours | 001 | living

toujours | 001 | living

A native of Bogota, Columbia, he was schooled in Europe and the United States.

Perhaps this peripatetic life has lead to his many accomplishments in interior design, photography, and furniture design. His home in Los Angeles reflects this in many ways, a craftsmen home built in the teens, and rebuilt after a fire, is true to its style without being closed in and dark as so many craftsmen are.

Nativo de Bogotá, Colombia, fue educado en Europa y los Estados Unidos. Quizá esta vida peripatética le ha llevado a sus muchos logros en diseño interior, fotografía y diseño de muebles. Su hogar en Los Ángeles refleja esto de muchas maneras, a “Craftsman House” (diseño arquitectónico) construido alrededor de 1915, y reconstruida después de un incendio, es fiel a su estilo sin ser encerrada y obscura como muchas casas de ese estilo son.

toujours | 001 | living

“I loved it when I first saw it because it reminded me of early California and even more so of the fictional television town, Mayberry”. Mayberry with a touch of chic, a splash of color, and a tropical backyard.

“Me enamoré desde la primera vez que la vi porque me recordó la antigua California y más aún del ficticio pueblo de televisión de, Mayberry”. Mayberry con un toque de chic, una salpicada de color y un patio trasero tropical.

As if continuing his travels, the house unfolds like an adventure; a bright orange door leading to a daybed and an oil painting, a richly colored study filled with folk art and books with another daybed, a signature of Esquenazi, then a white walled living room filled with contemporary art and world fabrics, and finally a modern kitchen opening to a tropical exterior. Gardens travel the length of the house, allowing light to enter all rooms saturated in warm colors and harboring peace on our travels.

Como si continuara sus viajes, la casa se desdobla como una aventura; una brillante puerta color naranja, llevando a una cama de día y a una pintura al óleo, un estudio ricamente coloreado lleno de arte folklórico, libros y otra cama de día, una firma de Esquenazi, después una sala con paredes blancas lleno de arte contemporáneo y telas de todo el mundo y finalmente, una cocina moderna abriéndose a un exterior tropical.. Los jardines viajan a todo lo largo de la casa permitiendo la entrada de luz a todos los cuartos saturados en colores cálidos y proveyendo paz en nuestros viajes.

toujours | 001 | living

Designer Moises Esquenazi in his garden

LAS OLAS Catch a Wave to Sayulita, Mexico Written Karyn R. Millet Photos andby story

by Karyn R. Millet

Photos by Grey Crawford

“looking for a bit of adventure in life�

toujours magazine | issue 001 | outside

Down in Mexico just a half hour north of Puerto Vallarta lies a WLQ\ ÀVKLQJ YLOODJH FDOOHG 6D\XOLWD Everyone seems to know each other and as a traveler you instantly feel a part of the relaxed beach culture, RI ZKLFK VXUÀQJ LV NH\ 7KH FUHVFHQW shaped coastline is a prime location for beginning surfers as the waves are warm and welcoming.

When Bev Sanders, founder of Las Olas Surf Safari for women, EHJDQ VXUÀQJ DW WKH DJH RI 44 she was instantly hooked.

Wanting to share her newfound love with other women who were looking for a bit of adventure in life she decided to start a school that blended the good life of travel with WKH H[FLWHPHQW RI VXUÀQJ 6KH couldn’t have picked a better place to set up camp.

Guests stay at the Villa Amor on the western tip of Sayulita’s sandy beach. A series of terraced dwellings are nestled into the hillside and bordered by a vast garden where yoga is taught each morning before catching the waves. Villas are decorated in sun-drenched colors highlighted with vibrant Mexican textiles.

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Each room of every villa is unique unto itself but all open out onto an alfresco living area sound of waves gentling crashing below.

Every season (November through May) Sanders assembles top instructors from around the globe including Malibu, Hawaii, Canada and this year even included a past women’s surf champion from Mexico. Students are women of varying ages, occupations and skill sets, but when it comes to learning how to pop-up on a Quickly the women bond to encourage one another throughout the week. Thanks to the patience and expert guidance of the instructors, victory is often rapidly achieved.

At the end of a ride along a generous wave, the child-like smile on a surfer girl’s face is priceless.

Part of the Las Olas experience is enjoying the relaxed atmosphere that surrounds you day and night. While restaurants are casual and charming in town, the Las Olas staff can happily arrange for a private chef to arrive at your villa to prepare authentic cuisine from recipes past down from her grandmother. The open-air terrace of your villa is the ideal perch to take in the sun setting over the ocean where you surfed all day while the sweet aroma of cilantro and fresh salsa are beckoning your appetite.

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“the child-like smile on a surfer girl’s face...

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...is priceless.” instructors take the group to Punta de Mita for a boat trip to DQ LVRODWHG VXUÀQJ EHDFK ZKHUH the waves are a little larger and all to yourselves. Now is the time to test what you’ve learned but never fear as your instructor is always right by your side.

Many Las Olas alumnae credit this special week on the water for changing their lives to the point where some found new careers, moved across the country or even became lifelong surfers. Regardless of how well you do balancing atop a surfboard, there is no doubt the Las Olas experience in Sayulita is something special that colors the way you look at life’s everchanging tides, currents and swells.

“...she decided to start a school that blended the good life of travel ZLWK WKH H[FLWHPHQW RI VXUÀQJ µ

Classic style and unexpected details merge perfectly in Wendy Labrum’s Wrigleyville home in Chicago.

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Written by Kristy Firebaugh Photographed by Meghan Beierle O’Brien

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rass candlesticks, delicate crystal vases, a formal dining space, low glass-topped side tables . . . and a threeyear-old?! When I imagine what

my own home will look like when I have kids someday, all aspirations to thoughtful design À\ RXW WKH ZLQGRZ , SLFWXUH WKH XSKROVWHU\ WRUQ RQ P\ IDYRULWH DUPFKDLU JUDSH MXLFH VWDLQV LQ the middle of my living room rug, and stray FUD\RQ PDUNV RQ WKH NLWFKHQ ZDOOV²QRW H[DFWO\ WKH HSLWRPH RI KLJK VW\OH 7KDQNIXOO\ WKHUH DUH VRPH GHVLJQHUV ZKR PDQDJH WR EDODQFH JUHDW GHVLJQ DQG UHDO OLIH 7KH KRPH RI :HQG\ /DEUXP H[HPSOL¿HV WKLV EDODQFH²ZLWK D WKUHH

“The history was there but it had been stripped away, and I wanted to bring it back.�

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\HDU ROG GDXJKWHU DQG DQRWKHU EDE\ RQ WKH ZD\ KHU FOHYHU DQG SUDFWLFDO FKRLFHV SURYH that the ideal style of a home doesn’t ignore WKH OLIH RI WKH IDPLO\ OLYLQJ LQVLGH 5DWKHU :HQG\¶V KRPH HPEUDFHV KHU EHOLHI WKDW JRRG GHVLJQ EULQJV RXW WKH EHVW RI KRZ ZH OLYH Wendy has always had an eye for LQWHULRU GHVLJQ DQG KHU FROOHJH FRXUVHZRUN DQG 35 MRE IRU D GHVLJQ ¿UP KHOSHG VWUHQJWKHQ KHU IRXQGDWLRQ IRU KHU FDUHHU But it was a trip through Europe studying DQWLTXHV WKDW VROLGL¿HG KHU DSSUHFLDWLRQ IRU ROGHU DUFKLWHFWXUH DQG OHG KHU WR WKH SXUFKDVH RI KHU ¿UVW KRPH $V D \RXQJ QHZO\ZHG Wendy and her husband were drawn to an V KRPH LQ &KLFDJR¶V :ULJOH\YLOOH 7KH house had been remodeled by developers, but :HQG\ UHFRJQL]HG WKH SRWHQWLDO IRU UHVWRULQJ WKH QRZ EODQN FDQYDV EDFN WR LWV RULJLQDO ÀRRUSODQ 7RJHWKHU ZLWK KHU KXVEDQG :HQG\ LQVWDOOHG WKH ZDLQVFRWLQJ FURZQ PROGLQJ DQG ÀRRUV 6KH NQHZ VKH ZDQWHG WR HQKDQFH WKH best features of the house: “the history was there,” she says, “but it had been stripped DZD\ DQG , ZDQWHG WR EULQJ LW EDFN ´ $V WKH ¿QLVKHG SURGXFW VKRZV PXFK RI KHU ZRUN LV LQWXLWLYH VLQFH VKH HVVHQWLDOO\ VWDUWV ZLWK WKH DUFKLWHFWXUH DQG ERQHV RI D KRXVH ZKHQ FRQFHSWXDOL]LQJ WKH GpFRU DQG GHVLJQ RI D KRPH (YHU\WKLQJ VKH GRHV LV VSDFH VSHFL¿F WR UHÀHFW WKH KRPHRZQHUV²QRW WKDW RI WKH GHVLJQHU RU RI D SDVVLQJ WUHQG

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choices, notably, the shots of animal-print fabric sprinkled throughout the house.

Wendy’s choices prove that a strict design formula rarely succeeds in the same way that a strong intuition—tempered with a bit of restraint—can produce the level of unique curation achieved here.

One central element of this home deserves another moment of congratulation: there is a toddler running around in here every day! It’s amazing to think that this home is

sets—as effortlessly collected as this home appears, it might seem an almost impossible task to maintain on an everyday basis. But look more closely, and you may notice a few details that make the home quite kid-friendly. Fragile bowls and vases are out of reach while the unbreakable items reside on lower shelves. Since many of her clients have young children, Wendy often has to balance design with practicality in her work. One of her tricks is to use materials that are extremely durable. She might use velvet, but she consciously chooses blends that wash up easily. She says that leather is actually great for kids, and her hide rugs wipe clean from spills. Another secret? Choose a durable coffee table that can stand up to some battering, because they will get colored on! make such great drumsticks to a three year old.�

Wendy and her family at Lincoln Park

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NOT YOUR MOTHER’S

STORY BY DAWN MOORE | PHOTOS BY GRE

R GRANDS PRE-FAB

EY CRAWFORD & MEGHAN BEIERLE O’BRIEN

I love the look on people’s faces when I tell them I live in a trailer park. “Is she kidding?” their dilated pupils exclaim. Head tilt (theirs). Beat (mine). “Really.” I confirm.

I had been living a highly unsustainable life in a mid-century Encino Hills ranch for eight years. 3000 square feet of published perfection: formal landscaped gardens, Schumacher fabric-covered walls, marble baths. The term “grown-up” would be periodically uttered by friends as in, “she’s such a grown-up.” (You know, even if you technically are, no one wants to be called on e.) The maintenance of this environ had taxed both my psyche and wallet when finally, a disobedient sprinkler head made me throw in the towel. Now what.

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I love my vintage antler chandelier over the Victorian marquetry dining table.The rustic with the refined. A 17th century “Plan for the Entertainment of Supper� is the perfect blueprint for a feast.

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“The hillside site begged for walls of glass to allow the sparkling San Fernando Valley to spill within.�

A Trex deck was carved out of the postage-stamp lot by stepping the first two modules, which both the master bedroom and dining room open to from French doors. Rebar and redwood comprise the guard rail.

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“Experienced with building homes, but not

with one built on wheels, to say I was doe-

eyed would be gentle.”

If you’re going to live in L.A. you should have a view, I reasoned.

And quirky architecture. Well, a kooky trailer park in Topanga Canyon certainly qualified for the later. When I learned I could create a custom home, own the property and sequester myself gazing at a multi-million dollar view, I was in.

Right: Editing dozens of family scrapbooks led to this gallery of inspiring vintage photos of my parents. The hall frames a spectacular northern view of the San Fernando Valley.

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Custom sisal rugs define living from dining areas. The work “Medium II� features a memory skirt filled with talismans and holds court from a 1980s glass coffee table.

The home’s 1625 square feet was designed as a single open space for living, working, and cooking. Art including African shepherd staffs, a silvered bronze by Jean Dalou, and a drawing

by Frank Gehry of Bilbao, is tucked into every corner.

Having always loved the board and batten cottages of Montecito’s San Ysidro Ranch, I took my cue from their stone fireplaces and weathered floors for the home’s vibe, but looked to Case Study architecture for the volume and light. Experienced with building homes, but not with one built on wheels, to say I was doe-eyed would be gentle.

However, a partnership with premier manufactured-home builder Silvercrest and their savvy agents Structural Consultants significantly reduced my accelerating angst.

The hillside site begged for walls of glass to allow the sparkling San Fernando Valley to spill within.

Clerestory windows and skylights in the kitchen, bathrooms and hallway caused some re-figuring of the truss system (and subsequent grumbling by the factory’s engineers), but proved crucial to maximize the view and energy usage.

“In fact, with the low E dual-pane windows, tankless water heater and energy efficient appliances, my utilities bill are never more than $150. Combined.�

Chalk up one for off-site building.

Soulful interiors - i.e. ones with integrity - come from the thoughtful display of your stuff, not stuff made to look like your stuff. That said, paring my stuff down to a half-sized home required quite a bit of editing. Self-medicating and editing. An extraordinary turn-of-the-century Rococo game table made the cut; the collection of Sevres porcelain, not. A mahogany balloon-back chair with original horsehair seat, in; the 200-piece collection of American cut glass, out.

Left page: A 19th century Chinese panel, midcentury crystal blocks and laughing “Kelpies� welcome visitors in the entry.

This page: Dopey (yes, originally mine) perched on the Mahogany balloon back chair keeps the burl wood Secretary company.

The master bath’s natural light from the skylight and shower’s 5-foot window (a favorite of my neighbors) falls across Ming porcelain and a French cane settee. Rock crystal drops added to the eBay chandelier infuse an organic glow.

Clerestory windows allow both sun and moon to bathe the handpainted Grace wallpaper panels. Old Master drawings continue the master bedroom’s sage and ivory hues. With a little irreverent burlap thrown in.

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The living space was designed as a single open area genuflecting to the view. A neutral palette was chosen so the warm burl and walnut antiques could anchor the organic textures encouraged by the terrain. Sensual fabrics including velvety corduroy and chenille in blond and vicuna hues continue the visceral experience. And living in Topanga is nothing if not visceral. Can you say “sandalwood incense?�

After this experience can I envision a pre-fab utopia? You bet, just ask me.

The sun sets over a quirky trailer park in Topanga Canyon.

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