Much Better…
Before and after… slowly ridding ourselves of Early-American-Modernism.
Renovation // Transformation
This Modern Life
PSMW: Palmer and Krisel Surprise
We had the chance to check out a few "common interest" houses in Palm Springs (Kings Point) this weekend. A bit like a condo, these homes have shared public spaces and pools — but like a house, they have no adjoining walls and each seems to be a slight bit different. While stepping into them felt a bit Kubrick-esque with all of the white finishes, they were really neat.
And they were huge — twice the size of some Eichlers and something we did not expect from a condo-esque house. For instance, the last two images are taken in the same room from nearly the same spot (taken in opposite directions)… that bedroom is larger than many family rooms.
While the lack of true "back yard" would be a bit of a deal-breaker for me as a full-time home, it’s perfect for someone who has fewer projects or for someone looking for a retirement/vacation spot.
It was getting a bit dark, so photos were a bit hard… check out the realtor’s site for more detail and better images.
This Modern Life
PSMW: Pretty Prefab
We had the chance to visit the Marmol-Radziner prefab. After Google maps had taken us through a wasteland of wrong directions, we were able to find the house after a call to the very understanding selling agents. It’s one thing to get lost in downtown San Francisco, but quite another to find your path blocked by 3 foot boulders with a fresh alignment on the car.
Once we were there, we were greeted by a very nice piece of prefab… I was really taken by the cabinetry and attention to detail throughout and geeked-out taking some upclose detail shots of the cabinetry before my battery went south. It didn’t feel "prefab" at all, but after visiting the Breezehouse during Sunset’s showplace weekend, I’m not sure what that "feel" would be anyway.
While a (really) nice house, I think a few LV buildings in an unincorporated area of Palm Springs might be more up our alley, price-wise (this one is well beyond our reach at $1.8M).
This Modern Life
PSMW: The Tony Tour
We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn about the architectural history of the area from Tony Merchell — a cornucopia of information and delightful candor — during an open-air bus tour this morning. Starting with the civic buildings and moving to Frank Sinatra’s house and beyond, it was well worth the sunburn. Many of the images I snapped would be meaningless without Tony’s commentary, but I’ll add a few.
This Modern Life
PSMW: Something to Share with Friends
Ever since I snapped a picture of a shirtless oil portrait of Kris Kristofferson that my friends Brenda and Jon kind of became obsessed with, I’ve been hyper-aware of the odd celebrity-icon art around me. And my wife’s brother has an uncanny fondness for Robert Stack. I snapped these for them.
Uncategorized
PSMW: The Modernism Show
We were looking forward to the Modernism show at the Palm Springs
Convention Center… in fact, it was the main reason we came down.
While interesting, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. While I’m
not sure what I was expecting, I think we’d have found much of the same
stuff wandering Melrose Avenue in LA or the Mission District in SF…
good stuff, but not tons of it and very pricey. Some nice original pieces, but our bank-account prevents the purchase of a $900 Architectural Pottery urn. Maybe I was expecting
more of the Alameda Flea Market, but with Modernist stuff…
However, it was a real treat to see Julius Shulman there. We were
afraid we’d miss the chance to have a book signed by him as the show of
his work at the ADC opens next weekend. However, he and his co-authors
were there signing books much to the delight of many folks. The chance,
too, to see Charley Harper’s work up-close-and-personal was also a
treat.
So, in the end, it was worth the trip.
This Modern Life
PSMW=Palm Springs Modernist Weekend
We’re blogging semi-live (aka when we get back to the hotel room where there’s wifi) from Palm Springs this weekend. We decided to ditch the house projects and take a breather. The irony is that last time we were down here (in March of last year), my wife commented on how cool it would be to own a MCM house… little did we realize that 3 months later, we’d be knee-deep in an Eichler renovation. Too bad she didn’t mention something about a winning lotto ticket that weekend as well…
Renovation // Transformation
Holmes Homage
After an evening of watching Holmes on Homes (my new favorite show), I decided to tackle a project while my wife was off visiting her sister on the east coast.
We knew we had to replace the drywall in the hall from a previous roof leak (fixed long ago), and I figured it’d be good timing as I was planning a trip to the dump (and could haul away the debris). However, when I cracked the drywall, I had no idea the area was as badly damaged as it was: old mold (now dried-up, but still nasty), and a bit of dry-rot. Fortunately, the sill-plates and headers were still amazingly very much intact — but the base of the studs were toast (they likely wicked up the moisture from the bottom).
So, in true Mike Holmes fashion ("If in doubt, tear it out."), I took the initiative to fix the area while I already had it torn apart. Since the siding was still adhered to the old studs, ripping them out was impractical (and unnecessary), so I sistered new studs (only 2 were effected — the others looked good as new) alongside the old ones and again in Holmes fashion ("if you’re gonna do it, glue it and screw it"), I glued and screwed the new studs to the old ones, which — considering the top and middle of the old studs were still quite solid — should make for a long-lasting repair.
With new insulation in place, it’s lots quieter and a lot neater (and smells a bit better). We’re using Johns-Manville Comfort-therm insulation on the outside perimeter… it’s completely encased in a plastic sleeve, so it should serve as a more effective vapor-barrier than standard friction-fit "pink" which we’re using on the interior walls — plus, with no paper involved, it should stay mold-free. Now if I could only find Mike’s favorite Tuck-tape to seal the seams…
Renovation // Transformation
The Drywall Bong
Sanding drywall is messy. Super messy… and the dust is not only really damaging, but apt to clog a shop-vac filter in no time. There’s a neat product on the market called Sand-n-Kleen which traps dust before it gets to the vac’s filter, but it’s not available locally (and I needed it that day)…
So, not able to find one at any hardware store, I decided to make my own using a Homer-bucket and top ($7), 2 vac-fittings ($8), 2 couplings which secured the vac-fittings to the top ($3) and PVC pipe ($1)… and it works really well capturing nearly 100% of the dust sucked into the water-filter.
The first variant found me with the intake pipe below the water line for a true water-bong effect, but in reviewing the original, it seems the pipe could sit slightly above the water line shooting the dust into the water and thus capturing it. I haven’t tried this variant yet since the previous worked well. With the true "bong" the process is a bit more tumultuous — what with the bubbling water and all — and some water (about a cup or so per hour of sanding) does make it to the shop-vac… which is not really a big deal since it is wet-dry anyway.
Better yet — and even better than the original Sand-n-Kleen design, I was able to hook the vac line to the dust port of my Ryobi 5in orbital sander which made sanding a snap.
*Note, in the prototype, I fitted a drain at the top thinking I might have to glue the top to the bucket for an air-seal… but the Homer bucket and top are airtight under load, so it isn’t/wasn’t necessary. Also note, the original isn’t that expensive ($40) and does come with an extended vac-line, so if you have the time to order it it might not be a bad idea, but if you’re desperate for time or desperate to save $20, the home-made variety is an option. Worked for us.
