The second weekend I was here I lucked into a free ticket to the sold out Pearl Chase 15th annual Historic Homes tour featuring five of George Washington Smith's buildings.
Now a couple of things you should know. My boss, Peter Becker, loves this guy even owning a few books from his personal library in his own impressive library. This room has four walls of books like this. And yes that is a "real" Biedermeier table and chairs for those in the know.
I have even designed a house in George Washington Smith's style as it is a firm specialty.
It is even possible to get copies of the original drawings. There is an impressive archive of his work at the Architecture and Design Collection of the Art Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These originals are for this house.
Now it had been a long hot day and though everything was quite lovely I along with my party were getting tired. When we arrived at Los Suenos the last home on their tour. I was blown away. I found this house so engaging and livable despite it's size. Coming upon this photograph of the dress juxtaposed with the floor was the ultimate for me.
Now we weren't allowed to photograph anything, but the next day I came across this photo shoot of the house in the Wall Street Journal by Issac Hernandez and was thrilled I could relive and share the experience. The eclectic mix of modern art & furniture with the historic worked for me. Even the exotic animals were OK, but I come from a country where bison, moose and bear heads are pretty ordinary. Check out the tail fringe on the corner of this table.
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