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Monday, February 3, 2014

Video Interlude: Count the Trapdoors in this Nifty Adjustable Apartment

Thursday, January 23, 2014, by Spencer Peterson

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Photo via Co.Exist

At first glance, the apartment featured in this promotional video by Spanish design firm elii looks unoccupied and unloved. Aside from a frameless bed in the corner of the second-floor loft, there's hardly a piece of furniture in sight: no daybed, no davenport, not even a breakfast nook! But that's because all the needful things in this tricksy digs fold out of hidden compartments. To wit, a mirror swings up from the bedroom floor, and the hollowed-out volume beneath it allows for a kneel-down vanity, while in the kitchen, a deconstructed picnic table (essentially just three plywood boards) lowers from the ceiling. And that's not even the half of it.

The living room boasts a hammock, a swing, and a disco ball. (Their client, a DJ, likes to throw parties, and its refreshing to see architects make room for a priority that so many of us share.) It's all very surprising and fun, not to mention appealing to the junk-drawer mentality of out-of-sight, out-of-mind organizers in a pretty visceral way. In creating the place, the firm wanted to extend the idea of "domestic theater" to open up "the possibility to rehearse, perform and live as many lives as you want," as they told Co.Exist. Check out the video below and see how they did:


· This Transformable Microapartment Has Secret Trap Doors Everywhere [Co.Exist]


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Sunday, February 2, 2014

On the Market: This is What a $995K 1BR Condo at One Hawthorne Looks Like

Friday, January 17, 2014, by Sally Kuchar This unit on the 19th floor of One Hawthorne clocks in just under 1,000 square feet and boasts one bedroom and one bathroom. That said, there is a small den that's doubling as an office at the moment. The condo was just listed for $995K. It's a corner unit, so there's three directional views to the north, east and west. There's also been some customization, including built-in bookcases and wide plank walnut stained oak flooring. Monthly HOA dues are $591 and there's 1-car valet parking if you want to shell out an additional $273 a month.
· 1 Hathorne Street, Unit 19C [Redfin]

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Nathan Pyle’s NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette Book Coming Soon!

If you’re a reader of Matrix, then you’ve been subjected to my fandom of the work of my friend Nathan Pyle, here, here, here and here will have his very clever observations about NYC published in 2014.

Here’s a nice write up in Gizmodo and The Daily Dot. Don’t forget to “like” his Facebook page so you’ll know when the book is published!

DISCLOSURE: the fact that we disagree on the pronunciation of GIF (I’m in the “like the peanut butter “Jif” camp.), his work is smooth, not chunky.

The following is a recent batch that “probably” didn’t make the book (imagine how good the images in the book will be):


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Going Big: San Francisco-based Xoom—an online money-transfer company—just...

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[Video] Talking Housing, Case Shiller, on Bloomberg TV’s Surveillance 8-28-13

I had a nice discussion with Tom Keene, Sara Eisen and Alix Steel, along with guest host Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Group LP’s advisory services on the state of US housing and the latest Case Shiller numbers.

More importantly, I’m still the mayor of Bloomberg TV’s Green Room on Foursquare.


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Push Your Style: 7 Bold Ideas from Pros — Professional Projects

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Still haven't found that bold element you were hoping to include in your home this year? Looking for inspiration to push your style even farther in 2014? Whether you're ready to find the thing to add to a room to make it pop or if you're just in the mood to browse through gorgeous spaces, you'll find tons of adventurous ideas from professionals in these rooms.

Today is the first ever Tribeza Interiors Tour in Austin, Texas (tickets still on sale today for $25!) and those in Austin have the opportunity to tour interiors bursting with color, fearless elements and criminal levels of style. However anyone anywhere can enjoy the daring ideas dreamed up by top interior design professionals. Here are some of our favorite shots from the interiors on the tours — full of bold and exciting elements worth stealing:

Top photo: Green Scalamandre Wallpaper Zebras Wallpaper spices up a powder room by Rebekah Gainsley.

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A black and white contrasting modern rug wows next to an extravagant chandelier and colorful art in this dining room, also by Rebekah Gainsley. A similar rug: IKEA'S STOCKHOLM.

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Tiles laid diagonally, a bold and warm woven rug and a pop of turquoise spotted in a room designed by Clarissa Bailey.

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Play with purple as inspired by this bold sitting room by Kim West, accented by Ferm Living's gold and white Wilderness Wallpaper.

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Experiment with delicate and dramatic elements by using dark gray and elegant accessories, as seen in this room designed by Mary Korth.

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Primary and secondary colors work wonders with graphic elements and modern art, as seen in this space designed by Veronica Koltuniak featuring a green WRONGWOODS Cabinet by Established & Sons.

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More bold wallpaper mixes with silver stacked ball lamps and an intense pair of crimson, glossy modern night stands in this room by Veronica Koltuniak. Find a similar pair of lamps here.

What's the boldest element in your home right now? Are you looking for something adventurous to add to your space this year?

(Image credits: Jessica Pages)


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Artistry: Art-Covered Home Turns Quiet Street into Outdoor Gallery

Wednesday, January 22, 2014, by Spencer Peterson

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Photo via Dining and Destinations

Inspired by childhood visits to Santa Barbara's now-demolished "House of a Thousand Paintings," architect Jeff Shelton constructed a house covered top-to-bottom in artwork in the middle of an otherwise unremarkable Santa Barbara neighborhood. It looks surprisingly rad, given how easily a project like this might descend into hokeyness—the lime-green tint and the patterning on the roof really bring the place together—but the real surprise here is how hassle-free the approval process was: no fights with developers, and aside from a few angry notes, no hassle from neighbors, even though the Vera Cruz House is surrounded by neutral-colored, non-painting-covered homes. Shelton and artist Richard Wilke each created about 60 of the panels covering the home, and for the rest, he handed out canvases to local artists, requesting that they paint something from a place they had travelled to, or where they grew up.

There were a few caveats, though: no nudity, profanity, or political statements, and (much more important, in our estimation,) depictions of rainbows, clowns, or dolphins were out of the question. The paintings were done in UV paint, and finished with a protective coating to help them last and weather the elements, but Shelton's OK with them eventually needing to be replaced. "It will be different in 10 years, in 20 years, and so will we," he noted to the Santa Barbara Noozhawk, rather wistfully, we imagine.

· Vera Cruz House on Santa Barbara Street a Colorful Work of Art [Noozhawk]


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Veggie Town: A 2013 Public Policy Polling survey...

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Saturday, February 1, 2014

The Low Appraisal “Hassle” is a Symptom of a Broken Mortgage Process

Last week we saw a chorus of “appraisers are killing our deals” stories in some major publications:

When Appraisal Hassles Tank a Home Sale [WSJ]
When Appraisals Come in Low [NYT]
Appraisals Scuttle Home Sales Where Prices Rise Fast[IBD]

I’ve long been a critic of my own industry. Like any industry there are terrific appraisers, average appraisers and form-fillers. Post-Lehman there are a LOT more of the latter.

The scenario that prompted these articles and others like them occurs when a sale is properly vetted in the market place and an appraiser enters the transaction and subsequently appraises the property below the sales price. It supposedly is happening in greater frequency now, hence the rise in complaints.

My focus of criticism has largely been centered on appraisal management companies (AMC), who have tried to convert our industry to a commodity like a flood certification or title search rather than a professional service. AMCs serve as a middleman between the bank and an appraiser and they have thrived as a result of financial reform. Most only require an appraiser to be licensed, agree to work for 50 cents on the dollar and turn work around in one fifth the time required for reasonable due diligence. Appraisal quality of bank appraisals has plummeted in this credit crunch era and as a result has prompted growing outrage from all parties in a transaction.

Of course, the market value of the property may not be worth it. But the real estate industry doesn’t trust the appraiser anymore so we point them finger at them automatically.

Yes, it’s a hassle. So let’s decide what the problem really is and fix it.

A long time appraisal colleague and friend of mine once told me before the housing bubble burst:

“Jonathan, you as the appraiser are the last one to walk into the sales transaction. Everyone involved in the sale is smarter than you. The selling agent (paid a commission), the buyers agent (paid a commission), the buyer (emotionally bias), the seller (emotionally bias), the selling attorney (paid a transaction fee), the buyer’s attorney (paid a transaction fee) and the loan officer or mortgage broker (paid a transaction fee) all know more than you do.”

The appraiser in this post-financial reform world doesn’t have a vested interest in the transaction like they did during the housing boom – some could argue they are too detached. The vested interest I speak of occurred during the bubble when mortgage brokers and most banks generally used appraisers who always “made the number.” Incidentally, many of those types of appraisal firms are out of business now.

Let’s clear something up. The interaction an appraiser has with a lender when appraising below the purchase price now is not that much different than during the boom. When an appraiser kills a sale, the appraiser is generally hit with a laundry list of data to review and comments to respond to questions from the AMC, bank or mortgage broker who use the “guilty until proven innocent” approach even though the bank likely won’t rescind the appraisal. The additional time spent by the appraiser is a significant motivator to push the value higher to avoid the hassle if the appraiser happens to be “morally flexible.”

And by the way, sales price does not equal market value.

The sources for most of these low appraisal stories I began this post with come from biased parties so it makes it clear that low appraisals are the problem. In reality, the low appraisal issue is merely the symptom of a broken mortgage lending process. The problem is real and becomes more apparent when a market changes rapidly as it is now. Decimate the quality of valuation experts and you generate results that are less consistent with actual market conditions and therefore more sales are killed than usual. Amazingly the US mortgage lending infrastructure today does not emphasize “local market knowledge” in the appraisers they hire no matter what corporate line you are being fed. This is even more amazing when you consider that most national lenders have only a handful of appraisal staff and tens of thousands of appraisals ordered ever month.

The cynical side of me thinks that rise in low value complaints reflects an over-heated housing market – that the parties are getting swept up in the froth and the neutral appraiser is the voice of reason. The experienced me realizes that financial reform has brought new appraisers into the profession that have no business being here (and pushed many of the good ones out) and that the rise in the frequency of low appraisals has only seen the light of day because housing markets are currently changing rapidly.

Here’s my problem with the mortgage lending industry today as it relates to appraisers:
• Most of the people running bank mortgage functions are the same as during the bubble, only see appraisal as a cost, not as eyes and ears.
• Banks love the current state of appraisals because the values are biased low (banks are risk averse) and they fully control the appraiser.
• Appraisal Management Companies themselves have no real oversight (some are very good, most are terrible).
• Banks no longer emphasize local market knowledge in their appraisers or they pay lip service to it.
• Short term cost savings trumps emphasis on quality and reliability.

Every now and then (like now) everyone seems surprised and feels hassled when appraisal values don’t match market conditions. However the bank appraisal process has largely morphed into an army of robots on an assembly line – either because we are unaware of the problem until it affects us directly or we just want it that way.

Let’s focus on fixing the mortgage lending process or stop complaining about your appraisal.


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12 years later.

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Eater Tastings: The Best and Worst of Dine About Town; Two Chocolatey One Year Ins; TipsForJesus Hits Roka Akor; More!

Friday, January 17, 2014, by Sally Kuchar

Welcome to Eater Tastings, where Eater SF editor Allie Pape shares the best restaurant and bar news of the week.

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Michael and Jacky Recchiuti of Chocolate Lab. [Photo: Aubrie Pick]

SAN FRANCISCO—Dine About Town 2014 has arrived with a bunch of limited-time restaurant deals. Where's worth dining, and where's best avoided? We've picked 5 top choices, and 5 to leave off your list.

DOGPATCH—Michael and Jacky Recchiuti broke out of the chocolate business and opened a neighborhood cafe with Chocolate Lab. In their One Year In interview, they talk about the pleasures and challenges of going savory.

JACKSON SQUARE—Nationwide mega-tipping ring TipsForJesus struck at Roka Akor this week, leaving a $3,000 tip for a server on a $147 bill.

THE MISSION—Dandelion Chocolate just completed its first year in the Mission. The owners talk about chocolate education and the time their pipes clogged solid with chocolate in their One Year In interview.

CALIFORNIA—Bartenders are less than thrilled by the fact that a new California food-handling law means they may have to wear gloves to make drinks.

SAN FRANCISCO—A few smaller openings this week: G Food Lounge, a new food-truck park in eastern SOMA, and Fist of Flour, an Oakland food truck turned brick-and-mortar "doughjo."

SAN FRANCISCO—Also new on the scene: the second location of Vietnamese takeout joint Bun Mee, in the FiDi, and CDXX, a new spot in the Bayview that offers cronuts.

JACKSON SQUARE—Quince owners Michael and Lindsay Tusk are going into the packaged pasta business. You can buy the first batch of their Tusk Pasta this weekend.


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Adventures in Interior Design: Liberace-Inspired Thrifter's Paradise Cranks the Glam to 11

Wednesday, January 22, 2014, by Spencer Peterson

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Photo via Apartment Therapy

Between the wall of bargain-bin portraiture, the seductively posed gold-painted mannequin, the glimmering expanse of sequins above the mantel, and the chandelier made out of costume jewelry, this Chicago apartment has earned its rightful place in the pantheon of glammed out, maximal abodes on the strength of its living room alone. Apartment Therapy recently toured the place, which Chicago residents Shaun Sperling and Matt Leyes moved into three years ago and turned into a free-associating exhibition of elevated kitsch.

Making good on inspirations such as "retro Las Vegas," "Liberace," "glitter," and "sin," the duo has taken a converted loftspace in a historic building where classroom maps were once produced and transformed it into a cartography of bygone cultural ephemera on par with the grooming parlor Leyes owns and operates, which received a similar treatment not too long ago. But though the apartment may look like a free-for-all, there's no reason that stylistic irreverence can't be curated with a keen attention to detail. Check out the fruits of their labor below:

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Photo via Apartment Therapy
? As if surrounding a fireplace in white shag carpet wasn't enough, Sperling and Leyes fashioned a backdrop for it by attaching pins and large sequins to a foam core. The project was born out of necessity, though, as a failed attempt at hanging a flat screen television had ripped a large chunk out of the wall.

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Photo via Apartment Therapy
? In the entryway, a collection of sacred hearts from Mexico, an old door found in the trash, some Bradley Dolls bought on Ebay, and an assortment of other antiques and thrift-store finds.

· Shaun & Matt's Glam Loft [Apartment Therapy]


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Our Favorite Inspiring & Fearless Elements From This Week's Top Tours — January 20 - 24, 2014

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We were going to give you a round-up of the best pets from this week's tours (because there were really some amazing dog and cat faces!) but inspired by an earlier post today about bold elements in spaces created by professionals, we thought we'd highlight some of the most fearless, stand-out, exciting elements implemented by homeowners, apartment dwellers and office workers in tours this week. These are all ideas you could use in your own home or space!

Top photo: Look, adventurous decor choices pretty much explode from every inch of Marco & Ilse's Gothic Industrial Loft, but our favorite bold choice? Mixing a really loud, colorful traditional rug with an all-white modern kitchen. Find your own rug on Apartment Therapy's Classifieds perhaps?

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Kirsten & Chris' Timeless Style house tour provided tons of bold elements to borrow, most especially a refreshing update of a chalkboard wall for 2014 and unexpected and graphic tile signage in a bathroom!

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Framed flag + sputnik light + cowhide rug is an awesome and potent mix of elements that creates one cool look in Evan's Modern & Cozy Manhattan Studio.

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There were lots of cool ideas for art in Zulu Alpha Kilo's Collaborative Cool workspace tour, but we loved the huge, industrial air vent hanging on a wall.

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A bold idea we spotted in Jeanetta & Brian's Incredible Shared Space workplace tour was actually pretty uncomplicated: They combined CB2's 6 Hook Gauge Metal Coat Rack with an uncluttered collection of coats and a bold pop of color from a favorite sports cap, with a hanging square Admiral Hanging Mirror from Anthropologie. It's a simple but stunning composition for an entryway.

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Yes that dog is a bold accessory for that pinstriped chair, but we're more interested in how Bianca and Craig flawlessly pulled off a dramatic black wall paint color in the living room (Benjamin Moore Nightfall, if you want to replicate the look).

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The views are definitely a bold element in Adi's Glamorous Apartment in the Sky, but did you see that heavy, intricate vintage painted dresser in the bedroom?! That's a statement piece worth stealing inspiration from. Do the Classifieds hold a potentially paintable dresser for your space?

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Though many styles work well with a vintage Saarinen table and Knoll Tulip Chairs, we love how Rachel and Tiernan mixed theirs with a vintage antler chandelier found on ebay!

What was your favorite fearless element you spotted in a tour this week?

(Image credits: Justice Darragh; Andrea Sparacio; Bethany Nauert; Kim Lucian; Chad Beecroft; Natalie Grasso)


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Good Causes: Zaha Hadid Tapped to Help Design Ronald McDonald House

Thursday, January 23, 2014, by Lily di Costanzo

zaha%20use%21.pngRendering via Design Boom

Taking a brief pause from the glamorous world of superyachts, galleries, and Olympic stadiums, Zaha Hadid recently lent her dramatic, swooping touch to the new Ronald McDonald House in Hamburg, Germany, designing apartments to be used by families of children undergoing medical treatment at the nearby Altona Children's Hospital. As with past Ronald McDonald House branches, a myriad of architecture and design teams from around the globe were invited to participate in the realization of the new building. Still, Hadid's contribution manages to stand out from the rest thanks to its utterly cool, quite alien-esque design—rendering the proposed units pretty much as far from a dull, hospital-like setting as possible.

The starchitect's compact apartment design measures in at about 270 square feet, with parquet wood floors and matching wood paneling lining the bottom half of the room, and—no surprises here—undulating white walls and ceilings making up the top half the space. Floating beds, desks, and storage units are built right into the walls to make the most of floor space, as are concealed strips of lighting—which are meant to provide ambience, but also inadvertently add to the already space station-like feel. The completed abode will open in the summer of 2014, but until then do head over to Design Boom to see more of Zaha's work, plus the floorplans from such architecture teams as GRAFT and Manuelle Gautrand.

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· Zaha Hadid among architects to design interior of Ronald McDonald House in Hamburg-Altona [Design Boom]
· How 26 Designers Enlivened a Ronald McDonald House [Curbed National]
· All Zaha Hadid coverage [Curbed National]


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