Clean-lined, Elegant, Contemporary Bedding from Wildcat

6/20/2011 7:26:00 AM

Do you love contemporary design? Are your trips to the mountains intended for Zen simplicity and quiet? Here are some bedding designs that may please your meditative spirit.

Horizon by Wildcat, above.

Lover boy

Natural Attraction

Thea Willow

Wildcat Bedding can be custom ordered through Dragonfly Designs. Email us at dragonflytahoe@att.net or call 530 583-6076.

Adorable Bedding

6/18/2011 1:13:00 PM

A good night's sleep is always important and when you're on vacation isn't the whole point to rest up and restore? Here are a few beds that will help you do just that.

Tasha Polizzi A delicious ice cream sundae of a bed!

I think I could get a good night's sleep in this simple but cozy nest, below.

French Laundry Burlap Collection

And below, mountain handsome but with every need met to the max.

Muriel Collection from Traditions

Sasha's My Agent

There are some great real estate agents in Tahoe, but my favorite is Sasha Spiegel. Sasha knows her stuff.

We're all aware that buying or selling a house pretty much tops the list of stressful events, but Sasha's good at smoothing things over and doing a deal with her minimizes the craziness. I know. I've done six transactions with Sasha to date. If you are looking to buy or sell in Tahoe, I highly recommend her.

Sasha works successfully with buyers and sellers on all kinds of properties. In fact, I see her "Open House" signs most weekends in my Dollar Point neighborhood. She's an on-the-go agent with a busy clientele.

Recently, Sasha admitted to me that she has a secret passion for "Old Tahoe" cabins. If it was built in the first half of the 20th century, Sasha's into it. If it has pine tree cut-outs on the shutters, orange-shellac knotty-pine walls, checkerboard linoleum kitchen floors and 40's green and white bathroom tile, Sasha is diggin' it. Sasha usually knows in exacting detail every Old Tahoe cabin on the market.

I have to confess that I have a fondness for the Old Tahoe charmers, too. This is despite the fact that there have been so many wonderful developments in the last ten years in lodge-style homes. The changing roof lines, the hand-applied aged beams at all angles, one-of-a-kind iron work, the use of interesting aged and patinaed materials like antique barn wood and rusted corrugated. This has been a fabulous decade for mountain architecture.

A modern mountain house built by Olson Construction.

Fabulous. Still....I'm with Sasha, lovin' that Old Tahoe ski cabin style.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good agent, Sasha's your gal. Give her a call and tell her you heard about her from me. She'll do right by you. She always does.

To reach Sasha or for the latest information on Tahoe real estate clickhere.

Casual, Rustic, Elegant!

Here's a beautiful project from an old college friend of mine, Mary Lynne Turner of M. Elle Designs. Mary Lynne designed the house with her two daughters, also partners in her firm. I'm impressed with the way the trio contrasted clean contemporary lines with rustic country comfort. The architectural details are phenomenal, especially the old timbers, antique wide planked flooring and intriguing mushroom stain colors used throughout. Fabulous work, Mary Lynne!

The main structure was adapted from an old barn.

Mary Lynne has a knack for contrasting contemporary elements with the aged. Here, the sleek fireplace surround sets off the antique timbers and rustic stonework.

I love the rustic old trusses. And how about those beautifully designed repeating doors marching down the barn wall, dressed in simple nubby curtains that soar to the sky!

In the den, a perfect dark mushroom stain shade has been selected, giving the room a contemporary feel, somehow working perfectly for mountain living.

Order prevails!

And yet, nothing one could want for a retreat in the mountains has been overlooked.

Where else would you want to be when the wind is howling and the snow is flying?

In the Master, another lighter mushroom stain color contrasts with fresh white linens for a luxury feel. Beautiful curtains!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful home office? Surrounded by pine trees, it is the epitome of rustic chic with those industrial windows and gauzy curtains.

Gorgeous!

And last, simple perfection in the bunk room.

Rustic Interiors--A Little Look at History

I've been working on a fabulous old Tahoe house for several years now. The house, located on Tahoe's west shore, was built around 1880 and because there was no other available mode of transportation at the time, all the materials needed to build it were put on a barge in Tahoe City and floated down the lake to the site's location.

My client is working to restore the house back to it's original English Arts and Crafts roots. The house has a fascinating history and over the years has hosted presidents, governors and even Mark Twain.

Anyway, working on this house has me thinking about how rustic design has changed over the years.

This is an interior photo from Tahoe's Ehrman Mansion. Also built in the late 19th century, the Ehrman mansion was a large luxury mansion with huge porches, outbuildings, and impressively large sloping lawns down to the lake. As you can see in the photo, its surface finishes are refined and elaborate with carved Victorian wood trim details.

Above, is a photo of the main lobby of the Awahnee hotel in Yosemite, built in 1927. I think that the Awahnee is truly the most beautiful rustic interior ever created. Native American references are elegantly mixed with Arts and Crafts and Moorish patterns throughout. In this room, the ceiling is coffered, the beams painted with Indian motifs. The windows are stunning with Arts and Crafts inspired stained glass and leaded panes. The scale and proportions at this hotel are monumental and elegant, and yet rusticity and casual comfort are important elements, too.

Just look at this jaw-dropping ceiling treatment, full-height windows and stone walls in the Awahnee's dining room. Beautiful.

And one of my absolute favorite details at the Awahnee is this amazing floor from the check-in area. This was made entirely out of colored linoleum!!

During the 30's and 40's, cabins were kitted out with pine interiors...knotty pine on the walls and ceilings, pine beams and even pine flooring. It was a lot of wood but the best examples were treated with coat after coat of orange shellac which created a beautiful candle-light glow at night. They are cozy and warm in the winter and cool and dark on warm summer days.

On the other end of the luxury scale we have the affordable A-frame cabin which surged in popularity just after World War II.

Then came the period that haunts me today...the orange shag carpeting, matching formica kitchen counters and black stained beams popular in the 60's and 70's! I can't tell you how

many times I've been asked how to get rid of black stain on beams.  

And today? We still love lots of natural wood, rock and stone, soaring heights, huge fireplaces and wood floors. Many of today's rustic interiors are still greatly influenced by the Awahnee's grandly elegant but rustic American Indian-influenced style, above.

Or are they? No one knows where the future is going, but the influences of green design and natural materials are pulling us in new directions. Is this just a trend that will someday be compareable to the orange shag and black beams of the 60's? We shall see.