Design Fusion

Each year across the country there are a slew of designer showhouses on display for all the world to see. Many times their end design result can be quite innovative, as they illustrate how one design concept – or a fusion of several – can work in each room of a single home.

These show homes celebrate the best work of a cast of designers and their collaborative effort to bring one vision to life – one that works to inspire, and to function daily for the family who lives there.

In the case of the the 41st annual Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts in San Marino, CA, 36 different designers were involved, each with their own unique vision, yet each bound by certain core basics – the primary of these being the need to build a bridge to the past while keeping the style foundation of the 1920s home firmly in the present.

Indeed, the young couple who owns this 10,000-sq.-ft. Italianate estate wanted a contemporary and functional home for them and their three-year-old twin boys.

But, given that the home's history begins with renowned California architect Wallace Neff designing and building it in 1929, the design couldn’t be strictly contemporary. The trick was blending contemporary design with some more traditional elements for an eclectic kind of mix.

The home further inspires innovation, collaboration and design fusion with the designers’ interpretation of the input of the couple’s Feng Shui master. The couple requested the designers follow their Feng Shui master’s observations. This was an unexpected challenge for some, who got a crash course in designing for peaceful balance, particularly in the two kitchens and seven baths.

Two For One

In the main kitchen, creating two separate functional areas in a single space was key – one for the family’s chef and one to accommodate the family as the twin boys grew older.

But, Feng Shui elements were just as important to the kitchen’s overall design – so important, in fact, that some structural changes were made to accommodate the requested balance.

“In Chinese philosophy, the main cooking area has to be on the West wall, and that whole wall in this kitchen is windows,” reports Cynthia Bennett, president of Cynthia Bennett & Associates, Inc., in South Pasadena. So she closed up one window so the main Gaggenau professional cooktop/wok combination with grill could be placed there. A custom-made, Modern Air brushed steel hood sits above the unit. It features hand-painted Walker Zanger stone across the bottom.

The owners’ request for Poggenpohl cabinets led Bennett to choose Pearwood with a high-gloss finish, which gives a contemporary feel, while the ceramic and glass tile backsplash and aged limestone floor by Walker Zanger are more traditional.

The cabinets are topped with Verde Fire granite countertops from Australia. “The background is black, but the colors in it resemble fire when it’s sparking, with the yellows, greens and coral,” states Bennett, “including the green that’s in the backsplash.”

A chef’s sink in cast concrete by Sonoma also sits along the wall. “It has an S-shape that was popular in the butler’s pantries in a lot of the old houses in California,” relates Bennett. “But, this sink is black cast concrete, a very contemporary material. So, it was a way for me to bring in the old and the new.”

There are two separate triangles designed for the chef and sous chef. However, the sous chef area can also be used by members of the family when they want to prepare food. Each area has its own island, sink, cooktop, dishwasher, warming drawer and refrigerator.

One island features a hammered nickel Linkasink model, with a brushed steel KWC faucet. The back of the island is raised 6", and has black leather bar stools. “We raised the bar for eating, but also [to separate the area],” she says.

The other island has a glass electric cooktop and downdraft. It’s also raised in the back, and has a built-in bookcase with lighting.