|
 Bungalow
as
Center of their Universe
by
Thomas Shess
Enjoying unique moments in time with family
and friends in a Craftsman home
What is it about
older homes that appeals to so many of us?
Why are we willing to fix up an old dowager of a house when realistically,
for about the same price, modern homes are available complete with
Internet wiring and unrusted shower doors?
Owners of the old houses say they get asked this same question many
times. And, in the midst of a costly repair or renovation project
they often doubt their own sanity as well.
Most
say they prefer older homes because there is a quality of craftsmanship
and design not found in newer construction. These houses have a
calmness associated with fond family memories. Bungalows and bungalow
gardens are a peaceful place, a place to re-center after a crazy
day at work.
And for those wishing to beat commuter times, mature neighborhoods,
especially in San Diego where husband and wife Calvin Woo and Susan
Merritt live, are closer to downtown.
The 1912 Craftsman bungalow they have owned since 1979 is unpretentious,
yet every inch of their home is important, original and above all
comfortable. It is located in San Diego's Bankers Hill neighborhood,
near the city's famed Balboa Park. The art objects and the furniture
alone surpass many collections of Americana found in museums across
this country.
 The
Family & the House
Calvin and Susan shrug when friends compliment them on their rare
furnishings; to them it's home and not a museum. They believe a
home is to be lived in. It's about family and how the old house
ties together the generations.
"We
had a wedding engagement party recently here for my daughter, Jenny
Woo, and Matthew Umhofer, along with 35 friends and relatives,"
said Calvin, owner of Calvin Woo Associates, one of the city's oldest
and most respected graphic design firms. "It made us feel good
that she wanted to make a milestone family announcement here at
our house.
Since
Jenny works in Pasadena, she and Matthew have been really interested
in Craftsman bungalows and recently [talked about] buying one. Her
love of the genre was apparently influenced by our lifestyle. This
house has a lot of nooks and crannies that all our kids enjoyed
poking around and hiding in, just as I did when I grew up in my
grampa's large wooden house in Hawaii," he says.
 "The
integrity of the simple design, the crafting with wood and how the
home is put together impresses me," says Susan, who is a graphic
design professor at San Diego State University and has appreciated
the wonderful craftsmanship found in older homes all her life.
Now empty
nesters, Susan and Calvin continue to tinker with their 2,400-square-foot,
two-story home. They're busy adding a new bathroom adjacent to the
upstairs master bedroom, and recently installed curtains by Diane
Ayres in the downstairs public rooms.
But what has really kept their free time occupied is the organization
they founded last year, Design Innovation Institute, a non-profit
geared to create a dialogue between design professionals and educators
at all levels with an eye to advancing design innovation.
They want to
foster design education, establish scholarships and data banks,
and create an all-encompassing international design museum.
Understated
Elegance
One East Coast-based
journalist, upon seeing the house recently, said that in all her
travels she would pick this home as being "the most accurately
reflective of pre-World War I bungalow living that I have seen."
Each piece has a story. Art placements are impeccable. And to repeat,
they have created this impressive collection amid a working, everyday
home.
 In
1982, before they started renovating the house, Susan remembers
standing in the empty living room and wondering what kind of furniture
they should get. (At that point they were starting from scratch
and had nothing.)
"Even when the house was empty we recognized its distinct personality
with its built-in interior cabinets and buffet, the drawer pulls
and door knobs, the fireplace and mantel, the ceiling beams and
light fixtures," says Susan.
"We didn't know that much about the Arts and Crafts movement
back then so we started researching and learning as much as we could
from historians, like the late fine arts professor and craftsman
author Don Covington, and groups like Save Our Heritage Organisation.
We came to appreciate the Arts and Crafts design philosophy, particularly
the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"),
and this led us to seek furniture, lamps and other household objects
that would relate to each other and to the house."
Calvin and Susan are understated about their Arts and Crafts pieces.
They don't baby their furnishings; instead, they incorporate them
into their day-to-day living. That's what they were made for, Calvin
insists.
"We were lucky," says Susan about their signed Stickley
furniture. "We purchased a Limbert rocker from a gallery dealer
in nearby Mission Hills, who called us one day to alert us that
he was selling his inventory of Arts and Crafts furniture to raise
funds to buy Roycroft originals."
She smiles.
"We certainly didn't start out to be collectors of early-20th-century
Arts and Crafts decorative pieces, but when we bought his entire
collection, I guess we were locked in." And that happened in
1988, before prices skyrocketed.
The
Collection
 "We
bought everything the dealer had," Susan recalls, "about
20 pieces." These included dining and library tables, sideboards
and chairs - rocking, side- and arm- among them - all from Gustav
Stickley, as well as an L. & J.G. Stickley Morris chair and
a child's armchair and rocker set.
One unsigned library table had been refinished, and over the years
the couple has added a set of six generic dining chairs with rush
seats. They also picked up "a shaving stand we bought at an
antiques fair in Del Mar, most likely handmade from a pattern —
the mortise-and-tenon joints are fake," Susan explains. Later
purchases include a Gustav Stickley bed, Stickley Bros. and Wolverine
library tables, an unsigned wall clock and two small smoking stands.
The couple grew to appreciate the presence of nature in the Arts
and Crafts movement's use of quartersawn oak, which reveals the
energy and beauty of the wood grain. As Calvin says, "We love
the innovative use of materials like the mortise-and-tenon joinery
and hand-hammered copper. The furniture reveals dedicated handwork,
personal attention to detail, human proportions and simplicity of
design - all of which connect us to a unique moment in time."
"We have a small collection of Van Briggle pottery and some
individual pieces of Rookwood and Roseville," says Susan, who
is the archivist in the family, according to Calvin. "Our most
recent pieces were found in various cities when we drove across
the country recently between San Diego and Chicago, mostly along
Route 66. We visited the Van Briggle pottery operation, which is
still up and running in Colorado Springs."
Of five vintage lamps they own, one is signed B. & H., another
Miller, another NYWLF Co., and two others are unsigned. "We
have several hand-hammered copper pieces. Some are unsigned, others
are from Gustav Stickley, Roycroft and Craftsman Studios, Los Angeles.
And we have a hand-hammered pewter tea set," she adds.
"Oh," Calvin e-mailed me when confirming details, "don't
forget to mention the engagement party, especially the excellent
mariachi musicians and the deliciously prepared Mexican food and
the wine from Guadalupe …"
Next time.
There are also two sons in the family. Plenty of time to have more
parties at the old house.
|
Going
With the Grain
