Pink Taco Purveyor Harry Morton Lists Bird Street Aerie

SELLER: Harry Morton
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $4,995,000
SIZE: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Los Angeles-based wannabe restaurant mogul Harry Morton is not only opening an humongous Pink Taco restaurant on Tinseltown's famed Sunset Strip he's also, we've learned from a gal we'll call P.R. Puffnstuff, moving house. The last couple of years young, fortunately-born, and well-connected Mister Morton bedded down high above the Sunset Strip in the glammy residential neighborhood known as The Birds* in a gut-renovated bachelor pad he heaved on to the (open) market last week with an asking price of $4,995,000.

*The Birds: A pricy, celebrity-packed neighborhood that cleaves to the steep mountains that rise above the Sunset Strip where all the streets are named after—you got it—birds.

Young Mister Morton, for those of y'all who may not know, is the entrepreneurial scion of restaurateur and Hard Rock Café co-founder Peter Morton and he clearly wants to put his own, permanent mark on the Los Angeles drinking and dining scene. He currently owns the venerable Sunset Strip music venue The Viper Room (where poor River Phoenix met his early on the sidewalk out front in 1989), the fairly new Fukuburger Hollywood in the heart of  Hollywood, and the naughty-naughty-named Pink Taco, a boozy, Mexican food eatery and pick-up bar in the Westfield Century City Mall. Once upon a time there were several Pink Taco establishments, including in Nevada and Arizona, but only the Century City location remains operational.

Mister Morton and the Pink Taco people took a lot of heat last year (2011) when, as part of their Cinco de Mayo promotions and celebrations, they dyed a donkey pink, wrote "Pink Taco" on both its sides, paraded it around Century City and then tied the damn thing a post outside the restaurant. Handlers say the donkey was not harmed, Mister Morton apologized to PETA and promised not to use animals in future promotions just as he promised PETA in 2007 or '08 when they cried foul after he made use of a pink donkey at the restaurant's opening.

Despite the controversial pink donkey business last year and an ugly legal brouhaha brought about by allegations of financial malfeasance on the part of a consultant, Mister Morton forges ahead with the construction of his newest Pink Taco on the Sunset Strip, the former site of Miyagi's and, long before that according a recent article to The Hollywood Reporter, The Players Club, a legendary supper club frequented by Hollywood heavyweights like Humphrey Bogart, Orson Wells and Howard Hughes. Anyhoo, getting back to the matter at hand...

Young Harry, former man-friend of starlets like Lindsay Lohan and Hayden Panetierre, purchased the property in July 2009 for $1,750,000. At that time the existing residence was but a fatigued, single story mid-century modern originally built in 1963 and in desperate need of an an major face lift. Mister Morton had the modestly-sized single story structure worked over, according to current listing information, by Jeff Allsbrook at Standard who took the house down to its studs and added a second floor master suite complete with paralyzing views that sweep over the whole of Los Angeles' south and western quadrants. Listing information does not offer square footage but does indicate the re-worked, residence—L-shaped with art gallery-style interiors—now contains 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.

As an aside, Standard happens to be the same L.A.-based architecture firm responsible for many (if not all) of the very spare, art gallery-like retail outlets of t-shirt tycoon James Perse as well as an L-shaped and art gallery-like 1 bedroom and 1.75 bathroom residence in The Birds owned by Mister Perse and currently on the market with a $3,750,000 price tag.

Mister Morton fenced in and electronically gated a majority of the original driveway to fashion a squeezy, concrete-paved motor court just about large enough to turn around a Smart Car with a three point turn. Next to the front-facing, two-car garage a shallow inset porch was laid with a luxurious limestone (or some other sort of fancy stone) that continues right on under the monumental front door—an over-sized pivoting wood panel—to a small entry vestibule. The circular motif iron fretwork laid over a giant frosted glass panel to the left of the doorway is repeated throughout the home and makes an obvious (and perhaps extraneous) reference to the home's original swinging sixties architecture.

The wee foyer is furnished with nothing but a low, floating shelf that displays a tableau of framed artworks, including one that depicts a large revolver, an ironically unfriendly image that may (or may not) be a reflection of Mister Morton's decorative sense of humor.

The limestone (or whatever) floors in the foyer and entry porch extend into the rectangular living/dining room anchored at at the living area end by a fireplace and stack of floating bookshelves. A full wall of green tinted glass panels slide open to expose the room to the compact but flat backyard and gigantic city view and the dining area end adjoins a sky-lit, galley-style kitchen outfitted with sleek, white cabinets with barely-there hardware and shimmering stainless steel counter tops and back splashes. The full complement of Euro-style appliances include stacked double ovens and an integrated double-drawer fridge/freezer.

A full-height opening to the left of the fireplace in the living area connects to a shag-carpeted den—another decorative nod to the 1960s origins of the house—with green tinted, floor-to-ceiling glass panels that peel back to the pool deck and an unadorned blond wood entertainment center with closed storage top and bottom and open shelving on either side of an inset, flat-screen tee-vee.

The newly added second floor contains, as far as we can tell, the master suite with almost white hardwood floors, mostly white walls with a dark mushroom-colored accent wall behind the bed, even more green tinted, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass panels and a private terrace with bird's eye view over Tinseltown and, on a clear day, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The adjoining walk-in closet has sufficient hanging bays, built-in shelves and dresser drawers for undershorts and other private things. The attached, nearly all-white en suite has a giant soaking tub and a rare-in-America bidet, a clever little device designed to splash water up on a one's most personal nether regions as such time such an cleansing event might be warranted.

Back downstairs the den, living/dining room and at least one of the two guest/family bedrooms all open through the ubiquitous green tinted, floor-to-ceiling glass sliders to the fairly small but flat backyard entertainment areas with open views, a combination sunbathing and lounging terrace, plunge-sized swimming pool, party-sized spa, and a circular, built-in fire pit.

Mister Morton's soon-to-be ex-bachelor pad is perched near the tippy-top of The Birds where a number of other homes on the same street are owned by a hand full of high profile Showbizzers who include singer/songwriter Robin Thicke and actress wife Paula Patton, multi-Grammy winning singer Michael Bublé, famously peripatetic sit-com and rom-com queen Jennifer Aniston, and Atlanta-based filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Your Mama heard through the Tinseltown real estate gossip grapevine—but can not verify—that Mister Morton has already moved on the purchase of a new house. That's means he's in need of a real estate leprechaun especially since he had terrible luck selling his previous residence, a 1 bedroom condo sold in January of this year (2012) at a million dollar plus loss not counting carrying costs, any improvements or renovations or real estate fees.

In July 2009 Your Mama discussed Mister Morton's previous residence, a low-floor condo at the star-packed Sierra Towers building at the western edge of the Sunset Strip where West Hollywood turns to Beverly Hills. At that time Mister Morton had the 1,845 square foot bachelor pad, once owned by kooky artist/movie star/raw milk drinker Vincent Gallo, listed at $2,895,000, far less than the $3,500,000 he paid for the place in January 2007.

By January 2010 Mister Morton's 1 bedroom and 2 bathroom condo crib was taken off the open market but at some point became available off-market and finally sold for—are you ready for this?—$2,400,000 to some rich folks in Detroit.

listing photos: Hilton & Hyland

DEAR MISS COTE DE TEXAS:

 

 

 

Today we have two questions - about blinds and curtains - stemming from the post I wrote about my own curtains getting sent out to be cleaned.  And yes, the pet stains came out completely.   Thank you, the good people at Coit!

 

Question #1

The reader actually calls it a conundrum:

 

 “Miss Cote de Texas, I have a conundrum for you that I hope makes it onto your blog because I have a feeling that I am not the only one dealing with, ahem, "difficult" architecture.   Anyway, I am trying to pull together a plan for decorating our master bedroom, which has sat untouched for five years while we started a family. Here is my embarrassing before shot:”

 

 

“We installed the blinds soon after we moved in because we needed privacy and I could no longer live with those awful paper shades. The bamboo blinds were expensive and I am stuck with them as is (inside mounted on the windows and outside mounted on the door). Horrible, I know, but I was youngish and ignorant and received no guidance from the guy who sold them to me. Blinds or not, this marvel of architecture has got me stumped. If I could afford it, I would replace the door with a window that matches the one opposite to make this more of a proper bay. Since major construction is out of the question I need to somehow disguise this imbalance. My first thought is drapes, but how do I apply drapes here? Thank you!'’

 

THE ANSWER:

 

Well, this is a hard one.  First, this is an elongated bay window, except there’s a door on the right, instead of a window, that throws off the balance.   This should probably be a story about builders who, with no architectural experience, should not be designing houses!  This is really a problem seen around the country – even in the most expensive of neighborhoods.  Builders are not architects and this is why our Reader has this confounding problem.   An architect would never have designed a bay window like this!

 

The homeowner is well aware of the structural problem here.  Instead of the door, there should be another window on the right to balance out this “bay window.”   And, additionally, the windows should be wider, with less wall space between them, and they should be trimmed in molding.

 

Reader:  have you gotten a quote for the construction cost of replacing the door with  window?  I wouldn’t think it would be that major of a job nor that expensive.  If I were you, I would have someone quote me a price before I proceeded.

 

 

 

Example:  This client had a similar wide bay window that I dressed with curtains hung to the crown molding and blinds hung right under the curtain rod.  This way, the three windows look connected.  This solution would be the ideal one for the reader.  In a perfect world, she should take down the door and replace it with a window which is the same size as the window on the far left.  But, this is out of question, expensive wise.  So, what should she do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since she ordered her blinds to sit inside the windows, one thing she should do – regardless of anything else  - is to add molding to the windows.    This would frame the blinds and make the “dead space” between the windows and the crown molding smaller.  Look at this picture:

 

 

 

 

Originally I pointed out that the curtain panels should have been placed within each window.  But as several readers said – and they are correct – the molding is so attractive, why cover it up?   The reader could add trim that matches the trim around the door and hang the rod above the window.  The “dead space” between the window and the crown molding would be much smaller with the molding around the windows.

 

 

 

Another problem the reader has is the disparity between colors – the yellow in the blinds is sticking out like a sore thumb on the white walls.

 

 

 

 

Example:  To solve this problem I would do what I did with this client:   I would pick out a fabric for the curtains that plays up the color in the blinds and then pick a wall color that ties it all together.  Here you can see, the brown blinds contrast with the aqua curtains and the aqua walls tie it all together – making the windows an asset to this family room.

 

 

 

 

Example:  And here too, for this client, the curtains tie in with the dark shades and the paint color, creating a thought out design.

 

 

 

 

Here, from a magazine, these shades are not pulled up to the rod, but the dead space is somewhat camouflaged by the papered walls that match the curtains, which match the shades – tying it all in together.

 

 

 

 

 

Plan #1: 

 

If this was my bedroom, this is what I would do, after I added molding to the window frames:

 

1. Since replacing the door with a window is out of the question – I would get one long rod that hangs above all three “windows.” 

2. The rod would be hung, right under the crown molding. 

3. I would pick a print fabric that coordinates with the color of the blinds and then get bedding that blends with the curtains. 

4. I would paint the walls to tie it all in together, thus helping to camouflage the dead space between the rod and the windows.  

5. Then, I would hang panels – double width, lined and interlined with blackout lining.

6. Be sure to order the curtains pleat free.  Ask for – no ironed in pleats – this will make them look fuller and give them more movement.  This is especially important if your curtains are silk!   

 

 

Plan #2: 

 

If you don’t have the courage to do your curtains as in Plan #1.  I would then go with this plan:

 

1. Hang 2 curtain rods above each window, right under the crown molding.  The door will just be left undraped.

2. Pick out a fabric that coordinates with the color of the blinds, then blend it in with bedding fabrics.

3. Paint the walls to tie it all together and to camouflage the dead space between the rod and the curtains.

4. Hang curtain panels over both windows – 1 1/2 width, lined and interlined with blackout lining.

5. Be sure to order the curtains to be pleat free.  No ironed in pleats.

 

 

 

In the end, this is what you want to avoid:  a tall, obvious dead space.   This design makes the windows look short and squat instead of tall and elegant.   If the walls were a deeper shade or more of a coral tone, the dead space wouldn’t be as noticeable. But, these shades should have been hung right under the rod, eliminating the dead space altogether.    And, notice there is no lining.   The light shining through makes the fabric look flimsy and cheap (which I’m sure it isn’t.)   Unlined curtains are fine for open weave linens and burlap.  But for silks, dark and patterned fabrics – always use a lining and interlining.  I use a blackout lining which blocks the sun, allowing you to see the fabric.   And again, notice here the curtains are only one width – making them look skimpy.  The fabric here should be fuller – either double or at the least 1 1/2 widths.  And finally, the ironed in pleats makes these panels look like stiff columns.  Notice the panel on the right – it looks so thin and mishapen.  This window treatment could have been beautiful – if just a few tweaks to the design were made.

 

 

Reader:  Follow those guidelines above.  Make your choice between Plan 1 or 2.  Plan 2 would certainly be less expensive, but I do think Plan 1 would be more attractive.  Send in a picture when you are through with the project!

 

And readers, if you have a better idea for this “conundrum” – please tell us in the comment section what you would advise.  I’m truly interested in hearing a better idea than I came up with!!!

 

 

 

 

Question #2

This one I have been asked so many times, I can’t even count:

 

“Miss Cote de Texas:  Can you please tell me where you bought the rod hardware for your draperies in your family room?

Was the hardware professionally installed?”

 

 

 

Most of the rods I order for clients come from The Antique Drapery Rod Company.  I’ve found they are very, very reasonable and I like the quality.   In my own house, I used the 5/8” round rod in the Antique Bronze finish paired with the smallest of rings. 

And yes, my curtains are all hung professionally.  I use Monica of Custom Creations by Monica.  She measures for my curtains, blinds, bedding, pillows, etc.  She places the order with the workman,  and she hires the installer, Mr. Bennie Davis, hanger extraordinaire, and artist!  He has a web site HERE.   Monica’s web site is HERE.  In all my years in business, I have never done a job without these two!   Monica is available for out of state jobs also.

 

If you have a design question, send it in email to me at mrballbox329@aol.com

If I think it would be of interest to the readers, I’ll answer it on the blog.  If it’s a more personal question, I’ll answer in email.

 

As always, thank you so very much for your support!

 

 

Electro-pop Pioneer Gary Numan Sells U.K. Country House and Decamps to Santa Monica (CA)

SELLER: Gary Numan
LOCATION: Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex, UK
PIRCE: £995,000
SIZE: 3,789 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: There are scads of a-listers and pop stars currently making waves amongst all the celebrity real estate gossip columns. Take for example Katy Perry's (alleged) recent sale of the New York City duplex love nest she briefly shared with soon-to-be ex-husband Russell Brand and Mister Barry Manilow re-listing his ocean front contemporary in Malibu, CA at a $6,995,000 price tag after first listing it in early 2009 at the substantially higher $12,600,000.

Your Mama opts instead this morning to turn away from the cavalcade of reality tee-vee stars and high-polish Tinseltown celebs and dip into our own well of musical nostalgia in order to discuss the arguably influential if somewhat esoteric music industry touchstone Gary Numan who, we learned via a covert communique received over the weekend from I.M. Alittlebirdie, owns a house in the English countryside currently on the market with an asking price of £995,000.

(A quick consultation with Your Mama's currency conversion contraption shows the £995,000 guide price for Mister Numan's small estate, situated about 1.5 hours drive from Buckingham Palace in bucolic Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex, converts to $1,617,770 at today's rates.

Mister Numan—née Webb—may not have a recognizable name like more current music industry heavy hitters Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and still-spooky Marilyn Manson, who both cite Mister Numan as an influence, but once upon a time the peculiar musician was an important pioneer in the post-punk electro-pop genre that bubbled up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Commercially the oddly mannered, angsty, aloof and somewhat otherworldly Mister Numan—who may or may not have some shade of Asperger's Syndrom—was, in reality, a bit of a one or two-hit-wonder but his hard-driving yet ethereal, synthesizer-based compilations were unquestionably part of what was then a sub-pop-cultural zeitgeist and he continues to make critically acclaimed if not exactly commercially successful industrial-edged music.

Surely even some of the children under 40 recognize his 1979 number one hit Cars, a swooping and swooning ditty that sounds to Your Mama like the noise plastic would make if plastic could make noise and—believe it or not—sometimes pops up on the shuffle of Your Mama's iMagiggythingamabob.

As a slight aside: Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor is an on-the-record appreciator of Mister Numan's contribution to the music scene and at least once in 2009 Mister Numan made a surprise appearance on stage with NIN to perform a suped-up and soul-shaking version of Cars. Have mercy, butter beans, we could watch Mister Reznor work that tambourine all damn day long but that's a bit T.M.I. and of zero consequence to the matter at hand, isn't it?

Anyhoo, listing information and marketing materials forwarded by I.M. Alittlebirdie indicate the two story (plus attic) residence sits on 7.6 gated, partially sylvan acres and contains 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in 3,789 square feet of interior space all of which is depicted in listing photographs (and a 2007 article in The Independent) as marinated in an idiosyncratically monochromatic and corporeal color spectrum that meanders from blood red to fleshy coral to straight-up Pepto-Bismal pink.

Don't misjudge Your Mama's sass and flabbergast about Mister Numan's color choices because we are hardly opposed to the color pink as a decorative option. Any of of our many b.f.f.s who used to visit Your Mama back in the olden days when we occupied a just-about-dirt-cheap, rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side of New York can verify there was a large wall behind a ticky-tacky, $2 gas stove in our postage stamp-sized kitchen that was for many years painted a particularly saccharine and not-quite-right shade of bubble gum pink. It was rather fetching if a tad bit alarming but worked, we thought, because it such a small dose. That said, any and every day of the damn week we'd much prefer to look at pictures of this unquestionably quirky and deeply personal innards-hued country house in the U.K. than a wrist-slittingly banal, all-beige, faux-Tuscan/mock-Med mcmansion in some upscale, cookie cutter gated development in some upscale, cookie cutter suburban enclave.

Of course, the furniture and slightly sinister, quasi-Gothic day-core will go with Mister Numan, his wife Gemma and their three unusually named daughters Raven, Persia and Echo whence they vacate the premises. And, of course, the pink-, salmon- and tomato-colored walls can be quickly painted to any color more suited to the new owner's preferences. Less easy (and more costly) to change is the structure itself, a U-shaped residence originally built in the 1920s, later expanded according to listing information and dubbed Weavers Cottage.

The pink stucco and cedar-shingled cottage-style exterior gives way to a double-height reception hall/foyer with wood floors and a curved, floating staircase lined with swords of one sort or another. The fleshy pink walls and ceiling make a lurid if amusing backdrop for a mix-and-match group of potted plants and flowers that include the exact kind of fresh cut lilies that remind Your Mama of funerals. Tucked under the stairs stands an unexpectedly friendly-looking taxidermy white Alaskan timber wolf.

A set of double doors connect to a spacious but uncomfortably low-ceiling drawing room with multiple seating areas, a hulking brick fireplace with a massive maw of a fire box, and a bank of multi-mullioned French doors that open to the south-facing terrace tucked into the shallow courtyard of the U-shaped house.

Beyond the drawing room (and up a few steps up) there's a storage closet, small study and a second sitting room/den with hot pink short shag wall-to-wall carpeting, rich red walls and (low) ceiling, tapestry-like drapery, a couple of wall-mounted bas reliefs of Buddha (or some other Thai or Hindu god we can't identify), and a most-unusual, riveted leather and velvet brocade sectional sofa in soft shades of blood and cooked tongue.

A surprisingly wee formal dining room furnished with carved wood dining set that looks straight out of The Lord of the Rings connects the principal drawing room to the eat-in country kitchen painted pretty close to the same chalky pink color of—you got it—Pepto-Bismol and equipped with Indian slate tile on the floor, polished butcher block counter tops, a deep farmhouse sink, and a two-oven Aga range set into a deep, brick-lined niche. An adjoining boot/laundry room allows for easy access to the backyard and barbecue.

The gracefully curved staircase in the foyer ascends to a second floor gallery that over looks the foyer and leads and off of which open the three, unspeakably narrow three guest/family bedrooms that share a windowed hall bathroom with free-standing soaking tub/shower. At the far end of the hall, set best for privacy from the other three bedrooms, the bi-level master suite encompasses a dressing area, walk-in closet and bedroom area described by Mister Numan in The Independent in 2007 as "very calm and relaxing" with dark red walls, "lots of low glitter lights," and "a huge Louis XIV bed that dominates the space."

A narrow, hidden staircase climbs up to a garret-like attic space with what appear to be a couple of sky lights. The floor plan included with various online listings and marketing materials labels the space a "games room" but would certainly be suitable for use as storage or living space for a live-in domestic.

A wide, stone terrace extends off the back of the house and overlooks the bucolic gardens and grounds that encompass, according to listing information, sweeping expanses of lawn bordered by mature trees and thick, sylvan woodland, formal gardens, some fruit trees, a picturesque stream spanned by a wood bridge that connects to several paddock and various ponds.

Although in 2007 Mister Numan told The Independent he "...could never live in a city. There's too much noise—I'm too vulnerable and it's too unpredictable. You are very much at the mercy of other people. When I have space and peace, I can think and write." He seems to have changed his mind about that because, shortly after the devastating London riots in August 2011, rumors and reports began to circulate Mister Numan—somewhat reclusive, a little xenophobic, and socio-politically Libertarian-like—planned to decamp to the sunny streets of notoriously politically correct but not exactly rural Santa Monica, CA, an often traffic-jammed Los Angeles beach community he described last year to the U.K.'s Daily Record through rose-tinted glasses as "not having one bit of trouble and not one surly or aggressive person there." Your Mama suggests Mister Numan visit the Santa Monica pier on any sunny weekend—lots of volatile looking young people—or try to snag one of those obscenely puny parking spots behind Santa Monica Seafood on any Saturday at noon and he'll see just how aggressive and surly a Prius-driving Santa Monican can really be. Seriously.

If the space desiring and security-minded Mister Numan does decide to decamp to Santa Monica, Your Mama regrets to inform him he may be hard pressed to find a property suitable to his needs and desires, at least one anywhere near the same price range as the East Sussex spread he's currently listed at what amounts to just over $1.6 million. There are, according to Trulia, a paltry handful of properties priced under two million (American) dollars in the much coveted (and shockingly expensive 90402 zip code that encompasses the number streets north of Montana Avenue and down into the leafy lanes of the scenic Santa Monica and Rustic Canyons.

listing photos and floor plan: Strutt & Parker