Surprise!
The New York Post squealed today that ever since January of this year (2012) pop star grande dame and voracious lady-cougar Madonna has secretly rented a 8,500 square foot mansion in the hoity-toity Hamptons enclave of Water Mill (NY).
Or not.
Since (and perhaps before) she divorced Guy Ritchie Madonna has on at least one occasion leased a lavish spread in the Hamptons.
Madge also owns a 30-acre Hamptons horse farm she bought from Kelly Klein in 2009 for five or so million bucks, a titanic, $32,000,000 triple-wide townhouse in Manhattan, and a French Country-style pile in Beverly Hills, CA Your Mama heard recently through the celebrity gossip grapevine is quietly available for touring by qualified buyers with $28,000,000.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Pink Taco Purveyor Harry Morton Lists Bird Street Aerie
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)