Jalan Jalan: Bali by way of Topanga
Bali not in the cards? Topanga might be the next best thing.
Tucked away near a spring-fed waterfall, imports store Jalan Jalan has been attracting homeowners and interior designers with an eclectic flair for Balinese furnishings.
In Indonesian, jalan jalan means taking a casual, meandering stroll. A similar, relaxed spirit of adventure permeates the Topanga store.
At the base of Owl Falls, a three-story-high waterfall alongside a winding canyon road, Brian Gibson has created a retail destination popular for its one-of-a-kind, hand carved-statuary and teak-root furniture as much as for its peaceful, laid-back vibe.
“People feel good here,” Gibson said of 15,000-square-foot outdoor space that hugs the hillside and features a traditional Hindu prayer temple like those found throughout Indonesia. “Sometimes people come and sit and meditate.”
Sure enough, on a recent visit to the store, two people were doing yoga in front of the waterfall. The area still bears the grinding-stone holes and occasional artifacts from long-departed Chumash Indians.
With the exception of some small, commercially produced items, each statue and fountain in the yard has been carved from greenstone or volcanic stone with a hammer and chisel and selected by Gibson on semiannual shopping trips.
Hand-polished images of Buddha, Shiva and Ganesha range in price from $225 to $35,000 and share space in the sun with teak-root chairs and tables, petrified-wood furniture and carved benches.
Chloe Cunningham, an associate at Daniel Fine Art Services in Laguna Beach, said she shops the store when designing for clients in the hospitality industry. Her latest purchases, two Quanian sculptures, are destined for a spa in Huntington Beach.
“It’s a long way from Laguna,” Cunningham said of Jalan Jalan. “But we really can’t find a 4-foot solid stone sculpture anywhere else that comes close to what they can sell it for. If we have clients on a budget, they always have something that works.”
For Kevin McCauley, a client from Venice, the investment is personal.
“I’m a Buddha nut,” said McCauley, a collector who has purchased four or five pieces from Gibson over the years. “I love the form and the art. For me it’s like looking at koi.”
Gibson says McCauley is not alone. “If you have a Buddha in your yard, it might remind you of the compassion you should have in your heart. A lot of people buy these as totems to remind them of what they are aspiring to be.”
Previously a commercial real estate broker, Gibson didn’t always aspire to import Indonesian art and home furnishings.
It was a trip to Bali in 2010, and a friend’s invitation to add furniture to a container being shipped home to California, that led to an aha moment.
“I filled a 40-foot container and half of another one,” Gibson said. “I had it sent to my house and had a big sale that blocked traffic all the way down Old Canyon.”
By the end of that inaugural weekend, his driveway sale had filled a grocery bag with $25,000 and earned back half his investment. “I’d never seen cash like that before,” Gibson said, “and I thought, ‘I could make a business out of this.’”
Over the last five years, Jalan Jalan has attracted designers and celebs (JLo was here), and has grown to incorporate a bamboo-paneled gift shop filled with jewelry, geodes, bronze deities, shell lamps, delicately carved water buffalo skulls and collectibles.
525 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga, CA 90290
Hours: Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
