Casa La Cuesta Puts on a Fresh Face : Redesign Is On View at Tustin Hills Mansion, Where Spanish Is Not Just an Accent
Twenty-two Orange County interior designers have brought the light of day into a classic Spanish-style mansion set high in north Tustin Hills. The house--featured this year as the 1993 Philharmonic House of Design--will be open for public tours today through May 16.
The 10,000-square-foot compound was once owned by such early-day Orange County notables as C.E. Utt and James Irvine. It commands a 360-degree view of Orange County--including the San Gabriel Mountains and the Channel Islands. Called Casa La Cuesta, the white stuccoed, barrel-tile roofed residence was built in the 1930s and consists of a number of out-buildings in addition to the main house.
The annual home design project is a team effort of the Orange County chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers and Orange County’s Philharmonic Society. It raises money for the Philharmonic Society’s Musical Youth programs and gives designers the opportunity to showcase their ideas.
“The choice of period home is a good one,” said Deanna Rousseau, co-chair of the ’93 Design House with Lana Barth, both of whom worked as designers on the two previous design houses. The first, a 1927 Gregorian home, was highly traditional; last year’s choice was a new, Tuscan-style villa.
“This year’s choice, I think, will bring back the warmth, history and elegance of true Orange County,” Barth said.
One of the problems addressed by all of the designers was what one termed “wood craziness”--the helter-skelter use of mismatched woods.
Dark oaks, walnuts, light oaks and pine could all be found inside one small space. Most designers chose to lighten and even them out--many painting the dark woods white, taupe glaze, or adding unique finishes and glazes to distract from the warring woods.
The designers all worked from the same color palette, which was selected by committee. Because walls and woods were being heavily lightened, the wall color palette focused on Mission white, cream or Casa del Sol (a maize color)--all colors that relate to the period and style of Spanish architecture.
Spice-toned accent colors of Spanish bronze, Del Mar blue (teal) and Adobe were also chosen. Green tones--from light ash to a warm forest--rounded out the palette, and were borrowed from the exterior awnings, painted ceilings and wood trim.
The focus of the main house is the living room, done by Warren Martin.
The dark walls in the room were painted in an Old Gold tone to support and blend with the hand-painted original ceiling--rumored to be done during the Depression for $100. The wall treatment in the nearby loggia is hand-painted paper in a deep, claret red to simulate the look of leather--again pulling the color from the living room ceiling. Drapery treatments frame the heavily arched windows, combining several fabrics, fringes and swags hung from massive poles.
Hung on one wall is a chinoiserie French tapestry; Turkish rugs separate the two area spaces, and brocade couches with modern pillow fabrics complement the area.
“I wanted the living room to be a place not only of dramatic focus, but also where you could put up your feet on the couch and read a book,” Martin said.
There are many design gems scattered throughout the house: the hand-worked marble grotto and period artworks in Marsha Barkhurst’s entryway; the geometric serenity of Jason Titus’ downstairs library-turned- young man’s room; the whimsical South American fabric colors in Carmen Olsson’s cabana and dressing areas; the sunburst, hand-painted ceiling in Bella Conolly’s foyer and richly-detailed hand-painted ceiling in Walter Nutting’s gentleman’s retreat; the white-walled wood ceilings and huge table (of fountain stone and beveled glass) in Joan Linder and Iris Goliger’s dining area, and the lovely combination of walnut/Corian/tile counters and edged detail in RoxAnn Johnson’s Spanish kitchen.
Among the unusual design products in the house: the Dupont Corian surfacing used dramatically in both master bath and kitchen, with opulent polish to appear like granite and marble (Corian is traditionally viewed as more serviceable than elegant); the Palisade and Punkah fans by Fanimation (often seen in restaurants); and the Soft Bathtub, a patented unique, soft--and very safe--cushioned tub.
Candlelight is used throughout the house: electric wall scones are replaced with iron, three-branch “cross” candle scones. A massive two-tiered iron chandelier with crackle-glass hurricanes drops from the high ceiling. A Tree of Life iron floor standing candelabra with nine candle columns flickers with light.
Highlighting the massive fireplace chimney is a wonderful hand-painted canvas mural in a dreamlike jungle motif illuminated by computerized spotlights. The other bit of modern technology is paddle-wheel fans, used both as pedestal fans and also suspended from the ceiling.
For the outside veranda, Bill Kiefer and his partner used authentic and decorative African, Oriental and Latin American motifs--with a strong animal current--zebra-cotton bar stools; jungle animal and reptile-print fabrics for the giant seat back cushions of the bamboo sofas and chairs--and accented it with black for drama.
“The design concept for these outdoor areas was to create a playful, whimsical escape from the formality of the main house,” Kiefer says.
The separated dining area off the veranda reflects a more colorful Spanish theme. Bright, striped slipcovers conceal well-worn Mexican ladder-back chairs. The authentic, huge wood table was refinished.
In contrast to the traditional Spanish motifs is Joyce Pizatella’s guest house, turned into a 1930s-style theater/entertainment center. The furnishings consist of a C-shaped, ultra suede teal sofa; plush teal and copper ottomans; burnished copper coffee tables, and a thick, dark, heavy leather director/scroll chair. The window treatments are two-toned satin draperies of bronze and toast which fold back onto French doors. When closed, they act as blackout curtains for theater viewing.
Jackson Pollock-style artworks are displayed, as are two custom raku theater masks. Dark wood had previously prevailed in the small room, and copper opalescent stipple paint was used to lighten the walls. However, the best bit of paint in the room is an original canvas “illusionary” screen on which the back of heads are seen as an audience watches a black-and-white, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie scene. “I wanted people to feel the glamour and magic of the era,” Pizatella explains.
The master bedroom steps into opulent drama with thick, jeweled-tone light maroon and cream Waverly damask fabrics. They are used extensively on the four-poster chinoiserie-style bed; slipcovered on chairs and ottomans for the loose, comfortable look so prevalent today; and also in the upholstered walls in the woman’s vanity, which links the retreat to the master bathroom. Custom gold-leafed drapery rods cradle a swath of damask hanging over a marbleized desk.
The master bathroom was gutted and remodeled. Designer Carol Echternach says approximately $65,000 worth of labor and materials were used in this small space; they include dramatic black “granite-like” Corian--in one section hand-etched as if in stone. She uses new 24-karat gold and marble high-tech bathroom faucets. The tub and shower showcase the Soft Bathtub product line--safe yet sleek and elegant.
“Bedrooms are supposed to be luxurious but also comfortable,” Echternach says, “and I wanted the richness of the era to blend into what was happening in the ‘90s. Besides, a little drama always makes things more interesting.”
In the upstairs children’s bedroom, Natalie Curtin and Carol Terry created a fantasy with what Curtin described as a “soft Western theme--that means no guns or weapons, only the horsy side of the Western world.”
The focus of the room is a massive lodge pole bunk bed/playhouse done in birch wood, which features shades that drop to become the hide-out. A TV/VCR is housed in a “barn” wood entertainment unit built into one wall, and two child-size lounge chairs in pony-skin cotton sit inside a lasso inset into the custom carpet. A painted wood pony with a real saddle and an American Indian drum round out the scene.
The upper portion of the walls are treated with a leather-look wallpaper, and a taupe-colored rope is edged around all the walls and doors. Stenciled on the ceiling is a sky of stars and clouds.
See for Yourself
What: Tours of 1993 Philharmonic House of Design.
When: Open 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., today through May 16. Closed Mondays; on Fridays, scheduled guided tours only.
Where: 1875 La Cuesta Drive, Tustin Hills.
Tickets: $16 per person at door. Children under 10 not admitted.
Parking: Shuttle service from off-site parking lots. Tuesday-Saturday, use lot at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 9301 Newport Blvd., Tustin. Sundays only, park at Foothill High School, 19251 Dodge Ave., Santa Ana.
Information: (714) 840-7542.
Notes: An accompanying design lecture series is presented on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Many of the furnishings in the design house are for sale, with some prices open to negotiation.
