Simi Under Glass
It’s synonymous with wealth, good taste and the legendary Audrey Hepburn movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” And it’s coming to Simi Valley.
A large, colorful display of Tiffany lamps, jewelry, desk sets and other decorative works will open Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
A showpiece of the exhibit, aptly titled “The Spirit of Tiffany,” will be the “Mermaid” window, a piece originally designed for the James Cook residence in Hawaii in 1899, said Terry Saucier, a museum spokeswoman.
The window is layered with rippled glass and gives the viewer the illusion of the sea lapping over the sea goddess.
Also planned are two never-before displayed glass urns “whose delicate and understated designs stand in contrast to the more colorful pieces of glass in the show,” according to a statement on the event.
The collection is an exhibition of private and museum-owned pieces designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose father, Charles Lewis Tiffany, opened the famous New York City establishment in 1837.
The elder Tiffany was a silversmith and a jeweler, and considered a primary retailer of luxury goods for the aristocracy of the Gilded Age of Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Carnegies.
The younger Tiffany continued his father’s tradition of decorative art, but his primary medium was glass, though he also worked with ceramic and metal.
He is known for his stained-glass windows and lamps, as well as desk sets, tea sets and tiles. Saucier said the work of the younger Tiffany reflects a love of color, nature and Asian art.
In addition to several seldom seen pieces, the display will include more recently made items for President Reagan and his wife, Nancy.
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The Tiffany exhibit isn’t the only colorful display at the hilltop institution.
Thanksgiving just arrived, but the halls of the museum have already been decked with 25 decorated Christmas trees representing cultures and traditions around the world.
The “Christmas Around the World Exhibit” runs through Jan. 2 and includes a miniature Santa’s workshop and train set that winds around the trees.
The museum is at 40 Presidential Drive. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except today, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
General admission, which includes the Tiffany show and tree display, is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors; ages 15 and under are admitted free.
For more information on either event, call the museum at (800) 410-8354.
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For people looking to get outdoors this weekend, there are two hiking opportunities planned in the county.
Mike Malone, a ranger with the National Park Service, will lead a moderate, four-mile round-trip hike Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Circle X Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
The hike will go into an area known as the Grotto. Boulders, a small waterfall and a glimpse of Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the recreation area at 3,111 feet, will be seen on the hike. It will be downhill on the way in, and the return trip will be up a slight grade.
“It’s a remote western area of the park that has little development,” Malone said.
The site is just inside the county line. It can be reached by going east for five miles on Yerba Buena Road from Neptune’s Net restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway.
For those interested in seeing Native American culture and also taking a hike, head to the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa Site near Newbury Park.
There is a visitors’ and cultural center filled with exhibits and several interconnected loop trails outside.
Usually on Sundays, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., there is a guest speaker or someone available to answer questions on the hikes and Native American history. For questions on either outdoor event and specific directions, call the park service at 370-2301.
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The Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force WWII Aviation Museum in Camarillo is offering residents a great way to make a holiday donation and see a slice of history at the same time.
For giving one unwrapped toy worth at least $5, a family of four can receive a free tour of the 3,000-square-foot museum and all the aircraft parked outside.
The tour includes displays and artifacts from World War II and a chance to view several aircraft, including a C-46 China Doll, an F8F-2 Bearcat fighter, a Japanese Zero fighter and a B-25 Mitchell bomber.
The toy drive, part of the Marine Corps 1999 Toys for Tots campaign, runs daily through Dec. 5.
The museum is at Camarillo Airport on Pleasant Valley Road. To reach it, turn in to the airport on Eubanks Street. The museum is closed Mondays, Wednesdays and some holidays, including Thanksgiving.
For more information, call the museum at 482-0064.
Tip of the Week: There will be free concerts, arts and crafts shows and children’s activities Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Ventura Harbor Village on Spinnaker Drive in Ventura. Bands will play all weekend and include country, rhythm and blues and swing music. Hundreds of items will be for sale at the craft show, and the kids’ area will include pony rides, a petting zoo and face-painting. For more information, call 644-0169 or access the harbor’s Web site at www.venturaharborvillage.com.
Ideas for Jaunts can be forwarded to holly.wolcott@latimes.com.