L.A. dolce vita
Though Milanese designer Francesco Rota didn’t make his first visit to L.A. until last month, he already has a native viewpoint. “In Los Angeles I feel like I am on holiday,” says the 39-year-old, who studied at Pasadena-based Art Center College of Design’s since-closed outpost in La Tour-De-Peilz, Switzerland. “It is a place to relax, put on some good music and have a nice cocktail with friends.” Rota’s alfresco dolce vita furniture collections -- call them Italian minimalism with a California kick -- include Wave, a rocking chaise dressed in a hand-knit rope sheath, and Island, an outdoor upholstered sofa with a stainless steel tube skeleton, behind Rota in the photo above. His latest, Frame, is a curved lounger made of aluminum slats “fitted with a stocking of fabric.” All of Rota’s collections are available in shocking green. “You fall in love with a color,” he says. “And it is perfect for L.A. It gives a direct connection to the garden and looks brilliant next to the pool.” Available at Modern Living, 8775 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 657-8775; www.modernliving.com.
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TRENDSPOTTING
Say aloha to the latest wave in teen design
Howzabout a nice Hawaiian punch? As predictable as a Beach Boys reunion, a new wave of surfer style is washing into teenage America’s bedrooms. At www.thecompanystore.com, pineapple print bedding starts at $15.99, while the tweenish Growing Up With Garnet Hill boutique at www.garnethill.com features palm tree wall hooks ($18 per pair) and surfboard-printed “Endless Summer” linens from $25. The big kahuna, however, is Pottery Barn’s trendy www.pbteen.com, which boasts bamboo curtains ($29), five-piece plastic tiki tumbler sets ($14.99), a 12-foot tiki hut vinyl wall mural ($199) and the Poppy Top Lounge Table ($129) shown here, an update of the hairpin leg table.
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HAPPENING
Antiquities with a side of Americana
What a difference a glaze makes. A T’ang Dynasty horse in prized prancing position will strut its stuff this weekend at the Redondo Beach International Antiques Fair, where it will have the thoroughbred price of $350,000. (Unglazed horses will start at $2,500.) The exhibition boasts a deep collection of Asian antiquities including brilliantly colored Peking glass (shown here), circa 1644 to 1911, for under $500. New this year: a pavilion with country antiques, folk art and Americana. The show runs Friday through Sunday at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd. Admission is $10; (310) 287-1896.
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HOME FREE
Cactuses galore, but there’s so much more
Of more than 500 kinds of cactuses and succulents on display and for sale at the annual Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society exhibition this weekend, it’s Didierea trollii from Madagascar that has the special affection of organizer Sandy Chase. “It’s a deciduous succulent with upright growth that can develop into a tree,” says Chase, who will bring one from her own garden. “It looks like a huge octopus with thorns.” The free, non-juried show also will feature more than 200 types of plants from members of the Bromeliad Society and vendors from throughout the Southwest, offering exotic species that Chase says “people can’t find in their local nursery.” First-time exhibitor Jeff Karsner calls the show a “xeriscape Shangri-La.” Karsner was so inspired by past shows that he quit his script-reading job to become a full-time subtropical landscaper with his own website, www.succulentastic.com. The show is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino; www.lacss.com.
