Gallery of groovy*AFTER refurbishing four houses and...

Gallery of groovy

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AFTER refurbishing four houses and restoring a dozen Palm Springs Modern bathrooms for friends, Josephine De Santo decided she was too busy to spend all her time “schlepping to the Pacific Design Center and Beverly Boulevard. I wanted one-stop shopping.” Thus, Space Bank Design: a retail showroom in Pasadena focusing on groovy treatments for floors and walls. “Everything is conducive to midcentury architecture and contemporary tastes,” says De Santo, on the right, with her Space Bank partner, Bronwyn Swackhamer, and period-correct poodle mascot, Little Anthony. They call themselves specialists in “bathroom makeover Moderne,” but they also offer full house design consultations, starting at $175 for two hours, and a stock of Jetsonesque hardware and accessories. Among the finds: Italian glass, metal and ceramic tiles in offbeat shapes and colors, $30 to $350 per square foot; Angela Adams cotton throw rugs, from $65; and appliqued vinyl beanbag chairs, $350. 346 S. Pasadena Ave., (626) 396-6993.

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HAPPENING

An alloy of Old World and Art Deco

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By the time he was 21, Oscar Bach (1884-1957) had designed the metalwork for Berlin City Hall and a bejeweled Bible for Pope Leo XIII. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1913, the architectural sculptor created decorative works that married Old World flourishes and Art Deco grandeur for the Chrysler and Empire State buildings in New York. He executed designs by Eliel Saarinen for the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and built the gates and fountain at the Gaylord Hotel in Los Angeles. Bach’s studio produced not only these commissions but also custom home furnishings, such as this iron and marble console table, which will be offered Sunday in an auction by the Treadway and John Toomey galleries. The table, auction lot 484, has a presale estimate of $800 to $1,000. The sale features six lots designed by Bach in the early 20th century, including two lamps, dishes and a mirror with a dragon motif similar to this console. (708) 383-5234, www.treadwaygallery.com.

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SEEN

What if they were construction sights?

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Most of us see construction sites as everyday eyesores. To fine-art photographer Grant Rusk, however, they are something else entirely -- works of environmental sculpture. Using lighting and composition normally reserved for more bucolic scenes, Rusk transforms the rubble and chaos of residential development into studies of pattern and texture, such as this 1980 photo of a Glendale hillside, a comment on the complex clash between man and Mother Nature. Part of the California tradition of landscape portraiture known as New Topographics, Rusk’s “Hillside Living” photographic series on Los Angeles home building from 1979 and ’80 opens Friday at the Michael Dawson Gallery in Larchmont Village. A reception with Rusk is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. The show runs through Nov. 11. 535 N. Larchmont Blvd., (323) 469-2186, www.michaeldawsongallery.com.

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HOME PAGES

A tutor in cool decor

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“Nest. Plant. Cook. Go,” commands the premiere issue of Living 101, put together by the under-30 set at venerable Sunset magazine. Living 101 ($3.99) is loaded with easy-to-follow recipes and tips on decorating and gardening for California’s cute and clueless -- young people tackling issues such as choosing paint and prepping for a party. The emphasis on cost-efficient craftiness is reminiscent of Budget Living and ReadyMade minus those publications’ sophisticated design. Aesthetics aside, Living 101 may need Remedial Reporting 101. These days, you can’t compete with design-on-a-dollar magazines without telling your readers what things cost.