Buying seashells by the seashore?

SEVERAL shell-encrusted items are pictured in the beautiful home of Cameron Brunner [“Shabby Chic, All Grown Up,” May 11]. I have noticed in catalogs and home stores that seashells (and the remains of sea creatures such as sea stars and urchins) are widely available in many forms: crafted into candles, adorning mirrors, and even overlaying entire pieces of furniture such as dressers and tables. The shells are also sold by the bag at craft stores, import emporiums and discount stores.

This leads me to wonder from where these treasures are being harvested and if the creatures or their environment are being harmed in the process.

ANITA O’CONNELL

Van Nuys

*

OH pleeezzze ... a screenwriter’s cottage? Sounds quaint, until it is later revealed that Brunner’s home is a two-story, 3,000-square-foot house with numerous additions, a pool and a guest wing. Last time I checked Webster’s, this wasn’t the definition of cottage. Frankly, folks, it’s also getting old that people just happen to stumble upon multimillion-dollar properties and so easily acquire them on a whim.

APRIL KARPIE

Santa Monica

*

I have read The Times and the Home section for years. You might occasionally want to include, for those of us without Westside riches, articles about what normal tract shack dwellers have done with our hovels.

I live in Paso Robles. This is a nice middle-class town with many Angeleno expats. Frankly I don’t much care what Brunner has done to her zillion-dollar manse that she says “was meant to be my home.”

Believe it or not, there are many more of us than them. We take pride in our tract homes and also, within normal means, decorate them. Many of us even have nice gardens.

MIKE LEVY

Paso Robles