Quirky design at Lucky Penny and the Lark in Santa Barbara
The new Santa Barbara restaurant Lucky Penny is tiled in real pennies. Though real coins have been used as tile before, including on the restaurant floor in the Standard Hotel in New York, Lucky Penny’s installation is more ambitious because it’s a vertical surface. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Real pennies have been used to tile the front of the building. Here’s a peek at the design and a look at the rest of the complex, which includes a second restaurant, the Lark, and Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant. Full article.
Lucky Penny is running a contest in which customers try to guess exactly how many pennies are used in the wall. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Real pennies were glued to plastic mesh, then set and grouted like ceramic tile. Though the material seems cheap and the process simple, the advice from Doug Washington, the restaurateur who spearheaded the design, is: Don’t try this at home. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Next door to Lucky Penny at another restaurant called the Lark, the quirks continue: The restaurant uses old church pews as seating. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Inside the Lark, a century-old confessional from France has been transformed into unusual tables. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Outside in the Lucky Penny-Lark complex, giant tub planters. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A vintage salon hair dryer wins a second life as a lamp. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
