In our first blog post, T.K. said we would talk tools from time to time. If you look back at the”Today’s the Day”, he expressed that vintage American made is his preference when it comes to his tools. This especially holds true with items that have a connection to family history. We recently came across two wooden toolboxes that were hand crafted and signed by Heamer Sermersheim in 1949. They were made for his son Denny, who was T.K.’s grandfather. Heamer, who resided in Jasper, Indiana, was T.K. great grandfather. Like T.K., Heamer was a musician and a cabinet maker. Although most toolboxes today are predominantly metal or plastic, wood for the construction of them was the material of choice dating back to the early 1800’s.

As you can see, these boxes have very rustic dove tail joints done by hand, brass reinforced corners and brass pulls. We love the look of the two boxes with the patina from years of use from a grandfather and great grandfather who both worked with their hands, both craftsmen in their own right. We see the value of using and preserving these  artifacts from our past, channeling the knowledge of those before us. To see other great stories and examples of vintage toolboxes, check out the “Vintage Toolbox Club” or “Grandfathers Toolbox” on the H.A.M.B..

Living and working in Southern California, we’re so fortunate to be surrounded by some of the most iconic architectural treasures in the world. If you have an interest in mid 20th century architecture, living and working near Palm Springs is like being a kid in a candy store! Some of our favorites are the Steel Development Houses by Donald Wexler. If you’re looking for a special gift for someone for the holidays, or a great gift for yourself, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation will be presenting The Wexler Weekend Jan. 22-24, 2010.  You can purchase a weekend pass that will get you into all of the events which run from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, or purchase al la cart and you can pick and choose. A few of the highlights will be a Champaign Jazz Brunch with Mr. Wexler in attendance, in honor of his 84th birthday, and tours of Wexler designed properties. Tours will include Wexler Tract homes in El Rancho Vista Estates, Wexler’s own Palm Springs home and Wexler designed celebrity homes. Attached is a clip of the film “Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler” which will be previewed in its entirety to kick off the weekend on Jan. 22. No matter where you live, here’s a great reason to come spend a warm, beautiful  weekend in Palm Springs. Happy Holidays!

\”Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler\”

If you’re in to Modern Design, you probably don’t like clutter. We’ve all been to a friends house, or possibly your own, where there just seems to be “stuff” laying everywhere. So where do you put your Adult Toys? No, No……I mean your remote controls, ipod, cell phone, you know, your gadgets. We make three versions of what we like to call the Adult Toy Box.  Each version has the same size box, 20″w x 9″h x 12″d, and all have  a aluminum track for the doors to slide from side to side. The difference between them is the base and the door material. In two of them you see one door made of walnut, the other white laminate but one base is like a tripod while the other has a convenient shelf under the box.  The third version has keyed  mitered joints, both doors made of vintage etch wood and a base that resembles a spider. In the past, builders used etch wood for wall paneling . It’s simply plywood that has been chemically etched. It gives the wood an interesting effect. We salvaged it from a home that was being remodeled and now TK uses it in fabricating various pieces of furniture. Unfortunately, we have a limited supply of this material.  Our furniture made with etch wood are one of a kind pieces and will be limited editions. So whether you need a landing spot when you walk in the door, an end table with storage by the couch, or a bed side table, you decide which toys you want in your Toy Box! Contact us for pricing.

We’re the kind of people who always live in  the midst of construction. We buy a fixer, because we wouldn’t think of buying new, we say we are never doing this again, and as soon as it’s complete, we sell and start over.  So here we are, in year 5 at 7487 and although on the surface it looks pretty good, we still have a long way to go until it’s “done” in our minds. Moving forward, we will share before and after stories of what has changed to this point, and where we will take the house from here. It’s a 1960 long and low mid-century California ranch. TK as usual had good vision. I had a harder time seeing through the layers of 1980’s  country floral covering up the simple design that the house was meant to exude. We have been peeling it back to it’s original design, while adding modern convenience. The screen above, on the front of the house, replaces a screen originally made of redwood, but unfortunately, it included wood that had rotted and had been painted many times. It had to come down. TK  took scrap wood from the original screen, glued it together, cut out and created the shapes that you see, used a wire brush to get a wood grain texture and made a mold so that he could duplicate the pattern in concrete. He used square tubing to create the frame, welded on the concrete forms and attached 2×6 doug fir to give a vertical appearance to contrast with the horizontal lines of the house. You can view “before” photos and  more detail in flickr. Many mid century homes have screens and allot of them have been damaged. TK can custom create or duplicate any screen in metal concrete or wood.

Well we finally have our site up and running and I’m really happy to share my work! Check in with us often as we will be showing and always updating our progress on current client projects, personal projects as we finish “7487″ the home I share with my wife and partner Jill, I’ll show some “how to” tips for those of you who like to “do it yourself” and of course, information on an array of services we can provide for those of you who don’t. We’ll talk architecture, tools (vintage, American made are my preference), furniture and fabrication. We may even throw in cars and guitars once in a while. It’s going to be a blast so take a look around, ask questions and drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.