Chapter Anew

Natasha Baradaran proves the best is yet to comea vignette featuring the Bangle stool, the Squircle coffee table and the Carlo lounge chair. Photo by Yoshi Makino.Expanding in business in any industry requires a steadfast and strategic mindset that is focused on the big picture. This fall multifaceted designer, entrepreneur and all-around creative innovator Natasha Baradaran is making bold moves that confirm she has a lot more to say.With an impressive 24 years in business running her design firm—Natasha Baradaran Interior Design—2024 marks the 10th anniversary of her highly sought-after furniture line, Natasha Baradaran Collection. To celebrate, she is not only releasing an expansive new collection of furniture, she is also opening a flagship showroom and her own manufacturing workshop in downtown L.A. “I have learned not to fear change but to leverage it as excitement,” she remarks. “As a younger designer who was juggling so many parts to my business, I was afraid of change for years.”The Arco sofa from the new Aura collection. Photo courtesy of Natasha Baradaran.Inspired by Southern California matriarchs including Sally Sirkin Lewis, Rose Tarlow and Nancy Corzine, it was important for Baradaran to take the in-house production leap. “It allows us to grow our furniture business in the direction I have always envisioned and it lets my creativity flow,” she remarks. “I can now develop at the speed of my ideas and be responsive to what I’m interested in and what our clients are feeling, faster than I have ever done in the past, with exciting new techniques and finishes.”The 14-piece collection, entitled “Aura,” symbolizes this astute vision while honoring her signature “laid-back luxury” style. “In the past I was inspired by adding creative parameters as an overlay to my own aesthetic,” Baradaran recalls. “My first furniture collection was inspired by the art of jewelry making, and my second by the phrase ‘dolce far niente’ with Italian mid-century influences. After 10 years and several collections, I no longer feel the need to add a storyline.”The Clara Slipper chair and Ottoman. Photo courtesy of Natasha Baradaran.And she didn’t stop there. This new chapter also includes the transformation from the temporary NB Shop, a pop-up that was located on La Cienega, to the first Natasha Baradaran flagship showroom in the West Hollywood Design District. The expanded footprint allows Baradaran to cohesively showcase her furniture, lighting, textiles and select vintage and home accessories in one place and in her own tone. “At NB Shop I had the freedom to art direct my collection through my vision,” she says. “I realized that having all of our offerings together for the first time reflects my ‘vibe unlocked,’ an important missing piece for our brand.”The Lago Nesting tables. Photo courtesy of Natasha Baradaran.At a time when female visionaries are making history, Baradaran demonstrates she is committed to legacy and the local community no matter the uncertainty that lies ahead. “I’ve come to realize that with calculated risk comes the potential for a higher reward,” she says. “Life is too short to play it safe.”The post Chapter Anew appeared first on California Home+Design.

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An Extraordinary Post-Industrial Oasis, $4M

It’s easy to forget now, but San Francisco’s historic South Park neighborhood was—post World War II—home to many small-scale industrial businesses, especially printing companies. Ironically, in the early 90s, it would become a hub of the nascent Digital Revolution, the epoch-changing movement without which you probably wouldn’t be reading this on your phone or laptop. It was a neighborhood ripe for urban pioneers, especially in digital and media businesses and attracted designers with commercial properties that could be transformed into unique live-work spaces. Enter John Casado, the renowned graphics designer and award-winning interior designer April Sheldon, who took a one-story garage and remade it into the urban retreat it is today, proof that in the right hands, even a garage can evolve into an extraordinary dwelling.Photos by Jeffery FriskPhotos by Jeffery FriskPhotos by Jeffery FriskThey started by replacing the garage doors with industrial steel framed doors and windows that provide a clear view into timber-clad ceilings and deep-toned interiors with polished concrete floors that glow from skylights above.Photos by Jeffery FriskPhotos by Jeffery FriskPhotos by Jeffery FriskFor three decades, the couple has nurtured this extraordinary urban garden that is home to a number of lush plants including ferns and cycads.Photos by Jeffery FriskPhotos by Jeffery FriskFor more: Visit the listing for additional details and images, and take an intimate look while learning more about the property from the owners in the full video. This is another exceptional property offered by Gregg Lynn, the ebullient, hands-on Sotheby’s agent who—along with his team of skilled real estate professionals and pioneering media– has been bringing discerning sellers and buyers together in some of San Francisco’s most desirable properties for decades.The post An Extraordinary Post-Industrial Oasis, $4M appeared first on California Home+Design.

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Pierre Koenig’s Cube In Rustic Canyon, $3.79M

Hovering above its site in Santa Monica, Pierre Koenig’s 1994 Schwartz House was the architect’s last built commission—after decades as an influential teacher and mentor—in a career that had begun with a jolt with his Case Study House #22, AKA The Stahl House, that tour-de-force in steel and glass cantilevered out over Los Angeles. Here in the Schwartz House, Koenig has deftly rotated the living spaces 30 degrees on axis, giving them a southerly exposure and minimizing the structure’s visible bulk with walls of glass and wide-open views. The interiors have been completely and sensitively restored in the past year, updated and retaining their original, minimalist ambiance, joined by a spectacular spiral staircase.Photo Credit: Cameron CarothersPhoto Credit: Cameron CarothersPhoto Credit: Cameron CarothersIn addition to the 3-bed, 2-5-bath main house, there’s a separate 1-bed, 1-bath guest suite (or office) on the garden level, where the almost-Piranesian effect of Koenig’s design is at its most dramatic, with massive poured-concrete piers and steel beams within reach.Photo Credit: Cameron CarothersPhoto Credit: Cameron CarothersMore: Go to the listing for additional images and details; there’s even a brief video on Instagram. A superb piece of LA’s architectural heritage, represented by noted architecture specialist Brian Lindner at Compass. Photo Credit: Cameron CarothersThe post Pierre Koenig’s Cube In Rustic Canyon, $3.79M appeared first on California Home+Design.

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