15 Minutes with Jon de la Cruz

There are many experts in the design industry but few with a pedigree like Jon de la Cruz. From curating memorable homes in the Bay Area and New York to making a lasting impression inside iconic restaurants including Carbone, Marlowe and Sadelle’s, he knows a thing or two about custom design, tight timelines and effortless style. Just off the heels of debuting “The Upstairs Keep” inside this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase, we caught up with Cruz to find out more about his passion for design and his hopes for the future.Designer, Jon de la Cruz. Photo by Taggart Gorman. -What inspired you to become an interior designer? I love to draw and I love to shop. I went through several different majors when I started art school—fashion, graphic design, advertising, industrial design—and eventually landed in interior architecture because it really is a confluence of all of the other disciplines.Rather than discuss your signature style, what is your intention when approaching each project?Good designers should be clever. It’s easy enough to pick a style for a project and pick what’s pretty at the design center to accommodate the style. But I like to be clever, and I always want to make sure that every project makes my clients’ life a little better than expected—whether it be more organized, more comfortable, more functional, or more inspirational—not just more beautiful. Exceed expectations, that’s always my intent.-You have worked on major contract and hospitality spaces. How has this influenced your work in residential design? Hospitality and residential work is intrinsically connected. A well-designed restaurant makes you immediately feel at home; an elegant and well-appointed home should function seamlessly, like a five-star hotel lobby.-From New York to L.A., you have designed homes and restaurants around the country. What makes designing in the Bay Area unique? The Bay Area is much more food-focused rather than interestedin high design, more so than Vegas or SoCal—so it is absolutely necessary to have a light hand in the design of a restaurant interior. I start with a strong concept that reflects the food, and then it’s constant editing, refining and focusing on what is functional and essential. Concentrating on what will stand the test of time—in both durability and aesthetic. Homes are very much the same way: quality and comfort at a different price point that’s not ostentatious.–In what ways do you feel the California design industry needs to shift? After 25 years in the industry, I have seen how big box retailers like Amazon, Ikea and Costco have shaped the modern consumer. No, you can’t have that overnight. Yes, you have to pay for shipping. No, you shouldn’t just throw that old sofa away. No, it’s not cheaper if you buy more. The old-school California style embraced effortless beauty, sophisticated yet casual comfort, artistic craftsmanship and eclectic global savvy. It’s our responsibility as designers in California to shift the focus back to what makes our California style special and unique.–Go-to design book or resource for inspiration? Travel, travel, travel is my number one resource for inspiration. I am a Sagittarius so wanderlust is in my charts!-If you weren’t a designer, what career path would you take? I would love Anthony Bourdain’s old job at CNN.–If you could design a home for anyone, who would it be? My end game has always been the White House.The post 15 Minutes with Jon de la Cruz appeared first on California Home+Design.

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Design Matters: Building Up the Next Generation

A weeklong summer camp offers youths exposure to architecture and designJeremiah Tolbert can distinctly recall when he first heard the word “architect.” He was in the second grade and the assignment was to share your career ambition. His teacher noticed that Tolbert was stuck. “I like to draw and build things,” he told her, to which she responded, “That’s called an architect.” Fast-forward a couple of decades: He established Tolbert Design Architects in his native San Jose. An early client was renowned Silicon Valley developer John Arrillaga, who enlisted Tolbert for myriad projects; among them, philanthropic endeavors such as a Menlo Park gymnastics center and the Second Harvest Food Bank facility. His residential clientele grew to encompass tech executives and venture capitalists.In 2014, the year Tolbert served as president of the American Institute of Architects’ East Bay chapter, he and Cameron Toler—a fellow Black architect and UC Berkeley alumni who called Oakland home— launched the Youth Architecture Camp at their alma mater’s College of Environmental Design. The duo teamed up with local nonprofit Fam 1st Family Foundation, started by NFL athletes Joshua Johnson, Marshawn Lynch and Marcus Peters, to host the annual summer event for middle- schoolers—specifically “underrepresented youths of color, Blacks and Latinos,” says Tolbert.Last year, the camp, which is free, expanded from five to six days; in 2023, it will take place July 10 to 15. (A fundraising campaign allows for contributions: crowdfund.berkeley.edu/newworldarchitects.) From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.—a continental breakfast and chef-prepared lunch are provided—the 25 or so students selected by Fam 1st engage in design exercises, like producing drawings and models, plus learn SketchUp and analyze case studies. “It’s all about exposure,” says Tolbert. There are also field trips; for example, to an architecture firm and Memorial Stadium.In addition to Tolbert and Toler, the core group of instructors includes Omar Haque, Stephanie Chu and Andrew Lau. At the camp’s conclusion, parents often approached them and asked, “What’s next?” With the Community Design Process, a CED class taught last year for the first time, Tolbert and Toler have an answer: They mentor 15 undergrads who in turn mentor 15 high school students; together, they collaborate on sites in West Oakland. In 2022, it was Blk Girls Green House, for whom the class designed and built a new greenhouse; this past spring semester, the focus was designing a community wellness garden for Sankofa Garden. These efforts are potentially impacting generations to come. “It’s like throwing a rock into a still pond—it ripples outward,” says Tolbert. “In a sense, the real start of the ripple effect was my second-grade teacher, rippling through me…and now rippling through these studentsThe post Design Matters: Building Up the Next Generation appeared first on California Home+Design.

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Collaboration: An Art Collector’s Minimalist Aerie, $4.9M

The late Chara Schreyer was one of the world’s great collectors of contemporary art, with a focus on art that was both radical and shifted paradigms rather than works that were safe, decorative or good investments. Over decades, she amassed a collection of more than six hundred works of art, all critical and defining by works by artists who broke the status quo including Ruth Asawa, Louis Bourgeois, Marcel Duchamp, Robert Gober, Eva Hesse, Donald Judd and Louise Nevelson, among many other pivotal artists of our time.Shreyer didn’t simply store her acquisitions in a warehouse, but maintained five residences from Tiburon to L.A., collaborating over forty years with interior designer Gary Hutton in executing the most extraordinarily thoughtful and richly minimalist spaces for her collection, chronicled in Art House: The Collaboration of Chara Schreyer and Gary Hutton (Assouline, 2016). One of those homes, her San Francisco pied-a-terre at The Four Seasons, just came on the market—an impeccable and luxurious setting of lacquered walls, gleaming epoxy flooring, custom carpeting, lighting and exceptional views.Photo Credit: Jeffrey Norton Frisk for Sotheby’s International RealtyPhoto Credit: Jeffrey Norton Frisk for Sotheby’s International RealtyPhoto Credit: Jeffrey Norton Frisk for Sotheby’s International RealtyEven the primary suite bath is detailed and polished with Hutton’s signature attention to detail.Photo Credit: Jeffrey Norton Frisk for Sotheby’s International RealtyVisit the listing for additional images, details and floor plans, plus an in-depth video interview with designer Gary Hutton about the design process. A a very special opportunity to acquire a unique San Francisco property, represented by luxury and architecture veteran Gregg Lynn at Sotheby’s International Realty.Photo Credit: Jeffrey Norton Frisk for Sotheby’s International RealtyThe post Collaboration: An Art Collector’s Minimalist Aerie, $4.9M appeared first on California Home+Design.

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