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lifestyles|metrobeat Big Design in Little Italy TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAMONA D’VIOLA he gleaming arch spanning India Street has become a magnet for the best in modern, vintage and, naturally, Italian design. For the past decade TLittle Italy’s culturally intact neighborhood has evolved from a working- class borough to a decidedly hip urban enclave — where dark sunglasses and a fast Euro-sports car have become di rigore. 3434 San San Diego Diego Home/Garden Home/Garden Lifestyles Lifestyles October October 2006 2006 THE EURO LOOK After outgrowing their Cedros District retail space in Solana Beach, Danish-born Jesper Pedersen and business partner/wife, Cathi, last year relocated their DNA European Design Studio to Little Italy. The enviable 4,000-square-foot corner location is provisioned with an array of Europe’s most contem- porary design concepts — with an environmental consciousness. Newly arrived to the showroom are furnishings by Italy’s renowned modern master, Piero Lissoni, for Fritz Hansen, and a kitchen line by Valcucine. Clean, spare, and hyper-chic, DNA’s furnishings are the perfect complement to San Diego’s neo-modernist movement — evident in buildings designed by, among others, Martinez & Cutri and Rob Quigley. THE REAL MCCOY “Please, don’t call it retro,” beseeches David Skelley of Boomerang for Modern. “Because this is the real thing.” Passionate about the era of Eames, Noguchi, Saarinen and other post- World War II designers, Skelley’s Little Italy modern revival store features pieces from the period’s legendary visionaries, its contempo- rary practitioners, and lots of modern art. One of the original merchants to embrace the area’s retail potential, Skelley moved his furniture store to Little Italy 10 years ago in what has since become a design force in San Diego. “When I relocated from my cubbyhole in Hillcrest, it wasn’t happening here — but I knew that would change.” For the knowledgeable aficionado or neo- phyte decorator, there’s no need to travel to Los Angeles, or beyond, for the real deal. Boomerang’s showroom is filled to capacity with masterworks of the modernist era. The incomparable Eames Lounge, with leather otto- man, shares space with its ultra-sleek second cousin — George Nelson’s futuristic black- leather Coconut chair, both from the mid-’50s. Also collecting a lot of admiring glances is a sensuous, glass-topped coffee table engraved by Isamu Noguchi. Small exhibits highlight vintage and recent pieces in the modernist spirit by local artists. San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles October 2006 35 WHAT’S OLD IS NEW — AGAIN On the southeast corner of India and Grape, the appropriately named Archi- tectural Salvage has become a mecca for those with a pre-1940s abode – or any- one with a love for well-preserved period pieces. “So much of what was made over 50 years ago was superbly crafted and made from high-quality materials,” says owner Elizabeth Scalice. “I started looking for fixtures to restore my first home, and before long, had more than enough. This store was a natural extension of my inter- est in recycling and reuse.” The jam-packed, yet highly organized store features building materials and fixtures from a bygone time — stained-glass panels, portico columns, brass doorknobs, a claw-foot tub. Architectural Salvage has garnered vis- its from Hollywood A-listers like Tom Waits, Barbra Streisand and Bill Murray “They all have great taste,” says Scalice of her famous clientele, “and they know vintage and modern are perfect complements.” Peter Chester at The Bungalow Store SWING LOW SWEET BUNGALOW “When Monterey Furniture began manufacturing pieces for the growing California Rancho/Spanish Revival movement during the 1920s, it marked the beginning of what most of us would refer to as the California lifestyle,” says Catherine Chester of The Bungalow Store. Doing business in the neighborhood for the past 23 years, Catherine and her husband, Peter, are original design district tenants. Within the north India Street storefront, handpainted furniture, to-die-for collectables and other well-preserved pieces populate a working wood shop where Peter repairs and restores the inventory. “Rancho architectural style was open, unpretentious, inviting and the furnishings designed for them were whimsical, fun and, most of all, comfortable,” he says. Pointing at a low-slung chair, handpainted with bucolic scenes from colonial California, Catherine says, “This is the furniture that defined lounging.” lifestyles|metrobeat FROM A TO ZEN With all the emphasis on modernism in Little Italy, China’s Seas has brought balance to a street better known for Philippe Starck than feng shui. The expansive and tranquil showroom is a pleasing blend of Asian antiques, modern interpretations, gifts and home accessories from the Orient. For the garden, bubbling fountains and beam- ing Buddhas impart peace and pros- perity, while distracting you from the airliners on approach overhead. THE ITALIAN STANDARD Sophisticated, functional and fun, the passion of the Italians is evident in their take on the utilitarian and mun- dane. At Disegno Italiano, household items become works of art — to be used and appreciated. Specializing in Alessi — the ultimate in Italian housewares — the design boutique sparkles with shiny objects for the table and home. Owner Rita Monares and her husband, Charles Almack, are also princi- pals of Architectural Interiors, a Beech Street design firm serving the growing base of urban and commercial residents who live and work in Little Italy. NO ONE-TRICK PONY Take a converted warehouse with floor- to-ceiling windows, add an enormous roll-up garage door, fill it with the hippest, most functional and futuristic furnishings on earth, give it a good shake and you’ve got Mixture. Located on the Kettner Boulevard level of the design district, Mixture has become a mainstay resource for local designers and builders — as well as the rest of us. The three-tiered design cen- ter now includes another 5,000 square feet of floor space, showcasing kitchens by Scavolini, bathroom lines from Grey Designs, and outdoor furniture with a thoroughly urban lifestyle in mind. “We want to be your one-stop design shop,” says Charles Taylor, one of the three partners in the business. “From flooring, to custom-made furnishings, and design services, we can fulfill any project.” San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles October 2006 37 lifestyles|metrobeat INSIDE DOWNTOWN SCULPTURE IN EVERY PORT: With several miles of prime wa- terfront, the Port of San Diego decided it was time to decorate — after all, nothing complements a bay view better than fine art. The Port’s Sculpture Show is touted as San Diego’s “most visible commu- nity art project,” serving to cele- brate our city’s amazing renais- sance. Featuring works by local and internationally acclaimed artists, San Diego’s biggest art event will attract over 70,000 people. Opens Friday, October 13. www. sandiegosculptureshow.com HALLOWEEN HAUNTS “The scene was rockin’, all were digging the sounds Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds The coffin-bangers were about to arrive, With their vocal group, The Crypt-Kicker five …” They’ll be playing the Mash at the Beck’s Monster Bash! The Gaslamp Quarter gets ghoulish for the annual haunt and howl at the 2006 Beck’s Monster Bash — one of San Diego’s best 21-and-over Halloween celebra- tions. Eat, drink and be spooky at more than 25 Gaslamp night- spots. Cash prizes for the most frightful finery. 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday, Oct. 29, at Seventh Av- enue and Market Street and Is- land Avenue between Sixth and Eighth avenues. www.monster- bash.signonsandiego.com Fresh-baked bread and lilting laughter from a vacant parlor. Do you believe in ghosts? Well, do you? For San Diego’s infamous spooks and spirits, it’s their favor- ite time of year. Continued on page 40 38 San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles October 2006 lifestyles|metrobeat INSIDE DOWNTOWN Continued from page 38 Visit the Whaley House, listed by the U.S. Department of Commerce as an authentic haunted house; the Hotel Del Coronado, where the ghost of a mournful woman await- ing her lover is said to wander the halls; or smell the scent of fresh- baked bread wafting from the long, cold galley aboard the Star of India. Hop aboard the “Ghosts and Gravestones” tour for a fright- seeing tour sure to have everyone dying for more. 619/298-8687, www.ghostsandgravestones.com GOURMET GRIDDLE CAKES: A family business goes west — Rich- ard Walker is San Diego’s new- est flapjack flipper. The Chicago- area native opened his upscale hotcake house — Richard Walk- er’s Pancake House in the the Gaslamp Quarter — and there’s been a line around the block since day one. On the ground floor of the Pinnacle Condominiums, the craftsmen-designed restaurant is worthy of loftier fare, but we all know, breakfast is the most impor- tant meal of the day. May as well eat it in style. 520 Front Street, 619/231-7777 Open since 2004, Little Italy’s aviation- themed Airport Lounge is still wowing ’em in Little Italy. This lizard lounge with a hot retro look and swank decor is at 2400 India St. ■ Where To Find It — Page 178 40 San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles October 2006 .

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