AIA home tour heads for the hills

The American Institute of Architects' self-guided home tours are one way to view some of L.A.'s most interesting homes. Yes, you may be asked to wear booties so you and other tour-goers don't track dirt into some pristine, minimalist manse. But the atmosphere is casual, you can go at your own pace, and you can learn from designers on site.

The Sept. 19 tour will highlight four hillside homes, each with design constraints to overcome.

Homes span from Los Feliz to Beverly Hills and will include the Brarcliff View House, above, designed by John Pugliese for Cambia Designs; the Steelhouse, designed by Marc Angelil and Sarah Graham of AGPS Architecture; the Oberfeld Residence by Zoltan Pali of Studio Pali Fekete Architects; and the Lago Vista Guest House by Aleks Istanbullu Architects, pictured at right and one of the featured projects in the Homes of the Times archive. 

The AIA Fall Home Tour runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $65 to $75 in advance, $85 on the day of the tour. Order online or call (213) 639-0777.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credits, from top: Luke Gibson; David Lena

Cluck Trek: Environmental group sponsors chicken-coop tour

Thinking about getting chickens but aren't sure where to start? On Saturday, Environmental Change-Makers, a group based in Westchester, sponsors its first Cluck Trek, a self-guided tour of four backyard chicken coops.

Maps of the chicken-coop locations will be available on a table on the front lawn of the Church of the Holy Nativity from 9 to 9:30 Saturday morning. Most of the coops are within walking or biking distance of the church, and attendees are encouraged to contribute to a potluck lunch to be enjoyed on the final stop of the tour. A tour donation of $5 or $10 is suggested.

The Rev. Peter Rood (pictured), rector of the church and a founder of Environmental Change-Makers, promises there's nothing religious about the event. "I had to work hard to convince people that I'm not going to woo them when they come here and take out my Bible. There's none of that," he said.

Instead, the idea for the trek stemmed from the poultry experiences of other members of Environmental Change-Makers, which meets monthly at the church. "At the beginning of every meeting, we talk about what we're doing to make a positive impact, and lately people started saying, 'I did it. I got some chickens,' " Rood said. "It used to be about the new baby, now it's about the new baby chicks."

Thinking others might like to see what chicken rearing in the city looks like, members came up with Cluck Trek.

The Church of the Holy Nativity is at 6700 W. 83rd St., Westchester. For more information, see the Change-Makers' calendar of events.

-- Deborah Netburn

Photos: A chicken stands over her eggs. Credit: Seth Perlman / Associated Press. The Rev. Peter Rood collects greens in the garden surrounding the Westchester church where he serves as pastor. Credit: Church of the Holy Nativity

New on Melrose, a Mine of fresh and vintage design

A new Los Angeles home store named Mine is one of the latest L.A. retail outposts to combine vintage and new furniture with art, lighting and a bit of retail attitude. Lori Fradella, who previously co-owned Gallery L7, opened Mine to showcase some of her favorite furniture finds as well as works by artists, most from L.A., whom she’s long admired.

The vignettes that Fradella assembles throughout the small space not only highlight new and old design but also her sense of humor. One recent grouping included a Milo Baughman dresser with a series of graphic posters by Boston artist Adam Cohn. One reads: “hi. I am not interested in what you are saying. Ok.” It hangs next to another Cohn piece that says: “hi. I am in love with you. Ok.” The framed works sell for $650 each.

“I love the idea of hanging those two posters together,” says Fradella, who carries lots of elegant, mostly midcentury seating, lighting and tables along with quirky antique finds such as a wooden harp case from the 1800s graffitied with shipping stencils ($3,000) and a 1950s-era wooden monkey by Dutch designer Kay Bojesen ($700).

Works by L.A. artists include a Louis XIV-styled desk ($15,000) by Matthew Ready, who reconstructs furniture out of aluminum from SUVs and a dramatic bronze-cast burger and fries “meal” by artist Miles Eastman ($6,500).

Mine joins like-minded shops including Galerie Half, Hallworth Design and Reform Gallery, all clustered near the intersection of La Brea and Melrose avenues. All of the stores focus on the collectible, the quirky — and the expensive. Some of Fradella’s finds, however, may be among the most affordable of the bunch.

“I’m not going for name so much as for things that people are actually going to buy,” she says. “Not everything is affordable here, but some pieces, like side tables in the $400 range and a sofa that is $2,000, definitely are.”

6912 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 936-1337

-- Alexandria Abramian Mott

Photo credits:  Mine

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The Deal: Botanist online sale ends Saturday

 
The eco-friendly retailer Botanist is discounting all its home accessories by 20% through Saturday.

The online sale includes powder-coated aluminum tables, clocks, trays and lanterns by noted designers such as Milton Glaser, Tord Boontje, Karim Rashid, Margo Chase and Yves Behar, among others.

Discounted items include Rashid's pink Orikami side table, above left, regularly $1,898 now $1,518; Boontje's Free Flowing clock, center, regularly $169, now $135 and Andre Miripolsky's orange Trafic lanterns, right, regularly priced $119 to $219; now $95 to $175.

The sale ends at 5 p.m. Saturday. To get the discount, type in LABOR_DAY_SALE at checkout. For more information, call (877) 326-3569.

-- Lisa Boone

Photos: Botanist

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Sony Pictures auctions furniture, props from its L.A. warehouse

 Although it was designed as elegantly as a Craigslist posting, the recent two-day online auction of items from Sony Pictures' vast property department by liquidation firm R.L. Spear offered some incredible deals. Despite the shadowy photography and skimpy information provided on the auction website, I scored a 9- by-6-foot Scandinavian Rya rug for $50 as well as a black-and-gold Liberty armchair with a Harvard "Veritas" crest by Nichols and Stone, a 150-year-old Massachusetts furniture maker now owned by L. & J.G. Stickley for just more than $30. (Including the 13% commission and sales tax, my final tab was $99.41.) 

The good news: Both items were in impeccable condition (although the rug went off to the carpet cleaners, which will cost more than twice what I paid for it). The bad news -- at least for my wallet -- was that when I picked my booty up I got to see hundreds more tempting decor pieces that will be sold in two additional online auctions, which begin on Friday and Monday and end, respectively, on Sept. 15 and 16. 

Among the finds: garden statuary, pots and Tiki heads, above left, and a rainbow of midcentury metal lawn chairs with shell shaped backs, above right, that is part of a huge stash of patio furniture. For adventuresome landscapers, there is a grove of lawn ornaments, traffic signs and parking meters. 

 Oddities such as a giant bear wielding a mallet and a black painted bust of Richard Nixon make the life-size bearded warlords, right, and phosphorus green bobbin chairs, far right, look tame. 

The auction that begins on Friday focuses on framed art and decorative objects and is followed by a day devoted to furniture, outdoor pieces and props remaining from previous sales. Other than registering and placing a deposit of $100 on a credit card, bidding is no more difficult than it is on EBay and tends to get competitive in the last hour that each piece is on the clock.

Items will be posted online on Friday at 10 a.m. and Monday at 10 a.m, when bidding commences. Merchandise can be inspected -- a good idea if you have concerns about just how serious "as-is" gets -- during a free open-the-public preview 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday at 5300 Alla Road, in Los Angeles. 

-- David A. Keeps

Photos: David A. Keeps

Master in training: 60 tomato plants later ...

One of the perks of the master gardener class I joined and blogged about was access to lots of free plants in various stages of development. Not knowing any better, I planted just about every tomato seed, plug or seedling that came my way. I was late in my staking and pruning, but thanks to June gloom that continued into August, I caught up, not really noticing I had about 60 tomato plants in various stages of development.

Then, suddenly, summer happened.

In the last month I’ve gone from selectively picking to harvesting as best I can, first with a child’s beach bucket and now with a tarp. It’s unrelenting — 8 pounds of about-to-fall fruit calling out to me every day. I eat some and can others, but I’m also putting the best of the best tomatoes aside, mindful of seeds for next year. I'm also starting a list of what worked and what didn't.

The Italian Red Pears, grown from Franchi seeds, were my first mail-order success. They also blossomed and fruited last despite placement in the hottest part of the front row, coming to maturity slowly in this summer we’ve had. They were well preceded by heirloom Black Zebras, seedlings that I got in class. The fruit were a beautiful striated green-black, as big as fists, and charmingly misshapen. They were delicious sliced thin, raw on crispy bread, a bed of basil and a top sprinkling of Cotija cheese. (Salt, pepper or vinegar were optional because the tomato’s acid-sweet blend is strong enough on its own.) The Zebras were full of seeds, and even though the plants only produced a couple of fruit per stem, they were worth the real estate. My third big save were Mortgage Lifter heirlooms I got from a friend. They’re another plus-size producer, sweeter and not as complex in flavor as the Zebras but more productive.

Different gardeners have different methods for saving seed. Keep reading for mine ...

Apartment Therapy's 'Big Book' showcases small-scale living

In a time when people are downsizing and trying to make do with less, Apartment Therapy co-founder Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s “Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces” inspires.

The book makes stylish small-scale living seem like a possibility. Even if you don't live in a small home, he writes, "nearly all of us have at least one small room that we don't know how to handle, such as an entryway or a galley kitchen."

Gillingham-Ryan highlights small spaces that prove you don’t need endless square feet to create a dramatic living space. 

The book is filled with great photographs, detailed shopping resources and helpful tips on choosing paint colors (and brands) that complement a small space, maximizing space in kitchens and more.

In the 630-square-foot apartment of Jen Chu, above, a platform bed hides a storage area below. Chu created the bed frame from cinder blocks and a metal grate topped with a mattress. For the bookshelf and desk, she added nail heads to white-painted wood.

Keep reading for a few more featured projects ...

Lost L.A.: A Frank Lloyd Wright house on the move?

The photo, circa 1923, shows the Frank Lloyd Wright house known as La Miniatura in Pasadena, before the guest house was added, and long before the talk of an owner potentially moving the landmark to Japan.

In his latest Lost L.A. column, Sam Watters discusses how the site is essential to the architecture. "Wright set La Miniatura into its ridge and terraced down to a ravine below the living and dining rooms," Watters says. "He organically bonded the house to its site by mixing sand from the hill into the construction concrete, creating a permanent structural flaw undermining the house's long-term stability. The outcome, however, was a bold interpretation of SoCal's indoor-outdoor lifestyle mantra."

-- Craig Nakano

Photo from the collection of Sam Watters

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The Deal: Free pass to Rancho Santa Ana garden

Whether you want to hike the trails that meander through some of 86-plus acres of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden or sit on a bench and read a book, you will have plenty to enjoy (like birding) when the garden hosts free admission Thursday.

Sept. 9 commemorates the anniversary of California becoming the 31st state in 1850. In honor of California Admission Day, the garden, considered one of the best of its kind, is waiving the regular admission fee of $4 to $8.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is open daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at 1500 N. College Ave. in Claremont. For more information call (909) 625-8767.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Datebook: Events, exhibits, classes for the week ahead

We've listed select home and garden events below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public, but we won't edit the comments.

Monday: Descanso Gardens hosts Boddy’s Big Backyard, a Labor Day celebration for families. Highlights include a 10 a.m. tour of the California Natives Garden with horticulturist Rachel Young, a reading of “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” at 12:30 p.m. for kids, and music by the Mobile Homeboys from 1 to 3 p.m. Families can bring a picnic and blanket to the Main Lawn (normally not allowed). 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included in regular admission of $3 to $8. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.

Thursday: Gary Lyons, curator of the Huntington Botanical Gardens' 10-acre Desert Garden, will give a slide lecture on flowering cactuses like the one shown here and will give tips on how to grow them at home. A plant sale follows the program. 2:30 p.m. 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Free. No reservations required. (626) 405-2100.

Thursday: Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, the Claremont botanic garden dedicated to California’s native plants, offers free admission in honor of California Admission Day. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1500 N. College Ave. (909) 625-8767.

Saturday: Lisa Pompelli will demonstrate how to make detailed renderings in graphite and watercolor using an herb garden as inspiration. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Repeats at same time Sept. 18 and 25. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. $275 to $295. Registration: (626) 405-2128.

Saturday: Mike Brown, display horticulturist at Descanso Gardens, shows how to harvest plants so they remain healthy and productive. The class meets indoors, then moves outside. 11 a.m. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. $10 to $15. (818) 949-4200.

Saturday: Youth education coordinator Ted Tegart leads a tour of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden for children and their families. This week’s focus: carnivorous plants. 10 a.m. to noon. Meet by the fountain in front of the Oak Room. Included in regular admission of $3 to $8. 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 821-5897.

Saturday: Bauer hosts a monthly showroom sale of Bauer Pottery and Russel Wright American Modern seconds. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 3051 Rosslyn St., Atwater. (818) 500-0666.

ONGOING
Brown Bag Tuesdays: The Gamble House, the Arts and Crafts landmark designed by Charles and Henry Greene, continues a weekly lunch program. Visitors are invited to picnic on the rear lawn or terrace of the 1908 estate between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each Tuesday. Twenty-minute docent-led tours will be given at 12:15 and 12:45 p.m. for $5, through Oct. 23. 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena; (626) 793-3334. Reservations: (626) 449-4178.

Design biennial: The Pasadena Museum of California Art’s fourth California Design Biennial, titled “Action/Reaction,” highlights work in industrial design, fashion, graphics, transportation and architecture. Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, through Nov. 1. $5 to $7. 490 E. Union St. (626) 568-3665.

Neutra show: The traveling survey “The Amazing Neutras in Orange County” highlights 20 works by noted midcentury architect Richard Neutra. Noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, through Oct. 2. Gallery remains open until 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Free. Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 644-6269.

— Lisa Boone

Photo credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens

The Deal: Chiasso further reduces clearance items

Modern online retailer Chiasso is offering an extra 15% off select sale items, bringing the total discount on some pieces to 50% or more, through Monday.  

Clearance items include the Trulli pillow, above left; regularly $38, it had been reduced to $18, and it's now $15.30. The grass doormat, above right, originally was $38, got discounted to $28 and is now $23.80. Rugs and other accessories also are on clearance.

The Sardinia table,pictured in the middle, stands out as a great deal. The contemporary aluminum and plastic table measures 41-inches square and includes four chairs. Regularly $1,098, the set went on sale for $658. Type in the Labor Day code LBRDAY15, and the price drops to $559.30. Shipping is free.

For more information: (877) 244-2776.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credits: Chiasso

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The Dry Garden: Even the compost bin needs cleaning

The fig beetles seem late this year, and maybe they are. It’s been unseasonably cool for much of the summer. Yet when these drowsy fliers properly known as Cotinis mutabilis appear, it’s a cue. It’s time to empty the contents from the bottom of your compost bins to make room for fresh additions at the top.

Why? These bugs, also called June beetles, are in search of decomposing vegetation in which to lay eggs, where their grubs will become an integral part of the composting process. If you want to enlist these most excellent helpers and prepare your compost bin for fall planting, the time to do it is now.

You will need a pitchfork, a wheel barrow, some burlap, a scoop shovel and fluent profanity.

The swear words are needed when wrestling with the various designs of bins, which range from bad to awful to sadistic. Whether or not you have the plastic slatted boxes distributed by the city and sold in stores, if you have tried to empty a bin of finished compost by using the little slatted opening at the bottom, you probably have been reduced to sweaty incredulity.

These ground-level windows don’t work, or at least well not well enough to dignify their existence. Rather, the best way to get at the finished compost is to have at the pile once a year, and to start from the top.

Spread burlap near the bin. Using a pitch fork, empty the still-cooking mass of unfinished recent additions onto the cloth, taking a short break to allow various creatures involved in the decomposition process to recover and retreat. As you pause, cuss. Curse the designers of these contraptions and every blithe garden writer who ever extolled one.

The Deal: Jackalope pots, fountains, furniture

I love browsing the grounds of the sprawling indoor-outdoor garden store Jackalope Pottery, with its eclectic mix of colorful ceramic planters, gurgling fountains and whimsical folk art.

Starting Friday, Jackalope becomes an even more compelling shopping destination: The store begins discounting everything by at least 25% for Labor Day. Look for handcrafted furniture too, some of which will be marked down as much as 50%.

The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Monday at 10726 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood; (818) 761-4022.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credits: Jackalope

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Art Deco collector John Thomas opens festival with Long Beach walking tour

Art Deco collector John Thomas, left, has a home so crammed with his finds that it looks a bit like a museum. But his interests in the period extend outside his home too. To kick off the 6th Annual Queen Mary Art Deco Festival, Thomas is conducting a walking tour from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday.

Thomas is co-chairman of the festival this year, coauthor of the book "Long Beach Art Deco" and president of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles.

All this began with a plate, Thomas told The Times. 

The festival runs Friday to Monday and also includes a special insider tour of the Queen Mary, lectures on Art Deco topics such as fashion and architecture, and parties and shopping. There's also a grand ball. Tickets range from $10 to $650; the latter includes all the events plus two nights at the Hotel Queen Mary.

-- Mary MacVean

 

 

Photos: John Thomas and objects in his home. Credit: Christina House / For The Times  

Don't ask the master gardeners for advice on growing pot

 
One of the mandates of the UC Extension Master Gardener program that I joined and blogged about earlier this year is that we share our newly acquired knowledge and offer gardening advice to our communities. One noteworthy exception: marijuana. It is the one plant for which we can’t offer advice -- not for growing, propagation or problem diagnosis. 

That definitive word came down last week from Pam Geisel, the statewide master gardener coordinator at UC Davis. She was passing along instructions from the office of the general counsel of the UC Regents (who oversee the master gardener and community garden programs) via their agricultural and natural resources division.

ANR policy prohibits any services “directly associated with the plant,” read the directive.

Even though medical marijuana is legal in California, and some “UCCE clientele might object” if we refuse to give advice, UC agents must remain silent when it comes to pot. A request for additional clarification has gone back to the Regents' general counsel, especially in light of the upcoming election, but “that policy will almost certainly say that we do not provide services for marijuana,” Geisel concluded.

It’s a bit of a nonissue for master gardeners locally. Yvonne Savio, who heads the program here in Los Angeles, told me she knew of only one telephone query to the Master Gardener phone helpline (323- 260-3238) or to mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu. And that was a few years ago.

Savio related the call: "The caller asked about growing a ‘grass,’ but when our MG suggested growing a drought-tolerant variety, the caller specified, ‘No, I mean marijuana’ to which our MG replied, 'No, I’m sorry, I can’t respond to that.'”

And just as master gardeners can’t advise on marijuana, community gardens — where many master gardeners work as volunteer advisors -- cannot provide real estate. Even if the grower has a permit to grow, community gardens are zero-tolerance spaces, Al Renner, the executive director of the Los Angeles Garden Council, told me at Solano Community Garden, a secret four-acre jewel of a garden on a slope right next to the 1941 tunnel on the 110.
 
“It’s hard to tell somebody to pull out what they consider medicine but we have rules. [And even then] kids go into the gardens at night and smoke and throw their seeds out, knowing they’re going to be watered. Sometimes they come back to me asking ‘Mr. Renner. Did any of those seeds I planted come up?’”

-- Jeff Spurrier

Photo: Medical marijuana for sale at a dispensary. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Sustainable gardening event nearly sold out

I find it hard to resist a symposium dedicated to the lighthearted side of gardening.

Obviously I am not alone: I am told that tickets to the Pacific Horticulture symposium "Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies VIII: Style and Whimsy in the Sustainable Garden" are selling quickly. Some events are nearly sold out.

To be held Sept. 23 to 26 at various locations in Pasadena, the program will feature architecture and garden tours including the Greene & Greene house shown above and the modernist pool at right, both of which we've featured previously. Lectures will address low-water landscaping, and workshops will focus on making hypertufa containers and broken-concrete paths, stairs, walls and seating areas. Speakers include noted designers Patrick Anderson, Jeffrey Bale, Steve Brigham, Marcia Donahue, Anthony Exter, Steve Gerischer, Keeyla Meadows, Richie Steffen and L.A. at Home contributor Debra Prinzing.

Each day will begin at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden with three lectures and an alfresco lunch. Afterward, buses will take participants to three gardens for tours with the owner, the designer or both. The gardens are private and therefore not handicapped accessible. I look forward to checking out a steep hillside lot that has been converted into an amphitheater of "grassy-covered broken concrete terraces and many recycled materials."

Registration with full payment is required. You may register to attend one, two or all three days. Fees range from $135 per day to $394 for three days. Discounts are available to people under 35, horticulture students and members of the L.A. County Arboretum or Mediterranean Garden Society, among others. Rates will go up after Sept. 15. Free events, including a tour of Arlington Garden, will be held on Sept. 23 and 24, but you must register to reserve a space. For more information, e-mail symposium@pacifichorticulture.org or call (760) 295-2173.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credits, from top: Gabriela Yariv Landscape Design; Steve Gunther; Arlington Garden

The Deal: Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams sale

Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams is hosting another sale: The Los Angeles showroom is offering 20% off special-order upholstery, tables, lamps, rugs and accessories. 

The sale includes the items pictured above: The Chester sofa, regularly $2,460, is now $1,968. The Rebecca chair, normally $1,120, is now $896. The Duncan cocktail ottoman, regularly $1,480, is now $1,184. The Horizon rug, normally $1,595, is now $1,276, and the Orion table lamp, regularly $295, is now $236. 

The reductions run through Oct. 11 at 7960 3rd St., Los Angeles; (323) 651-0200.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams

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Pro Portfolio: East meets West in an updated Calabasas ranch house

On Mondays we post a new home whose design is presented in the architect's or designer's own words. This week:

Contractor: Mark Sapiro, Structure Home, Woodland Hills

Design consultant: Coryne Lovick, Lovick Design, Santa Monica

Project location: Calabasas

Project's goal: To build a home to suit the needs of my wife and me, utilizing a fresh, new architectural style with an open floor plan for entertaining and no wasted space.

Contractor's description: I chose one of my preferred architects, Eric Zuziak of JZMK Partners, to help design the residence.

With an eye toward environmentally friendly construction, the project included deconstruction of the existing structure. Building components were carefully dismantled for reuse, recycling and waste management and donated to Habitat for Humanity for resale.

The new home has many features using the latest energy-efficient materials, including 100% natural cellulose fiber insulation made from recycled newspapers that was blown into the walls for optimal sound and thermal insulation. Special plywood roof sheathing with a foil radiant backing that reflects the sun's heat was used to lower interior temperatures. In-line tankless water heaters were installed to reduce energy consumption and supply hot water on demand.

An energy-saving lighting control system was installed, with digital technology that allows individual programming of all lighting in the home by software accessed by personal computer. An integrated whole-house entertainment management system allows access to television, music, photos and the Internet from eight separate in-wall or remote locations throughout the home.

Keep reading for more photos and details on the house ...

 

The Deal: Henry Road online fabric sale ends Tuesday

A selection of textiles by designer Paula Smail are 60% off in Henry Road's first fabric sale, ending Tuesday.

Translation: Fabric that was $50 per yard is now only $20.

I checked in with Smail on Sunday, and she assured me that she has more than 40 yards of fabric left to sell. Some designs are available in increments as small as three yards, but don't let that stop you: Think pillows. Smail's Studio City store is filled with fun accessories -- sachets, pillows, table runners -- that demonstrate what you can do with her colorful prints.

You can view the fabrics in the online sale. All of them measure 58 inches wide and are 100% cotton duck, so be sure to preshrink any purchase by washing it in warm water before you start sewing.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Henry Road

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Datebook: Events, exhibits, classes for the week ahead

We've listed select home and garden events below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public, but we won't edit the comments.

Saturday: John Lavranos, collector and plant authority, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Succulent Plants Symposium. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. $75, includes lunch. Optional dinner at an additional cost. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Details and registration: (626) 405-3504.

Saturday to Sept. 6: More than 2,500 dahlia plants are in bloom, representing more than 200 varieties at Love House Dahlias’ open house. Experts will be on hand to answer questions. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 7922 Santa Ana Road, Ventura. (805) 648-6808.

Sept. 6: In honor of Labor Day, Descanso Gardens hosts Boddy’s Big Backyard,  an all-day celebration for families. Highlights include a 10 a.m. guided tour of the California Natives Garden with horticulturist Rachel Young,  a reading of “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” at 12:30 p.m. for kids, and music by the Mobile Homeboys from 1 to 3 p.m. Families can bring a picnic and blanket to the Main Lawn (normally not allowed). 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included in regular admission of $3 to $8. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.

Ongoing:

Brown Bag Tuesdays: The Gamble House, the Arts and Crafts landmark designed by Charles and Henry Greene continues a weekly lunch program. Visitors are invited to picnic on the rear lawn or terrace of the 1908 estate between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each Tuesday. Twenty-minute docent-led tours will be given at 12:15 and 12:45 p.m. for $5, through Oct. 23. 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena; (626) 793-3334. Reservations: (626) 449-4178.

Design biennial: The Pasadena Museum of California Art's fourth California Design Biennial, titled “Action/Reaction,” will highlight work in industrial design, fashion, graphics, transportation and architecture. Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, through Nov. 1. $5 to $7. 490 E. Union St. (626) 568-3665.

EatLACMA: The Los Angeles-based artist collective Fallen Fruit presents "EatLACMA," a year-long look at food, art, culture and politics. The series features artist's gardens, hands-on events such as jam-making and the exhibition "Fallen Fruit Presents the Fruit of LACMA." It ends with a daylong event on Nov. 7 in which more than 50 artists and collectives re-imagine the museum's campus and galleries. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 857-6000.

Neutra show: The traveling survey “The Amazing Neutras in Orange County” highlights 20 works by noted midcentury architect Richard Neutra. An opening reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Gallery opens noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, through Oct. 2. Gallery remains open until 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Free. Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 644-6269.

Rohlfs exhibition: The first major exhibition of furniture and decorative art by the American craftsman Charles Rohlfs (1853-1936) features more than 40 pieces from 10 museums and private collections. 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. Closed Tuesdays. Through Sept. 6. $6 to $20. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. (626) 405-2100.

— Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times