If you must have a load-bearing post, why not make it fun?

Taking a break from the wildfire coverage, let's consider load-bearing posts in a house.

Every now and again, a large and open room requires a post to hold up the roof or floor above. It's usually a matter of the budget, where a beam or beams strong enough to span the room and carry the load would be cost prohibitive.

So, rather than trying to hide the post, why not celebrate it?

I visited this Hermosa Beach house recently for a Pardon Our Dust feature that will run soon in the Sunday Real Estate section of the L.A. Times.

Until the feature runs, I wanted to share with you a tile-covered post I saw at that house. See a close-up of the tile.

As you can see, the family's youngest daughter has discovered that the tiles give her enough foothold to climb up and down like a little monkey. Looking on is the girl's uncle, architect Robert Nebolon, who designed the house.

Look for the whole story soon in the newspaper.