Transfauxmations

Unexpected

Del Mar

This job started out the same way as so many of my jobs. Christie, a designer I work with, wanted me to take a look at a beautiful 10,000 square-foot home that was under construction among the scenic hills and horse ranches in Del Mar, California. A winding road overlooking the valley led us to the entrance gate. As I followed Christie up the driveway to the home, I could not yet tell that there was just as much house underground as there was above, because there are few homes built with basements in southern California. Before long, Barbra, the homeowner, greeted us warmly, and we were led to the areas to be finished.

The entire house was bustling with workers of every trade imaginable. We walked past stacks of walnut flooring ready to be installed in the “great room”—aptly named, with 30-foot ceilings and sliding glass doors that overlooked the hills and out toward the Pacific Ocean. Barbra took us past the formal dining room, where I could see three large niches built into the walls. Christie explained that they would like them finished in an Old World style with a smoky, aged blue background and freehand gilded gold vines. During our conversation I showed them samples of my finishes that might be other possibilities for these areas. Barbra instantly fell in love with my samples of LusterStone®, Faux Effects’® metallic decorative plaster that shimmers with reflective light. She especially loved my Copper and Champagne Mist samples.

What happened next was quite unexpected. Barbra said that she and her husband wanted some type of faux finishing and possibly Venetian plaster in other areas of the home, and she asked if I would be willing to discuss the possibilities of what could be done. How could I say no? As we walked around her beautiful home, I offered Barbra numerous ideas, and we settled on four appropriate finishes. The next week, I returned with a bid and samples in hand, putting a lot of work into creating the finishes (and it showed). Barbra and the designer were thrilled, and they asked me to extend some of the finishes to even more areas of the house. The following week Barbra and her husband signed a contract and gave me a deposit to start the work. I was thrilled! The job had grown from just a couple of niches to faux finishing and plastering over 4,000 square feet!

There was only one problem—and again, what happened next was quite unexpected.

As I stood in the “great room” wondering where I should start, I looked up at the very high ceiling, noticing that most of it consisted of wooden beams that the owners had salvaged from an old bridge in Canada. It still had mineral staining from the metal rods, pins, and tension wires that previously held it together, giving the wood a lot of character. But because the wood was not stained or sealed, we could not start finishing the walls until this was addressed. I asked Patrick, the home builder, what was planned for the ceiling. Immediately, he asked me if I and my crew were interested in staining and sealing this area, since he had not yet found a contractor to do it. I thought about it for a minute and figured that even though this was not our typical work, it would be a great learning experience. I also knew that the ceiling was standing in the way of our starting on the walls. Within days I had a bid for Patrick, and we got started the on the ceilings the following week.

This job had grown from niches to wall finishes, and now included ceilings. I didn’t know at the time, but this incredible house in Del Mar would turn out to be one of my biggest jobs done to date.

Within three weeks we completed the ceiling, and I looked forward to starting the wall finishes. However, as this was a house under construction, things didn’t always go according to plan. Other contractors had work to do, and this meant pushing back our finishing until their work was completed. During this time Patrick told me that the parts of the house not getting wall treatments would need to be painted. Also, endless amounts of wooden base boards and over 70 wood doors needed to be stained and sealed. So, once again we were asked if we would be interested in bidding on these other jobs.

Within a week we were off and running, staining and painting. The entire home has six bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a standard dining room, and a formal dining room, along with other smaller rooms and walk-in closets. Also, there is a foyer, a “great room,” and a beautiful gallery/hallway with sweeping arches that connect the adjoining rooms. And, let’s not forget about the kitchen, office and garage—and that’s just the upstairs! The basement contains theater, game, and exercise rooms, along with a wine cellar and adjoining tasting room. We had our work cut out for us, and we hadn’t even started any of the faux finishing or decorative plaster work we were hired for in the first place!

Halfway through the painting and staining, we got the go ahead to start our original job. By this time the other contractors were mostly done with the construction work, leaving us able to move our scaffoldings about the house freely. To get everything done, I brought in another crew to tackle the wall painting, while my first crew and I tackled the faux finishing and LusterStone® application, which turned out to be a unique challenge due to the many curved ceilings.

The homeowners and I settled on two different shades of faux finishing for the house. The first shade was golden beige and would be applied in the master bedroom and bathroom. This color also was used in the theater room and the wine tasting room. The second color, golden ochre with a touch of red, was applied in the great room, dining room, and kitchen area. With this faux finishing out of the way, we were ready to start applying LusterStone®. Since LusterStone® was being used on most of the home’s wall space, this was the most time-consuming step of the project. Aside from the open beam wood ceilings, all the coffered, cathedral, barrel, and arched ceilings received LusterStone® finishes as well. Two to three coats of LusterStone® were applied, creating warm and elegant finishes that can’t be compared to anything else!

With two crews and working 10 to 12 hour days, the Del Mar project was completed in eight months—right on time and on budget—just before Christmas. We had much to celebrate; we just completed our largest residential job during one of the worst recession years in history.

For over 17 years, I worked everywhere from private homes to the Old Globe Theater in San Diego doing murals, faux finishing and, in recent years, decorative plasters. With the house completed and the owners moved in, again the unexpected has happened. They commissioned me to paint fine art that will cover numerous and large walls throughout the home. This artwork will consist of abstracts and representational work, landscapes, and seascape and dreamscape paintings, all of which will use colors that will precisely complement the colors of the home. This home will feature the most impressive tribute to my skills so far—the harmonizing of my commercial painting with my fine art painting.

DECORATIVE ART BY: MODERN MASTERS

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY: ALEX SASHA TOPOROVSKY

WRITTEN BY: ALEX SASHA TOPOROVSKY

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