Name: Gehry and Lanya
Location: Brooklyn, Oakland, California
Size: 1150 sqft 1 bedroom in an 1896 Victorian home
Years Lived in: 2 years
"The apartment is special and worth honoring," says Lanya. Both Gehry and Lanya love to travel and have an incredible knack for creating community.
Their home is the nexus of those interests and is seeped in the impact of the people they have met around the world and around the corner. Specifically, the color palette and the impromptu dance space attest to the amount of time they have spent in South and Central America...
Recently, they threw a party and asked all the guests to contribute a piece of art. Now, the house teems with their own creativity as well as the expressions of their neighbors.
The home has definitely been a work in progress. The constraint of living within the landlord's guidelines and landlord's tastes is tough for Gehry but he works around it as best he can. Gehry and Lanya also work around the fact that their house is haunted and there is nothing they can do about it but embrace the ghosts and move on.
Gehry and Lanya enjoy the expansiveness of their home and appreciate the light and the views with every meal, and every time they sit up in bed.
Style: art's/crafts vs. modernist
Inspiration: japanese (and local artists)
Favorite Element: sunlight bouncing off the angled walls;
leaving window sills free of clutter; views are
amazing
Biggest Challenge: working around the
permanent elements imposed by the owner, and keeping it clean!
Biggest Embarrassment: liking spider
webs
Proudest DIY: tile table over card
catalog
Biggest Indulgence: custom cut organic futon
cushions over wood core doors (for sitting and
enjoying tea)
Dream Source: The earth.
Originally Posted on June 6th, 2007
(ReEdited from 2007-08-20 - MGR)
I totally embrace the spiderwebs! What an incredible space, it must be a joy to live in all of those varied geometric volumes--hemisphere, angles, etc.
Cheers, Gehry and Lanya.
view karyn's profile
What a cool and funky place!
I love that fabric ceiling. Anyone have advice on how to do that? It would be perfect for my living room, where the ceiling fell down last summer.
view Scout's profile
WOW -- what a great place!
I love the architecture of the space itself, and how you've showcased your creativity there.
Leah (a fellow Oaklander)
view Leah's profile
the space is interesting. certainly not my style of decorating, but its obviously exactly what they love. though i cant imagine those "couches" being comfortable. yikes.
view my little apartment's profile
10 gold stars for creativity and originality! Make that 20! And I'll never look at spider webs the same way again. Scary, albeit cool catwalk. And you showed those ghosts - let's see them try to get up to those beams and knock it down now. Thanks for sharing your lovely home with us!
view Harley's profile
whoa! is that just the upper floor or the entire house?
view tealeaves's profile
Very unique...and very opp. of my own personal style, but owners of the home well felt in the use of space and decoration.
Neato.
view nikko's profile
Delightful, adventurous--and in the last picture, you see that Gehry isn't afraid to wear dashing colors himself.
view krister's profile
WOW WEE What a fun, fab and fantastic creative space you have!
Well done!
view dmoniq5's profile
That ceiling is a little too sphincteresque for me. I think I'd like it in another color, though.
view apollonia_6's profile
Great place. Given the fault lines Oakland is on or near, I hope that art window in the rafters is tied down somehow.
view Shawn's profile
I love the expansive space, and the hidden nooks and crannies, and I can feel the pulse of life throughout the apartment... but I am the only person who thinks the living room is crying out for a proper couch or somewhere to sit that actually has a back to it? On the other hand, perhaps it's just the age and creakiness of the bones showing....
view Juliet's profile
No, Juliet, I admit thinking the same thing and craving a comfy couch in that living space. But maybe that's just because I wrecked on my bike and comfy couches just sound good to me everywhere right now.
view Anne (in Reno)'s profile
Great place! I'm not trying to be a hater, but I agree with apollonia about the bedroom ceiling.
view rachel leigh's profile
Nice going! It's like eating a banana while watching a bright blue sky. Keep it in the clouds.
view joebelt's profile
This home is home. It is in that wonderful and sad part of Oakland I grew up in. The photos remind me of all the old Victorians, all the bungalos, all the rainy days looking over rooftops. This is the Oakland of my dreams, and of my longing. I love that this house continues to inspire love and beauty.
I do not know where this house is, exactly, but it is very likely near where "there" used to be. I believe Gertrude Stein's childhood home was near 13th Avenue and 27th Street. I grew up nearby, and only recently discovered how close to "there" I had been when I first discovered Gertrude Stein.
view Usbek de Perse's profile