Houses from Within, Tel Aviv 2010 was a month ago. I was fortunate enough to get a press pass (thank you Aviva!) so I drove around Tel Aviv like a mad woman dashing from apartment to apartment. I saw 19 places in all and I’ve decided to start off the reviews with my favorite apartment from the whole weekend – Hila Caspi’s home. It’s a small flat in north Tel Aviv but I adore how she maximized the space, light and interest in the apartment.

The whole flat is around 70 square meters. The floor is cement (which was a major trend this time around – so much so that by the end of the weekend I was bored of it), the kitchen is shiny white (another trend which had me yawning by the end of the weekend). However, this was the first place I saw both in, so I was still excited while photographing the place. So why do I love it so much when it holds two pieces that I find rather tired and unoriginal? She has the most brilliant use of space for her tiny flat, some totally unexpected design elements that really got me and she has possibly the best made bed in Israel.

I’m so not kidding there.

And even though she had no color on the walls and basically the place was a bit of a blank canvas – it wasn’t dull. There was artwork, for one, and loads of really lovely homey old furniture artfully mixed with the new modern pieces. Slivers of color were everywhere and she also had actual foliage in the flat (ok, on the windowsill, but close enough).

I know the picture is a bit dark – but can you see the bed? It’s made. With real European size pillows and bolsters! There’s a lovely coverlet on the bed and even a luxurious throw blanket. That alone made my day.  But the on-suite bathroom also really did it for me.

See – better photo of the best made bed in Israel. Oh – and if you want to understand what I mean – check out some of the other home tours on Tchochkes. People here will sleep on anything with almost nothing. It’s kind of sad really. But this bed gives me hope.

In case you haven’t been reading Tchochkes for long (or ever before) I live in a house the size of a postage stamp. 100 sq meters of small. And there’s only one bathroom. Which I share with 2 small boys. 2 small gorgeous boys who have horrible aim. And 1 who has a thing about peeing in the tub (he’s 4, we’re praying he’ll grow out of it).

I can’t even tell you how much I would love this bathroom in my bedroom (but we’d have to find a place to put a toilet to make it truly wonderful). That would be even better than a walk in closet (but to have all – well, that’s just a dream.) And the fact that she’s found a way to make this tiny flat so warm and inviting and cozy with TWO bathrooms is just amazing. I love the antique style cabinets, the wall tap sink and the all glass shower keeping the space open. The bathroom here is up on a step from the bedroom. I’m not sure how that works for cleaning, but the bathroom floor is tile and the main floor is cement – so my guess is that it cleans well.

Another bit of the apartment that I loved was the tiny small balcony with wood floor. The balcony is separated from the house by floor to ceiling glass walls and doors.

As you can see from the picture above, privacy can be had by closing the white sheers. The glass walls keep the airiness and light of the flat. You don’t feel the size of this place at all.

Looking in from the balcony.

From here the main bathroom looks somewhat staid. But look in that mirror…

Love the old school pictures – but there’s even more that I loved in this bathroom…

Why is the angle so weird for the picture above? Because I was standing below it. This piece of artwork is on the bathroom ceiling. The tub is beneath this artwork. I’m assuming that it doesn’t get ruined by the humidity of the bathroom due to the high gloss laminate and window right above the tub. I loved this, so whimsical and totally unexpected. I just love it when I find design elements that shock me. It doesn’t happen all that often anymore. Bravo Hila Caspi for this alone.

In short (short?) I loved her flat. The mixture of modern with old furniture, the unexpected elements, the warmth, light and airiness of it all. The amazing use of space without feeling cramped. I left there dreaming of hiring her to fix up this minuscule dwelling of mine.

Dwarfed by Tel-Aviv’s downtown skyscrapers this little house of worship still manages to thrive.

The Ohel Moed synagogue was part of the Houses from Within tours that I was at the beginning of May.

In 1925 Joseph Berlin was commissioned to design a synagogue for the Yemenite Jewish community. Founded and funded with the help of Adeni Jews, it became the largest Sephardi synagogue of Tel Aviv.

Today the building is used for daily prayers by employees of the Electrical Company who work nearby and some 15 regular worshipers who come on the Sabbath.  The place is kept alive thanks to an entrepreneur who operates it as a trendy family occasion hall.

As I mounted the exterior red carpeted stairs I had the feeling that I was some V.I.P.

The three carved front doors enter you into an impressive sanctuary that is full of light reminding me of a joyful wedding ceremony.

Not until you look skyward do you see a giant dome made of 15 octagonal rows of stairs symbolizing the 15 elevations in the Temple. At the top of the dome glistens a polished diamond-like decoration.

Notice the arches supporting the dome are made up of 7 quarter arches to represent the seven branches of the menorah (candelabra).

I don’t know if this pew is original but I really liked the way the seat slid in so that congregants could easily pass by.

Although set on the dunes of Tel-Aviv, the building has Art Deco as well as Oriental influences.  Berlin used silicate bricks and given the limited resources of the time the building manages to convey originality and dignity.

One thing can be said for Michal Negrin – she is a woman with definitive style.

There is no doubting from the moment you walk into her home who owns it. It’s sort of fabulous in a way. The same way that I love this insane pink and purple house in my neighborhood owned by one of the local geriatric mafia (my nickname for the seniors in the neighborhood who flag you down when driving and order ask you to drive them to the center of town – they kind of ignore if you say no and get in anyway).

It’s not a small apartment if you consider the size of the rooms, but there is so much crammed into the space,  you’d never know it.

I love the wood floor and the ceiling detail (there’s a word for it but I’m half asleep trying to finish this post so whatever it is – I’ll fix it later when Judy reads this and emails me).

I hate the fake flowers. Honestly, they should just be banned. Such ugly rubbish creating dust and nightmares for allergic people everywhere.

The furniture and carpets are nice. I liked the carpets – the fabric on the furniture is her own design (on most of them – the colorful patterned ones at least). All together they are overwhelming, but if you burned the drapes and threw out 70% of her tchochkes the apartment might be livable for someone who wasn’t a Michal Negrin fanatic.

Ok, don’t throw them away, just edit them down significantly. Cause this is what the whole place looks like. That much. Everywhere.

But at the same time all of these pieces would look amazing in moderation somewhere else. It’s just that all of them together is way too much for my senses.

The kitchen, on the other hand, was just divine. I don’t mind a bit of kitsch and color in the kitchen – and with the ivory cabinets as a clean backdrop there was just the right mix of pattern and plain.

That’s not to say that her stuff isn’t all over the kitchen as well…

Have I mentioned how much I hate fake flowers…

I want that sink. I’m ignoring that the tap doesn’t  match the style of anything else in the place. It’s the same tap I have at home (i.e. a normal one).

It’s a 2 bedroom place – but her daughter had moved out recently and the room hasn’t been fixed up into anything yet, as I can fully understand.

More pictures coming next Saturday…

Every year during Houses from Within people open their homes to complete strangers. And occasionally, their neighbors who weren’t approached to open their house want a bit of the action – and open their homes too. These are typically the the unforgotten unsung heroes of the proletariat. Older people alone looking for some recognition living in simple design with a smattering of kitsch.

Todays post is for them.

I didn’t get his name but he had lived in this flat for decades, if not longer. Originally one single flat, he broke it into two so that he could receive a stipend of rental income. However, that was years ago and the flat is now a single one again.

And while the place was not grand, it had some seriously sexy details, like these arched ceilings that I would be willing to give my eye teeth for.

The stone surrounding and stain glass windows above the doorways are a nice touch.

Looking into what was a second apartment. I love the old arched windows and the way the light pours in from it.

Carpet tile on the floor, real carpet on the wall.

The economy has not fueled the fire for home builders these days but there are still some amazing examples of fairy tale homes that once were and still are on the market.  I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of these developments in upstate N.Y.  Toll Brothers, a developer that promotes the high life has a development of this sort that is to die for.  I toured the model home which doubles as the main office.

Play Room

The play room featured above has an amazing stripe pattern that arches above the room.  These bold stripes make a statement while filling the room with whimsical flair.  I just love the cool puzzle piece furniture that surrounds the table here.  The fun starts when you enter this room.

The whole house was amazing but I chose to focus on the decorative bedrooms.  The boys room was done up in a jungle theme and done up well.  From the rug to the curtains to the wall paintings this room would be the dream of any young adventurer.

Boys Bedroom in Jungle Theme

Across the hall was the girls bedroom all pretty in pink and blue.  Have you ever seen a hot air balloon inside the house?  The success of this room is the fine quality paint job.  Every wall has something to hoo and haw over. 

Inside The Closet

Wall Painting Close Up

Above The Door Accent

The creative headboard in the guestroom was well done.  I have noticed this trend of using catch words as decore in a few popular designers collections.

I can’t say where it is and I can’t say who owns it – but they are family and  I spent many a great weekend here growing up.  I can remember the smell of the house most of all. It always smelled like something good was either cooking, or about to be cooked. And it always felt homey – like sitting under a quilt while reading a fantastic engaging book during a Fall morning drinking a lovely cup of tea. And it’s the feel of this house I tried to reproduce when I designed my own.

I was there on a summer morning for breakfast with the family. Brunch was set out on the sideboard and everything else was on the table for a help yourself atmosphere. We sat on the back porch gossiping and catching up.

It’s not a huge or grand home. Just two bedrooms upstairs and 1 and a 1/2 baths. When you enter there are stairs directly in front of you, on your right is the living room (below) and on your left is the dining room (above). The room off of the dining room is the library / TV room.

Today someone would buy this home and knock down all of the walls to create an open plan space. Yet so much of that cozy feel is dependent on the confinement of the space. People have forgotten how nice a smaller room is to actually live in – a place where you can collect your thoughts instead of having them fly away in the expanse of it all. And it’s not that this room is small by traditional standards, but a McMansion it is not.

The morning of the breakfast – you can see this is a well used kitchen. That Viking range is so unbelievably sexy.

I love the chaos of food preparation on the counter and the calm of flowers on the windowsill.

The end of the kitchen is the breakfast nook. I love the red, which brings a strong energy to the place (and encourages cooking BTW). It’s hard to do red well – and this red is brilliant.

If I recall correctly the table is Italian and the wall prints are French. Isn’t this table stunning?!

Three fine French prints.

Upstairs is another great use of intense color. The bathroom is black and white with this intense dramatic purple ceiling. I fell in love with the ceiling, the patterned black subway tile trim and the gorgeous flowered black and white shower curtains.

I hope I was able to convey the feel of this house – which is so much more than just decor. It’s in the essence of the space and the way people live in it. I think we all have the house that inspires us when we’re growing up – and as I grew up living in a townhouse (all of them the same) I just loved this exotic quirky house when we came to visit. And promised myself that my own home would be like this someday. In the next few weeks I’m going to do a home tour of my own house – so you’ll get to see if I succeeded or not.

On a completely different note – I’m now officially a Kellogg-Recanati MBA! YEAH!

Ruth Havilio is an artist that lives in a multi-story stone house in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem. This home was fascinating on many levels – mainly because the house was so many levels. The whole property had rooms and doorways and walkways and paths that were slowly being renovated but currently weren’t being used.

This blue was on all of the fences and gates of the property. I love it. When we change the colors of our home – I’m thinking all of our metal will be the color of this fence.

Ruth shares this one bedroom space with her daughter. The living area doubles as her sleeping quarters at night. Don’t feel too bad for her though – in a few years she’ll be sleeping in a mansion. This place has tons of space, it just has to be renovated.

I started off going downstairs since that was where the tour was leaving when I entered and I didn’t want 2 million visitors in my pictures (this was another Houses from Within – Jerusalem tour.)

Downstairs is Ruth’s daughters room. I love the whole space, from the metal framed bed to the old kilim carpets. It’s a space that says “girl growing up” without being childish or too mature.

That closet is stunning as well. I wouldn’t mind something like that…

Back upstairs across the living room on the other side is the dining room and kitchen. Ok, not so much of a dining room as a breakfast nook.

One thing I love is that even though the space is small and not especially grand – her furniture is generally high quality. That table and those chairs are beautiful and very well made. It’s what makes the space into something special.

The kitchen is simple, clean and spruced up with Ruth’s hand painted tile.

Outside of the living area is the maze I mentioned.

Here was one door.

A door that was.

These aren’t even all of the doors. Loving that blue paint though.

I did get to peak in one of the future renovated rooms though – and when this gets finished it will be absolutely divine. Look at that closet!

Upstairs was her studio with stunning painted tiles.

What I love about her place is that she’s renovating slowly using top materials and turning it into something truly gorgeous and special.

Haim Hazaz lived an amazing life. He escaped the Nazi’s and wrote a story praised by T.S. Eliot. However, as this is Tchochkes and not a political or literature journal – we’re more interested in his really cute flat in the Talbia area of Jerusalem. His widow (who was an absolute doll when I met her) lives there now.

This was one of the many houses I toured thanks to Houses from Within – Jerusalem (yes, you’ll be seeing homes from those two days in September for many weeks to come). I fell in love with this flat from the moment I walked in and saw the French blue door mixed with the yellow carpet tile. Isn’t the combination just stunning? This flat had the prettiest carpet tiles I’ve ever seen.

Love that tile.

There are loads of European influences in this apartment, from the French blue details in the entryway…

…to the Dutch dishes on display in the living room.

The furniture is traditional old world.

Here’s a closeup of the carpet tile in the living room. I’m in love with the colors and I’m in love with the pattern.

The rest of the furniture in the apartment is old world as well. The artwork is more contemporary Israel.

Haim Haziz’s office and library has not been changed. It’s saved as a memorial to one of Israel’s first authors.

Being here is like being in a museum, but a warm friendly they-let-you-sit-down-on-the-furniture museum. Which is the best kind.

I toured this house as part of the Houses from Within – Jerusalem weekend in September. Although it’s called the Zamenhoff house actually the Eshet family lives in what was once two homes.

An Arabic house that was built in the early 20th century by an uknown architect. One of the apartments doubled as an Esperanto publishing house. which was established by Hanoch Rosk. The house is named after the street which was called after the Esperanto language inventor: Dr. Zamenhoff. Since the mid 1970′s, the Eshet family resides in both parts of the now unified building.

I think what struck me most about the place were the amazing floor tiles and the maize of lofts.

Here you see the front porch with it’s simple table and chairs. So inviting to just sit for a drink and chat.

I love the spiral staircase although I never figured out where it lead. Maybe it was a fire escape?

As you come into to the front entrance you see the bookcases greet you  and to your left is the skylit living area.

I love the tile work. It’s a veritable carpet.

And here’s a close-up of the other half.

I was fascinated by the skylight with the ladder above it and the chandelier below.

This yellow chair corner is fabulous. A balance of volumes and terrific use of colours. The painting incorporates beautiful blues as well.

If  you continue through the open door at one end of the room you reach the kitchen. But since I since I didn’t initially go that direction I’ll take you to the other rooms first.

Below you see one of the offices:

Now it might seem tight but everything is neat. I love the wall hanging on the right side. And as I turned to go I saw this incredible mirrored chest.

More beautiful tiles.

I want this bureau in my hall.

I found this a fascinating home but the loft renovations were difficult to photograph.  So here is my attempt. My back was to this hall bureau and I entered a narrow room with a loft above. Then I made an about face and saw these steps. Note the drawers beneath the stair treads.

This is a fellow just in front of me whose pack barely cleared the bracing.

Again lots of niches for storage.

Above is the view down from the loft.

The master (bedroom) loft is accessed from the living room stairs (see first photo) and sits above the office.

This is their view to the front hall:

It’s a clever idea to place a mirrored closet. It expands the feeling space in the hall and mirrors the tile so that it completes its original square shape.

Going back across the living area is the kitchen.

I’m not a big fan of open shelving myself especially in this desert climate. But this is a cute niche in which to display dishes.

Architect Roey Alroey opened his home during the Houses from Within – Jerusalem tour in September (you’ll be seeing homes from this for awhile.) His newly built, three floor home was designed to keep the feel of his neighborhood, Kiryat Yovel. The neighborhood is filled with old homes that have been added on in a “we need so we add-on” organic fashion.

As such he kept the finishes simple and the materials inexpensive.

The design, however, raises up the various elements to a much higher aesthetic.

The shelves are pressed wood and the finish is the simplest of unfinished concrete. The cabinets are the least expensive basic white cabinets you can find (touched up with some pretty colorful drawer knobs) and the main counter top is basic stone found everywhere in Israel.

Notice that the drawer pulls don’t match? Love that.

The downstairs is open. The front patio has massive sliding glass doors that open to the sitting area (above) and across from that is another area where the cushions are Moroccan style (on the floor).

The center cement and wood island separates the TV area from the main sitting room, hides the television, and still keeps the area open. The wood counter across the back blocks the area from the patio, framing the space and keeping it from being a walkway to the kitchen. It also adds another location to work.

I want that carpet.

The back patio overlooks this. I could live with that.

The cement theme is outside the house as well. Roey has no plans to finish off the concrete with color.

The other floors are open as well with the house radiating around the atrium.

The second floor bedrooms have openings to the atrium or hall that have no relation to doorways. This is an opening to the master bedroom.

And this is the opening to the girls room.  Roey wanted to be able to hear what was going on with his kids throughout the house – something I can absolutely appreciate. When things are too quiet, something is wrong.

And the room looks – like a kids room.

The master bedroom is simple, with all of the elements close to the ground so nothing distracts you from the view.

The third floor is a loft/office with two attached bedrooms (without openings).

The window at the top is opposite the loft office and has a balcony.

And the photo I took which shows the sea didn’t turn out…  but this still isn’t such a bad view…

Roey Alroey, architect in Jerusalem. Without a website, davka. (Davka is Yiddish. I can’t translate it exactly, but a Gay Republican is davka. That should give you a good idea.)