in our last post, maison21 promised he'd tell you why his easter egg hunt & brunch pictures belonged on a design blog. of course, he also promised that he'd tell you "tomorrow", but somehow "tomorrow" turned into "next week" (maison21 blames his delicate constitution- he had his 4,712th bout with the flu this week. he apologizes, and hopes cold and flu season is now officially over- for ALL of us).
anyway, the reason maison21's easter egg hunt and brunch deserved to be publicized (besides an excuse to show pictures of his adorable little friend, lucy), was that the brunch and hunt were held on the grounds of the historic
castle green, in pasadena, california (about 15 minutes east of downtown los angeles- if you are lucky and there is no traffic. btw, there is
always traffic).
(above photo stolen from castlegreen.com, the rest were captured by m21's instamatic)
the castle green building was built in 1898, as an annex to the
castle green hotel- a resort that catered to visitors from the east coast escaping their harsh winters, by visiting sunny southern california. though the hotel itself was torn down long ago, the "annex" lives on today as historically landmarked condominiums.
now, maison21 knows that some of his readers live in cities with buildings far older than 110 years, but here in southern california, we don't exactly treasure our history the way normal people do, and the fact that this building survives, and wasn't knocked down for a shopping mall, is
quite the achievement- the equivalent of the parthenon in athens or the coliseum in rome.
really.
the spanish-moorish-victorian style castle green building is a fabulous document of it's time- the over embellished styles of the victorian era were on the way out, and the more modern style of the arts and crafts movement was on it's way in, and the interiors and furnishings really show the blending of all those styles and more (there's a lot going on...)
all modern conveniences were included in the castle green when it was constructed- things like elevators and electric lights- and they are lovingly preserved to this day. the lobby uses still uses antique-style edison light bulbs, and the iron cage elevator still requires an operator. very cool oldskool.
the entire first floor is devoted to public spaces, like the onyx walled ballroom, and several large sitting rooms as well as a immense front terrace and garden. these spaces can be rented out by the public for weddings and special events, or reserved by the residents, as lucy's granddad was nice enough to do for our brunch on the lovely shady balcony- much needed on a scorching-hot, freaky spring heatwave day, as easter was over 90 degrees! that's hot!
for a peek inside the castle green residences, visit
www.castlegreenunit502.com, and take a tour of a studio condo on the market for $495,000 (complete with murphy bed). maison21 thinks $495k seems like kind of a bargain, and he's sure his readers in places like new york or london would agree! with a little maison21 sissy magic™ to update the decor, we think it could be kind of cute. sorry though, the included murphy bed would have to go FIRST THING, as murphy beds rather scare us- maison21 had one in his first apartment, but couldn't bring himself to use it- he had a fear it would fold shut during the night, and he would be trapped inside the walls of his apartment
forever.
(above photo stolen from castlegreenunit502.com)
what do we think of unit 502- a fabulous bargain, and a blast from the past? or too much to pay to live in a studio- no matter how quaintly old school it is?
(above photo stolen from castlegreen.com, the rest were captured by m21's instamatic)
the castle green building was built in 1898, as an annex to the castle green hotel- a resort that catered to visitors from the east coast escaping their harsh winters, by visiting sunny southern california. though the hotel itself was torn down long ago, the "annex" lives on today as historically landmarked condominiums. 
the spanish-moorish-victorian style castle green building is a fabulous document of it's time- the over embellished styles of the victorian era were on the way out, and the more modern style of the arts and crafts movement was on it's way in, and the interiors and furnishings really show the blending of all those styles and more (there's a lot going on...)
all modern conveniences were included in the castle green when it was constructed- things like elevators and electric lights- and they are lovingly preserved to this day. the lobby uses still uses antique-style edison light bulbs, and the iron cage elevator still requires an operator. very cool oldskool.
the entire first floor is devoted to public spaces, like the onyx walled ballroom, and several large sitting rooms as well as a immense front terrace and garden. these spaces can be rented out by the public for weddings and special events, or reserved by the residents, as lucy's granddad was nice enough to do for our brunch on the lovely shady balcony- much needed on a scorching-hot, freaky spring heatwave day, as easter was over 90 degrees! that's hot!
for a peek inside the castle green residences, visit www.castlegreenunit502.com, and take a tour of a studio condo on the market for $495,000 (complete with murphy bed). maison21 thinks $495k seems like kind of a bargain, and he's sure his readers in places like new york or london would agree! with a little maison21 sissy magic™ to update the decor, we think it could be kind of cute. sorry though, the included murphy bed would have to go FIRST THING, as murphy beds rather scare us- maison21 had one in his first apartment, but couldn't bring himself to use it- he had a fear it would fold shut during the night, and he would be trapped inside the walls of his apartment forever.
isn't she adorable?
of course, no easter egg hunt would be complete without the appearance of the easter chicken (don't ask- maison21 has no idea why one of the brunch guests brought a chicken costume, but lucy seemed to enjoy it).
and of course, the easter chicken was accompanied by the easter dog. maison21 would never subject his own dog to such humiliation, btw. well, almost never...
tomorrow, we'll tell you why this post about chickens and dogs and babies and stuff, has any business being on a design blog...
though charme is exceedingly well priced at $795.00, brocade home offers a chair very similar in feeling for the budget price of $199.00:
don't worry, louis, we still love you, too (and we were pleased to find you so cheap on ebay- thanks for the tip, cristina!)
last, anziano, you know you will always be number one in maison21's modern chair loving heart:
whoever coined the phrase "fighting like cats and dogs" has never visited the maison21 atelier- mona and richard get along quite well, thank you. as maison21 starts his day reading emails, blogs, etc., they will frequently take a morning nap next to each other. nothing is cuter them the two of them napping together in a puddle of morning sun. maison21 isn't usually able to capture the image, as the minute he moves to find the camera, mona is usually up and following him (he could be getting up to get some food, after all), but this morning, maison21 was able to get that rare photo op. please excuse the unmade bed, but m21 couldn't exactly ask them get up so he could style the photo first (much as he would have loved too, btw). dirty laundry or no, the image is a little too sweet not to share.
