Inside the Weekend Home of Your Dreams

Read article : Inside the Weekend Home of Your Dreams

May 18, 2017

Your second (or third, or fifth) house should be a place where life is simpler, the design is a little bit more loose, and the shower has glass walls. So we asked renowned designer Russell Groves for tips on how to build your dream retreat.

You made it to "weekend home" status, which means you're a hard worker or you're in finance. Either way, congratulations! Now comes the tough part, where you have to find the perfect place to indulge your leisure time. Somewhere that feels different from your everyday living situation, a house that's comfortable and inspiring in equal measure. And truth is, the best way to get what you want is to create it your damn self. Just like one couple from Palo Alto did when they bought the jealousy-inducing mod-cabin you're looking at here.

When they first saw the place, it was mid-way through construction, had a distinct knockoff French chateaux vibe, and was larger than they were looking for—(12,000-square-feet!)—but the setting, all 250 acres of it, was too perfect to pass up. They were looking for a place to escape bustling city life, entertain their extended family and friends, and experience the outdoors. Russell Groves and his team spent more than two years gut renovating the property. What they—and Groves—aimed to do was open up the space, make the outdoors come indoors, and create an escape hatch "that allows comfort and privacy." Unless you're in the shower. (You'll see.)

"This meant plenty of bedrooms and baths, a large open kitchen, an extra large dining room table, recreational outdoor spaces, and a charming goes home that allows comfort and privacy," says Groves. Now, the home is, in the words of the owners, magical, elegantly causal, open, and peaceful. Some elements of the original facade, including the stone, remain.

Tip #1. Location is Still Everything

Especially if you live in a city—most of Groves' clients are from Manhattan—you're probably looking for space, light, and air. That's not so hard to find. But don't just settle for the any old great outdoors. Hone in on the outdoors that gets you fired up, and work from there. "Adjacency to key elements, such as the beach, the woods, the lake, or the ski slopes is essential," says Groves.

Tip #2. Be a Little Weird

Just like a vacation, a weekend home is a place to break out of your normal routines. Including your default design vibe. "A weekend home provides clients, and us as their designers, with the flexibility and opportunity to stray further from the 'conventional,'" notes Groves. "Since these homes are used less frequently, clients are willing to be more daring and experiment with furnishings, accessories and art that they love, but may not want for a primary residence." Which is how you get a black coffee table made of ebonized petrified wood, or a custom Groves & Co. chandelier in the entryway that "emulated the starry sky," according to owner Adam Weiss. That said, no need to make your house into a fever dream of over designed furniture or accessories. Here, vintage chairs by Mira Nakashima and ottomans accent the living area.

Tip #3. Get High

This is going to blow your mind: when you're higher up, you can see more. "When building a new home, it's best to build on the highest elevation point, sitting the home on an axis resulting in optimal light and views," says Groves. Here, in Napa, the house sits high on a crest of the Mayacamas Mountains, a 130-acre ridge, at an elevation of 1420 feet above sea level, on the valley’s western edge. The view from the pool—during sunrise, sunset, and every sun in between—would make every one of your Instagram followers hate you so much. Aim for that.

Tip #4. Open Up a Bit

Particularly in a vacation house where guests will be wandering in and out through the day, the main hang-out space tends to be the kitchen, for an obvious reason: that's where the food is. Make sure yours is built for function and conversation. "Be sure to include an oversized island that provides ample room to prepare large family meals and for everyone to gather," advises Groves. An island-sized island lets everyone everyone gather around—and if they're smart, they'll take the hint to help with dinner.

Tip #5. Make Your Outsides Feel Like Your Insides

You're here to breathe deep, so don't skimp on the windows, and consider the idea of a wall to be more a suggestion than a requirement. The porch is basically an extension of the living room, and looks out over the valley below. When the 70-foot retractable window wall is open—and it often is, because why wouldn't you if you could?—the rear porch and double-height great room become one big, beautiful chill space.

Tip #6. Recognize that Work Always Comes on Vacation

We all know that "out of office" is a cruel euphemism for "still doing work, just somewhere else," which explains why the owners opted to install a bona fide office into their escape home. By having a dedicated (but still laid back) workspace that's out of the way of friends, guests, and freeloading family members, they can take care of business fast, then get back to the real task at hand: day drinking.

Tip #7. Put Seating Everywhere

Why? Because seating serve the double purpose of looking cool and setting the tone for how you'll use that space. Deep, cushy couches quietly invite people to sit and chat, or read a book. While stools in front of a fireplace (below) announce to guests that this is a house that appreciates s'mores.

Tip #8. Bath Time Can Be Sexy Time

Not necessarily sexy in the sex way, but sexy as in beautiful, relaxing, and, yeah, jaw-dropping. The master bathtub below is marble with a custom marble surround, behind a glassed-in shower with a view—and not just of who's inside. "Our favorite aspect of the master bath is how open it is to the outdoors, with infinite views of the peaked mountain tops," says owner Lynn Callaghan. And the guest bath (above) looks like it comes with an aperol spritz.

Tip #9. Treat Yo Self

It's a getaway home. Bless it with at least one major (and potentially absurd) luxury that you would never shoehorn into your everyday mansion. In this instance, the owners went with a lavish master bath that opens up to a private outdoor spa, offering his-and-hers open-air showers and a secret garden—all linked to the master bedroom, which also has a meditation space. If a Zen stroll through some azaleas isn't your taste, that's fine. It's your house. Install the movie theater/bowling alley/illegal growing room of your dreams.

Tip #10. Look Into the Flames

Whether or not your patio resembles that of a four-star hotel, you want someplace outdoors that you can gather round at night, drinks in hand, while telling old stories about each other that you'd never say in mixed company. And the key to this happening, more than the booze, is the fire. It's elemental, and magic, and extremely impressive if you can start one without using lighter fluid.

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Transgender "Bathroom Bills:" Inside the Debate

Read article : Transgender "Bathroom Bills:" Inside the Debate

This week a judge in Virginia district court will consider a question coming before lawmakers and school principals across the country: should transgender Americans always be allowed to use the restrooms where they feel the most comfortable? And is it discrimination when they’re forced to do otherwise? Here is a primer on why the bathroom question is such a hot-button issue and why it’s likely to show up in our newsfeeds in coming months.

Bathrooms and fights for civil rights go hand-in-hand.In the Jim Crow era, bathrooms—along with water fountains and lunch counters—were places that might be marked with “white only” signs. The bathroom has also been a battleground for women and handicapped workers fighting for equal treatment in the workplace. Because of the nature of things people do in the bathroom, it can be a space where they feel exposed or vulnerable and therefore resist change. It is also, as transgender icon Janet Mock says, “the great equalizer for all of us.”

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Transgender people have to fight for authenticity as well as equality.The average person might have their age questioned when buying liquor or their ID checked at the airport, but people doubt transgender people's true identity on a much more regular and deeper level. For transgender kids, that might take the form of parents insisting that they’re going through a phase or putting them in conversion therapy. For adults, that might be people questioning whether Caitlyn Jenner is really just doing it all for the publicity. “There is still this reluctance to accept trans people for who they are,” Mock says.

To opponents, “bathroom bills” suggest that what transgender people feel isn’t valid.So-called “bathroom bills” introduced by social conservatives in states such as Arizona, Maryland, Kentucky and Florida typically mandate that people use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificate. That’s a marker that is difficult for most transgender people to change, as well as one that, for them, is a bureaucratic indicator decided by someone else that should not be weighed against their innate sense of self. Just a handful of states have "modernization" processes that make it easier for transgender people to change their birth certificates. Some in the community have protested by taking selfies in the bathrooms that they would have to use under such laws, highlighting how those spaces don’t jibe with their appearance or their feelings.

Conservatives argue that such bills are necessary to protect people’s privacy and public safety. Some social conservatives will say that they think transgender people are deluded. “I don’t want men who think they are women in my bathrooms,” testified a Maryland woman in a 2014 hearing on an LGBT non-discrimination bill. But a more common argument is that allowing transgender women to use the women’s room would open the doors up for sexual predators or peeping teenage boys to use those protections as a dangerous ruse to get into female spaces. GOP politician Mike Huckabee made this point in a much-talked-about joke that made the rounds earlier this summer.

No evidence has been uncovered showing that such fears are warranted. Several states, school districts and corporations have adopted their own policies affirming transgender people’s right to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity and have not reported problems, opponents of bathroom bills say. Progressive media watchdog Media Matters called up the 17 largest school districts governed by such policies and asked them if they had experienced any incidents of harassment or inappropriate behavior; they reported none had. Liberal lawmakers and activists say such rhetoric is just fear-mongering cloaking LGBT phobias.

Bathroom policies affect transgender people in serious ways. Transgender students have reported being told that they needed to use a unisex nurse’s office or staff restroom—missing out on class time, being teased and feeling “quarantined.” More than a quarter of transgender adults say they’ve been denied access to “gender-appropriate facilities.” In a study from UCLA’s Williams Institute, nearly 70% of transgender people said they had experienced verbal harassment in a situation involving gender-segregated bathrooms, while nearly 10% reported physical assault. Transgender people will often seek out unisex bathrooms to avoid conflict that makes them feel like they don’t belong in one space or the other.

More political fights about this issue are coming. Members of Congress recently introduced the Equality Act, a non-discrimination bill that would help protect LGBT Americans in spheres from the workplace to the jury box to the bathroom. Currently, there is no federal law that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Most states also lack such statutes. Social conservatives in California, meanwhile, have vowed to get a “Privacy For All” initiative on the ballot that would require people to use school and government facilities that correspond with the marker on their birth certificate.

In the meantime, courts will continue to help decide the issue. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice have found that discrimination against transgender people—including denying them bathroom access—is a form of sex discrimination covered under the Civil Rights Act. While some have said this proves that additional protections are not necessary, advocates for explicit non-discrimination laws say that they’re important for enforcement, educating the public and making sure a person doesn’t have to go to court to make their case. The decision from Virginia’s district court will add to the precedents, spurring on the debate as LGBT activists choose their next battles after marriage equality.

Inside a trio of super-swanky agencies (complete with a basketball court) at the CBC broadcast centre

Read article : Inside a trio of super-swanky agencies (complete with a basketball court) at the CBC broadcast centre

Inside a trio of super-swanky agencies (complete with a basketball court) at the CBC broadcast centre

What: The Toronto offices for ad agency Bensimon Byrne, PR agency Narrative and digital and design shop OneMethod
Where: Two floors of a CBC-owned building at John and Wellington
How big: 45,000 square feet for 200 employees After two years of renovations, Bensimon Byrne finally moved its three divisions into a mammoth concrete structure owned by the CBC. Dundas West architecture firm Lebel and Bouliane and interior design shop Mazen Studio were tasked with transforming an interconnected web of dreary hallways, two-metre-thick concrete walls and steel-suspended sound studios into a dreamy open-concept workplace. They ended up using the grand, brutalist bones of the structure as inspiration, and opened up the space by knocking down unnecessary walls, lowering some floors and raising the ceilings. Aside from a few shared services like a print shop and finance department, each division has its own distinct vibe. All three departments share a street-facing entrance marked by a neutral reception area. The team replaced a cinderblock wall with windows and suspended an industrial staircase leading to the upper floor. The custom reception desk was crafted from three kinds of stone (white arabescato carrara marble, black nero marquina and taupe eramosa):
  Staff and guests are ushered into the the Bensimon Byrne space with the “Mad Bar,” a nod to a favourite watering hole near Bensimon Byrne’s old location:
  Unlike the CBC’s former setup, which had private offices lining the perimeter of the building, all window space is democratic, and there are only six offices in the entire complex. Mazen Studio hunted down a mix of vintage and new furniture for a lived-in, homey vibe:
  The office pathway leads to a former recording studio now known as the “agora”. “It had these crazy dark hallways—we didn’t get a sense of the scale until we removed everything,” says architect Luc Bouliane. Now, it holds the office’s main kitchen, walnut picnic tables and bleacher seating. It’s where monthly town halls occur, and a projector turns one wall into a giant screen perfect for watching baseball games:
  Naturally, there’s beer on tap:
  Dogs, like Chunky here, are always welcome. The Narrative space, adjacent to the Bensimon area, stands out with its slightly lighter carpets. Music is a big part of their culture, and the space was filled with loud rap when we visited. Back here are also renovated showers, bathrooms and a studio that will soon function as a wellness centre:
  The spaceship-shaped conference room (dubbed the “control room”) has blue velvet couches and Eames chairs. They removed a layer of glass on the doors, but even so, the space is completely sound-proof:
  Staff only moved into the OneMethod office, dubbed the “MethLab,” in April. The place is filled with lots of large tables, which are used for more creative projects. The team also added mezzanines to carve up the space and add a few quieter work areas:
  Behind the entrance is a boutique, which showcases the brand’s line of athleisure wear, OneMeth Goods. (The agency is also behind taco joint La Carnita.) They made all their own signage:
  There’s a bigger bar down here, with its own side entrance for parties (which occur frequently):
  Here’s the cozy lounge off the bar, which can be separated from the main office with retractable doors. Up the stairs is a DJ booth:
  Here’s the main office area. They wanted to keep the look industrial and unfinished:
  Meetings are often held in shipping container–like boxes. This one is decorated with an abstract jumble of letters that make up their logo:
  They also have their own kitchen:
  And a swanky, client-approved meeting room, with orange Saarinen chairs, vintage Turkish rugs and a bespoke walnut table crafted by Mazen Studio:
  There’s a basketball court, too. (Those doors there open to a massive elevator that can easily fit a truck.):