whimsy | deedsdesign

Posts Tagged ‘whimsy’

Exploring Baldassare Forestiere’s Underground Gardens

Posted in Information, tagged earthen floor, Forestiere, Fresno, garden, hardpan, houses, tunneling, underground, whimsy on November 3, 2025| 1 Comment »

This place had been on my list for a while and I finally got a chance to check it out. One man, Baldassare Forestiere, tunneled in and under the hardpan on his property for many acres to create rooms and gardens of fruit trees and vines. The earth and the shade moderates the wide temperature swings of the Central Valley, allowing Baldassare to grow plants that normally couldn’t grow in that location. His underground rooms stayed comfortable as well. I cant write more but here it a link to the Website for more info.

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Victorian Duplex Addition on Top

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, houses, patterns, victorian, whimsy on October 11, 2024| 1 Comment »

These guys are still waiting on some steel railings & southside deck & stairs, but you can see the basic transformation. We added some rooms on top and were sad to loose the distinctive little attic dormer. (See before shot below) I think we added just as much whimsical character back with the new details up top. Some serious energy upgrades and top to bottom remodel also occurred along the way.

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A Tiled Backsplash from the Forest and Island Posts from a Castle.

Posted in Design Projects, tagged ash, diamonds, eclectic, green, houses, kitchen, lighting design, patterns, whimsy, wood on March 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We still are not ready for a full photo shoot, but we got a chance to visit this project in Inverness over the weekend. The remodel (Bay Builders general contractor) was extensive and included many upgrades to the exterior for energy efficiency, wild fire safety and general design improvement. We got to have some fun in the interior including the green Arto tile backsplash and the handmade ash island posts with diamonds cut into them. (They match the three redwood posts on the back porch)

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More Sun Rays in SF

Posted in Design Projects, tagged color, details, fun, houses, patterns, Sun Rays, victorian, whimsy on August 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

On a recent trip to San Francisco I saw two more nice examples of Architectural sun rays. First has metallic gold rays and the second one has little stars at the tip of each ray. Both houses are on 25th Street.

The rays on this one are metallic gold with a dark blue-black background.

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Sunrays

Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, color, details, fun, historical styles, house, Sun Rays, sunrays, trim details, whimsy on July 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

We stole this detail from the Victorians for two projects underway in Inverness, California and North Berkeley, California.

Here are a few of the inspirations, mostly from the early 1900s in Berkeley & San Francisco:

Someone else was recently inspired by the sun rays –

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Whimsical Addition

Posted in Found Objects, tagged Albany, historical styles, houses, humor, whimsy on July 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

This one makes me laugh…but with the house, not at it. I’d love to meet the owner.

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Photos of a Steel Stair & Iron Railing Hand forged by Shawn Lovell for a 2016 Berkeley project

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, blacksmith, botanical, collaboration, craftswoman, details, hand forged, iron, patterns, process, stair, steel staris, whimsy on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I never managed to get any photos of this project….but it was a tiny addition and rearrangement of the south end of a house on two levels to better connect to the yard and maximize the south light. The centerpiece was a stair with botanical railing and thick wood treads. The blacksmith, Shawn Lovell recently gave me some progress photos that she took. Thanks Shawn! I’ll take a photo of the organic handrail she made for our place and post that next.