As a “Spanish-house addict and self-diagnosed tile freak,” Kim Heartman set out to bring back the original splendor of the 1926 Spanish-style home she and her husband, Bill, purchased in 2018 in the Fab 40s.
“The house had undergone a remodel that removed whatever Spanish elements it contained prior,” Heartman says.
By her own admission, Gina Knepp didn’t know a pit bull from a Pomeranian.
“But I knew how to motivate people. How to get energy behind the mission,” says Knepp, who took over as animal care services manager at the city’s Front Street shelter in 2011.
Her mission was to turn around a failing facility with an abysmal 20 percent “live release rate”—the percentage of animals leaving the shelter alive.
When partners Peter Weight and Manny Kwahk broke through the walls of their newly purchased Land Park duplex, they found a bit of history tucked away behind the lath and plaster.
Aged and tattered copies of The Sacramento Union dating to 1936 and 1937 were left in the walls by Depression-era construction workers. But instead of discarding the relics like yesterday’s news, Weight framed the old newspapers to display on those same walls as a tribute to the home’s historical past.
Visit the artisan jewelry store, Little Relics, in Midtown on Tuesdays and Thursdays and be prepared for an enthusiastic welcome from Buttercup the bulldog.
“Sometimes she becomes an overzealous greeter,” says Buttercup’s owner and master jeweler Susan Rabinovitz. “She follows people around. She thinks everyone is here to see her.”
Wallpaper on the ceiling? Why not?
“This is probably my favorite,” says homeowner Tracy Skinner, looking up at the black and white linen-like wallpaper above her head.
Because the first paper she chose was very dark, Skinner considered covering only one wall. But Sacramento interior designer Cheryl Holben dissuaded her. “Cheryl said, ‘That is totally trendy. You can’t do one wall.’”
Tucked away near Fair Oaks Boulevard, down a discreet lane of custom homes on lush green lots, is a singular dwelling filled with warmth, originality and old-world charm.
Step inside the extraordinary European-inspired residence of landscape architect David Gibson and artist William Ishmael.
Thirteen-foot ceilings are accented with exposed beams of California Douglas fir. Walls are cream-colored rough plaster. A striking floor of salvaged French oak is stained in seven shades of hardwood. Stacked limestone, typically seen on exteriors, wraps around a dining room wall.
