Lifestyle
Restoring a midcentury Valley home to 'its original glory,' with tiki flair
![Restoring a midcentury Valley home to 'its original glory,' with tiki flair](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/743d64c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2100+0+450/resize/1200x630!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F10%2F87%2F061427d44b05b85ff0a58b9ee497%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-06.jpg)
Art and Jessica Martinez never imagined they’d own a home in the Valley. Their Silver Lake condo suited their urban lifestyle: strolling around the reservoir, walking to the local grocery store and frequenting their favorite tiki bar, Tiki-Ti.
However, the pandemic made them rethink everything. Trapped at home, they dreamed of a single-family house with outdoor space to entertain friends and eventually start a family.
After months of searching, they stumbled upon a 1953 ranch house in Van Nuys designed by modernist architect Kenneth Lind. They saw an opportunity to enjoy more space, restore the home’s original midcentury charm and add personal touches to make it their own.
The exterior of the modernist ranch house, originally designed by Kenneth Lind.
“I had a hunch,” Jessica says, recalling the showing. “As soon as you come in the front door and see the way that this house opens up into this yard and all of the light that pours in, I feel like it’s immediate.”
They learned that Lind designed the home for Mel Sloan, a USC School of Cinematic Arts professor, and his wife, Rita, who raised their three children there. The Martinezes felt a connection; Art is a podcaster and Jessica is a feminist scholar and a lecturer in a gender studies program.
Despite being sure this was “the one,” the couple also worried they were in over their heads. The 1,881-square-foot home, with three bedrooms, two and a half baths and a 576-square-foot detached studio, would require significant restoration. The lot was also 10,322 square feet with overgrown plants.
The couple wrote a heartfelt letter to the sellers (the Sloans’ children), won a bidding war and purchased the property for $1.05 million. Then they envisioned their new life in Van Nuys: a backyard pool, a home gym in the studio and space to entertain.
During the inspection period, a neighbor on Nextdoor tipped them off to interior designer Jared Frank, whose clients include musician Reggie Watts, actor Matthew Gubler and filmmaker Jon Watts.
“There was a spark, and he affirmed for us a shared logic about how to approach a renovation,” Jessica says of Frank. Frank explained that if they were going to buy this home, they needed to respect the architecture and its history. They would find period-appropriate finishes, and it would take time. The Martinezes also expressed a love for Tiki-Ti to Frank, who began to think about how to bring a version of it into the home.
![Jessica and Art Martinez hold hands and smile for the camera in front of their tiki bar.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e304817/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3555x5333+222+0/resize/800x1200!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F01%2F81%2F89ed773d49d784d492ac1eb275ee%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-09.jpg)
Jessica and Art Martinez stand in front of the tiki bar meant to remind them of their favorite tiki spot in Silver Lake.
![Two vinyl orange chairs around a round table topped by a pendant light.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2ab8200/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3555x5333+222+0/resize/800x1200!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F86%2Fa2eb748345aea5ba20886fa929df%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-11.jpg)
The renovated dining room.
![A crib and baby mat in the guest room filled with light wood furniture.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9c10e78/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x3000+0+0/resize/2000x1500!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F24%2F0322a15045e598ad302aeb3d9a37%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-24.jpg)
A guest room was turned into a nursery to prepare for the arrival of the couple’s child.
Escrow closed, and Frank got to work the day the Martinezes got the keys. From then, it took four and a half months for the Martinezes to move in. The restoration, which ended up costing $150,000, included updating plumbing and electrical systems and replacing the roof, which was a lasagna of old roofs stacked on top of one another. Meanwhile, the Martinezes and Frank made anchoring choices fast, choosing the wood beam ceiling paint color, floors and appliances, for example, knowing it would take a while for the product to arrive thanks to especially protracted supply chain issues and high demand due to the pandemic renovation bubble.
Unlike many midcentury renovations, the Martinezes took down no walls. Because the home was already a fairly open floor plan and it surrounded the yard with a lot of light coming in, they felt it unnecessary.
The contractor asked if they wanted to move the washer and dryer to a different space in the home or enclose them to hide them. Jessica drew upon her work as a feminist scholar, remembering how life-altering these machines were in the 1950s. She kept them at the center of the home as a way of acknowledging the past.
In the living room, Frank (who is also a furniture designer) drew an 18-foot, custom-built couch that evokes the glamour of the midcentury era. Tables, pendants and sconces came from online sellers including 1stDibs, Chairish and Etsy, and sometimes were shipped from overseas.
![An orange door with a privacy-glass sidelight on a blue house.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8d089cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3544x5333+228+0/resize/800x1204!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff0%2F08%2Fb2f2ca7e48a9b9a86ff44860164e%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-03.jpg)
![Blue and orange tile line the bathroom walls.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6f97f15/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2950+0+25/resize/800x590!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F82%2Fe0%2Fefe27fc64470a873836b8d723a01%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-12.jpg)
![A Midcentury Modern style kitchen with blue and orange accents.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aa46d39/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2950+0+25/resize/800x590!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa5%2F81%2F4050983a4c9382361ff713b4385f%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-10.jpg)
The exterior door of the modernist ranch house originally designed by Kenneth Lind. The renovated bathroom picks up the blue and orange theme of the home’s exterior. The renovated kitchen.
Frank even gave the couple their own in-house tiki bar to stand in for Tiki-Ti. In the entryway alcove, he used tropical-patterned grasscloth wallpaper and 1960s glass pendants to display the couple’s barware and Tiki-Ti memorabilia.
In the kitchen, bold-hued Big Chill appliances from the 1950s-inspired Retro Collection continue the throwback vibe. A cozy nook anchored by period-appropriate chairs and a breakfast table has become a favorite spot for the Martinezes to play “a good meaty board game” like Betrayal.
Outside, Frank designed a pool that began behind the detached studio (which the Martinezes turned into a home gym), curving around to what they affectionately call “the meadow.” Here, they planted a drought-resistant mix of California dune grass, mondo grass and poppies alongside the former owners’ birds of paradise, pink camellias and pineapple guava tree. Frank tapped L.A. painter Jessalyn Brooks to paint a colorful mural on the cinderblock wall backdropping the pool.
“It was incredibly fulfilling to restore a piece of architecture back to its original glory while reimagining it for my clients’ specific needs and desires,” says Frank.
After the Martinezes moved in, they received a letter from one of the original owners’ sons regarding the property’s Japanese maple trees.
“He said, ‘I hope that you’ll make the house your own in every way, but I’m secretly hoping you’ll keep those trees because they were a gift from my dad to my mom,’” Jessica remembers.
![White and orange outdoor furniture on a concrete patio.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d437b40/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x3000+0+0/resize/2000x1500!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F33%2Fc7%2F3112f5f2475fa1adef90ff844660%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-26.jpg)
The outdoor patio at the modern ranch house.
(Emanuel Hahn / For The Times)
![An orange inflatable ring floats in the pool in front of a mural showing bathers in orange.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/43c6b7b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x3000+0+0/resize/2000x1500!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F55%2Fbf%2F097561d04dc6882cf1441b9db7a5%2F1437386-wk-ranchito-home-design-eh-17.jpg)
The swimming pool in the backyard, with a mural created by Jessalyn Brooks.
Ever the stewards, just as they’d discussed with Frank on day one, the Martinezes have had three arborists treat the maples for bark beetles and bacteria in the soil. “We have taken it seriously that we were entrusted to take care of Rita’s trees,” Jessica says.
And despite the initial concerns about supermarket proximity, Art still finds himself walking to theirs. It’s not across the street anymore, but the couple is finding meaning in talking to their neighbors about gardening — something they never did in Silver Lake. In October, the couple found out that their first child soon will join the family, which includes a chihuahua and a cocker spaniel mix rescue dog.
“It’s going to be a very happy summer,” Jessica says. “We are so excited to experience this much-anticipated transition in the comfort and beauty of this home.”
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Lifestyle
Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark : Wild Card with Rachel Martin
![Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark : Wild Card with Rachel Martin](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/07/03/ted-danson-landscape_wide-7b62d2986dd95b178afab07b0c713ea2ed2079ea.jpg?s=1400&c=100&f=jpeg)
Ted Danson speaks onstage on June 5, 2024.
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for the Environment
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Jesse Grant/Getty Images for the Environment
Ted Danson speaks onstage on June 5, 2024.
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for the Environment
A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin:
I started watching The Good Place with my kids. It was sort of born out of guilt that I didn’t take them to church, honestly. I decided that the very least – and I mean the very least – I could do to prevent complete moral decay, was to watch a show that sandwiched real ethical questions between jokes about frozen yogurt and the infinite nature of the universe.
What really captivated my kids was the idea throughout the show that people are both good and bad. We are both things all the time. Some of us are a little more of one than the other, but you get the point. Ted Danson is one of the best representations of this. He plays Michael, who’s a bad guy, playing a good guy, who actually becomes a good guy, who’s still a little bit bad.
Ted Danson’s character, Michael, introduces The Good Place and its scoring system.
YouTube
In that lies the real joy of a Ted Danson performance, because you can see this duality in so many of his roles. He’s a happy-go-lucky guy with a quick wit and a quicker smile, and then you start to see the cracks in that sunny demeanor. There’s a darkness underneath all that goodness that gives his characters depth.
You see this duality with Sam Malone on Cheers, Hank Larsson in Fargo and even when he played a version of himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm. He’s all light and fun, and then you see that little twinkle in his eye, that unforgettable smirk, how he literally skips into scenes and you have to wonder if everything is as it appears. So I invited him on Wild Card to find out.
Danson has a new podcast with his former Cheers co-star, Woody Harrelson, called Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes).
This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly-selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.
Question 1: What was your form of rebelling as a teenager?
Ted Danson: I’m not 100 percent sure I ever rebelled as a teenager. I brought my parents to their knees when I was 45. But, as a teenager, I smoked cigarettes.
Rachel Martin: That’s rebellious.
Danson: Yeah, my father’s museum in Arizona had this huge Hopi bowl full of sand right outside the door with a sign that said, “No smoking.” People would get out of their car, light a cigarette, walk five feet and have to stick it out. We’d watch them from our hiding place and we’d scamper up, grab the cigarette before it was put out and run back into the canyon and smoke.
I guess that’s rebellion. I’m milquetoast, I’m telling you, but it came later.
Martin: So now I have to go there. When you were 45, you brought your parents to their knees?
Danson: Well, I won’t be too specific, but I didn’t really grow up emotionally until I was in my 40s, and I was a bit of a liar in my relationship. I’ll leave it at that. And I started to work on myself very seriously around that time. I went to clinics and a psychologist and a mentor. I worked very hard to not be that person who hid his emotions and left out the back door.
So that was all kind of messily in the press, and my poor parents were going, “What?” And I finally called them and they were very sweet and they came to support me and everything. The press sounded horrible. But the work underneath the press was invaluable. I’m very glad for that time, even though it was messy – very messy.
![David Lynch says he 'died a death' over the way his 'Dune' film turned out](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/06/12/square-ep-art-template-c-1-_sq-3959723480887144c57d6f7d2ebbcc093ccda75b.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg)
Question 2: If you got a do-over for one decision in your life, what would it be?
Danson: I wouldn’t.
Martin: You wouldn’t?
Danson: I wouldn’t choose a do-over. You know, if I did something differently and I took a different path, I wouldn’t be with my wife, Mary Steenburgen. I am horribly embarrassed about many things in my past, things that are cringeworthy, but that’s my life.
Martin: Were you always so accepting of that, or has that been an evolution for you to look back at your life and those mistakes and embarrassments and errors and say, “It’s okay?”
Danson: Well, I wish I hadn’t become a liar and walked out the back door early in life. I wish that hadn’t been me, but even your wounds, you kind of have fondness for if you’ve gone through them and live through it and acknowledged it and made amends and all that stuff.
![Ada Limón couldn't get pregnant, then realized: 'What if my body was only my body?'](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/05/22/ada-limon-ep04-square-art_sq-fe76c6f54b8ba2337c470b7a647f801d688a1608.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg)
Martin: Did your wife, Mary, have a hard time accepting those wounds?
Danson: No. First of all, I’m one of those people that obnoxiously vomits their life out on people.
Martin: Like, on your first date?
Danson: Literally the day I met her.
Martin: She accepted you for all the things?
Danson: Yeah, from day one. I was like a convert to truth. And our life together is so empty of secrets. If there’s even a moment when I didn’t exactly tell the truth, it’s so devastating to me that I immediately grind to a halt and say, “I got to talk to you.” Being truthful, it greases the skids of life. But our life together is very full of laughter and joy. We’re very blessed.
Question 3: How often do you think about death?
Danson: Ooh, a lot. I don’t like living in fear, and I have tons of it, you know, it comes up. I just finished filming A Classic Spy and I was having so much fun doing it that halfway through I was going, “Oh, don’t die. Let me finish this.”
But then I went, “Wait a minute, what you’re really saying is that you are so happy to be doing what you’re doing, you’re so joyful, having so much fun, don’t take it away from me, life,” you know?
So instead of being fearful, just say thank you. Thank you for this blessing that I have. Thank you for this job. Thank you for whatever, because then I can live in gratitude, which is more joyful and I don’t have to live in fear.
Lifestyle
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest: Miki Sudo & Patrick Bertoletti Win
![Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest: Miki Sudo & Patrick Bertoletti Win](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/c4/16by9/2024/07/04/c47316fd729c4f41a8c793101bba4381_xl.jpg)
ESPN3
Joey Chestnut may not have competed in the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island … but the competition was still a memorable one.
First up, Miki Sudo made history with her recent win at the annual contest … as she set a new world record in the women’s division. The dental hygiene student from Florida nabbed her 10th women’s title Thursday, where she consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes … 11 and 1/2 more than last year’s competition.
Miki beat her own personal best, as she previously ate 48 and 1/2 hot dogs in a prior competition. Remember, 48 and 1/2 hot dogs was the women’s world record heading into Thursday’s competition.
While Miki was the reigning champion, she wasn’t necessarily a shoo-in to win the Fourth of July tradition. Among the other 14 competitors was her rival, Mayoi Ebihara of Japan.
Mayoi — who was also the runner-up in 2023 — came in 2nd place after consuming 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes time.
All eyes then turned to the men’s competition … where, with Joey’s exit in June, anyone could emerge victorious. Patrick Bertoletti of Illinois emerged the victor on the 4th … as he ate 58 hot dogs, breaking his personal record of 55 hot dogs.
The race was a tight one, as Patrick was neck and neck with Australian James Webb and last year’s runner-up Geoff Esper. Ultimately, Patrick nabbed the win — and the $10K cash prize.
ESPN2
He added moments after winning … “I wasn’t going to stop eating until the job was done.”
Geoff ended up in 2nd place again … as he ate 53 hot dogs in total.
TMZSports.com
For those missing Joey at the competition, the 16-time champ will be competing at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas later on the 4th … after being booted from Nathan’s contest over an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods.
Stay tuned!!!
Lifestyle
'I can only give the best': Jon Bon Jovi on vocal surgery and the road to recovery
!['I can only give the best': Jon Bon Jovi on vocal surgery and the road to recovery](https://media.npr.org/include/images/facebook-default-wide-s1400-c100.jpg)
A few years ago, Bon Jovi stopped performing due to a vocal cord injury. The Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight highlights his surgery and return to stage. Originally broadcast April 24, 2024.
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