EDITOR’ S LETTER
Once in a while, an earthquake might rock the foundations of your life. Other times, someone might bring a sledgehammer to yuor front door, break it down, and threaten to demolish what you’ ve built. But if your foundations and pillars are strong, and with people to help you build them back up if they crack, youwill always come out on top. As the wise wizard Dumbledore once said,‘‘ Happiness can be found in the darkest of time if one only remembers to turn on the light.’’
From the Ragsdale family’ s journey of finding their happiness together in a new home by the bay to Pamela Dowling’ s sage wisdom in her inspirational column‘‘ Good Enough’’, I hope the stories in this issue inspire you to find what makes you happy and pursue it with all your might. Keep in mind that fond memories can bring happiness as well, as seen in our staff’ s roundup of favorite place from their hometowns.
Clean and streamlined, minimalist architecture represents refuge from excess and grandiose design. Over the years, the definition and depiction of minimalism in general and minimalist architecture in particular has been debated and has often changed, but the idea of designing with restraint in mind continues to be embraced by many in the field.
FARHANAH MAHIRA BINTI MISRAN
In middle school, we learned that DNA contains the bulding block of life( or was that from Jurassic Park?). From a young age, many kids are fascinated by bulding things, whther with blocks, Legos, or even just their imaginations. While only a few will grow up to create buldings or accomplish incrediable feats of engineering, the truth is that we are all builders, and we are all architectects of our own minds, derams, and lives.
‘‘ When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Iwrote down‘ happy’. They told me I didn’ t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’ t understand life.’’ This apocryphal quote is widely attributed online to John Lennon, Charles Schwartz, or Goldie Hawn. Regardless of its origin, the sentiment is clear and one I beliveve everyone should consider and strive for, especially in this age of information when bad news is so quickly and widely spread.
I believe most of us realize at some point in our lives that we are responsible for our own happiness; we can’ t reply on others to create it, though we can choose to spend our time with those who make us feel a certain way. Family and friends will influence us, but ultimatetely, we must design and build our live in a way that make us stisfied, and above all, happy. If life were a building, our goals and dreams would be he foundation on which we build. The people we love, our work, our hobbies, our beliefs, amd our health would be the pillars that hold us up. At the top of all that lies happiness; like the top of a skyscraper swaying in the breeze, it might waver, but it’ s always there if pillars are kept intact.
As the bones of the structure were settled, the couple brought in architect and interior designer Donald Yoshino, assisted by Ena Hughes, to realize the interiors they imagined. To help illustrate these ideas, the husband turned to a collection of books, magazines and old pictures that he had been saving for years.“ From a young age, I was aware of design, style and a‘ less is more’ notion,” he says.“ I’ d been ripping out pages from magazines for a long time, all the while hoping I could one day build a house like this one.” Images filed away included a home in Naples by Richard Meier, a celebrity interior by Jennifer Post and any details that caught his eye, from a water feature at an Indian spa to an Ingo Maurer chandelier.
Yoshino distilled this information into a spare yet striking environment.“ We simplified the elements in the basic drawings to make them work in a more minimalist fashion,” says Yoshino, who smoothed over coffered ceilings, removed all moldings and widened transitions for a more open feel. To emphasize the clean lines, he chose white porcelain tile and dark gray granite for the floors, recessed lighting and streamlined built-ins.“ This house had a lot of creative challenges,” says general contractor Dan Mahoney.“ The Mediterranean style is a little more forgiving because you can hide things. A contemporary house is all about the architecture. It’ s much more demanding.” While the interiors began to morph into a sleek contemporary space, Yoshino addressed the exterior with the same intentions. Pitched roofs were flattened and stacked-stone cladding was replaced with simple drywall or the same dark granite used inside.
As we curate a selection of‘‘ Stories with Heart and Soul’’ in every issue of FH, we hope to bring you a little bit of happiness, too.
-Mahira
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