for several years i owned 'the pink palace' (no longer pink) a pre-earthquake (i.e. pre 1907) edwardian in san francisco. the pink palace, sweet thing, she needed a lot of tlc. the same family had owned her for 40 years, and the last 10 years she had renters. among other things needing immediate attention, the kitchen was a disaster and needed to be rehabbed and now.
it all came together quite easily. but when it came to the counter tops i wanted something really cool-but not so modern that it looked weird in this old house. i love carrera marble but this little house wasn't a marble girl. that's when i stumbled across buddy rhodes. buddy, lived across the bay in berkley. i had seen his work in pottery barn (the till counters are his doing) and i had to track him down. i knew that his work would be the ideal material.
"Originally a ceramist with a craftsman's interest in architectural integrity (architectural integrity--that's what i was after), Buddy abandoned his clay and potters wheel when he developed a way to meld the warmth and earthy handmade quality of pottery with the strength, versatility and architectural applicability of concrete"
in short, this stuff was JUST genius. gorgeous. beautiful, organic, handmade, so smooth to the touch and fairly durable (apparently a lot of the glitches have been remedied since)
how is it done?
'The material is made entirely out of cement, sand and binders. It is reinforced with an expanded galvanized steel diamond mesh. The concrete is hand packed into molds of different sizes and shapes. ' (there's more-- but it gets a bit technical and boring).
i think now days, "designer concrete" isn't so novel as it was once. but buddy is the man. he's the guy who worked this material into what everyone else is inspired by.
i for one, love this look. i think it's a marvelous choice when you're out there hunting down counter tops. and if i can save another soul from granite. than, by god, i've done some good in this world.
buddyrhodes.com
for several years i owned 'the pink palace' (no longer pink) a pre-earthquake (i.e. pre 1907) edwardian in san francisco. the pink palace, sweet thing, she needed a lot of tlc. the same family had owned her for 40 years, and the last 10 years she had renters. among other things needing immediate attention, the kitchen was a disaster and needed to be rehabbed and now.
it all came together quite easily. but when it came to the counter tops i wanted something really cool-but not so modern that it looked weird in this old house. i love carrera marble but this little house wasn't a marble girl. that's when i stumbled across buddy rhodes. buddy, lived across the bay in berkley. i had seen his work in pottery barn (the till counters are his doing) and i had to track him down. i knew that his work would be the ideal material.
"Originally a ceramist with a craftsman's interest in architectural integrity (architectural integrity--that's what i was after), Buddy abandoned his clay and potters wheel when he developed a way to meld the warmth and earthy handmade quality of pottery with the strength, versatility and architectural applicability of concrete"
in short, this stuff was JUST genius. gorgeous. beautiful, organic, handmade, so smooth to the touch and fairly durable (apparently a lot of the glitches have been remedied since)
how is it done?
'The material is made entirely out of cement, sand and binders. It is reinforced with an expanded galvanized steel diamond mesh. The concrete is hand packed into molds of different sizes and shapes. ' (there's more-- but it gets a bit technical and boring).
i think now days, "designer concrete" isn't so novel as it was once. but buddy is the man. he's the guy who worked this material into what everyone else is inspired by.
i for one, love this look. i think it's a marvelous choice when you're out there hunting down counter tops. and if i can save another soul from granite. than, by god, i've done some good in this world. buddyrhodes.com
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