The Dwell on Design tradeshow was fun but what we were really looking forward to was the Dwell Home Tours. Dwell sets up an Eastside and Westside tour of 6 homes each that are all built in a Modern style. The interiors are also designed and decorated in the Modern theme.
Some of these homes were over the top in terms of design but we were pleasantly surprised that most of them were not pretentious and very livable.
Saturday was the Westside home tour and our favorite home was Reilly Biddle residence in Venice, CA designed by duArchitects.
While in Maui we had the pleasure of visiting designer Xorin Balbes latest project he's named, Ke-Ao Lanihuli which translates to "The light from the heavens to overturn old conditions bringing enlightenment." The name is certainly fitting for this place which we will touch on later.
You may know Xorin from his numerous design projects that have been featured in Architectural Digest, Metropolitan Home and HGTV. He's also well-known for his restorations of several architecturally significant projects such as the Sowden House, a 1926 Lloyd Wright; Talmadge Villa in Los Feliz, and the 1929 Art-Deco Security First Pacific Bank building.
It's obvious Xorin's passion projects are focused on conserving and restoring architectural treasures and his latest project in Maui is no different. Xorin's approach to design has been cultivated by his personal journey and this process was born out of the discovery of a deeper purpose and meaning in his life, and his aspiration to share this deeper, more soulful way of living with others.
Xorin's restoration of Ke-Ao Lanihuli will represent his SoulSpace process.
For the most part anything that Disney touches turns to gold so we won't bet against their plan to build luxury homes.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
Walt Disney Co. plans to unveil Wednesday its first foray into residential real estate in more than a decade with a pricey vacation-home development in Florida's Walt Disney World.
It's a risky move. Disney will offer homes priced between $1.5 million and $8 million in a state where the foreclosure rate remains among the nation's highest. In Orlando, where brokers say home values have dropped between 50% and 60% from the peak, Disney's pricing would put its homes near the top of the market. According to Realtor.com, the average price of new listings in greater Orlando this year is just over $243,000.
According to a recent report from CNN Money - home building is taking a break. They report that housing starts fell 10% last month.
Forecasts may have originally been too optimistic. April was the last month in which first-time home buyers could qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $8,000. Earlier this year lawmakers extended the deadline through the end of April with an additional credit of up to $6,500 for some existing home owners who move.
The slow might be due to the expiration of tax credits, according to researchers. The tax credit pulled housing and construction activity forward, but experts think it will continue to slow through the summer.
