A CATSKILL SCHOOLHOUSE BECOMES A "MONKEY COTTAGE"

Made curious by an article with beautiful and inexpensive old houses in New York’s Catskills, Jason Oliver Nixon, and John Loecke decided to check out the area’s real estate. They found a 19th century 900-square-foot Federal schoolhouse listed at just $30,000. Three hours later they were exploring the run-down rental. It had no closets, second-floor ceilings so low you couldn’t stand erect, and layers and layers of wallpaper and paint. They bought it, convinced with a little elbow grease, they could bring it back to like, Loecke is after all, a decorator by profession. But just a week after closing, the pipes burst and the ceiling collapsed. Since they owned it now, they began a total gut renovation, doing much of the work themselves along with Jason’s uncle and father. A year later, the transformation to “Monkey Cottage” was complete:

Jason: “We call it Monkey Cottage because it’s a place to monkey around. In the winter, we enjoy the snow that accumulates. And on summer days, we just putter around the garden.”
John: “I love the fact that we were able to give this old house a longer history. Everything that we’ve done to bring it back to life is in keeping with the original architectural style, but we’ve also managed to make it our own.”
Jason: “We call it Monkey Cottage because it’s a place to monkey around. In the winter, we enjoy the snow that accumulates. And on summer days, we just putter around the garden.”
John: “I love the fact that we were able to give this old house a longer history. Everything that we’ve done to bring it back to life is in keeping with the original architectural style, but we’ve also managed to make it our own.”

I have no idea how much the renovation cost, but at less than a thousand square feet, doing the work themselves, I’ll bet not that much. I’ve renovated a 19th century brownstone, a former church and my current place which once was a barn, so I know the joy of reclaiming what once seemed lost. Nice job, gents. (via Elle Decor)

REAL ESTATE PORN: A COLORFUL CURATED CHELSEA CONDO

Bradford Shellhammer just launched his new online shopping site, Bezar, featuring feel-good, design-minded accessories –and from the looks of it here, he practices what he preaches. Refinery 29 visited recently to take stock of the highly-curated interiors of Bradford and his banker husband Georgi Balinov. Everywhere you look is color, with function sometimes ahead but often behind function. He admits his obsession with surfaces border on the comical at times: 

“My husband says, ‘How am I supposed to have people over if we can’t even put a drink down?'”

Clearly, Bradford married a patient man. You have my sympathy, Georgi.

THIS TREEHOUSE APARTMENT COMPLEX IN TURIN ISN'T KIDSTUFF

Treehouses are supposed to be kid territory. But we’ve been seeing enlarged backyard and woodland versions more and more. But this treehouse apartment complex in Turin, Italy by architect Luciano Pia, is called 25 Verde. That translates to “25 Green” at it stands five stories tall with 63 apartments. Pia integrated about 150 trees into 25 Verde’s eco-friendly design which means less pollution and noise for its inhabitants. The trees absorb the harmful toxins in the air and even create a “microclimate” making the apartments cooler during the summer and warmer during the winter. Ventilated walls allow sunlight to stream in during the day time and tree foliage provides protection from the harsh sun. Not exactly like living in a tree but a lot more fun that a sheetrock box.

ARTIST SUES ARCHER FOR "STEALING" HER WORK

Artist Michel Leah Keck is suing FX Networks for supposedly using three of her artworks without permission on its animated series Archer. Keck’s suit names FX and Twentieth Century Fox claims copyright infringement, maintaining that her paintings appear in the office of Malory Archer at the fictional spy agency ISIS –International Secret Intelligence Service. Dominic Pagone, FX Networks senior vice president told Artnet:

“We do not have any comment at this time regarding Archer and the lawsuit.”

Keck’s suit claims that three of her works —Sink or Swim, The Best Is Yet to Come, and I Don’t Want to Hear It —are used on office walls in the show. According to Keck’s website, she works in a wide variety of mediums at prices ranging up to $15,000. The lawsuit asserts:

“FX Networks and Fox Home Entertainment operate sophisticated media production and distribution businesses with trained staff and an excellent working knowledge of copyright law principles and rights-clearance practices. Inexplicably, defendants used the works as part of Archer without even seeking the necessary permission to do so.”

Keck is seeking $30,000 per infringement, or up to $150,000 per infringement if the infringement is found to be intentional. Being an artist, I’m all for artist’s rights. A friend tagged me on Facebook just yesterday pointing out someone who had clearly imitated my work, using a specific technique I created, so I know the feeling. And no offense to Michel but there are thousands of artists that are painting in this same abstract style (you’ve seen them in hotels all over, I’m sure.) So, if Archer’s animators DID copy her work, it was pretty lazy. They don’t have a artist friend they could feature, WITH permission? But if I saw MY work on TV and could prove I was copied, I'd sure try too. Plus, all this attention, for any artist, can't hurt.

Michel Leah Keck’s I Don’t Want To Hear It, one of the works she claims FX series Archer used without permission.

(Images, Fx, Michel Keck: via Artnet)

LADY BUNNY ON MALE EYE CANDY IN BEEFCAKE 100% RAW, ALL NATURAL

NSFW: A sexy new book, Beefcake; 100% Raw, All-Natural from Petra Mason (Universe) rehashes mid-century gay male physique mags. Honestly, not a lot new here that you haven’t seen before. But they were smart and got the foreword written by the outspoken drag legend and my old pal, Lady Bunny. Here’s a little sample:

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Hollywood male A-list stars usually aren’t hot anymore. In the 1980s, I began to wonder why leading Hollywood actors had lost their movie-star looks. Nicholas Cage, Bruce Willis and Tom Hanksmay have the everyman appeal of a Jimmy Stewart, but they don’t exactly make you cream your jeans and rewind that VHS to rewatch the parts of their films in which they disrobed. While actors should primarily be appraised on their ability to act, there is now a definite lack of male eye candy compared to former eras. And there’s nothing wrong with an occasional cheap thrill! I don’t mean merely attractive male leads. I’m talking about drool-worthy, impossibly good-looking hunks of the big screen whom the studio exploited for their sex appeal — not their acting chops. (The way they still exploit their female stars.) When you saw a Victor Mature, Tarzan, or Steve Reeves movie, you knew the star was going to wear tight or skimpy clothes and engage in manly acts or dashing antics of some kind. Historical settings often provided the backdrop. What the hell happened to the hunks? I mean, George Clooney is certainly dashing, but he’s not an alpha male bursting with testosterone. And while action stars like Vin Diesel and The Rock may be fairly attractive, their movies seem to be geared more to a male audience who like to watch them blow things up than to a female or gay male audience who’d prefer to explode in ecstasy.

Many revolted against Daniel Craig’s casting as James Bond because there is no workout ever invented that’s going to put Mr. Craig on the level of international playboys with million-dollar looks like Sean Connery or Roger Moore. And I’m not saying that Denzel Washington isn’t reasonably handsome, but some of us would pay good money to drool over the dazzling Shemar Moore wearing Speedos in a beach-themed romp. If you’re tired of being cheated out of male eye candy, you’ll adore this collection of vintage porn from the Golden Age of male erotica. Male nudity could not legally be sold until the late 1960s, but even before then the publishers danced a fine line of what they could and couldn’t reveal. So many of these publications masqueraded as “physique magazines” rather than actual porn. I have no idea if any body builders actually purchased them or not, but gay men certainly did.”

#ARTHEIST: TACO BELL PAINTING STOLEN FROM TACO BELL...

Did you know that Taco Bell had an art program or a corporate collection? Apparently one in Westlake, Ohio, does –or did. Someone took off with a this painting this past weekend. Westlake police captain Guy Turner said:

“That place has had nothing but bad luck. It’s caught fire, they had somebody crash into it and it caught fire. That place is kind of jinxed.”

It caught fire twice? Anyway, Captain Turner did not know the name of the artist but said it was likely commissioned by the fast food franchise. But police are not giving up the search for the work valued at $800.

“We’re going to search every dorm room and rumpus room in a ten mile radius…round up the usual suspects.”

A shame because the installation above the busing station with coordinated purple trays and salmon colored walls was really working. Hey, Mr. Burger King, where were you that night between the hours of 11 and 2? (via Artnet)

GOOGLE FEUD! YOU'LL WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME – RIGHT NOW!

You may end up cursing me for calling this to your attention, but let’s just blame Chris Hardwick and @midnight, where I first learned of this Monday night. Google Feud (it’s like your own instant Family Feud) and it’s VERY simple, some GENIUS made a game out of Google search results based on several different categories. Top ten search results based on the answer in each category. You get points for every one you get in the top 10 and after three wrong answer, the results are revealed. Just click here, or search “Google Feud” and you’ll see how easy (and addictive) it really is. Yes, just what you needed; a way to waste even MORE time on the internet. You’re welcome.

BRADFORD SHELLHAMMER'S NEW "BEZAR" SITE LAUNCHES TODAY

In 2013, Bradford Shellhammer stepped down as chief design officer of Fab, the design shopping site he founded in 2011 along with Jason Goldberg, the company’s CEO. Fab was a hit early on, scooping up hundreds of millions in venture capital, but it started to experience growing pains. To keep up with the pace, it swelled from a 14-people to over 700 and the business changed. Now but Bradford has moved on…

Bezar, his new company which launches officially today, has echoes of Fab. The site will host digital “pop-up shops” where designers, handpicked by Shellhammer and his tightly-run team will offer products available for just three-days. One shop per category: home goods, art, accessories, and jewelry, all in the $60 to $100. Shellhammer hesitates to use the words “flash sale” but he hopes that the urgency will drive users to click and buy.

I have known Bradford and his husband Georgi for a few years now, and I was involved with Fab’s sales from the outset so, I’ve lived through the evolution. I was working on licensing of my artwork to create merchandise for Fab when things began to unravel there in 2013. (Fab started as Fabulis, which was sort of a gay Facebook which had a few sales before it pivoted, one from a 2011 art exhibit of mine.) I’m really excited for this new venture and the site looks fantastic, as do the products I’ve chosen to feature here to give you a little taste. But go here to look around the site. I was a BIG fan of Fab’s products, having done a few art flash sales there in the early days and I shopped there enough too to be considered a “preferred” customer. I don’t doubt I’ll be sucked in again to what Bezar has to offer as well. You can follow Bezar on Instagram here. You can sign up here.

TOM DIXON – SCENT FIRE DIFFUSER $97.00

REMKO HEEMSKERK – FLATIRON LANDSCAPE $29.00

SELETTI – EYE PLATE $22.00

NECKLUSH – SKINNY SCARF $38.00

BING BANG – GOLD ETERNITY SKULL RING $30.00

(via Fast Company)

INSIDE LAUREN BACALL'S $26 MILLION DAKOTA APARTMENT

The Dakota is the legendary building where John & Yoko lived, where Rosemary’s Baby was set and back in 1961 where actress Lauren Bacallbought an apartment there. She lived there up until her death last year.

I’ve told the story before (and I’ll tell it again) but I was at a star-studded party and dinner at author John Patrick Shanley‘s downtown apartment in 2009 for my old pal, author Allegra Huston, the sister of Anjelica Huston. I was introduced to Betty Bacall there and I still pinch myself at the thought, but this was a small-ish party filled with famous faces (Jeremy Irons, Harvey Keitel, Salman Rushdie, Robert Wagner, Rogers Waters and on and on) but hers stood out among them all. I remember that Betty told me, among other things in our nearly hour-long conversation, that she had paid $68,000 for her 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath, Dakota apartment, which was a small fortune back then.

Boris Karloff, Judy Holliday, Judy Garland, Leonard Bernstein, Maury Povich and Connie Chung and many, many other bold-faced names have also lived there through the years. John & Yoko combined 4 apartments on one floor and have a fifth on another floor, as well, where son Sean lived for a time. (Yoko still lives there and Roberta Flack is her next door neighbor, btw) Bacall’s nine-room apartment is now on the market for $26 million, along with the contents of it, which are being auctioned at Bonham’s in a massive 375-page catalogue. (See next post for some highlights.)

The rooms here are illustrated, not decorated, with 6 decades worth of a life well-lived. Facing Central Park, this place is BEYOND desirable in a city filled with fabulous apartments, in a building made famous by it’s famous residents, a classic movie about a Satanic cult and a murder that will forever haunt its entrance.

THE LAUREN BACALL COLLECTION AT BONHAMS

Lauren “Betty” Bacall passed away last year and for the last 53 years of her life, she lived at The Dakota. See next post. Her three-bed, 3.5-bath in the iconic, sought after building is on the market now for $26 million. Her extensive collection of art, furniture, collectibles and designer clothing are at Bonhams, where they will be auctioned on March 31 and April 1. The catalog for it all is a massive 375 pages and includes many photographs of her Central Park-facing home. They reveal a woman who collected pottery, vintage posters, art and among many other things, African antiquities, which likely stemmed from her being on location with husband Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen, which was directed by John Huston. She remained lifelong friends with Huston’s daughter, Anjelica and her late husband sculptor, Robert Graham. Betty was gifted and or bought many Graham sculptures, drawings and even jewelry, which you can see more of here, along with hundreds of cherished items hand-picked by this legend. Have a look. I’m buying the catalogue (I already have quite collection of celeb auction catalogues going including Liberace, Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson, Jackie O, Marilyn Monroe, and Katherine Hepburn.) And I’m going to this sale too – if I can get in.

AMETHYST, TURQUOISE AND DIAMOND RING, Jean Schlumberger – est. $8,000 – 12,000

JIM DINE – est. $6,000 – 9,000

JOAN MIRÓ – est. $2,500 – 3,500

DAVID HOCKNEY –est. $ 5,000 – 7,000

HENRY MOORE – est. $500 – 800

TWO FERTILITY FIGURES – est. $800 – 1,200

ROBERT GRAHAM – est. $1,500 – 2,000

ROBERT GRAHAM – est. $4,000 - 6,000

TWO PATINATED PLASTER BUSTS OF JOHN F. KENNEDY – est. $800 – 1,200

SEVEN MAJOLICA JARDINIÈRES AND A STONEWARE JARDINIÈRE
LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY – est. $1,000 – 1,500

TWO LOUIS VUITTON SUITCASES – $1,500 – 2,000

LAUREN BACALL, DIRECTOR’S CHAIR – est. $200 – 300

GÉRARD FAILLY – est. $800 – 1,200

With Anjelica Huston

Betty at home in the Dakota