Editor’s Letter
Contributors
California has been called the West Coast Capital of the USA, The Northern Capital of Latin America, or the Eastern Capital of the Pacific Rim. Whatever we call this wonderful State of ours we know it is a place of great diversities and cultures, including diversity in architecture and design. This issue reflects this same variety in our features. From a sophisticated apartment in San Francisco to a family home in Brentwood, we have it all . We want to thank John and Sandra Zahoudanis for opening their home, Demetria Estate Winery for our food and wine feature. Located at the end of a narrow and winding road
CANDACE ORD MANROE Candace Ord Manroe, a regular contributor to California Homes, is a freelance design and travel writer whose work has appeared in publications as diverse as Architectural Digest and Better Homes & Gardens. She was senior design editor of Traditional Home magazine and senior design and arts editor of Country Home magazine and has published 20 books on interior design. Her latest, Mick diGiulio’s KITCHENS, will be published in the fall by Pointed Leaf Press. See her story on MSH Design’s Brentwood Home beginning on page 76.
in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, this beautiful winery and home is definitely Mediterranean in character. Santa Barbara caterer Maili Holme, graciously contributed her expertise in the kitchen as you will see from the food images gracing the pages of the story that begins on page 54. Many thanks to the gracious staff at Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos, Mexico for taking such good care of us. Las Ventanas is truly one of the great resorts of the world and I think you’ll enjoy this travel feature. If you’re looking for new product please see our special Notebook section, which includes new showrooms opening around California. We hope you enjoy the diversity in this Fall issue as much as we did producing the stories.
Susan McFadden Editor in Chief
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LINDA L. MCALLISTER
Linda McAllister is an accomplished writer, editor and project manager who introduces us to fascinating people, brings one-of-a-kind places into readers’ living rooms and enjoys finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. A magazine journalist for more than 20 years, she resides in Palm Springs, CA, and travels coast to coast for engaging writing projects. See her cover story on Palm Springs beginning on page 68.
PETER VALLI
Born and Raised in Los Angeles, Peter Christiansen Valli has been shooting architecture and interiors for over thirty year. In addition to his professional career as a photographer, Peter likes to give back and devotes a good deal of time helping charities advocating for kids in, or facing the foster systems. He has published two books on residential design. See his photography displayed on story beginning on page 76. See his photography displayed on cover story beginning on page 76.