Dwell March/April 2023

Cayce Clifford Photographer Past to Present, p. 64 Documentary and portrait photographer Cayce Clifford trained in photojournalism, with an emphasis on newspapers, but prefers long-form storytelling and spending more time with people, depicting a day in their lives rather than an hour. Clifford’s day with Eric Waldman and Judy Tyrus at their live/work space in Sebastopol, California, shows the difference that extra time makes, and not just in terms of natural light. “Toward the end of the day is when people really start to open up,” says Clifford, “because we’ve gained trust with one another and have dropped some of those initial jitters of being around the camera.” Marten Elder Photographer Making It Work, p. 76 When it came to this high-concept home from buzzy L.A. architects The LADG, we had questions like “How does someone actually…

“Now where can I add a door like that?”@hi_by.alexandrafish via Instagram Re: “Capital Building,” January/February Interesting and creative, appreciate the use of mesh to define space without locking it in. Also fond of the Model 42–type dining chairs—we have the same! A breath of fresh air in a city that certainly needs it. DR BRADDLEE VIA DWELL.COM I am very curious about the use of bamboo as a support material. The house reads a bit like a senior thesis, but I do appreciate being able to use these city pockets of land in a way that can successfully house a family. CAROLINE KELLY VIA DWELL.COM Won’t the poplar bark rot quickly without a living tree to support it? FRED HALL VIA DWELL.COM Designer Andrew Linn responds: Like our fingernails and hair, the outer layers of bark on a…

Hard no. White gives me a sense of security that it’s clean. It’s so ingrained in my brain that if it looks clean, it must be safe, that I cannot imagine not having pure white surfaces in areas that come in contact with usually covered parts of my body. @olga_bukur We did that. It was called the ’70s. @dfalliers Lived with a black toilet for seven years and I can tell you, it is weird. @k_bentley So are the ’70s dethroning (sorry, couldn’t resist) mid-century modern? @sondraville I have my original pink toilet, and I love it!! It totally makes the bathroom. Everyone wants to see it when they come over. It’s joyful! @laurenwstead Had a chocolate brown one in a rental once. Upside: can’t tell when it’s dirty. Downside: can’t tell when it’s dirty. @roscopeco I adore them, especially with the…

Modular Modern Farmhouse by Hoke Ley Made of four prefabricated modular shells that were crane-set in eight hours, the 3,300-square-foot home that Hoke Ley principals Jared and Katie Hoke created for their family of four (and two dogs) in Lawrence, Kansas, balances local vernaculars with Danish design—a nod to where the couple first met. “It’s a simple and highly functional layout,” Katie says, adding that the open-plan kitchen, living, and dining room “acts as command central,” with sight lines across the ground level to the wraparound porch and outside neighborhood. A goal for the home (constructed for $150 per square foot) was to “create an example of what can be achieved with energy-efficiency design methods that were not exorbitant in cost,” says Katie. “Though prefab housing has been around for plenty of time…

Shopping Around Kitchens and bathrooms are the hardest-working rooms in the house—but Megan Reynolds, Dwell’s senior home guide editor, works harder. In service of anyone thinking of giving their spaces a refresh, she did the legwork and got hands-on with new products at every price point. induction burners Gas stoves are terrible for the environment and, by extension, not great for humans. Prior to my visit to the Dacor showroom in Manhattan, I thought (despite my job) that an induction stove and an electric stove were one and the same. (An induction range creates heat via what seems like magic—electromagnetic waves warm up the cookware, making for an evenly heated pan and a faster cooking time all around.) Edouard Massih, owner and founder of Edy’s Kitchen in Brooklyn, and Jillian Bartolome, a Los…

A little over 20 years ago, Cesar Zepeda was a newly minted graduate of California’s Contra Costa College and looking for a place to live somewhere around Richmond, the East Bay community he’d called home since emigrating from Mexico as a child. In what seems—today at least—like an unusual move for a 22-year-old, Zepeda decided he wanted to buy rather than rent a home and set out looking for one, the epitome of the American dream. “It’s pretty funny,” says Zepeda. “I didn’t know what I was doing.” What ensued—the difficult search; the travails of setting up house; the experience of living in a newly developed corner of one of America’s most housing-challenged metropolitan areas—would eventually lead Zepeda into political life as a Richmond city council member. When he was sworn…