| EARTH...
by Don Kindred
Coastal
Surroundings -
We ’re not just another
Landscape Company” owner Jim Miller proclaims on his Coastal
Surroundings.com website. When you stroll through the on-line
portfolio to see the earthen creations of his 40-year career,
you have to believe him.
Educated in Ornamental Horticulture at
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Miller has developed a niche in the
local landscape market that is closely tied to the company’s
name, Coastal Surroundings Landscape Company. They specialize
in providing a turnkey service to homeowners who are looking for
creative outdoor environments.
“There is definitely a trend,” says
Jim, “Over the last 20 years we have seen a dramatic shift
to more creative outdoor living spaces, be it enjoying a sunset
from your patio or warming up by a fire pit on a winter’s
evening. We are designing areas to accommodate more time spent
out of doors. If you wanted to live indoors, you could live anywhere.”
Foreman Patrick O’Donnell, also
a Southern California native, oversees the nuts and bolts of the
operation, insuring that every project not only looks great, but
functions well. The ability to create unique and yet practical,
efficient designs have given the company quite a reputation in
town. Ninety percent of their handiwork has been in San Clemente
over the past two decades, and that’s exactly how Jim 7
Patrick, both avid surfers, like it.
“We’ve worked had to assemble
a crew of dependable and skilled artisans who really enjoy doing
the custom work” he says, “It’s more creative
and fun, and a happy crew is quality crew.”
Coastal Surroundings can be reached at 492-2479.
METAL...
by
Don Kindred
Bellagio
Bronze -
Timeless Beauty
Bronze. It’s not
that the product is new. The strength and beauty of molded bronze
has been acclaimed the world over since it was first developed
by ancient Sumerians in 3,500 BC. Then during the Renaissance,
by mastering the “lost wax” casting technique, Europeans
used the alloy to create wartime weapons as well as Michelangelo
masterpieces.
By the end of the 20th century, the art
and durability of bronze statuary was reserved for the rich and
famous. That was the reality that Brian and Terry Adams discovered
when they set out in 1999 to find a statue for their pool.
“Finding a pair of dolphins, with
the amount of detail we wanted, at any kind of realistic price
proved to be a real challenge,” says Brian.
It was a challenge Brian, a swimming pool
contractor, chose to accept by opening Bellagio Bronze on El Camino
Real in 2003 with the help of his devoted wife Terry and their
children, who also take an occasional turn in the beautiful showroom.
The hand-finished sculptures, fountains and a recently added line
of weathervanes at Bellagio make for a magical stroll. Children
swinging, mermaids sunning, frogs jumping, dancers dancing, birds
in flight.
Like long ago, these creations were originally
carved from wax, often using real models. The likenesses, especially
of the children, are remarkable. The process involves making a
ceramic mold from the wax, then pouring a ‘secret formula’
of 2000 degree bronze into those molds. The result is artwork
from 80 inches tall to smaller pieces like turtles and frogs that
are priced as low as $24. Smaller versions of the children statues
can be found as low as $280 with larger more elaborate creations
selling for around $15,000.
Bellagio Bronze offers many models and
prices to choose from, and Brian says that 80% of the statuary
in his product line can be made into fountains.
Water...
by Don Kindred
Frank
Bandera
California Patio & Spa
Frank Bandera is a New
Jersey native who headed west at 18. He began his career selling
power tools at the local swapmeet. Today he presides casually
over a five-store empire called California Patio and Spa that
stretches from Encinitas to Yorba Linda, with locations in Mission
Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and new location opening up in Palm
Dessert.
“It’s kind of a funny story”
he says, when I asked him how it started, “back in 1981,
my girlfriend at the time bought me a beach chair so I would be
comfortable while I’m at the swap meet. So I’m sittin
there the next day, when a customer comes by and says, how much
for the chair? I tell him I’m selling these sanders and
drills and stuff and he says, yeah but how much for the chair?
I say 30 bucks, so he buys the chair. So I went home and asked
my girlfriend where she got it. She tells me about some new place
in San Diego that nobody had ever heard of called the Price Club.
So Saturday night we go down there and buy six more, I took them
to the Swap meet the next day and put them in the front, they
all sold. I started to think, maybe I had something here so the
next week I bought a hundred and sold em all.” He then contacted
a manufacturer and well, a patio business was born.”
As the stores grew so did his product
line. In fact, I had dropped into the 26,000 sq ft warehouse/retail
facility in San Juan on a tip about another one of his products,
a Spa. California Patio and Spa also sold about 150 of those last
year, all made by a company I didn’t even know was in the
Spa business. Coleman. You know the lantern people.
They switched to Coleman Spas from another
manufacturer five years ago. And the reason was quality.
“People are buying these for the
therapy now,” says Frank, “It’s not spa parties
like before, we need this for our health.
“Coleman is a 100-year-old company,
everybody in America has something made from Coleman, they are
trusted.”
Frank has become a firm believer in the
quality of his merchandise. “When I first started I started
with low-end merchandise. It would always come back. I realized
I couldn’t grow a business by aggravating the customers.
So it was the same with the Spas, that’s what I love about
Coleman. We have two Coleman technicians on our staff to take
care of problems, but there are nowhere near the problems we had
before.
“This one has two 56-frame fame
motors built by General Electric, it’s completely sealed
so it’s the quietest on the market, and the metal frame
is guaranteed for five years.”
The spas were impressive. Ten models (starting
at $4,000), eight colors and an impressive list of features that
included jets that even shoot down on either side of your neck,
a cascading water fountain, optional built-in stereo, and more.
Sounds like there might still be some
spa parties to me.
California Spas can be reached at 661-0483.
WOOD...
by
Nick Azzollini
San
Clemente
Woodworking
Ed Estrada knows something
about wood. For 25 years he’s been creating functional art
from fallen trees. Estrada is a San Clemenete resident and owner
of San Clemente Woodworking, a local company whose primary focus
is on the design, manufacture and installation of interior staircases,
from traditional to contemporary, in iron and wood.
Ed started in the construction business
back in 1979 as an apprentice, later joining the Carpenters Union
and working his way through to Journeyman certification. He started
San Clemente Woodworking in 1989 and, despite a strong emphasis
on quality craftsmanship Ed keeps prices competitive with the
rest of the market by doing his own milling and purchasing parts
directly from the manufacturer.
With a staff of skilled craft employees
who can expertly bend rails, do custom wood trim and precisely
duplicate architectural designs, it’s no wonder SCWW has
been featured in such prestigious publications as Architectural
Digest.
San Clemente Woodworking can be reached at 498-4397.
FIRE...
by
Anne Batty
Firenze
Patio & Fireside
There’s nothing quite like reading
a good book in front of a cozy fireplace on a rainy winter’s
day, or enjoying pleasant conversation with friends around a patio
fire pit or grill. All bring warmth to heart and home, and helping
bring those simple pleasures into your home is what Firenze Patio,
Fireside and Outdoor Living on Avenida Pico does best.
After spending 20 years in the Hi-Tech
world, owners Sam and Karen Muscariello utilized the expertise
of Sam’s mother (who had spent several years in the outdoor
décor industry) and their business acumen to open an upscale
patio and fireplace store in town. The
name, Firenze (it has nothing to do with fire), in Italian is
Florence and one discovers a decidedly Tuscan ambiance when visiting
the shop.
Firenze carries the top-of-the-line in
outdoor casual living wares, as well as all aspects of interior
and exterior fireside products. For the indoors they provide realistic
refractory ceramic gas log sets with remote controlled systems
for customer convenience, along with gas and wood fireplace screens,
doors, log grates, andirons, tool sets and more. For the outdoors
they furnish fireplace builder sets which allow customer and contractor
to select the fascia to match the home’s style, and they
carry a wide range of outdoor fire pits, from extraordinary designs
in granite and fiber cement bases to the basic wood burning models.
Outdoor heaters and grills are also available there.
“The cornerstone of our business is one-stop
shopping,” Karen revealed. “We offer personal appointments
for product pre-selection and design assistance at the customer’s
convenience either inhome or instore.”b
Firenze Patio & Fireside can be reached at 366-1660.
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