The Most Beautiful Homes of San Antonio 2007

I know San Antonio is surrounded by acres of multi-million dollar McMansions, but these cookie cutter developments just don't float my boat. I've always harbored a soft spot for older homes with character. Maybe I've watched too many British dramas on PBS or have a secret crush on Bob Villa from "This Old House"?

Antonia's home with the charming turret and green roof

One of the great things about this town is that it has an abundance of historic homes. This isn't the disposable So Cal culture I grew up in, where yesterdays relics are regularly bulldozed in the name of "progress". Aaaand, since the holiday house parties are in full swing, I've been fortunate to receive several invitations to actually visit these gems and see what they look like on the inside.

Antonia y sus admiradoras

First off is Antonia Castañeda's house. She heads a wonderful women's group called MALCS and is one of the brave souls helping to revitalize the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.



It was such a pleasure to see the loving attention to detail displayed throughout Antonia's home.



Everywhere one's gaze fell, there was a beautiful figurine or gorgeous vignette.



I especially loved the modern steel shelves in her traditional kitchen. It gave the whole room a chic and edgy vibe.



Aren't these Mexican tin folk hearts flanking "Que Bonito Amor" ("A Beautiful Love") just precious? And the bathroom terracotta tortoise was also a charming touch.



Later that week, I got to visit the home of Roberta Hassle, a business woman and arts patron who sits on the board of the Martinez Street Women's Center.

Roberta's cool Frida Kahlo nestled among the branches

I love Roberta's Frida glass ornament and her eclectic mix of furniture, especially the divine mid-century dining room ensemble.



Hassle's awesome art collection was an inspiration as well. My New Year's Resolution will be to get more of our artwork properly framed.



This woman has an excellent use of color throughout her home. I luvit!



My final soiree in San Anto for 2007 was at Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark's lovely Woodlawn home. She was kind enough to chat with me a bit after the party about San Antonio gastronomy. Now I know where to get the best torillas. ;-) Plus, I got to explore Ellen's lush courtyard and garden.



A bewitching moonlight walk led me to the glowing embers of a bonfire...



...and a twinkling fairy shrine. Pure magic, from deep in the heart of Tejas.

San Antonio Peace Market

I was kind of sad that we wouldn't be participating in this year's Puente Hacia La Esperanza Anti-Mall craft sale, put on by those lovely Caracol folks. It's always been a treat to see all the familiar faces and reconnect with our gente in LA over the holidays. Ni modo, we're "Tejanos" now and are branching out into a new community. Thankfully, the folks at the Esperanza host a pretty badass event called the Peace Market. Yay!

Virgen earrings

I've been working on some cute religious theme jewelry and want to share it with the world. Each item features gold or silver plated findings, semi-precious stones and delicately detailed catholic medals. Some even have genuine coffee beans on them! It's been suuuper fun making these.

Scapular Earrings

Check out my Etsy to order online - http://www.pocharte.etsy.com. I promise to post items on this new etsy page soon!

"Crown of Mexico" pillow featuring Maximillian and Carlota

The Peace Market just wrapped today, so I'm kinda wiped out as I write this. 30 of my 32 pillows sold! First to go were my Hapsburg Family portraits. I hadn't realized that there's lotsa German folk here in San Antonio. Dass good ;-)

The mexi-pop back of the "Crown of Mexico" pillow

We got to connect with a whole new crowd and actually ran into a few folks we've met before. Payan's Keep on Crossin' gear proved quite the hit. Thank you San Antonio!

Keep on Crossin' fan

The MacArturos are coming to town, and I need a coffee table...

The MacArthur "Genius" Award is mysterious and much coveted honor. Who wouldn't want an award where you're surprised by a morning phone call announcing you've won $500,000 with no strings attached? Each year about a dozen Americans are thus honored -- the result of a secret selection process.

One of these MacArthur winners, the writer Sandra Cisneros, decided that she would host a reunion for the Latino "MacArturos." That was 10 years ago, and this weekend 18 Latino Geniuses will gather again in San Antonio for a series of lectures and workshops. My hometown hero, Ruben Martinez, will fly in along with my long lost friend, playwrite Luis Alfaro and art star Guillermo Gomez-Peña. What a meeting of the minds!

Given our arts & culture work, it's inevitable that one of these nights some "geniuses" will head over to our pad for drinks and conversation. I'm already feeling a bit ashamed about our shabby couch -- an early 60's classic sectional in bad need of reupholstering -- but what truly concerned me was our lack of a coffee table. There's this gaping hole in the center of our lovely parlour where an elegant mesa should go.

So I set off, determined to track down the puurrfect piece. My previous weeks online yielded nothing interesting. Since I'm not a fan of Ikea-type pasteboard and wanted something with character, the antique shops of San Antonio were my last hope...

The storefronts on Hildebrant offered pieces worthy...

....of a Holly Hobby dollhouse.


Funky shops on South Flores yeilded over-tha-top glamour.


Was it "Hollywood Regency" or a Hollywood Trainwreck?


And the offerings at the antique warehouse on Broadway...


....were mind-numbingly dull.

I finally wandered into a cute spot run by an earthy Latina named Dora...
...and found the gem I'd been looking for.

A perfect fit!


Now we're ready ;-) Amazing how a little home fine-tuning can feel sooo good.

Milk Crates

Milk Crate stools featured on www.treehugger.com

While visiting San Antonio last year, and teaching a youth video course, my wandering eye was enchanted by the many lovely homes there. The prices I found were just as appealing. I persueded my then boyfriend Victor to consider purchasing one these chateaus. He expressed the usual uneasiness about committing to a 30 year mortgage and concern about moving costs, furnishings, etc.

"It won't cost much more than were paying in rent now. We'll use milkcrates as furniture!" I pledged. And I meant it.

Years before, while living in a Downtown LA loft, a resourceful friend of mine had moved into a tiny room above Al's Bar. It was a temporary dwelling, bridging the gap between baby-daddy farewells and a dazzling new life in Hawaii. Nicole put her gorgeous furnishings into storage and vowed to use only milkcrates in her new home. I was amazed to see the ingenious ways she constructed these items...making floor to ceiling shelving, tables, chairs...everything out of milkcrates!



But when Victor & I arrived in Texas, we found that only 2 of our crates had survived the journey, so all hopes of creating a milkcrate wonderland were tossed out the window. I had to use more "conventional" furniture...and so began the hunt.

I researched for weeks, in shops and various sites online. After aquiring a reasonably priced selection -- see my Flikr account for details http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocharte/ -- I signed up for an on-line interior design "support group" to further refine my vision on www.apartmenttherapy.com

Of course Victor was not amused. "What happened to 'we'll use milkcrates'?" he lamented as each giant box arrived. But finally accepting the inevitable, even Payan had to admire my selections.

Thus began my burning desire to round out the collection. A coffee table quest is in the works...

Imagineering a good beginning...

Dos arbolitos...

In keeping with my birthday month resolutions, I promised myself I'd finally leave the familiar confines of Myspace and enter into blogland. I also need a more "intimate" forum to keep in in touch with our vast circle of family and friends. A ver si funciona.

I'm a newlywed, in the process of settling into our 1st home out of state -- beginning a journey that will surely include children, challenges and my branching out into many new territories. Settling in has been an intense endevour, and an illuminating one. My goal is to keep serenity & comfort present in our lives, even amidst the increasing demands on our time. My husband and I each manage at least 4 personal projects simultaniously. In addition to these, I'm busy organizing the home front, making resourceful furnishing choices, and imagineering our first "official" housewarming soiree.

To that end, we've embarked in an online experiment -- www.apartmenttherapy.com -- an 8 week "home cure", which will kick our butts in gear to fine-tune our living space -- our "second skin" and extension of ourselves. Domestic Bliss (and Feng Shui glory) is surely at hand!