We were so happy to have been interviewed by NPR’s David Greene of Morning Edition.
This brief nationally broadcast radio piece brought us thousands of new visitors to the website.
WE WELCOME ALL OUR NEW VISITORS !
And while we do not object to the concept of sales tax for Internet sales, we just hope some simple method of payment will be devised, something like Europe’s VAT. We have 3077 individual counties in the USA, all with individual sales tax rates. Whew!!
WATCH–you won’t be sorry ! This magical video is all about a section of floor, through the ages. This award winning short film uses mosaics to tell the story. Tiles are included so we thought our readers would appreciate it. For those at work,…note, it has a light musical soundtrack.
Created by Welsh mosaic artist Maureen O’Kane and her co-director, Jane Hubbard in 2003.
Unswept floor from maureen o’kane on Vimeo.
The Beltway is buzzing with THE new place for men’s grooming on the east coast: The Barber of Hell’s Bottom.
A veteran stylist of New York runway and print models, Kelly Gorsuch took Washington, D.C. by storm with his Logan Circle salon, Immortal Beloved. In a few short years it has become a hub of the metro area’s chic and elite, with Immortal Beloved stylists even being tapped for First Family duty. Not only has Immortal Beloved become known for its styling, but for its unique decor. All of the furniture was designed and built by Kelly himself, along with his close friend and business partner Caleb Woodard (of Caleb Woodard Furniture).
Can Kelly catch lightning in a bottle again? It sure seems so. Washington is abuzz again over The Barber of Hell’s Bottom. Once again featuring Kelly’s unique vision, and master craftsmanship from Caleb Woodard Furniture, this new barber shop features raw, white-washed brick walls, and beautiful cement tile from Villa Lagoon Tile. Our Roseton tile in custom colors was used to add a hint of flourish to Kelly and Caleb’s remarkable work. This shop has a sophisticated, but raw masculinity, that is sure to make any patron comfortable, while his locks float down to our flooring.
Part of the buzz over Gorush’s new venture has to do with the name. While Shaw may have a median home price north of half-a-million dollars today, it was once “Hell’s Bottom”, one of the District’s most violent neighborhoods. That cool bit of trivia doesn’t stop everyone from noticing the tile, though… nor the barber’s chair from the New York area’s Vernon Hills Country Club, famed to have held several members of the Rat Pack, in its day (not at the same time, of course).
The Barber of Hell’s Bottom has been featured now in the style section of UrbanDaddy.com, given a favorable first look by UrbanTurf.com, and has even been named one of the six “things to do” for last weekend (April 5, 2013), by Men’s Journal ! Way to go Kelly ! We hope you the best success, and a long happiness with our tile.
April 8, 2013.
The RobbReport, a magazine dedicated to the products of the ultra-luxury lifestyle has a new article on the $25 million dollar Holmby Hills estate, The Reserve. You may recall The Reserve from our earlier post about the tile installations by our clients. Obviously the amazing work that designer Kristoffer Winters put into the Reserve deserves the attention, which happens to land Villa Lagoon Tile smack dab between the latest Lamborghini and a $24,000 bottle of wine (a 1945 Chateau Latour Pauillac). We’re happy that cement tile is becoming a growing trend in ultra-luxury estates. We’re even happier that we can offer our tile to more modest budgets as well. Look for the mention here, or on page 37 of the March/April issue of Robb Report Home & Style.
We’d like to give kudos to our friends at Maneli Wilson Interiors for rave reviews of their recent work, featuring our cement tile pattern, Cubes. Sotto 13 opened in November as a runaway hit in New York’s West Village. This new darling destination of the local critics features Italian tapas, brick-oven pizzas, and cocktails by acclaimed mixologist Frankie Oley, but few can help but comment on the amazing decor.
Our Cubes pattern was used on the wall surrounding the kitchen’s window… a focal point for the flow of food through the restaurant. We also couldn’t help but spot an ingenious use for some of the left-over tiles: they are framed within the side of the hostess stand. On your next project you may consider ordering a little extra… finishing touches like these can really help tie a theme together.
Among the mountains of praise, Jones Magazine proclaims that Sotto 13 “offers rustic decor with a modern twist and perfect ambiance.” CBS New York touts Sotto 13 as “perfect for a West Village date night,” and NewForkCity says “it’s the decor that brings you in”, but the food that brings you back. What more can a restaurateur want from their decor than to provide the perfect, inviting setting to showcase their craft? Perhaps a mention by one of the largest travel magazines in the country?
Not only has Sotto 13 earned a mention by Travel + Leisure Magazine, their grand entrance to the scene has placed them among “America’s Most Romantic Restaurants”. Writing for www.travelandleisure.com, Brendan Spiegel cites Sotto 13’s “alluring space” among the attributes that landed it so high on the list.
No matter what your project, we’re sure our Villa Lagoon Tile, hand-made cement tile can provide a warmth and sophistication that can perfectly accent any vision.
Take a look at just a few other restaurant installations:
February 12, 2013.
Columbia Restaurant, …Founded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., the Columbia Restaurant is Florida’s oldest restaurant, and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. They began in Tampa’s Ybor City, (pronounced EE-bore) as a small 60-seat corner café known for its Cuban coffee and authentic Cuban sandwiches, frequented by the local cigar workers. Now the family has locations in 8 locations and they are hugely popular with both locals and tourists. Villa Lagoon Tile is happy they picked us to provide the Cuban Tile for the St. Augustine location.
Notice how the large room’s floor is divided into sections w/ our single color Deep Henna tiles. This adds additional character and is also an economical move. Single color Cuban tiles cost less than pattern tiles.
So pleeeeesed is the Columbia Restaurant with our tile that they have just ordered the same pattern Cuban tile for the Celebration , FL location.
Elegance on a grand scale ! We were thrilled to have our tile in this Los Angeles 10,000+ square foot personal paradise. We were approached early on by the developer / designer to be a part of a major home renovation and I can truthfully say they were a pleasure to work with and everything went smoothly on this unusually large residential tile delivery.
On the expansive patios the Gray and White check tile continues.
Designer Kristoffer Winters used our Cubes tile in the kitchen and adjacent living area in this uber swank mansion. He told me that they added a dash of raw umber tint to the sealant to give the tile an aged look. They were thrilled with the result and he said most people assume that the porch cement tiles are an original part of the home. We are looking forward to Kristoffer’s appearance on Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Decorators” show. Maybe he will mention our tile !!
Updates:
A photo of The Reserve interior was used in a MyDomaine article on the resurgence of cement tile, February 18, 2014
The Los Angeles Times Business Section featured the sale of The Reserve, August 24, 2013.
Winters and The Reserve were featured in a Bloomberg article, August 16, 2013.
The Reserve was highlighted in the popular design blog, COCOCOZY, July 8, 2013.
Kristopher Winters appeared in a feature about The Reserve on an E! program, “A-List Listings”, May 20, 2013.
A feature on The Reserve appeared in Variety, March 26, 2013.
Blog post on a mention of The Reserve in the Robb Report, March 22, 2013.
Blog post on Curve Improvement about The Reserve, March 12, 2013.
The Reserve is listed as a notable residence on the Holmby Hills page of Wikipedia.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine has long been a reference tool for craftsmen of the highest order. In fact, all of the Taunton Press magazines are exquisitely produced. We are glad they want to introduce our tile to their many readers.
Update: As of October 2015, we have discontinued advertising the ceramic and porcelain tile murals on our website, in order to tighten our focus on cement tile. For purchase inquiries, please contact us, and ask for Dave.
The original, September 2012 post:
Of course Villa Lagoon Tile is home to artist, designer and cement tile expert Lundy Wilder, but we also keep our eye on the future. While we specialize in making it easy to bring the old-world charm and beauty of hand-made cement tile to your home or business, we love all beautiful tile, whether the techniques are old or new.
We are proud to announce our newest line of tile products: tile murals. Thanks to advancements in materials and dye sublimation printing, we can produce beautiful and durable tile products with printed images… painting reproduction, photographs, digital art, you name it! Break that image across a large grid of tiles, and now you have a beautiful tile mural, limited only by your installation space. Villa Lagoon Tile partner Dave Perry has made it his mission to study these processes and source the finest in materials and techniques to beautify your projects.
Our catalog of stock images for mural production is now available online, and debuts with more than 8,400 images. Ranging from classics like Van Gogh’s Starry Nights and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to modern marvels such as shuttle launches and Times Square, you’ll be amazed at the variety.
Not enough for you? We can use your own photographs, logos and art for truly custom tile murals! Spread your company logo across the wall behind the reception desk, put images of your own restaurant’s menu items on an accent wall near the entrance, the possibilities are endless. For questions, ordering or submitting your own work for custom murals, as always contact Villa Lagoon Tile, and ask for Dave.
For most of this month, with air dates continuing into September, DiY Network and HGTV have been showing the I Hate My Bath episode, “Pot O’ Gold Bathroom” (Season 2, Episode 3). Contractor and host Jeff Devlin guide homeowners Jeff and Kim through a remarkable bathroom makeover. Their dated and deteriorating green and gold bathroom is completely re-envisioned with modern appointments and an old-world twist.
One of the more prominent features was the Moroccan-style cement tile used to surround the shower. Using Villa Lagoon Tile’s “Lantern Trellis” in-stock cement tile.
Jeff helped this couple install a beautiful, luxurious shower featuring high-end fixtures, well-engineered sliding glass doors, and beautiful cement tile. While using the Lantern Trellis pattern for most of the shower wall, they used the complimentary single-color charcoal cement tile to accent the fixture wall, and finish the left-side knee-high wall.
See more from this installation, then give your own project that old-world elegance with cement tile from Villa Lagoon Tile. Not only could you achieve this look, but you may consider custom orders of Lantern Trellis with different colorways.
You might also consider our Arabesque Classic shaped tile…
