This past weekend Salt Lake City had it's second annual Craft Lake City event. Sponsored by SLUG, Craft Lake City is a celebration of alternative craft, and all things handmade. I was lucky to volunteer and I got to help cary in some of the great items. There was an amazing turn out from artists, and there was even music from great bands like Hello Amsterdam playing all day. After the jump you will see examples of work from my top 15 artists (in no particular order)

If you missed Craft Lake City, make sure you catch Craft Sabbath on the first monday of every month, and the upcoming Salty Streets flea market at Kilby Court.

(1) I really love quilts, and Jess from Urban Patchwork has some amazing handmade modern quilts and pencil holders.

(2) These beautiful belt buckles and jewelry from Bykali were amazing. The use of leaves and other random objects blew my mind.

(3) The Rookery had amazing art work on wood panels, as well as some equally beautiful bound books.

(4) Card Sharks had a wonderful assortment of printed cards and posters from various artists.

(5) There were some of the coolest little stuffed Ninja's to keep you kids safe. Rad Seams had all sorts of great sewn goodies.

(6) Speaking of stuffed toys. The polaroid friend and hipster friends from Lets Be Friends were great too.

(7) There was so much great screen printing there that it's hard to pick favorites, but there from Calamity Industries absolutely blew my mind. I think I need one of these in my house.

(8) It's hard to speak of printmaking in SLC without Leia Bell coming up. I first featured her on GRM a long time ago, and she continues to blow my mind with her fantastic concert posters and art work. Several artists are represented online and at her brick and mortar Signed and Numbered.

(9) Smart and Wiley was putting the letters in letterpress with these fantastic typography inspired prints.

(10) The world of Isabells Umbrella is an adorable place full of the cutest owls and Matryoshka Dolls you have ever seen.

(11) More amazing posters and prints from Potter Press.

(12) Ben Kafton also had some drool worthy hand printed posters, many of which had a strong architectural influence. I'm dying to get a couple of these on my walls too.

(13) There is something about Candace Jean's Giclee prints that I love. I can't quit put my finger on it, but her I just love her style. Prints are available online or in SLC at Blonde Grizzly.

(14) Sycamore Street Press had some great clever and cute letterpress goodies as well.

(15) I wished I could have bought one of everything I saw, but my one purchase I did make was this fantastic longboard by Earth Live Long Skates (ELLS). Not only is the art work great, but I'm inspired by anyone that knows how to make bent wood creations. In fact, in the spirit of bent plywood, I added my own little crafty embellishment in the grip tape. Everything is better with a little LCW.

Whew! There were so many more great things I wish I could have featured. Huge thanks to everyone who showed up and made it a great event!

Remember last year, when I started the kitchen remodel? I got about 80% of the way there, and then in my typical ADD fashion I moved on to another project. A couple weeks ago I finally got around to finishing most of it up. There are still a couple small things I need to do, but for the most part its finished. Also in typical GRM fashion, just as I am finishing up a big project it looks like I will be selling the home. More details coming on that soon.

More white and black kitchen goodness after the jump.

In our ever increasing desire to follow quality local modern projects, we are adding yet another construction project to our group. The Zevon house currently under construction is located in the Wasatch Range and was designed by Dave Brach of Brach Design. Dave has a great eye for design, and a passion for green building. The Zevon house is expected to meet 3 of the 4 criteria for a Certified Passive House (cooling demand, total energy demand and air tightness) which is amazing considering the location. The only criteria it will come up a little short on is heat demand. They will be seeking LEED Platinum on this home. Besides being an incredibly efficient home, it is great looking too. Construction will be handled by Benchmark Modern.

Brach Design

Benchmark Modern

More renderings after the jump.

The House 2 project is completely framed up now and they are starting to put the roof membrane on almost in time for all the wet weather we have been having. It's great to be able to get a sense of what the spaces are going to feel like. My favorite is the kitchen/living room area. The extra high ceilings really give the room a nice feel. They have also finished framing the small studio in the back yard since I was there last.

More photo's after the jump.

This is the kitchen/living room looking toward the front of the house where there will be a large window seat.

Kitchen/living room looking out into the courtyard with the studio in the back yard.

This photo gives you a bit of an idea of the scale. The opening for the glass slider is way taller than your typical 6' 8" door.

I've been wanting to go to a PechaKucha night for a little over a year now since I first heard about it. I'm super excited to see that this famed event has finally found it's way to Salt Lake City. Everyone mark your calendars and get your RSVP in, August 12th is just a week away. What is PechaKucha night? Basically its series of talks by designers that sticks to a rigid 20 slides for 20 seconds each format. The end result is an interesting and fast paced presentation that will leave you wanting more. Oh, and did I mention that I'll be speaking? Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but come on out. I'll need all the moral support I can get!

PechaKucha Night Salt Lake website

Become a Facebook fan of PechaKucha Night Salt Lake

In July we introduced a new modern home project in downtown Salt Lake called House 2. This week we will start covering another modern project located in the Sugarhouse area of SLC. Dubbed ul[1] it is designed by Rich Assenberg of KT814 and will be built by Benchmark Modern. The house is is centered around a rear facing courtyard that includes a gorgeous reflection pond. Construction is well underway and slated to be completed this fall. It's exciting to see the modern scene flourishing in Utah!

More pictures as well as an introduction from the architect after the jump.

UL[1] House Stats:

- 1,750 Habitable Square Feet.

- 480 Square feet detached Garage.

- 2 bed, 2 1/2 bath, office.

- Lot size = 45 feet x 125 feet.

This House was designed for a longtime friend. We had been looking for a lot in the up and coming neighborhood of the Salt Lake 9th and 9th area for a period of 3 years. This area is extremely competitive for vacant land and building small modern homes is beginning to be the trend. This has been going on in other metropolitan areas for years but we are seeing an increasing demand for this type of product in SLC for which there is few to choose from. I believe we are raising the standard for this building type in the area and am very excited to see it being constructed.

The lot is on a very busy street and is close to shopping, train tracks, the University, etc. The owner wanted to live in an area where he can minimize time spent in a car and can easily ride his bike or walk to the surrounding amenities. He lives a very simple life with few material belongings, The floor plan reflects this minimal lifestyle and is very progressive in its spacial planning. The lot has an unattractive apartment building to either side and the starting point of planning became how to give the house a strong relationship to the exterior with maximum privacy from the neighbors. The solution was to use a site wall extending from the house out into the lot, the same strategy was used for the garage.

The result became a private courtyard at the rear yard with full glazing from the kitchen, living dining area out to the private deck and reflecting pool.

Another Strong planning strategy was to have a double height space in the middle of the house. This allowed the (2) bedrooms to be separated by a void, each bedroom has a private bath so essentially we created (2) private suites. The house is not necessarily intended to be used by a family, but rather a single couple or a bachelor scenario. The double height space also acts as a chimney to remove all the hot air from the house with a 4' x 4' electric venting skylight. This in combination with high insulation values, cantilevers over large glazing areas and intelligent window placement we expect to see very few days where we have to use air conditioning. The house achieved Gold LEED standards but the owner opted for spending the additional 5-6 thousand in other areas instead of the LEED testing and registration fees. You will find a strong modern vocabulary in this house which is appropriate for the urban setting, the materials and construction methods are a result of the budget and the clients aesthetic taste.

First Floor

Second Floor

If you are in Salt Lake and you are looking for a screaming deal on a contemporary concrete sink, jump for joy. I just spotted these "prototypes" on KSL for $25 each. According to the ad, they may have some slight blemishes, but for $25 I think that could be overlooked.

$25 Concrete sinks on KSL

Last week I introduced a new project going up near downtown Salt Lake dubbed House 2 (as it is the second house the architect designed for this lot). Today I'm happy to announce that there is some great progress on the project. We are stepping into it a couple weeks in, and to date the footing foundation has been poured complete with radiant tubing in place. All the concrete will be exposed in the finished home and it has already been sealed and saw cut. There are some imperfections in the finish (aren't there always) but to me that is some of the charm of exposed concrete. Framing has started and will likely be finished in the next week or so. It's exciting to see the home taking shape, and I can already tell there are going to be some great spaces. In the photo above you can see the Architect looking out on the courtyard that is accessed from the kitchen and bedrooms. I can't wait to see that the huge open space in the foreground get filled up with a nice sliding glass door.

More pics after the jump.

View from the kitchen area looking through the future slider into the courtyard. Hard to tell from the photo, but the slider will 8'+ tall.

Another view from the livingroom/kitchen area. This time looking down the hallway towards the bedrooms. You can see all the radiant tubing poking out of the concrete on the left.

This gives you a little perspective of how the house sits relative to the neighbors. It's a typical skinny downtown lot but the design should still afford a lot of privacy.

Today I'm thrilled to announce we will be following a new local modern home construction project. It's called House 2 as it is the second house designed by the architect for this particular lot near downtown Salt Lake. It is the first single family residence of new construction whose funding source is the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City (RDA). The project is in one of SLC's only FEMA Flood Zones, requiring it to be built 1 foot above the flood plain. The project will be constructed as a joint venture by Sausage (Mark Haslam) and Benchmark Modern.

From the architect/owner:

The house is a 1,200 SF, including 2 bedrooms and a bath + a separate Work Space building of 200 SF which includes a half bath. The project will be occupied by a devilishly hansom couple and their child to be. The project parameters and restraints included the owners paranoia, privacy issues associated with an adjacent apartment building and neighboring property, historical precedent and context, zoning restrictions, FEMA restrictions, and budget. The single level house is 'L' shaped and is separated into two volumes, the higher of which contains an open kitchen, living, and dining space and the lower of which contains the bedrooms and bath. The houses primary focus is on a south facing side court with access to the court from all spaces through large sliding glass doors. The recessed entry is covered by a cantilevered canopy that meets the setback of the adjacent covered porches prevalent on the street. Building materials of the project include cladding of blackened cedar and raked cement plaster, bent steel canopies, and clear anodized aluminum clad VG fir windows. The house uses passive ventilation for cooling, and a high efficiency combined boiler, for the radiant heat, and on-demand hot water. The house will be completed by November of 2010.

If you are a local, and you have been looking for some great MCM seating, you may be in luck. Tyler of 3602 Apollo fame is selling some chairs that he has had in storage. Up for grabs is 3 Eames Shell Chairs reupholstered in a brown / grey mohair fabric ($750), 6 chrome Knoll Chairs re-upholstered ($1,800), 1 Burke 116 chair with swivel base reupholstered in a brown / grey mohair fabric ($150), 2 Eames fiberglass chairs with original bases color is off white ($300), 1 Eames Fiberlass Chair with New Eiffel Tower Base and dark grey vinyl upholstery ($200).

Ed Dreier was one of Utah's great mid century modern architects.

Grassrootsmodern is proud to be a sponsor of another great SLModern event. It will be held in a beautifully remodeled Ed Dreier home in the Federal Heights area. The event is Saturday June 12th from 5:00 - 7:00. Due to limited capacity, RSVP is required by June 9th. (801) 533-0858 or via email rsvp@slmodern.org.
Our SLModern events usually fill up quick so RSVP soon if you want to come. A $10 donation is encouraged for non-members. You can join Salt Lake Modern for $40. Make sure you join the Salt Lake Modern Facebook page as well to get the latest information about mid century modern preservation in Salt Lake.

A big thanks to the other sponsors as well;
The Green Ant
Pollard Architecture
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Young Benefactors
Poliform

I was looking through some pictures of my friends capital hill home for sale, and fell in love with his DIY electrical conduit handrail. The effect is simple, functional and totally fits in this late 1800's home with a modern interior. The staircase and railing become the center point of the home and look great against those old brick walls.

More info on the home for sale here

and more great pictures after the jump.

If you live in Salt Lake, and you love mid century modern furniture, then surely you know about The Green Ant. Shop owner Ron Green has been giving insight, advice and amazing pricing on vintage modern furniture and accessories for 12 years now. In an effort to say "Thank You" to all the wonderful people in Salt Lake that have supported them over the years, they are having their annual Anniversary Sale. Today through Monday the 17th everything in the store is 20% off. That means if there is something you have been pining for, now is the time to get it. If you haven't seen the shops new location at 179 E Broadway it's worth it for that alone. Make sure you tell Ron "Hi" for me!

The Green Ant
The Green Ant Facebook page
(photo's via YHO)

For all our SLC readers, just a reminder that we have some great events coming up next week. Thursday April 29th at 6:30 will be the Utah Premier of Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman at the Salt Lake Library. It is free to the public. We will also be announcing the winner of the "For the Love of Mod" photo contest and showing some of the top photo's that were submitted.
Friday is the Utah Heritage Foundations annual Preservation Conference. There are a lot of great education sessions including on dedicated to Affordable Mid Century Modern Resources at 10:30.
Saturday is the annual UHF Historic Homes tour. This year it is in the lovely Federal Heights area and includes a fantastic Mid Century Modern home.

Please visit the UHF website for more information and to purchase tickets for Friday and Saturday's events. Also if you haven't already make sure you stop by the SLModern Facebook page and become a fan to get all the latest information about Mid Century Modern events in Salt Lake City.

My friend is selling his gorgeous Federal Heights/ Avenues Mid Century Modern home located on 291 Virginia St. Priced at just over $200 a square foot, the $700,000 price tag isn't exactly "affordable" like a lot of the content we feature here on GRM. That being said, this home is absolutely amazing and is located in one of my favorite areas in Salt Lake City.

Built in 1962 this home has a some great MCM architectural features and has been tastefully remodeled and updated in 2006. If you or someone you know is in the market for a high end classic modern home in SLC, make sure you let them know about this gem. For those not in the market, just follow the link below and enjoy the eye candy.

See all the details here.

I've been wanting to take a knife skills class, you know, so I can cut and slice, and chop and dice like a pro. I think having a sexy, modern knife block like this one from Crate & Barrel would encourage such skills, don't you? Perhaps not, but it's still pretty to look at! 100% Rubberwood with white painted finish and 6 slots. Knives not included.

Modern knife block from Crate & Barrel: $19.95

P.S. Any local Utahns know where one might find a good knife/cooking class?

If you live in SLC here is a nice little collection of modern furniture and lighting for sale. I don't know the seller, but feel free to contact them through Craigslist if you have any questions.

Modern furniture for sale.

The Utah Heritage Foundation is having a Mid Century Modern Architecture photo contest. Sponsored by Pictureline, not only will the winner get some great prizes but they will also have their photos shown at the Utah premier of Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman. If you feel your architectural photography skills need a little help, tomorrow Feb 6th there will be a free architectural photography workshop taught by retired U of U professor Peter Goss.

For more information about both the contest and the workshop, visit the Utah Heritage Foundation website.

Never heard of Stephen Mcdonald before? Well it's about time. While Utah doesn't have a mid century architecture legacy like some of the other places in the country, we did have some great architects back in the day, and Stephen Mcdonald is one of the good ones. The photo's above are from a photo set that was recently posted on the Salt Lake Modern Facebook page.

More photo's of the house here.

Find out more about Stephen Mcdonald on the Utah Heritage Foundation website.

Join the Salt Lake Modern Facebook fan page.

It's been a couple weeks since I first posted about 4055 Jupiter drive a wonderful mid century modern home in the Olympus Cove area of Salt Lake City, and not surprisingly it is already under contract (with 5 back up offers!). Last week I had a chance to go back through the house and snap some photo's of some of the details that I love about the house, and meet the future owners who are just as awesome as the house is. I can't wait to see the place once they get all their stuff moved in. In the meantime, here are some details from the remodel;

Here is the simple and affordable slider that Geoff made. It consists of a slab of acrylic that he sourced from a local sign shop and some Stanley sliding track that he was able to pick up from Lowes. The acrylic was sanded down to have a nice frosted look.

More photos after the jump.

Here's a picture that shows a better juxtaposition of the tub and the shower. I was pretty impressed with the tub, it was short but fairly deep and had the overflow at the very top so you could really put a lot of water in it. Best of all I think Geoff just got it from homedepot.

Love this light in the hallway too. Geoff any details on this one?

Here is a detail shot of the fireplace. While the gas shutoff is a little unwieldy I kind of like it. I still think the idea of a inexpensive $175 burner buried under $7 of sand is awesome. I believe Geoff mentioned that it needs to be about 1/2" below the top of the sand for best results.

Here is a detail of the cabinetry in the kitchen. It was all custom made by a friend of Geoffs. Drawers are all soft close. Handles from Ikea.

Of course I absolutely love the teak rainscreen. For this Geoff bought some teak decking and ripped it down to the skinner pieces that you can see here. All the screw holes had to be pre-drilled and countersunk. From there they were just screwed onto some vertical boards that hold them slightly off the surface of the house. It's pretty much the exact same detail we did on our old house, just a different material.

A HUGE thanks goes out to Geoff for being so generous with his knowledge. It's refreshing to talk to someone who is so open about everything he's doing and willing to share with the rest of us. For those that love the work Geoff is doing, don't worry there is more on the way. We will be featuring his next project here on GRM as it is remodeled.