The Block

Vol 2 Issue 2, 2008

Wet Dreams

Humans are inherently drawn to water. We build our cities, towns, and villages as close to it as we possibly can. But when we can't be oceanfront or lakeside, we construct little bodies of water at which to lounge - our very own pieces of the wild deep, albeit domesticated. Here we can dally as long as we like, and linger as close as we desire. There are no dangerous animals in our urban oases; no typhoons or sandstorms here. Just perfect rows of chaise lounges, a precise chlorine-to-water ratio, and the low, distant hum of a blender. The swimming pool and its environs is, in a way, a caged wild. And when we experience pools in their natural environment - California - it's more intimately thrilling.

We know, we know. A swimming pool is really nothing but a hole in the ground, dug out ruthlessly by an excavator, filled with concrete, and lined with banality that only vinyl, tile and plaster can suggest. But invite David Hockney to paint a mural on its floor (like at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel), surround it with smart mid-century accoutrements a la designer maven Kelly Wearstler (as at the Avalon Beverly Hills), or use downtown L.A.'s cityscape as a dramatic backdrop for an evening dip (like the pool at the Standard), and you've got the stuff dreams are made of.

At the Avalon Hotel, for instance, snug cabanas hug the pool's hourglass figure, where cocktails, canapés and conviviality are served up from noon 'til night. Original to the 1949 building (then the Beverly Carlton Motel), the pool clearly invites visitors to look its way, to gawk even, to gaze up at the curved balconies that provide a perfect frame. Old and new work together here, seamlessly blending yesterday's architecture with today's sensibilities. The furniture, both at the water's edge and in the hotel's handsome lobby, is a harmonious combination of vintage and custom-designed pieces. The modern redesign surrounding the pool (completed in '99) is a perfect example of Wearstler's talent as a promoter of West Coast aesthetic: sufficiently refined for caviar in lipstick and heels, yet relaxed enough for a poolside nap in a white hotel robe, all with an obvious well-intended nod to mid-century design. Nostalgia and the modern day-party: this is California patio life.