Venice begins with the letter "v" (no spoiler alert required) as do a number of other words that tie into the town's forward-fantastic character: vivacious, vim, and very.
It is, a place, that is very "very" in every way, and the local architecture very much exemplifies this, from the futuristic glass-y retreats to colorful Craftsman to the Mosaic Tile House.
The casa, which was a stucco-covered house just over two decades ago, began its transformation phase back 1994 thanks to its new artist owners.
Cheri Pann and Gonzalo imagined a home full of fantasy and hue and swirl and humor, and the result of their foresight, and tireless work, is one of Venice's, and Southern California's, most singular and stunning structures.
But how to get closer to the Mosaic Tile House, beyond peeping it from the street?
There are tours to sign up for, yes, or you can join an Atlas Obscura field trip scheduled for the first Saturday in January 2017, an exploration that will give lookie-loos a chance to "tour this large-scale artwork-in-progress."
There are but a few tickets left for the Jan. 7 eye-popper of an outing, and they're $25 each, with a small fee. As for taking snapshots of your visit? The Mosaic Tile House almost demands to be recorded on film and shared with all, so consider that the ol' thumbs up, and you can share 'em, too.
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Will other words that begin with "v" come to mind after you get acquainted with this big-of-vision house? Well, there's one right there: vision. Visual and vibrant should also make the list, too.
And, yes, maybe even voyeur, in the best sense. It isn't often we can peek at cool private spaces, and at the beginning of the year, too.
That's the time when many of us think about home projects we'd like to take on over the next twelve months, and while we may not fully cover our walls, top to bottom, in tile, perhaps this Venice gem can inspire our artistic domestic leanings, at least in some small but meaningful way.
