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 "It's tchotchke heaven," Pann, 76, told Reuters about her
kaleidoscopic bungalow. "It's turned out to be an homage to
putting everything possible into cement."
By "everything," Pann means figurines of poodles and hula girls,
commemorative china baseball bats and a sweeping arch of coffee
cups, their handles pointing skyward. Smashed pottery and shards
of mirror make up the more traditional mosaic patterns on the
house's interior and exterior surfaces.
The couple met in 1992 when Duran was working at an art supply
store and Pann was in need of some acrylic paints. They still go
back to the same store for supplies.
The house is on a quiet street, a 20-minute bike ride from the
beach. Pann bought it in 1994 and wanted to build an art studio
in it.
After the studio was built, Pann made tiles for the bathroom.
"It was so much fun doing it, we just kept on going," said
Duran, 72, who was born in Mexico and raised in East Los
Angeles.
Link to Wider Images story: http://reut.rs/2cypALA
Tiles in the shapes of butterflies, camels and giraffes surround
the sink. A ceramic cockerel sits proudly atop the breakfast
bar. One of the walls is covered in photographs of the couple.
Kitchen appliances are decorated with paint.
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The collaboration is, Pann said, the ultimate "honey-do" project.
She makes the tiles, he lays them.
"He's busy working, working, working and then I'll come along and
say, 'Hon, hmmm, there is something wrong and I won't know what it
is.' And then he'll take a look back and he'll say, 'Ah, I know what
it is,' and then he'll fix it," Pann said.
Pann was encouraged by family and professors to pursue accounting,
but at age 18 she went to a Van Gogh show and never looked back.
"The story behind the house is really about the love story behind
Gonzalo and myself," Pann said. "We salsa in the house, we kiss all
day long, and if it weren't toxic, I'd paint on him."
Tours are available by appointment at a cost of $12 per person. Pann
hopes the Mosaic Tile House eventually will be preserved on the
National Register of Historic Places. He is convinced the house will
stay standing.
"To tear this down is a big job. So I mean it'll be here forever,"
he said.
(Editing by Bill Trott)
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