At the end of the story is a dog named Perriand, but the beginning starts with Covid.
When Covid hit, Laguna Beach art gallery owner Peter Blake and his artist wife Stephanie knew their life was changing – their business, safety and future.
Like most people, they hunkered down and took stock.
“Reality was scary,” Blake said. “You go through that fear. Am I going to die? Am I going to lose my business?”
The couple realized they should make changes to simplify their lives.
“Suddenly, we learned we can live and work in the same place,” he said. “We looked at each other and asked, can we live here?”
“Here” is the distinctive white gallery at 435 Ocean Ave., that has housed countless exhibits since 1993. Blake’s aesthetic is so rigorously minimal that one would never imagine the gallery could double as a living space.
They weren’t so sure either.
They consulted local architect Anders Lasater, an expert in modern design. The challenge was, how do you take a spartan rectangle building with no real interior structure to speak of and make it into both a gallery and a home?
After exploring various options – including adding a second level – Lasater had an idea: create illusions.
Discrete walls and spaces, obscured by color, hiding in plain sight.
Gallery visitors can’t tell but behind this wall is Blake’s bedroom.
Now, gallery visitors walk past Blake’s bedroom without even knowing it. A stacked washer and dryer hide behind an anonymous corner.
But the road to this harmonious balance was not easy. May 1 marked the three-year anniversary of the start of the project, and they are still fine-tuning the details. More to the point, they lived in the gallery during the construction.
“There were times when I wanted to give up,” Blake said.
City officials weren’t exactly prepared either for this type of conversion, commercial to dual use, Blake said.
While praising city staff for their guidance, Blake, a former councilmember, had to maneuver through murky waters.
“At every turn there’s another ‘oh no.’ Every time, new things,” he said. “There are sprinklers everywhere – in the closet, in the storage area. We had to add 22 sprinklers on top of the original plan.”
Every little detail had implications because of the dual use. His original shower design had to be scrapped because as a commercial business he needed to provide a roll-in handicapped shower – even though the public would never use it.
“That actually turned out to be a blessing because a handicapped shower is easier to get into,” Blake said, chuckling.
Despite the setbacks, Blake said it was worth it. Plus, his experience provides others with an easier path with the city.
“We have a template now. I was the guinea pig,” he said. “Now we have more relaxed codes. We have all these options that we haven’t even explored yet. It doesn’t take much to turn a space into an apartment.”
City Community Development Director Marc Wiener helped Blake navigate the process.
“I do think the city has a desire to try to get some more mixed-use opportunities in the downtown – second-story residential above the commercial,” Wiener said. “Our goal is to do it in a way that maintains the character of the downtown in terms of scale and aesthetic.”
Wiener said he’s looking forward to a new update to the Downtown Specific Plan that will tackle these issues head-on. Meetings are tentatively expected in late summer or early fall.
“Housing downtown will also support the businesses,” he said. “You kind of need this critical mass of residents and visitors to support the local economy. So I think it will have that added benefit of also being good for the businesses downtown.”
In the meantime, Blake hopes more people downtown will consider creating live-work spaces.
“It’s been a great experience. I know we’ve inspired people – friends and other business owners – to think about live-work. It’s a 15-minute village. There’s nothing I need that’s not 15 minutes away.”
But first and foremost, it helps to have an understanding partner.
“Two and a half years she lived in a construction pit,” he said. “We had to move the mattress from room to room based on the construction. So I wondered, how can I repay her? She’s been so wonderful throughout this ordeal.”
Despite being allergic, Blake knew Stephanie loved dogs, so he got her a Boston Terrier, a breed that wouldn’t trigger his dander.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Stephanie said. “I’ve never seen Peter love anything more than this little animal. She rules the house. He calls her ‘precious.’ We’ve been together 16 years, and he’s never called me precious.”
They came up with the idea to name the dog “Perriand,” after Charlotte Perriand, a French architect and designer from the early 20th century who was the first woman to break into the male-dominated world of architecture.
Perriand the disruptor fits nicely into Blake’s world view. Both he and Stephanie welcome the combination of live-work, the energy of the unexpected.
“It’s always a blessing because you meet wonderful people on this journey,” she said. “There’s always something going on. That hasn’t bothered me at any level. This is kind of a cooler experience.”
For Blake, the experience is never-ending. With an eye toward what’s next, he worries most about how to keep raising his creative bar.
“I’m immersed in home and work,” he said. “It taught me to appreciate the expression, ‘art is life.’ It’s a singular, cohesive focus. Now I’m surrounded by a beautiful space with my wife and dog.
“The goal is perfection.”
