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Visit to Max Gail's Home

Bob Vila visits Max Gail�s home. Max has lived on the property for over fifteen years and started with just a teepee. His home follows the same pattern of circles and arches throughout. He uses modern glass as well as antique stained glass form Denver. The hardwood floors in the master bedroom are Koa. The home features great views and lots of round rooms.
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Visit to Max Gail's Home

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Now how long have you been on the property here?"

" I've been here almost 15 years. Yeah."

" Well, the house that you've built and remodeled, it's really evolved, right? Over the course of the year?"

" Yeah. It was that little center structure was the beginning."

" Yeah."

" And I got into fixing it up and making circles starting with that [unk]."

" That's what I was gonna ask you. How did you get into building all these circular rooms?"

" Well, at the time, I was very involved with American ambiance. Still am, but it was new to me, and."

" Yeah."

" And I was living in a teepee right over here."

" Where did you live?"

" I got a little gypsy wagon down there for when it was really wet."

" You had real teepee?"

" Yeah."

" I would spend all day on a sound stage, so I really loved sleeping outside and being outside, and then, the circle is really the central metaphor of Indian, you know, spirituality, so."

" I guess I really couldn't get interested in making any."

" Straight lines."

" Like many houses, straight lines."

" Yeah."

" That's where the first thing I did these with."

" They're circle."

" Plan."

" But they're really like flowers, aren't they?"

" They're like a sunflower. That was our idea of it."

" Sure. And it's redwood?"

" And redwood? Yeah. It's due to get cleaned off again every."

" But what a spot."

" Couple of years."

" To just relax and see the Pacific and the dim-dims, huh?"

" And that's a neat idea where the dog is lying down. You've got outdoor carpeting in the center of the sunflower."

" Yeah. Our dogs love to get right where."

" Right in the way."

" You don't want to be. Yeah. So here's and your biggest fan."

" Hi, Nan."

" My wife, Nan."

" Oh, my God. Max told me you were gonna bring someone home. I didn't know it was you. Come on in."

" Thank you. How are you?"

" Fine."

" So this is terrific. It's really a pleasure to be able to wander through your house today."

" Oh, it's our pleasure."

" I see that you've repeat the circular form and arches everywhere here."

" Yeah. Same thing. This and there."

" [unk]."

" Yeah. [unk]."

" What about the ceiling? That looks like an antique stained glass panel."

" It's an old stained glass panel from Denver, Colorado."

" Well, there are few others that we got from the house there."

" The ceiling details, the way the wood is led into, the rafters, is very unusual. It looks kind of like arts and crafts. Tell me about that."

" Well, the guy at LinkedIn up with, David Ramsingh, did help me take it over there."

" Do the work?"

" Well, he started all cuts above me as a carpenter and."

" Yeah."

" This is his design and I think David had a nice eye."

" It works nicely. Where should we start the tour?"

" Let's start in the bathroom."

" California tub. I love the color of the ceramic tiles in here."

" As a matter of fact, the tiles are from a small company at Venice, California."

" And the accent pieces are actual reproduction from the Malibu Tile Company."

" The Malibu Potteries."

" Yeah. Malibu Potteries."

" They're beautiful. Now it's unusual to have a big bathroom like this right up the front hall."

" Yeah. Well, this is where the bathroom was when there was only one bathroom here, you know."

" And that."

" Works out like a big family bathroom."

" I see."

" You need a setup for kids."

" Sure."

" And the kitchen's right over here."

" That makes a lot of sense. And a lot of your stub-out lavatories in here."

" It's very pretty. What's through the courtyard? "

" Well, through the courtyard is the children's playroom."

" So really, this is just kind of a circular flow and it works well with kids."

" Right."

" This is terrific."

" Kids' room."

" I really like the idea of, you know, the indoor outdoor. The kids can be playing in here. They could swing right out into the courtyard. "

" California living. Yeah?"

" Yes. That's it."

" Max, I don't think there's a square room anywhere in your house."

" I haven't found one yet."

" What's through here?"

" The grown up's room."

" This is great with all the wood. What kind of wood is it on the floor?"

" That's koa. That's a tropical hardwood."

" Koa. And it has the color variation, huh?"

" Yeah. Yeah. It's a beautiful wood. It makes a lot of."

" Where's it from?"

" Instruments out of it. South America and some grows in Hawaii."

" I like the way it's laid on the diagonal in the room."

" And probably environmentally, we'd think twice about using the."

" Nowadays, but you probably."

" I could afford to do it."

" Alright. Alright. What about the ceiling? It's also a wooden ceiling."

" Yeah. This is pine and I don't know if you see there's a slight arch to it. We did try to break that long low 'cause we'd get a low ceiling."

" Yeah. Again, you can't stand having a straight line on this, right?"

" No. No."

" Hey. This is a beautiful table. It's California redwood."

" Yeah. You know that's from up in Big Surf."

" That could be a thousand-year old slab, right?"

" It's beautiful."

" So this room is of nice size. It's got to be at least 30 feet."

" About that."

" Yeah. And how about the fireplace here? Did you build this?"

" Yeah. Built that with this friend and we did most of the housework."

" Where do you get stone like this?"

" They're lay off in the riverbed here and some down near the beaches and."

" So you've gathered them yourselves?"

" Yeah. Yeah."

" That's wonderful. There so many personal touches in your houses. That's really terrific. How about a dining room? Is there a dining room?"

" Yeah."

" But we never use it."

" Right across the hall."

" Oh, the round room."

" Yeah."

" You know, these terracotta floors that you see all over California are really great."

" Yeah."

" Yeah, it's a great tiling."

" From Mexico, right?"

" Yes, they are."

" Yeah. Very easy to live with?"

" Absolutely."

" Okay. So this is the dining room and, of course, here we got the kids doing their homework."

" Yes. Jolanda and India."

" Hi, kids."

" Hi. Hi."

" How are you?"

" Good."

" This is a fine, fine room. It's kind of like being in a turret."

" Yeah."

" Right down there is the corner of the."

" This one is the corner of the house right here, and so we just."

" Before you."

" Opened it up and."

" Before you remodeled."

" Yeah."

" This was where it ended right."

" Yeah."

" At this corner?"

" Yeah. So rather than having to be in a corner and change channel."

" Yeah."

" You just do it this way and then we can."

" Oh, it makes such a wonderful difference to have all these little windows and to have the view of the ocean down there."

" And what it needed was a round table? So Nan made me one."

" Is that right?"

" Yeah. She made this."

" Yes."

" You made this table?"

" Yes. 3 days."

" That's pretty impressive."

" Yeah."

" Solid oak."

" Oak."

" Yeah."

" White oak."

 [-]


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