The man who changed the way we do hair, Vidal Sassoon, passed away yesterday at the age of 84. Sassoon, who gave Mia Farrow her signature look for “Rosemary’s Baby”, credited the Bauhaus movement for his “geometric style.”

“My whole work, beginning in the late 1950s, came from the Bauhaus,” explains Vidal. “It was all about studying the bone structure of the face, to bring out the character. I hated the prettiness that was in fashion at that time.

Sassoon told Architectural Digest that “Architects have always been my heroes.” His Richard Neutra house in Bel Air was featured in the magazine last spring.

Photo via Architectural Digest

Photo via Architectural Digest

Photo via Architectural Digest

To see more of Vidal Sassoon’s home visit www.architecturaldigest.com.

Library ladders have been showing up in almost every room in the home. From kitchens to living rooms, you’ll find ladders are used as an easy way to reach those top shelves. We love how versatile a library ladder is, it can function as a decorative element and as a functional part of the space. Take a look at how these library ladders are used throughout the home.

The Kitchen:

Photo via Casa Bella Decor

The Bedroom:

Photo via Caribbean Living Blog

A Little Nook:

Photo via Apartment Therary

The Mud Room:

Photo via Pinterest

The Living Room:

Photo via Pinterest

Add some interest to your home by bringing in a library ladder for those hard to reach places.

Saturday was Cinco De Mayo, a holiday that many Americans celebrate, but don’t really know the significance of the day.  Cinco De Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. According to Houzz, “The French intervention in Mexico lasted only six years — from 1861 to 1867 — but the influence of the French on Mexican culture was more far reaching.” Houzz examines the impact the French colonial and baroque styles had on Mexican architecture.

Take a look at 5 ways the French influenced Mexican architecture and design, via Houzz.

1. “Large windows and French doors”

Photo via Houzz

2. “Gilded Accents”

Photo via Houzz

3. “Large Staircases”

Photo via Houzz

4. “New facade materials”

Photo via Houzz

5. “Door Reliefs”

Photo via Houzz

We were pleasantly surprised to see Adam Levine’s, the Maroon 5 front man and a judge on the hit NBC show The Voice, affinity for mid-century modern. His 1940s Hollywood Hills home, which was featured in Architectural Digest, is a mix between vintage and contemporary style pieces.

In the home a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg portrait shares the space with a 1960s sideboard by Arturo Pani.

Photo via Architectural Digest

Photo via Architectural Digest

Photo via Architectural Digest

Photo via Architectural Digest

Levine tells Architectural Digest that “Furnishing a home is no different than going into the studio and making music. You want to make sure you’ve pared down all the extra details so that in the end, every stitch has a context uniquely yours.”

To see more of Adam Levine’s home visit www.architecturaldigest.com.

Trilogy Partners’ Steamboat House project was featured in Architectural Digest. To view the article click here.

Timber Frame Reclaimed From Railroad Trestle

I’m very pleased to announce that we at Trilogy will be collaborating with noted architectural photographer, Roger Wade on a design book tentatively titled “Old Into New – The Use of Reclaimed and Recycled Materials in Modern Architecture.” I have had the pleasure of designing quite a few homes now where we used reclaimed and recycled materials, such as barn beams and posts from old bridges, granary flooring from Chicago, and siding made from everything from redwood to cedar to douglas fir. These weathered, aged, and far from perfect reclaimed materials bring a richness, authenticity, and beauty to new homes that is not possible with “new” materials. I thought it was time we documented some of these truly magnificent homes in print, and on the internet. So stay tuned as we publish, on this blog, chapters one at a time featuring some of the nations most extraordinary homes and their use of reclaimed and recycled materials. Roger, stylist Debbie Grahl, and I worked together on the Architectural Digest article about the Steamboat House.

Were you to build a dream home, would you consider using old, rather than new, as a design element?