12-31-2003
There is something about tile that is timeless and personal in a way that no other home finish can match. It can fit the interior of a remodeled house built in the last century or a post-modern loft that looks as if it were plucked from the future. If tile is anything – and it is anything today – it is the most personal of all finishes available to today’s luxury homeowner.
Deedee Gundberg, senior designer for tile and stone for Ann Sacks, says tile can achieve almost any design you can imagine. “You can go modern, traditional, transitional — anything is possible.” Founder Ann Sacks retired in 2003, after building a company that features quality hand made tiles from a variety of exclusive artists. They currently have between 40 – 50 artists who design exclusively for Ann Sacks and whose work is featured throughout their 17 showrooms around the country.
There are more options in types of materials available than ever before. “It is fun for designers to come up with new and creative ways to use these materials,” she says. She sees designers mixing colors and shapes together, combining striking decorative metal or glass accent tiles with stone or ceramic tiles to create a very personal style for their clients. “Different mediums look beautiful together,” she says.
But tile isn’t just for the kitchen, bath and floor anymore, says Gundberg. Tile is more and more seen throughout the house. Rich leather tiles can warm up a study or add elegance to an elevator. Stainless steel tiles add drama to a modern kitchen.
Glass tiles have gone from an exciting trend to a design staple over the past five years. The iridescent Loom, manufactured from an antique mold by the acclaimed Bisazza factory of Italy, uses hand weaving to create a texture that appears to soften and warm the glass. The Erin Adam collection is another popular glass tile that has been featured in everything from kitchen backsplashes to framing a fireplace.
Antique stone tiles may be the ultimate luxury. Culled from ancient streets, public buildings and houses in France and Spain, the terra cotta tiles can be anywhere from 200 to 1000 years old. The Biblical tiles, thick limestone slabs from Israel, can be up to 2000 years old. The tiles are reclaimed, cleaned and labeled to show where and when they were originally laid. “It is very beautiful,” says Gundberg. “They have developed a patina over time so they have a really beautiful surface.“
Jennifer Capasso, head of sales for Walker Zanger, agrees homeowners are progressively more sophisticated consumers. Many visit the showroom time after time to make sure that they find exactly what they want. “They go to our showroom and to all of our competitors before they make their decision,” says Capasso.
“Our clients go for a look without being concerned with the cost,” says Capasso. “They might use a neutral limestone or slate and then add a little kick of glass as an accent piece or to carve out a space,” says Capasso. They feel pretty safe [without a designer] because they have gone to the websites, the magazines, the showrooms.
For more than 50 years Walker Zanger has specialized in Old World stone culled from quarries around the world and tile lines produced by domestic and international artisans that combine traditional tile-making techniques with modern sensibilities.
Homeowners are buying ceramic tiles with smaller and more interesting shapes,” she says. People can’t seem to get enough of the “subway tile,” a clean brick-shaped tile that is stunning in white and is often used in backsplashes or tiled walls.
Capasso loves the floors that combine different shapes or sized of tiles to create a random pattern. To be effective, she warns, that kind of treatment is best when it is used in a large space.
“Patine is the hottest metal tile we have right now and we can’t keep it in stock,” she says. This embossed copper tile is usually used as an accent in the kitchen. Glass is also very hot right now, adds Capasso who loves when clients install glass tiles along the water line in pools.
But at the end of the day, we are selling stone,” she admits. The last two years has seen their stone lines expand from one to five lines. Wine connoisseurs love to create a wine cellar encased in natural stone. The natural insulating abilities keep the temperature and humidity constant, but it is the beauty of the room that is the real draw. “Stone is authentic; it has been around for thousands of years,” says Capasso. “It makes your house look like it has been there since the 12th century.”
Leigh O’Dell, marketing director for Pratt & Larson Ceramics, loves the versatility of ceramic tiles. The twenty-five year old company started out with two people in a basement and has grown to encompass 100 employees, 120 showrooms and a reputation that is second to none. Aside from the designs generated by the owner and the designers, any employee can produce a design and if adopted will get a royalty every time it is purchased. “We release new tiles every other month,” says O’Dell. The Portland showroom is as much a market research center as a showroom. “We always try to keep our ear to the ground and respond to what our dealers tell us customers are saying.”
Their classic line still sells like hotcakes and includes traditional images of fruits, vegetables, animals and flowers. The last two years, however, has seen the company add an historical line of egg and dart tiles and glass tiles designed by tile makers from Seattle and California.
Their more recent lines, however, are also very popular and include timeless designs like harlequin tiles and 2-inch hexagon and 2-inch diamond tiles primarily used in bathroom flooring, counters and surrounds. “We have seen a move back to the retro bathrooms,” says O’Dell.
“Almost every order is custom made,” says O’Dell. Pratt & Larson has 1000 different tiles with a library of 300 standard color options, “but if you can’t find the right pink,” says O’Dell, “we will match it for you. We can truly customize the order. There are very few dos and don’ts in our line.”
Any style can be ordered in any of their four distinctive glaze lines: R-gloss, Parchment matte, Watercolor and Craftsman, as well as several specialty glazes. “We can make a black bear, a brown bear or a polar bear with a red eye,” says O’Dell, who has been with the company for 12 years. For the Oregon museum of Science and Industry they created bas relief tiles that included a cog and wheel, insects and a human skull. “You don’t often get projects like that,” she laughs.
by Lynn Goya
Published in Estates West
12-31-2003