Table of contents for September 2017 in Sunset

EVER SINCE I WAS A KID, I’ve loved reading about other people’s houses. I’d cut photos from old design magazines and slide them into a scrapbook divided into chapters: “Cabin Life,” “Cottage,” etc. When Pinterest arrived, I would lose hours on the trail of one jaw-dropping interior after another, eventually finding my way to a kitchen remodel with semicustom cabinetry painted in a luminous Farrow & Ball hue. That’s how I came to know of Sarah Sherman Samuel, whose Palm Springs A-frame (page 72) is captured on this month’s cover. There aren’t many houses that are more quintessentially Sunset than an A-frame in Palm Springs. What makes Sarah’s home seem especially appropriate is its seamless mix of high-low elements and its fresh take on nostalgia. (It takes guts to go…

“ARE YOU HERE TO WORK with the tourists for the season?” asked a low voice coming from the back of the checkout line. He stood tall in Carhartt pants, chuckling under his full beard. Was I that obvious? I’d only arrived from Breckenridge, Colorado, to this Alaska fishing town not even 24 hours ago. Maybe I had a lost look about me, or there was something in my jam-packed shopping cart that yelped, “Not from around here!” In fact, 2,213 miles from here. “Well, good luck!” said my new neighbor with a tone that made me think I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. But I’d soon find out: Ketchikan lies along the Alaska Panhandle’s Inside Passage, which protects ships from the vagaries of the open ocean.…

Urban essentials Prairie pack…

It’s a tradition at Sunset’s annual Celebration Weekend for our editors to show off the latest in design. But this year, we decided to up the ante and transform a 1900s cottage on our Cornerstone Sonoma campus into a high-style, high-tech space. We tapped a roster of talents to make it happen: Designers Jessica McCarthy and Emily Gaydon from Decorist, a virtual decorating service, oversaw the interior, sourcing pieces from online home-goods company TheMine. Thumbtack, a site that connects users with local home-improvement pros, helped us with projects ranging from painting to remodeling the kitchen. And when the paint was dry, in came Mosaic, a San Francisco start-up that showed us how to get all our smart home gadgets to talk to one another for a seamless experience. The result…

“Make your beds good-looking with or without a bounty.” PLANT Lettuces grow easily in containers. For convenience, choose a packaged mix such as Renee’s Garden’s Wine Country Mesclun (reneesgarden.com). Follow planting instructions on the packet, set in a sunny spot, and water lightly but frequently. Harvest leaves with shears when leaves reach 4 to 6 inches; it should take about a month. Leave an inch of stem on the plants; they will regrow. For a summer surprise in mild, coastal areas, plant Amaryllis belladonna bulbs. Not to be confused with the Christmastime bloomers commonly called amaryllis, these South African natives—which can grow in a sunny, nonirrigated spot—send up strappy green foliage in winter. Then in summer, trumpetshaped pink blooms pop up on a single stem. Plant starts of broccoli, collards,…

You’d never guess that Sarah Sherman Samuel’s reaction to the Palm Springs–area A-frame she now owns was horror. Horror directed at, of all things, the bathroom. “It was a windowless black hole made even darker with black tile, black-and-gold foil wallpaper, a black toilet, and exposed stone that made it seem like you were walking into a cave. And the lights weren’t working,” recalls the designer and blogger. “I literally felt scared to walk in.” The rest of the 1,100-square-foot house was no great beauty either. Tinted film on the lofty triangular windows conspired to hide the Sonoran Desert views, and the whole place was very, very brown, from the walls to the carpet to the paintedwooden beams. Still, Sarah and her husband, Rupert, an advertising production executive, fell head…

POLE BEAN SALAD with GINGER-SOY TOFU SERVES 4 / 45 MINUTES Tossed with a bright vinaigrette, tender pole beans and tofu make a hearty vegan dinner. Serve warm or chilled. 1 pkg. (16 oz.) extra-firm tofu, drained, patted dry, and cut into ¼-in.-thick strips 1⁄3 cup each canola oil and unseasoned rice vinegar 2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce 1½ tbsp. mirin 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger About ¼ tsp. kosher salt 3⁄4 tsp. sugar ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper 1½ lbs. mixed pole beans in various colors, such as blue lake, romano, and wax, trimmed (cut romanos into 2-in. pieces) ¼ cup each cilantro leaves and toasted sliced almonds Toasted black sesame seeds (optional) 1. Put drained tofu in a shallow baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together oil,…

Succulents Inspiring, practical, and richly photographed, this comprehensive new book from Sunset offers creative ideas and DIY projects using beautiful low-maintenance, water-wise plants! Now available wherever books are sold or at amazon.com Get Organized with The Container Store There’s a better way to have an organized day (and it’s easier than you think). So let’s start today, with The Container Store’s Organized Day Sale. Make meal prep faster, get yourself out the door in seamless fashion and work smarter with simple solutions that make your everyday life easier. containerstore.com Coleman The Outdoor Adventure Cookbook Make your next camping trip unforgettable with over 100 recipes, lists, tips and tricks from the ultimate camping authority. Now available wherever books are sold or at amazon.com American Standard Looks beautiful. Works beautifully. The sleek,…

Tiffanie Turner’s paper blooms demand a double take. From a peony’s wispy stamen to a clenched gathering of ombré petals at the center of a dahlia, her intricate creations are nothing short of magical. In her new book The Fine Art of Paper Flowers: A Guide to Making Beautiful and Lifelike Botanicals (Watson- Guptill; $25), the San Francisco–based architect turned artist shares step-by-step instructions for dozens of realistic blooms, as well as for projects from paper flower crowns to daisy chains and her signature giant flowers. The meticulous processes she’s forged for bending, coloring, and adhering petals testify to her unflinching floral devotion. “I’m a studier of botany,” says Turner, who was an artist-inresidence at S.F.’s de Young Museum last year. “I just duplicate the reality.”…

BEST STRETCH WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OR Last August, Lainey Morse launched Goat Yoga (left; $45; goatyoga.net), which emphasizes happiness and laughter over concentration and form by taking the practice outdoors and introducing cute goats into the equation. “We were in the middle of the election [cycle], and people were sick of the negativity,” Morse says. “This came at the perfect time; it’s hard to take yourself too seriously when you’re cuddling a goat.” Morse launched a quirky yet appealing trend that draws newbies and pros alike. “It’s less intimidating—the animals create a cheerful distraction,” she says. BERTHOUD, CO At the family-run Just Kidding Acres, 19 baby goats roam freely during the small-group sessions hosted by Rocky Mountain Goat Yoga ($25; rockymountaingoat yoga.com). Cofounder Jim Naron says it’s the billies’ sociable and…

Vancouver may be known as Hollywood North for its high-end shops and a skyline that directors love, but for a taste of the real action, head to the city’s more eclectic side in East Van, as locals call it. Beyond downtown’s glitzy skyscrapers are dozens of walkable microhoods, many of which have risen up in the past 10 years—like Mt. Pleasant’s new rival, the Fraserhood. Translation: hot new bars, restaurants, and boutiques in an ethnically diverse area. And fortunately for Americans, the exchange rate means a nearly 30 percent discount—even more reason to spend a day here refreshing your fall wardrobe and sampling the international flavors. GETTING HERE East Vancouver is 140 miles north of Seattle. Two of its main drags are Main and Fraser south of Kingsway. LOCAL LOWDOWN…

The Mine, themine.com. Thumbtack Pros, thumbtack.com. Willem Dersjant, Team Euro Design and Construction. Scott Jones, Scott’s Furniture Solutions. Theo Healey, Theo’s Fine Wallpaper Installation. Sergey Shikhalev, handyman services. Pete Johnson, interior paint, Patriot Painting. Jessica McCarthy and Emily Gaydon, Decorist, decorist.com. Katy Milton, California Closets, californiaclosets.com . Delta Faucet Company, deltafaucet.com. Sunbrella, sunbrella.com. Plants, Sunset Western Garden Collection ; sunsetwesterngardencollection.com. Landscape design, Janet Sluis, Samantha Brown, and Susan Morrison. John Torres, Mosaic, saymosaic.com. G. Garcia Electric, (707) 933-1542. Floral arrangements, Fallon Shea, fallonshea.com . Accessories by The Mine, themine.com . Elsie Green , elsiegreen.com; Nomad Chic, nomadchic.mx ; Chateau Sonoma , chateausonoma.com ; Artefact Design & Salvage , artefactdesignsalvage.com ; Tesoro Flowers , tesoroflowers.com . LIVING ROOM Taylor Burke Home Celine settee, Currey & Company Drayton floor lamp, Exclusive Fabrics…

HELLO, VERTIGO, MY OLDFRIEND . I GRIN NERVOUSLY at my fellow passengers as the floatplane hefts itself out of the muddy Fraser River and heads toward the snowcapped mountains of Vancouver Island. The pilot gets the 10-seater aloft, banking up by an arena built for the 2010 Olympic Games and then over a series of suburban homes set in tidy, fenced-in tracts. No doubt each of the nine passengers has a mix of reasons for leaving all this behind—the competition and conformity of modern urban life—and heading for a remote outpost in Clayoquot Sound. My mix feels a bit of a muddle, something I want to sort out in the wilds, away from my always-demanding devices. But first there’s the vertigo to weather—the mild nausea, the feeling of spinning, and…

28 OZ BONE-IN RIB-EYE THE OLDEST STEAKHOUSE IN SAN FRANCISCO IS A STAR REBORN. 32 OZ PORTERHOUSE HOW DO YOU COMPETE WITH NOSTALGIA ? That’s the challenge chef Daniel Patterson faced when his restaurant group began updating Alfred’s Steakhouse in San Francisco two years ago. Founded in 1928 by an Italian immigrant named Alfred Bacchini, the restaurant was beloved for its grandeur, genteel hospitality, and old-school cuisine. Taking on a classic restaurant—particularly the iconic American steakhouse—wasn’t immediately easy for Patterson, who is renowned for sophisticated modernist techniques at his flagship restaurant, Coi. “It took us an entire year to figure out what Alfred’s should be,” he says. The first attempt at a baked potato, for instance: Flavored with bay leaf, cheddar, and smoked scallions, it was delicious but wasn’t what…

MAKE COCKTAIL MAGIC At Alfred’s, the bartenders spritz their martinis with essential oils distilled from citrus, sold in Berkeley by Mandy Aftel. Lift the glass, and a burst of grapefruit or lemon rushes up to meet you, then flavors every sip. ($16/1-oz. bottle; aftelier.com) . For more about Aftel’s ingenious ways with ingredients, pick up The Art of Flavor (Riverhead Books; $28), written with Alfred’s Daniel Patterson . BUY GOOD BEEF Dry-aged beef is more expensive sive than fresh, but when it’s aged right, you’ll remember every bite. Here’s why: When the beef is stored, unwrapped, in a refrigerator with briskly circulating air for 14 to 30 days or more, it loses moisture, thereby concentrating the flavor. Plus, enzymatic reactions start to tenderize the meat and create complex, earthy, minerally…

AND OTHER GOOD STUFF FREE INFORMATION There are two easy ways to request infor mation: VISIT sunsetgetaways.com MAIL the attached post-paid card TRAVEL DESTINATION: PACIFIC NORTHWEST 101 ARTrails of Southwest Washington 102 Arts Downtown: Puyallup’s Outdoor Gallery 103 Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism 104 Cannon Beach History Center & Museum 105 Explore Fairbanks 106 Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce 107 Marcus Whitman Hotel 108 Marine Link Tours 109 Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce 110 Rosario Resort and Spa 111 Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center 112 Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat 113 Visit Port Angeles CALIFORNIA 114 Alpine County/California Alps 115 Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau 116 Black Oak Casino Resort 117 BW PLUS Stovall’s Hotels of Anaheim 118 Cannery Row Marketing 119 Catalina Chamber of Commerce 120 Explore…

“Pillows should be used with abundance—they’re fun and easy to decorate with,” says Kelly Bedford Willrich (pictured, on right). The pint-size mercantile she runs with business partner Melanie Mount (on left) puts that principle into practice. Clocking in at a mere 150 square feet, The Cushion Shop by Well Made Home packs every inch of its Marin Country Mart location with custom throw pillows in remarkable fabrics, including a washed indigo by St. Frank and a tie-dye by Raoul Textiles. The shop is known for adding a boho spin to trad interiors. “Right now, we’re in love with overdyed mud cloth pillows, particularly in pinks and blues. We mix them with faded batik in a range of colors,” says Mount. Most of the fabric is typically available only to the…

Nap zone WORK HARD, REST HARD p. 43 Rare plants from Central America and Mexico surround Eric Schulz each day in his job as a horticulturist at the University of California Botanical Gardens. But his own backyard is a little less exotic. “I’m really into the plants you find at The Home Depot,” he says. “They’re common for a reason—they’re workhorses.” His tiered garden along a steep slope in Oakland is a stunning endorsement of those workhorses: Bird of paradise, clivia, Coprosma, and ‘Myers’ asparagus ferns are packed densely for a lush, tranquil feel. “At work, I’m trying to create a wild ecosystem, but at home I’m creating a mood,” says Schulz. The plants surround several distinct landing pads, which provide space to socialize and create clean lines. “A good hardscape…

The deep end Our vote for makeover hue of the moment: matte black. The bold design choice is also surprisingly versatile, finding a range of expression in elements from furniture to faucets. Below, the Keystone tile collection from Waterworks brings drama to the kitchen. It’s just one of seven new ways to embrace the dark side this season. 1. STONE Keystone Decorative Field Tile Domino in Vulcan, $60/sq. ft.; waterworks.com. 2. PAINT “Black can be classic, modern, and edgy all at once,” says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams (sherwin-williams.com) . For a fresh spin on the dark and moody trend, she suggests Caviar (SW 6990), a sophisticated hue with subtle softness, or Tricorn Black (SW 6258, above) , the brand’s most popular color in the category. “When…

KENAI FJORDS WILDERNESS LODGE (FOX ISLAND, AK) ELEVATION Sea level. THE JOURNEY A 45-minute boat ride from Seward. THE REWARD Completed in 2013, the main lodge sits inside Halibut Cove, looking out onto Resurrection Bay. Kayak tours go around the island shores; humpbacks and sea lions can be seen through the windows in the dining room, which boasts a private chef. From $520; alaskacollection.com. PHANTOM RANCH (GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ) ELEVATION 2,460 feet. THE JOURNEY Raft in, or hike 7.5 miles down the South Kaibab Trail. THE REWARD Set amid the cottonwood trees along the Colorado River on the canyon floor are wood-and-native-stone cabins built in the 1920s. But before you crash for the night, enjoy a steak dinner at the ranch canteen. From $149; grandcanyon lodges.com. SPERRY CHALET…

PEPPER, CUCUMBER, and CHICKPEA SALAD SERVES 4 (MAKES 5½ CUPS) / 20 MINUTES, PLUS 1 HOUR TO STAND A bright cumin-lemon dressing works well with any thin-skinned pepper. Try a rainbow of them, or focus on one palette, like yellow-orange. To turn the salad into dinner, add hard-cooked eggs and thin strips of salami. 2 tsp. ground cumin ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil Zest of 1 large lemon 1 tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. each minced garlic and kosher salt ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 lb. bell peppers or sweet, thin-skinned frying peppers such as Cubanelle, Gypsy, or Jimmy Nardello, preferably in a mix of colors 4 oz. thin-skinned cucumber, such as Armenian or Persian; or use English cucumber 1 can (15.5 oz.) reduced-sodium chickpeas (garbanzos), rinsed and…

WHEN MARKUS AND LIZ BOKISCH realized growing Spanish grapes was their destiny, they abandoned Napa Valley and headed to an unexpected place: Lodi. The choice was more astute than crazy, as winemakers in this region due east of the Sacramento Delta know that conditions here are propitious for a broad range of varieties. And to put it bluntly, land prices fall far enough short of the likes of Napa and Sonoma that they can afford to experiment. Many wine drinkers, on the other hand, know Lodi for its more commercial bottles. And in truth, large co-op wineries dominated the landscape into the 1960s with jugs and dessert wine. But wine cred here reaches far back, to just after the Gold Rush, when Zinfandel and now-more-obscure red varieties got a toehold.…

Our October Wine Issue is just around the corner, so we’ve partnered with Visit Mendocino County (visitmendocino.com) to give away a four-day tour (worth $1,805) for two to the popular NorCal destination. What’s included: two nights in Anderson Valley at Handley Cellars Ranch House, with stops at Foursight Wines and Pennyroyal Farm; plus two nights on the Mendocino Coast at Brewery Gulch Inn and Little River Inn, complete with dinner at Café Beaujolais and a ride on the historic Skunk Train. For more information on this Instagram contest, visit sunset.com/mendocinocontest (Aug 15–Sep 12).…