If you follow SF-based photographer Leslie Williamson on Instagram, you know she’s rarely at home; she’s too busy flying around the world documenting the homes of midcentury artists, architects, and designers. Her first two books, Modern Originals and Handcrafted Modern, are classics that belong on the shelves of any design devotee.
What especially caught our eye: the home and studio of sculptor Alma Allen in Joshua Tree, filled with his finished and in-progress biomorphic wood and bronze sculptures. (Another favorite: Alice Waters’s Oakland garden; take a tour at Californians at Home: Intimate Portraits by Leslie Williamson on Gardenista.)
Above: “The home and studio that Alma designed and built curl around an enclosed central courtyard,” Williamson writes, “so the grouping of buildings feels a bit like a compound. Each structure is made of cinderblock, concrete, and wood with two large walls of sliding glass as the front entrance.” Above: On display in Alma’s living space: sculptural carved works, some that function as furniture. “When I look at his pieces, I feel transported—no doubt to my imaginary lunar world of Alma,” Leslie writes. Above: “The living space is simple and essential—a combined kitchen and living room, a small utility area, and a bedroom with a master bath all opening out to the central courtyard,” Leslie writes. Above: Beauty in imperfection: Note the irregularly positioned cabinet pulls in the kitchen. Above: “A bench in the small utility area leading to the bedroom has twin street-find sculptures basking in the sun,” Leslie writes. Above: “After a while, I found myself trying to figure out what Alma did not make,” Williamson says of her time spent at Alma’s compound. Among the pieces from other designers she spotted: an Eileen Gray E1027 used as a bedside table in his bedroom.
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