Bathrooms of the Rich and Not-So-Famous

Vaughn McMillan

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As I've mentioned before, my new job as an artwork installer gives me an opportunity to see some pretty cool houses. And as much time as I spend driving in thick and unpredictable traffic every day, I usually don't pass up a chance to use the guest bathroom when we make a stop. I figured I'd share a few quick (and poor-quality) cell phone shots of some of the more interesting bathroom sinks I've seen in the past few weeks. This will likely be a continuing series...

I honestly don't recall the locations of any of these sinks. Could be Beverly Hills, Encino, Bel Air, Thousand Oaks, Brentwood, Malibu, Pacific Palisades. The low-rent districts of Los Angeles. :p

This first one is a really poor photo, but it is what it is. What it is is a chrome pipe coming down from the ceiling into a concrete or stone sink. The faucet control lever is mounted to the mirror that makes up the entire wall behind the sink. (It looks like two pipes due to the reflection in the mirror. You can also see a reflection of some ugly guy with a cell phone camera with his back to the opposite wall.) It's a pretty splashy experience when you wash your hands...

Strange Faucet - 600.jpg

This sink is lathe-turned stone, sitting on a stone vanity top. The faucet lever is a chrome cube. I just thought it looked cool, so I snagged a pic...

Gray Stone Sink - 800.jpg

This is a one-piece sink and vanity top, all clear glass...

Glass Sink - 800.jpg

And here's the faucet that's on that sink...

Glass Faucet - 600.jpg

This isn't a bathroom, but Perry (my boss) and I both figure this antique piece of carved marble is one of the coolest kitchen sinks we've ever seen...

Perry at the Long Sink - 600.jpg

And lastly, this isn't sink or bathroom related, but I figured I'd show it anyway. These are three out of about a dozen pieces of artwork that we removed from the walls and wrapped in plastic for temporary storage early Friday morning, then went back as the the TV shoot was wrapping up and re-installed everything late Friday evening. (I happened to have this shot because I needed a record showing the order they were placed in.) This particular client has used Perry's installation services for years. (Perry installed all of the artwork originally.) He also rents his house out for film and TV shoots, and quite often some of his artwork is taken down and prop artwork is installed in its place. One of this client's stipulations to the production companies is that they hire us to remove and reinstall all the artwork. He just feels more comfortable with us handling things like these signed original Andy Warhol prints. (These are worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 to $100,000 each.)

Three Warhols - 800.jpg

No pics, but we also removed and replaced an original Roy Lichtenstein painting that is worth somewhere north of $100,000. This thing was about 6' x 7' and it weighed around 120 to 130 pounds. We got to carry it up and down the stairs you see in the photo. Very carefully. :rolleyes:

But just in case you think my job is all champagne wishes and caviar dreams, here's a fairly typical shot from my "office" window...

View From the Office - 800.jpg
 
Very cool Vaughn. The new job certainly has its share of interesting places. The way my mind works - I wonder - if the sinks look as shown, what do the toilets look like? Don't answer.....I don't want TMI.
 
Pretty cool...except for the last one. I like the glass one the most personally. Would like to get back into my glass work and do some slumping at some point. A sink is one project I'd like to try.
 
Ohhh the vanity of some people, the way they throw their money down the drain. Plumb washes away my envy!
Then again, if I was flush with cash...:p

If you're amped up about that, wait'll you see my next series...Electrical Outlets of the Poor and Well-Known. The pictures are shocking, yet they should provide a conduit for the truth and and spark discussion, illuminating an electrifying commentary on the current situation. Watt more could one ask for? :D
 
I find that interesting. I guess that long sink doubles as a place to bath baby at supper time while cooking.:rofl:

I dunno for me standard will do. I rather put my money into something else. Heck how long do you spend in front of a sink in your life.


Vaughn having had my taste of your highway system on more than one too many occassions, I could never ever understand why people live out your way.

There are 50 states in the USA. Many in my view way more beautiful and one heck of a lot more spacious without the ever looming threat of falling off into the seas and where the commute to work is perhaps a few minutes and the biggest delay maybe a train crossing or cattle in the road. Sorry i dont get the big attraction of being in the hum drum of that parking lot.:D:) You have my sympathy. I guess you moved to the edge of the mountains to avoid it and now you dragged through it each day.
 
If you're amped up about that, wait'll you see my next series...Electrical Outlets of the Poor and Well-Known. The pictures are shocking, yet they should provide a conduit for the truth and and spark discussion, illuminating an electrifying commentary on the current situation. Watt more could one ask for? :D

Looking forward to it, plane and simple! Though I hope you don't just mill about going against the grain, trying to force fit something in the hopes it will be poplar. A sharp exotic route, shaped with a standard template in mind, wood in my opinion, chisel out a smooth finished product. Whatever angle you choose to construct this series, please don't lumber around aimlessly, staining your reputation. I enjoy your bits, as you have a way of clamping the readers attention and keeping them from becoming board...stay on that cutting edge, it's the measure of a true craftsman. :thumb:
 
Ohhh the vanity of some people, the way they throw their money down the drain. Plumb washes away my envy!
Then again, if I was flush with cash...:p

Ken,
Your comment made me recall a conversation I had with an uncle.. my mother's brother who was a contractor in the Bay Area.... he did a lot of work in the Hillsborough community.. one of the wealthier areas on the Peninsula between SF and San Jose... Bing Crosby lived in Hillsborough... My uncle quoted and did a job of installing a staircase in the front entry way of a guys house... keep in mind this was back in the late '60's-early'70's.... Uncle Eddie quoted about $30K for the job, included taking out the old stair case, installing the new and clean up.... He had finished and was cleaning up when the owner arrived back from a trip down to Los Angeles.... the owner came in all excited and told Uncle Eddie he had just bought a spiral stair case off a movie set and wanted it put where the new $30K stair case sat.... Uncle Eddie told him he had just finished and was clearing away the debris... the man said "I don't care, I want this one there...".... after refiguring and requoting the new job, he said go ahead... the new job was just over $40K... included tearing out the old(New), installing the new spiral stairs and clean up... the man was as happy as a clam, but had just spent $70K putting in a new stair case - twice ... he evidently was flush with money.
 
I am looking forward to the continuing series. This is kinda fun. However, I think that your purposeful slandering of our stellar California highway system by inserting that picture from Istanbul is unforgivable. I think the rest of the coutnry has finally caught on that California's claim to traffic, smog, sprawl and congestion is a thinly veiled farce to keep people from moving to our little slice of heaven. Why, our freeways are as serene and natural as an undersea dance . . .

. . . of great-white sharks in a feeding frenzy! :eek:
 
Looking forward to it, plane and simple! Though I hope you don't just mill about going against the grain, trying to force fit something in the hopes it will be poplar. A sharp exotic route, shaped with a standard template in mind, wood in my opinion, chisel out a smooth finished product. Whatever angle you choose to construct this series, please don't lumber around aimlessly, staining your reputation. I enjoy your bits, as you have a way of clamping the readers attention and keeping them from becoming board...stay on that cutting edge, it's the measure of a true craftsman. :thumb:

OK pardner...I know when I've been out-punned.

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:p :p :p :p :p
 

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