Converted from a three car garage in the 1940′s this space on Ames Alley housed Betty May school for dance until the early 80′s when Betty May passed away.

The studio holds a special place in my heart because not a month goes by without someone stopping me to talk about the fact that they or someone they know danced or was somehow involved in the studio. It was real neighborhood fixture.

I lived in the studio while I renovated the front flats of my house on Guerrero.

Ames before Renovation

Ames frontage after renovation.

Serving as a design motif I preserved the tap marked maple floors and built up and around this grounding element.

The fireplace is wrapped in 1/4″ x 1 1/2″ slats that were milled from the existing douglas fir roof joists before we raised the ceiling height and replaced the roof with engineered trusses.

The kitchen with custom cabinetry built by my friend Steve.

The bathroom where a skylight above doubles as a rooftop table.

This was my first vertical succulent garden.

Our small but oh so deep soaking tub was formed in placed by concrete works.