Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1539742
What happens when an artist and a landscape architect move in together? The house overflows with art, plants, and a moody vibe. In Montrose's historic Hyde Park commu nity, a 1970s town h o u s e d o u b l e s as a studio and conservatory for artist Jaime Loera, 41, and his partner, George Johnston, 40, founder of the landscape architecture firm Ground Control. The house merges their strengths — "Jaime's artistic, creative sensibilities with my sort of landscapearchitect order," Johnston says. Picture a gallery meets greenhouse where art and botany converge. In the living room, a lavish salon wall mixes Loera's canvases with early drawings by Alexander Calder and David Hockney, along with works by Shane Tolbert and Billy Hassell, among others. In the dining room, Loera handpainted a delicate, sepiatoned mural of meadow wildflowers, tiny hummingbirds, and bees. The hummingbirds nod to a mural at Rosetta in Mexico City, where Loera celebrated his 40th birthday. He painted a similar wildflower motif on the tablecloth and a Noguchistyle pendant overhead. Diffused light from an adjacent openair atrium nourishes Johnston's collection of exotic potted plants, including horse chestnut vine, New Zealand tree fern, and a Chinese parasol tree. "We both have big green thumbs, and we love having plants everywhere, so we keep the house like a jungle," he says. To let the art and plants sing, they needed the right shade of white. When the couple stalled on paint colors, they enlisted help from two friends, designers Catherine Brooks Giuffre and Allie Wood. "It took a long time and a lot of color swatches," Johnston says. "We went through so many different white paints for the downstairs walls and we couldn't decide, so they helped break the tie." Giuffre steered them to Greek Villa by SherwinWilliams 52 Jaime Loera and George Johnston in their living room. The André Cazenave Moon Rock floor lamp belonged to Johnston's grandmother, Bebe Johnston. The living room salon wall of art, with Florence Knoll chairs and a trio of waterfall tables by the Berlin studio Tebton.