Photo by Tony LaBruno
“Artisan Hut” is how Tim Watts of Lunada Bay views his home, the first house to be built on Via Alvarado, back in the mid-60s. Though remodeled since then, there’s still a 1960s VW bus in the detached garage. The garage is also a workshop for his furniture and oceanscape and marine life art.Following the end of his 18-year marriage a decade ago, “art was my therapy, iInstead of drinking,” he said.
Watts’ first art piece following his separation was a large scale, turbulent ocean, highly textured, with deep cerulia hues, utilizing a process Watts said he developed. It involves multi-layers of silica sand, plaster and acrylic paints and then a series of washes and clear coats. All of this on a three-quarter inch slab of wood and a handmade, walnut frame. Watts is a surfer and retired builder. Surfboards hang from the ceiling in his studio workshop, which offers sweeping views of the ocean, and beach trails for fisherman and divers. He’s still a member of the Riviera Surfriders group.
His home is a custom art gallery, inside and out, yet retains a congenial comfort with niches and lofts. Outside the workshop is a sunken fire pit. “I call it the conversation pit,” he said. The fire pit is surrounded by a circular stone wall and stone seating. “There’s no grout in my stoneware. Everything is cut and chiseled. I cut stone for one year solid,” he said. Pathways run throughout the property.
Watt’s furniture pieces are substantial and are constructed with such care and attention to detail, that they suggest a time when cobblers made shoes and tailors made clothes. The mostly walnut furniture is a combination of antique Spanish style with a touch of the Viking, cut with a circular saw blades and a chisel. Then Watts sand the wood to reveal its deep hues. Diamond shaped wood medallions hide the screws.
“I’m a builder by trade and a master carpenter and craftsman. I’m comfortable using an electric saw. Most people wouldn’t be,” he said.
In March 2002, after years in the construction business, he moved to Palos Verdes Estates from La Verne. The original house was a contemporary design. “It looked like one big box.”
Over the years and acting as his own architect and contractor, he transformed the home into a 3,700 square foot Mediterranean beach style home with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, dramatic, 13 foot high ceilings and skylights that bring in lots of natural light. He says the home is 180 feet from the ocean’s edge. The front porch is set up high and surrounded with palm fronds.
“Every Tuesday I host a Bible study here for the River Church,” he said. The South Bay church is best known for its beach services.
On Saturday, April 27, from noon to 8 p.m., Watts will host “The Artisan Hut Art and Furniture Show.” Other participating artists include Tom Balderas, Katrin Cooper, Zen Del Rio, Maria Franklin and Natalie Watts, and is scheduled for Saturday, April 27th from 12 noon to 8PM. The address is 2960 Via Alvarado, Palos Verdes Estates.
