House Style with Alex Tieghi-Walker at his 1960s home in Echo Park, Los Angeles
Words Billie Brand
Photography Pat Martin
Production Hannah Philips
To celebrate the forthcoming release of Issue No.5 of The Modern House Magazine, which launches in September, we’re looking back to the pages of our most recent edition. Issue No.4 was a homage to the glorious great outdoors – and, as a result, it saw us discover lush landscapes and living spaces of places including Mallorca and Australia. The story we’re sharing today, however, takes us to Los Angeles, where we’re visiting the home of the brilliant gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker.
Alex has lived in some extraordinary buildings, from a crumbling castle in Wales to a slender apartment in Argentina. His current home, a sun-drenched 1960s house set within the neighbourhood of Echo Park, is no exception. It’s telling of both his eclectic past and lifelong habit collecting, while also serving as the backdrop to his craft gallery, Tiwa Select. Here, we take a look around and discover his House Style.
How would you describe the interiors of your home?
People often say my house reminds them of Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge.
It doubles as my gallery and is full of furniture, art, ceramics, sculpture. If someone comes to look around, I encourage them to interact with the objects and they often stay for lunch. I like houses that can accommodate people for celebration and community. I’ve got hundreds of chairs dotted around – hanging on walls, sat in corridors
– just in case friends come for dinner. There are lots of textiles from places like Mexico and India. I don’t shy away from colour: my kitchen is bright green, my guest bedroom is pink. But the furniture is quite serious and simple. I like big, sturdy, farmhouse-type designs. I’m not prissy about things being damaged. I enjoy them as they age.
You’re happiest at home when…
I’m in my reading nook either with a book, with my dog or napping.
I was inspired by my friend Fritz Haeg, who designed Salmon Creek Farm in California around a principle from A Pattern Language, which encourages reading nooks in numbers. One of the first things I did here is make my own. Despite the rest of the house feeling voluminous, it’s intimate and cosy, and by two beautiful windows that welcome in a breeze. It feels like you’re on holiday.
If you could save one thing, what would it be?
A traditional woollen Andean hat I bought from a beautiful city called Salta in Argentina.
It’s a pointy mountain style in different shades of pale pink and green and it’s embroidered with early versions of helicopters and planes, llamas and domestic animals. Whenever I move house, it’s the last thing I pack and the first I hang up – and it always goes next to the bed.
What’s your favourite living space in the world?
I love how Casa Luis Barragán in Mexico City teases as you tour.
It plays with one’s feelings moving from a voluminous space, such as the library, to a compact bedroom. Barragán created a real flow through the home. His approach to architecture, which draws in from Mesoamerican and Moroccan traditions, is such an interesting fusion of culture and it results in a really special home.
What’s the last thing you bought for the house?
I’ve started collecting antique Delft tiles.
The blue-and-white patterns are so whimsical and look like children’s storybook illustrations. I’ve become fixated with them. I currently have about 18. I get obsessed when I start to see the same type of object over and over out in the wild – that’s when it starts. I’ve been collecting small ceramic vessels and Mezcal cups for ages because I always spot them at markets. I find it really curious that there are so many iterations of the same object.
What are your top three coffee table books?
I love the way photographer Leslie Williamson captures other people’s homes and her most recent book, Still Lives, is really special.
Then I’d have to pick Mexico Illustrated. I think the country’s visual culture is incredible. And I was given a beautiful Japanese book by Megumi Shauna Arai, an artist I work with, about the mingei pottery movement. It’s from the 1920s and all the ceramics have been photographed as if they are in a museum.
If money was no object, what changes would you make to the home?
I’m happiest when I’m in hot water and I love Japanese onsens, so I would create a proper outdoor bathroom, as opposed to the one I made myself in my courtyard.
Nature and being outdoors are really important to me and I’m so lucky with this house. I have a large front garden, a vegetable patch and amazing citrus trees: lemon, satsuma, grapefruit. My back garden is wild, because every time I take a flight, I’ll plant a tree out there.
You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
I always keep it simple: a couple of roast chickens, a big green salad, a potato salad and fresh bread from my local bakery.
I like the atmosphere to be very laid back. I never know how many people are going to attend as I toss the invites around and I like to know there’s going to be enough food if extra guests attend. My dinner parties are good fun and hosting here is a dream because the sunsets are amazing.
What does a Sunday look like here?
I’m not very good at sitting down so, even on a Sunday, I’m usually taking on a home project, such as repainting or tiling.
I find doing those things very soothing. I’ll take my dog for a walk – I live between two incredibly beautiful parks. There’s Elysian Park, which involves walking past horses and views of snow-topped mountains
– you would have no idea that you’re in the largest urban area in the USA. Then there’s Griffith Park, where you can see the city below.
What are the best things about your neighbourhood?
It feels very local.
Only one road reaches my neighbourhood, which has the most magical row of shops. It’s unusual for LA to have such a walkable heart where there’s an incredible fresh-food shop, a beautiful bookstore, a little cafe. There are often street parties and BBQs outside my house. It has a friendly family community vibe – and it’s a lot of fun
