Amazing gem of a place! The website tells you all you need to know about the artists, their vision, the history, etc, so this review is less about what you can find on the website and more about our very personal experience.
We found this place on a blog while searching for 'off the beaten track' spots to visit in LA. Seeing that opportunities to visit were limited to a few slots on Saturdays only, and that reservations were required, I immediately sent an email to Cheri and Gonzalo, the artists/home owners, and expressed our great desire to see their Mosaic Tile House.
Cheri immediately emailed me back and over the course of a week we exchanged more emails, Gonzalo got in on the messages, we shared some photos and developed a friendly rapport. Reservations were set, and my hubs and I, also both artists, were really looking forward to our visit.
On the day of our reservation, we drove over to the house early to get a feel for the location and figure out parking. Turns out this amazing house is smack dab in the middle of a typical residential street with plenty of free street parking!
We parked and decided to take a peek into their garden through the mosaicked gate, and we happened to see Cheri and her friend who helps orient visitors. We said hello through the gate, let them know we'd be back for our 2 pm slot, and they invited us to come in already if we wanted! We declined because we didn't want to impose, and our reservation included our niece who wasn't free until 2, but we left even more excited!
We returned at 2, met Cheri again at the entrance, talked to her friend (we'll call her 'the docent'), and received our copy of all the cool things to watch out for on the property, including the best spots for Instagram pics! The place was already buzzing with lots of other visitors, but it did not feel overly crowded. The 'docent' then took our photo on a mosaicked bench under their pineapple guava tree. So nice!
We started walking around and it was mesmerizing! So much color, so many hand-painted tiles interspersed with broken bits of teacups and teapots, ceramic animals and mirror, all mosaicked into sculptures, rainbows, visual narratives. Lots of humor and arrangements that bring a smile. Whimsy, a Wonderland theme, cleverly laid shards of mirror making new mirrors....I cannot be more effusive when I say it was truly fabulous!!
While walking around, we ran into Gonzalo, and when my hubby engaged him in a conversation about how all the tile was set, I told him I had emailed a few weeks prior about our visit, and before I even finished, he exclaimed 'Are you Jen?!' and we immediately spontaneously hugged! He then took a photo of the 3 of us next to a special
'hidden' tile, essentially making us part of the Mosaic Tile House!
In all, we were there roughly 1.5 hrs. We felt the $20 pp was perfectly reasonable to gain entry into the private home of artists who are not part of any larger organization (i.e. they are not supported or subsidized by the city or state, are not part of a gallery or museum), and we had access to both Cheri and Gonzalo to talk first hand about their art, methods and inspiration.
To the other yelpers who felt this experience was "expensive", I'm sorry to say your comments are frankly disrespectful to artists, who deserve to make money off their art - this is their livelihood! And to the yelpers who complained that Cheri and Gonzalo were "rude", again, I urge you to consider that you were literally inside their private living space, enjoying a privilege, and it was more likely YOU who was rude.
To those of you reading my review, please visit Cheri and Gonzalo, support them as artists and shop in the gift shop. Maybe even have a word with them as PEOPLE. They are truly lovely humans, so inspirational, and I for one am truly grateful for the generosity of artists like this who let the paying public have a glimpse at their life's work! read more