The COUPAR Edit
Your go-to for design industry insights and education. Explore our monthly blogs, meet industry leaders in our Take 10 series, and learn from historic design icons. Enhance your business with practical marketing and design tips. Subscribe for monthly updates!
Celebrating Halloween: The Winchester House
At COUPAR, we take holidays seriously, especially Halloween. We love our local haunted mansion, the Winchester Mystery House, in San Jose. Firearms and ammunition heiress Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester built the Queen Anne-style estate from 1886 to 1922. Along with its 24,000-square-foot labyrinth of 160 rooms, it has stairs, doors, and windows that lead nowhere.
Take 10 With COUPAR’S Roshie Larijani
Design Director Roshie Larijani has been with COUPAR for nearly nine years. She has managed projects from concept to installation and is instrumental in the training and ongoing education of the studio team members.
Authors’ Alcove: The San Francisco Fall Show
We've always admired Aubrey Beardsley's fin de siècle ink drawing for the cover of The Yellow Book series. Beardsley, who died of tuberculosis at age twenty-five, mastered the art of black and white in his brief life. His night scene depicts an elegant woman transfixed outside a bookstore, with the pierrot figure of the shopkeeper looking on. We hope you are equally transported by the COUPAR-sponsored Authors' Alcove at The San Francisco Fall Show this year (October 17 - 20, 2024, Opening Gala Night, October 16, 2014).
Celebrating Labor Day: The Building Trades
With the passing of Labor Day, COUPAR wants to celebrate the building trades. The architect and designer get the glory for a project, while the builder and subcontractors execute their vision.
Stop The Press! California Homes Magazine’s New Website
COUPAR Marketing collaborated with California Homes Magazine on their new website to replace an antiquated and static one that dated back fifteen years. It was an exciting project as the magazine, headed by Publisher Heidi Gerpheide and Editor-In-Chief Susan McFadden, celebrates the Golden State's diverse topography and fearless creative spirit.
In Black and White: The 2024 San Francisco Fall Show
The theme for this year's San Francisco Fall Show is "The Timeless Appeal and Elegant Contrast of Black-and-White." We anticipate seeing Gala outfits inspired by Truman Capote's 1966 masquerade, the Black and White Ball, and the recent TV series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.
News Flash! Van Acker Construction’s New Website
Recently, COUPAR Marketing completed a new website for Van Acker Construction. The esteemed Bay Area-based general contracting and construction management firm has collaborated with elite architects and designers since its founder, Gary Van Acker, started his business in the early 1980s. Now that his son Danny Van Acker co-directs the company, they needed a website reflecting its future while referencing its heritage
Take 10 With Real Estate Agent Sage Penkin of Yost Quesada
As COUPAR Design expands into different markets, we are thrilled to have our go-to real estate partner in San Diego, The Yost Quesada Team. This savvy team of real estate agents seamlessly assists their clients with purchasing and selling in the San Diego area. COUPAR has particularly enjoyed collaborating with Yost Quesada team member Sage Penkin, who has her finger on the pulse in the real estate realm.
Take 10 With COUPAR’S Julia Marani
It would have been natural for COUPAR Studio Design Director Julia Marani to have chosen a career in the more "serious" field of architecture. Her father, Grant Marani, is a partner at RAMSA; her mother, Anne Rieselbach, is the Program Director of The Architectural League of New York; her brother, Matthew Marani, is an editor at Architectural Record. Instead, the native New Yorker chose an adjacent path in interior design and now works on both the COUPAR Studio and COUPAR Design sides.
Pride Month Profile: Architect, Designer, and Visionary, Eileen Gray
“To create, one must first question everything.” Eileen Gray
June is Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community, and COUPAR profiles Modernist architect, designer, visionary, and openly bisexual Eileen Gray (1878-1976).
COUPAR Out and About
The COUPAR Team has been actively participating in the spring bouquet of design events for 2024. From showroom happy hours to the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, the staff always appreciates these opportunities to spend time together, connect with familiar faces, and meet new industry professionals, all while actively engaging with stellar design.
COUPAR Design: Shopping For Antiques At Epoca And Garden Court
COUPAR Design is currently working on an Edwardian apartment in Pacific Heights showcasing jewel-toned hues and classic furnishings. The homeowner wants to add a few select antiques to the design. COUPAR agrees with designer Suzanne Tucker that “antiques give a room soul.” Lead Project Manager Monica Eng visited San Francisco's Epoca and Garden Court Antiques, conveniently located under one roof in a former SOMA cheese warehouse.
Celebrating Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month: I.M. Pei
The hand of man joined with nature becomes the essence of creativity. I. M. Pei
Against the Parisian sky, the modernist Louvre Pyramid contrasts with the palace's French Renaissance architecture—the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed the structure composed of glass segments and metal poles in 1983. Ieoh Ming Pei (1917-2019) was born in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, into a wealthy family from the scholar-gentry class.
Earth Day: Designing With Nature in Mind
Spring is upon us, and as Earth Day approaches, we draw inspiration from built spaces that integrate the native surroundings. Preserving and enhancing California’s natural beauty is a strong value for many Bay Area-based design firms. With the dire issue of climate change, it’s essential to use more sustainable practices and knowledge about the environment when constructing the built world.
Take 10 With COUPAR’S Teresa Kintz
As a Principal at COUPAR, Teresa Kintz sets the aesthetic and operational tone for the company, bridging interior design and tech. Teresa oversees both COUPAR Studio and COUPAR Design and has implemented a high level of organization while keeping a holistic vision for the design process to streamline the client experience.
Home Is Where One Starts From: COUPAR Design
We are thrilled to announce the addition of COUPAR Design to our Studio and Marketing offerings. With a team of seasoned professionals, we continue to support the design and building communities while now producing independent projects under the COUPAR name. Our first solo endeavor was updating the interiors of a 1963 Northern California Modernist home
Julia Morgan Awards 2024: Congratulating Tucker & Marks and Skurman Architects
The biennial Julia Morgan Awards announced the 2024 winners, and both Tucker & Marks and Skurman Architects won for the French neoclassical Pacific Heights estate they restored and reimagined.
Women’s History Month: Designer Frances Adler Elkins
Frances Adler Elkins (1888 – 1953) may have been born in Milwaukee, but Dorothea Walker, former West Coast editor of Condé Nast, dubbed her "the first great California decorator." A favorite of San Francisco society, Elkins often teamed up with architect Gardner Dailey and landscape architect Thomas Church. As the younger sister of architect David Adler, she frequently visited him in Paris, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Tell Me a Story: Brand Narratives
Brand storytelling is a powerful way to market your design, architectural, or construction business. Setting yourself apart through an established brand is crucial when competing against other firms. Once identified, these unique narratives tell a cohesive company story through various initiatives and platforms.
Out of the Shadows: Architect Julian Francis Abele
“The lines are all Mr. Trumbauer’s, but the shadows are all mine”— Julian Francis Abele. February is Black History Month, and COUPAR celebrates Philadelphia-born classically trained architect Julian Francis Abele (1881 – 1950).