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Culture

Watercolorist Designs Large Scale Homes That Integrate With Surroundings

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Beverly Hills Artist, Energy Guru & Landscape Designer Also Does Dreamy Homes!

Beverly Hills-based architect Brian Tichenor is a man of many talents, widely recognized for original, artful building designs that integrate large-scale residences and their surrounding landscapes. A graduate of UCLA, Tichenor is a member of the architecture faculty at rival school University of Southern California. Some of his most notable projects include the new LA Times Headquarters and Nantworks, a campus of DNA sequencing and R&D labs on reclaimed oil fields in the north Baldwin Hills that use methane capture, solar infrastructure, and co-generation to achieve energy self-sufficiency.

The Artist

In the art world, Tichenor’s colorful watercolors are found in the homes of many art collectors. And Brian has completed more than 100 gardens throughout the world. With his wife, fellow architect Raun Thorp, he is the author of Outside In: The Houses and Gardens of Tichenor & Thorp, published by Vendome Press in 2017.

A ten-acre estate in Alamo, thoughtfully designed by Tichenor, has been listed for sale at $17.75 million usd/ $24.4 million cad.

Known as Lark Ridge Estate, the property includes Tichenor’s trademark landscaping featuring Mediterranean-style gardens, a lion’s-head fountain with Emperador dark marble surround, a dark plaster pool, and an octagon-shaped spa, complemented by the property’s stunning views of Mt. Diablo and the surrounding valley.

Three houses sit on the grounds, protected by private gates. The 9,812-square-foot main house includes six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The two-story mansion is the classic Mediterranean with a red-tile roof.  Exquisitely designed for indoor-outdoor living, the floor plan offers grand-scale entertaining spaces, casual living areas, sitting rooms, private bedroom retreats, enormous walk-in closets, spa-like bathrooms, dual-executive-office spaces, a gym, and a media room.

French doors, extensive use of Venetian gold from Italian artisans, antique fireplaces, rock crystal chandeliers, and custom onyx-and-marble countertops impart an air of decadent luxury. Each room is unique, with truly stunning wall coverings, including parchment and gold-leafed wallpaper in the executive office, pearlized Venetian plaster walls in the master suite,  custom hand-painted grass-cloth walls in the family room, and a fireplace from New York’s Plaza Hotel. Miele appliances, state-of-the-art AV & security systems, motorized shades, and a computerized lighting system offer the ultimate in high-tech living.

The 917-square-foot carriage house provides a one-bedroom/one-bathroom guest home with a full kitchen and laundry room over an impressive nine-car secondary garage. The 718-square-foot tennis house offers a similar one-bedroom/one-bathroom layout with a kitchenette. Perfect for entertaining, the tennis house opens onto the full-sized lighted tennis court with a basketball hoop and the entertainment deck with a two-way fireplace. An outdoor kitchen and bar, ample poolside lounging areas, and resort-inspired amenities are sure to charm even the most discerning guests.

Located 28 miles south of San Francisco, Alamo is a suburban community known for its bucolic feel and relaxed atmosphere, close enough to San Francisco and Silicon Valley for a comfortable commute but secluded from the hustle and bustle of the city. Lark Ridge Estate sits just above the Iron Horse Regional trail, beloved by walkers, runners and cyclists. Numerous parks and wilderness areas surround the community, which has not yet been heavily developed. Celebrities who call Alamo home include Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, MLB record-setter Mark McGwire, and Oakland Raiders owner Marc Davis. 

The listing is held by Dana Green of Dana Green Team of Compass, Lafayette, California.

Photos:  Courtesy of Compass

Source: larkridgeestate.com

Sci-Tech

Cellular Therapy In Mice Means Aging Reversal In Humans Possible

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Salk researchers treated mice with anti-aging regimen beginning in middle age and found no increase in cancer or other health problems later on
Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
LA JOLLA—Age may be just a number, but it’s a number that often carries unwanted side effects, from brittle bones and weaker muscles to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute, in collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche group, have shown that they can safely and effectively reverse the aging process in middle-aged and elderly mice by partially resetting their cells to more youthful states.

“We are elated that we can use this approach across the life span to slow down aging in normal animals. The technique is both safe and effective in mice,” says co-corresponding author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory and holder of the Roger Guillemin Chair.

“In addition to tackling age-related diseases, this approach may provide the biomedical community with a new tool to restore tissue and organismal health by improving cell function and resilience in different disease situations, such as neurodegenerative diseases.”

As organisms age, it is not just their outward appearances and health that change; every cell in their bodies carries a molecular clock that records the passage of time.

Cells isolated from older people or animals have different patterns of chemicals along their DNA—called epigenetic markers—compared to younger people or animals.

Scientists know that adding a mixture of four reprogramming molecules—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc, also known as “Yamanaka factors“—to cells can reset these epigenetic marks to their original patterns. This approach is how researchers can dial back adult cells, developmentally speaking, into stem cells.

In 2016, Izpisua Belmonte’s lab reported for the first time that they could use the Yamanaka factors to counter the signs of aging and increase life span in mice with a premature aging disease. More recently, the team found that, even in young mice, the Yamanaka factors can accelerate muscle regeneration. Following these initial observations, other scientists have used the same approach to improve the function of other tissues like the heart, brain and optic nerve, which is involved in vision.

In the new study, Izpisua Belmonte and his colleagues tested variations of the cellular rejuvenation approach in healthy animals as they aged. One group of mice received regular doses of the Yamanaka factors from the time they were 15 months old until 22 months, approximately equivalent to age 50 through 70 in humans. Another group was treated from 12 through 22 months, approximately age 35 to 70 in humans. And a third group was treated for just one month at age 25 months, similar to age 80 in humans.

“What we really wanted to establish was that using this approach for a longer time span is safe,” says Pradeep Reddy, a Salk staff scientist and co-first author of the new paper. “Indeed, we did not see any negative effects on the health, behavior or body weight of these animals.”

Compared to control animals, there were no blood cell alterations or neurological changes in the mice that had received the Yamanaka factors. Moreover, the team found no cancers in any of the groups of animals.

When the researchers looked at normal signs of aging in the animals that had undergone the treatment, they found that the mice, in many ways, resembled younger animals. In both the kidneys and skin, the epigenetics of treated animals more closely resembled epigenetic patterns seen in younger animals. When injured, the skin cells of treated animals had a greater ability to proliferate and were less likely to form permanent scars—older animals usually show less skin cell proliferation and more scarring. Moreover, metabolic molecules in the blood of treated animals did not show normal age-related changes.

This youthfulness was observed in the animals treated for seven or 10 months with the Yamanaka factors, but not the animals treated for just one month. What’s more, when the treated animals were analyzed midway through their treatment, the effects were not yet as evident. This suggests that the treatment is not simply pausing aging, but actively turning it backwards—although more research is needed to differentiate between the two.

The team is now planning future research to analyze how specific molecules and genes are changed by long-term treatment with the Yamanaka factors. They are also developing new ways of delivering the factors.”

At the end of the day, we want to bring resilience and function back to older cells so that they are more resistant to stress, injury and disease,” says Reddy. “This study shows that, at least in mice, there’s a path forward to achieving that.”

Belmonte is currently an Institute Director at Altos Labs, Inc., in addition to being a professor at the Salk Institute.Other authors included Mako Yamamoto, Isabel Guillen Guillen, Sanjeeb Sahu, Chao Wang, Yosu Luque, Javier Prieto, Lei Shi, Kensaku Shojima, Tomoaki Hishida and Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban of Salk; Kristen Browder, Zijuan Lai, Qingling Li, Feroza Choudhury, Weng Wong, Yuxin Liang, Dewakar Sangaraju, Wendy Sandoval, Michal Pawlak, Jason Vander Heiden and Heinrich Jasper of Genentech, Inc.; Amin Haghani and Steve Horvath of UCLA; Estrella Nuñez Delicado of Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia; and Pedro Guillen Garcia of Clínica CEMTRO.The study was supported by Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), and Fundación Dr. Pedro Guillén.

DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00183-2

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:
Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk’s mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer’s, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin.
Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes — which is affiliated with UCSF — won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of how to transform ordinary adult skin cells into cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any cell in the human body. Yamanaka shared the prize with John B. Gurdon of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, England.
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Bravo TV Star Asa Soltan Rahmati Launches Sacred Rituals For Women Book

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Asa Soltan Rahmati has had many lives. From fleeing Iran as a child and living as a refugee in Germany and then the U.S. to becoming a celebrated reality television star on Bravo TV’s Shahs of Sunset; from launching a successful designer line of women’s kaftans to becoming a brand new parent with beau Jermaine Jackson Jr. – she is a master of reinvention and personal-betterment. In her newest life – as a published author – she sets out to empower other women to truly love themselves and take control of their own destinies.

Her book GOLDEN: Empowering Rituals to Conjure Your Inner Priestess is hitting bookstore shelves now. In it she shares seven sacred rituals that she developed throughout her life as she went from refugee (twice) to “artsy” to the Persian Pop Priestess that fans of Shahs of Sunset have grown to admire. I’d love to send you a copy of the new book for consideration of coverage in an upcoming story.

Asa’s life has been a filled with great challenges and deep loss, but through it – and through her outsider status – she learned to face life fearlessly and with her own style. From her self-love ritual to her chapter on confidence (“Radiate Beauty from the Inside Out”), Asa provides readers with the ultimate “green juice, master cleanse and z pack” for life. It all starts with her Priestess Detox, the total mind, body, soul cleanse to get the reader in touch with her own Inner Priestess. Asa’s ability to translate her rituals have helped hundreds of thousands of her fans become more empowered. GOLDEN is her gift to them and to anybody who is ready to take control, learn to love themselves, and face the future with confidence and strength.
When I was in college at UCLA, I worked part-time at an African art store in Santa Monica. One day Maya Angelou came into the store. I have always been a huge fan of hers and I was completely starstruck. She walked straight toward me, took my hand in hers, looked me directly in the eyes, and said, “stay golden, my child.”

– Asa Soltan, from GOLDEN

GOLDEN by Asa Soltan

Empowering Rituals to Conjure
Your Inner Priestess
Available Now

Asa Soltan Rahmati – Persian Pop Priestess, Spiritual Gangsta, and beloved star of Bravo TV’s hit reality show, Shahs of Sunset – shares seven sacred rituals that she has developed throughout her life in GOLDEN: Empowering Rituals to Conjure Your Inner Priestess (North Star Way; May 9, 2017; $25.99 USD).

Asa was eight years old when her family fled their war-torn country of Iran to seek refuge in Germany. To say she experienced culture shock after arriving is an understatement. She had never seen anyone that looked and acted so different from her, and she didn’t speak a word of German or English. She felt completely cast off from her land, her culture, and her people.

Feeling a need to connect to her culture and herself, she created rituals that she practiced every day. At first they were a simple way to create a sacred space for herself so she could go within and remember who she really was. But when she became a refugee for the second time moving from Germany to Los Angeles, those rituals — on beauty, love, career, family, and friendships–kept her deeply connected to her Inner Priestess, the authentic version of herself that existed without ego, baggage, or attachments to material things.

Asa’s own personal journey to find peace and self-acceptance helped her marry her artistic side with her business acumen and led her to launch a highly successful kaftan business, create a line of jewelry for Home Shopping Network and, of course, the television show. GOLDEN will help readers find their own power with inspirational quotes, stories and photos from her childhood to illustrate the impact her rituals can have. Whether you choose to focus on one ritual separately or all of them at once, GOLDEN can guide you to a state of glamorous, gorgeous mindfulness and a chance to live the life of your dreams.

Since the first season of Shahs aired, Asa has gained a loyal legion of fans who refer to her as the Spiritual Gangsta. Many of them write her to seek answers to their most personal questions. They often ask how to feel confident and feel good about their bodies in a world that’s hyper critical of women’s looks, how to gain the courage to follow their dreams, and how to stay true to their culture and traditions yet remain a modern woman. Asa’s ability to translate her rituals have helped hundreds of thousands of her fans become more empowered. GOLDEN is her gift to them.

Golden by Asa Soltan

About Asa Soltan Rahmati
Asa Soltan Rahmati, also known as the Persian Pop Priestess and Spiritual Gangsta, is the star of Bravo’s hit realty show, Shahs of Sunset. Asa lived on three continents and spoke four languages by the time she moved to the United States at fifteen. The Islamic revolution and decade-long war were the backdrop of her early childhood, and paved the way for her own personal revolution to build confidence, spirituality, and remain at peace among life’s daily trials and tribulations. Known for her glamour and down-to-earth spirituality, Asa is also an internationally recognized multimedia artist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. In 2014 Asa launched her highly anticipated luxury kaftan line, Asa Kaftans, which celebrities and her international fan-base adore. Asa is committed to using her unique blend of high-art, pop-culture, glamour, and spirituality to make the world a more beautiful and positive place. For the Silo, Jason Southerland.

About North Star Way
North Star Way is an imprint dedicated to publishing “information to make your life better.”  With a non-fiction editorial focus in the areas of motivation, inspiration and books that advise and inform, North Star Way aims to connect readers with thought leaders through a variety of new media formats including books and e-books, on-line courses and subscriptions, speaking engagements, mobile applications, original video and audio books, sponsorships and business partnerships, podcasts. North Star Way authors include John O’Leary, Maya Penn, Amanda Steinberg, JJ Virgin, and Keke Palmer.