Posted on Thu, Nov. 12, 2009

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Small living space doesn't cramp their family's style

BY DAVID A. KEEPS

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Though he is still crawling, 9-month-old Thurston Conder takes about 10 seconds to have the run of the house.

It's not that he's exceptionally fast; he just doesn't have that far to roam. Thurston shares 380 square feet with his mom and dad, Kelly Breslin and Ryan Conder, and a medium-sized mutt named Charlie.

Lots of young families start out in small houses, just not this small. These parents say it's their preference, and that the small space hasn't cramped their style. It's arranged for maximum efficiency, but it still looks comfortable and fashionably decorated.

Conder, 35, owner of the men's clothing store South Willard, and Breslin, 32, a ceramic artist, have given it a distinct personality: Quadruple their living quarters and it would look like a downtown artist's loft with a carefully edited selection of contemporary art and mid-century Danish and Italian design.

"Everyone who comes over says, 'Wow, it's so cute,' but I know they are thinking, 'Wow, it's so small,' " Breslin says.

Adds Conder: "Even the guy who comes to fix the sink asked where the bedroom is."

There isn't one.

Built atop a two-car garage in L.A.' s Echo Park neighborhood, the 1950s house's living quarters consist of two rooms — and that's if you count the bath. There isn't a designated nursery or even a crib. Along with other parents in their circle of friends, Conder and Breslin practice co-sleeping, so Thurston rests with them.

Breslin, a former nanny, says she would hardly call their lifestyle neo-hippie.

"We are trying to be conscientious about the choices we make," she says.

The queen-size bed that she and Conder share with Thurston sits on a minimalist platform with drawers for his toys. It is the only thing Conder says he has ever purchased at IKEA, and it's tucked in a corner, a few inches from a swank, streamlined sofa by eminent Italian architect and designer Tobia Scarpa. Overnight visitors crash on the couch or sleep in a backyard tent.

At the foot of the bed, Thurston gets his diaper changed atop a Danish modern dresser. Photos and works on paper by the couple's artist friends cover the walls. Conder also collects pottery, including the work of Peter Voulkos and Northern California ceramist Stan Bitters.

An early 1960s Cocoon lamp by Achille and Pier Castiglioni — an exotic variation on George Nelson's Bubble lamp that Conder purchased on the German eBay — hangs over an L-shaped orange Formica counter that delineates the kitchen area.

The family eats at a round wooden table, with Mom and Dad sitting on chairs by Danish designer Borge Mogensen. Should guests drop by, there is a second table with a solid teak top and wrought-iron legs, a collaboration between Arne Jacobsen and Piet Hein.

"When you have this small space, every decision is critical," Conder says. "You can only have things that fit within the scale of this space. And these are all things I have wanted for a long time."

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