Silverlake Tiki Island

The thing is, I don't really have a home BAR. I started collecting way before the home bar revival, and never got deeply into mixology because Jeff Berry was my neighbor and co-conspirator, so I never even tried.

So the artifacts are not kept in one rumpus-type room, the whole house is more of a Tiki museum. Recently, I had some fashion photographers over to use the house as a location for a magazine shoot. They did a "making of" video during it that really was beautifully shot. An exotic model always helps to enhance the collection, of course :) :

http://vimeo.com/65835750

It'll come up as a "private video", so put in the password "Juco". I call it "Waking up on Tiki Island"

Yes, it is not an Exotica soundtrack, and she's not the classic Eurasian Exotica girl - but it works for me!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-05-28 21:12 ]

Sven, I have never seen any thing you yourself have been Cinematographer on
do you have anything posted that we can see?

I think you need more fashion shoots at your house! Cool video.

I don't know what I want more of...tiki or babes.

Tiki AND babes!

It's great to get a glimpse of the HQ & your holdings. Know anyone who could film a guided tour of the entire enclave? ;}

Very nice Sven. I can see how it might be difficult to mix drinks for the neighborhood when Jeff Berry lives next door :lol:

Sven your house looks very cool.
And that video is awesome!
Great job!

Id say you need to do a video of Tiki.

¤(¯*•.(¯•..TIKISKIP..•´¯).•*´¯)¤

Lights for home and
commercial TIKI bars.

Wow. Absolutely stunning!

And your house is really nice too! :wink:

Tiki museum is right - that is quite an impressive collection you have!

Couldn't open the video.

Can you post some photo's of your place?

You poor guy! Did you have to stay there the whole time that hideous girl was there? :D

On 2013-05-28 14:30, Longboard wrote:
Couldn't open the video.

Can you post some photo's of your place?

The password field is case sensitive. Still not working?

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

wow, its really hard to see all your super cool tiki stuff with that gorgeous woman in the way!!! I'll take one to go please!!!
Youve got an awesome collection bro!!! LOVE it!!

Here's some more snaps I took during the shoot, with some surrounding artifacts info:

African masks in the kitchen in the foreground

Witco "Tahiti" bar, O.A. Easter Island paddle in the foreground

Just lazin' around! On the left: Witco bowl bearer, concrete Mai Kai Tangaroa, Disneyworld hotel model,
On the right: Capiz shell UFO lamp, original Westenhaver painting, Wendy Cevola Tiki resin lamp, Witco guitar behind

Top to bottom: Mini Tiki Tony bowl, Tiki Diablo Marquesan drum bowl, Gecko Okolemaluna Lounge fishnet float bowl

On the porch, left to right: Resin floats from Kelbo's, rattan lamp from Exotical, mosaic float from The Tikis
Strickow bottle-style concrete lawn Tiki from local nursery, Leroy Schmaltz carved Moai in the background

In the bedroom: Witco couch, O.A. modern Moai lamp on the left, Tretchikoff portrait, Witco world on right

Stunned Witco God of Good Fortune on the right, framed Kon Tiki menu with my Tiki Ti mug beneath, Ken Ruzic painting on the right

Here's one for the Deadhead Rum fans (I posed the bottle)

In my front yard, with the Blimp

I agree, Sven you have the quintessential Tiki home museum. The video is delightful and leaves me wanting to see more of your fabulous collection. I never knew about Witco till you shared your love of it, I am still not a big fan, but because of you I appreciate it...I even got a Witco map this year for my dining room and am proud of it. It is great to see your Witco in your home, it helps me to be more appreciative of that kind of collecting. The difference between looking at TBOT and learning from that and posts about your home with pictures, is your love of display and how you relate items to each other. JMHO

Great video, thanks for sharing Sven. I felt like i was in a museum (so much to absorb and unsure of where to look and focus) when i visited you way back. I don't know how you manage to fit in the new pieces into your collection!

I hate to be bothersome, but would it be possible to post a full photo of that Easter Island Paddle?

Thanks for the photos, and video. The collection itself is impressive, yes, but what I appreciate most is your arrangement.

On 2013-05-29 03:47, harro wrote:
I don't know how you manage to fit in the new pieces into your collection!

ONLY by finding something better than what's already up - there is no empty wall space or shelf space left, so if I come across something I must have, something else has to go. But not every corner is as cluttered as the original Tiki altar section, the nucleus of where my collection started:

(HDR photo by Jochen Hirschfeld)

The amount of cool stuff in the house might seem impressive, but remember that I started collecting around 1989 :)
I like lamps, as evidenced by this exterior shot of my house where you can see the front porch:

In the foreground is Big Daddy Olu, carved by Leroy Schmaltz in the mid-90s on location (from a tree in the ground)

Here's that paddle, it is in Tiki Modern I believe, it was one of the first pieces I ever bought at Oceanic Arts:

(photo by Tonga Tom)
Also, I like making things glow, so I use light strings a bit.

What really makes the house glow though are its guests! Here is Marina showing my wife Naomi how to play with fire:

Martin Cate, Bosko, Jeff Berry and wives Truus and Rebecca in my kitchen

Traveling Rumpus Room members chatting on the front porch

...and in a rare convergence of Tiki revival luminaries from across the States:

Jeff Chenault, Tiki Kiliki, Hanford Lemoore, Humu Humu, and James Teitelbaum on my Witco couch! :)

A collection really gives pleasure when you can share it with those who appreciate it. Mahalo to my friends.

Awesome pics Sven! Thanks for posting!

Thanks for posting Sven, it truly is a museum. I have has the pleasure of being in your home a few times and I still see MANY new artifacts with each visit. It's impossible to take it all in at once. Bring on the photos!

Great video and pictures. Thank you for sharing.

Love all the lamps, my personal favorite elements.

So we are all invited this weekend?

Wow. That's quite a crew on the couch.

OK, Your the all time winner!!

I think I'll just shut down my Tiki Bar, you shit blows everyone away.

I never get tired of seeing that house, also I see you have one of those painted glass floral scenes on the still with the Tretchikoff portrait, I have a similar one with a red ginger plant, I wonder how many more varieties of them they produced? Lamps are great but eventually the collection takes a life of its own and the tiki room gets turned into a solarium and mai tais at night while wearing sunglasses can get old.

Always a pleasure to hang out at Sven's Tiki museum at Silver Lake. My favorite Tiki spot in the world. A gracious host and excellent cocktail maker. Look forward to the next visit my friend!

DC

Your home is spectacular Sven. Your collection is phenomenal. Enjoyed the video. :D

Your home looks well loved. Thank you for sharing.

It's wonderful. I've always wondered what your place looks like. Thank you for sharing it.

GROG has been to your house several times, and GROG not remember a pretty model hanging out around your house. Where did you have her hidden at?

On 2013-05-31 10:51, GROG wrote:

GROG has been to your house several times, and GROG not remember a pretty model hanging out around your house. Where did you have her hidden at?

That was my thought exactly. :)

Invite her to the next Rumpus Room party !!

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2013-05-31 11:05 ]

I would like to invite members of the Traveling Rumpus Room and other visitors to Tiki Island to post their impressions here :)

So, No weekend BBQ/Cocktails/Witty Repartee at your place then?

Not anytime soon, I am afraid. One reason I am posting this is that I have committed to my Foreign Legion work in Europe for most of the year and am nostalgic for my home, posting all this from Austria.

While this is the usual view form my front porch....

...I am currently filming in rainy mountain lake exteriors like this:

All next month and into July I'll be on a movie in Sweden, from August to December I'll be shooting 7 episodes of a Bavarian TV series in Munich and the surrounding countryside. These days, one cannot afford to turn down paid work. :)

:cry: :cry: :cry:

On 2013-05-31 12:54, bigbrotiki wrote:
I would like to invite members of the Traveling Rumpus Room and other visitors to Tiki Island to post their impressions here :)

Impressions ??... Ground zero for the Tiki Revival !!

A sacred Tiki place, I am honored to have been a guest. :)

On 2013-05-31 14:33, JOHN-O wrote:

On 2013-05-31 12:54, bigbrotiki wrote:
I would like to invite members of the Traveling Rumpus Room and other visitors to Tiki Island to post their impressions here :)

Impressions ??... Ground zero for the Tiki Revival !!

A sacred Tiki place, I am honored to have been a guest. :)

John-O hit it on the head. Even though I have never been Sven, I appreciate what you have done here. You have Incorporated every aspect of mid-century and modern Tiki and beyond. Just looking at the photos is mind blowing :D. Many Mahaloz for what you have done for the Tiki community and everyone else. :)

Sven's out of the country? Woohoo!! Traveling Rumpus Room at Sven's place next week!!!

While the cats away...

(Now where do we find that model at?)

On 2013-05-31 12:54, bigbrotiki wrote:
I would like to invite members of the Traveling Rumpus Room and other visitors to Tiki Island to post their impressions here :)

I'm humbled to have visited as a Traveling Rumpus Room...well...visitor. I can say without reservation that you could visit for hours and not look at the same tiki art and/or artifact twice. Pictures? Only what is in my head as I struggled to take in the layers upon layers of tiki history. Equal part sensory overload and an extremely gracious host. It is truly Tiki Ground Zero.

Thank you Sven.

kevin

Thanks, Sven!

At Sven’s there is always something new and usually it’s subtle so you don’t notice right away.

From my first visit -

A few years later, the lamps have had a baby and there's a Strickow Tiki wearing a hat!

:up: Kevin and Val are not a permanent part of the collection.

To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there;
No more from that cottage again will I roam;
Be it ever so tiki, there's no place like home.

Grog make me laugh...big job for Moai to hold Bill up!!!

On 2013-06-01 07:23, Bora Boris wrote:
At Sven’s there is always something new and usually it’s subtle so you don’t notice right away.

:up: Kevin and Val are not a permanent part of the collection.

It's not from a lack of trying!

Must. Blend. In. More.

Kevin

Here are some more detailed sections of the museum:

My "Ritual of the Savage" homage:

Kitchen table view

Top to bottom: Sven-Tiki mug versions, Dagger Rum artifacts with various tourist Tikis,
and Eric October Cannibal plates

Spanish mug collection:

Resin people:

Front porch corner:

Kelbo's float, Witco galleon, BOT cover Tiki carved by Dawna Hammond,
BOT cover by Bamboo Ben, Tiki Apt mask by Tiki Kate, spirit hook by O.A.

Any more photos from visitors?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-06-02 03:40 ]

Breath-taking...I love these pictures of little spaces in your home and how they are carefully orchestrated with specific themes. Looking forward to more.

Wow! Just....wow!
I am in awe! :)