Monster House... Tiki Episode Picture...

Aloha Tiki Friends...

Came across an article with a review in my local newspaper, both print and online... here is an blurb taken out about the tiki episode and a picture of the fireplace...

Next week's tropical makeover, however, features a rare appearance by Kim Larson, a scenic artist and landscaper. Host Watson introduces her as a "she-devil," which sounds a trifle insulting until you notice that, just over her forehead, Larson's buzz-cut blond hair is sculpted and dyed into a pair of tiny red horns.

For flamboyant flair and over-the-top tchotchkes, the tropical transformation is every bit the equal of the car-crazy one.

In addition to the fire-breathing god sculpted out of chicken wire and foam, it boasts a 300-pound industrial fan for instant monsoons in the backyard, a "supercharged monster misting system" in the shower, a tiki bar in the living room and the conversion of an outdoor swimming pool into a black-bottomed lagoon.

The pool project, which involves the ear-splitting destruction of massive amounts of concrete, is a particular favorite of Watson's.

"We're going to (tick) off all the neighbors today," he says happily as the jackhammer roars into action.

Duuuuuude! Awesome!

-Joanne Weintraub

Artist Kim Larson works with her fire-breathing tiki god of chicken wire and foam in the living room during the "Monster House" renovation on the Discovery Channel.

Photo/Discovery Channel

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-06-05 11:19 ]

I absolutely cannot WAIT to see this tonight. It looks like Great Stuff insulating foam and I've made all sorts of little crap using that at work (theatre prop person.)

At home I've made a palm tree out of an unsightly clothesline pole, some copper wire and green tarp "banana leaves"; and an island of cypress mulch "sand" (idea stolen shamelessly from Hala Kahiki.) I never would have dreamt making a giant Tiki out of Great Stuff but whooo boy, watch out.

We used chicken wire and insulation foam to make this guy too.......

We used chicken wire and insulation foam to make this guy too.......

What did you folks think? I really thought they were on the right track with a lot of stuff, but the whole five day thing was lame. The need to make this a "reality" show like everything else dictates that they have to rush and do a half-ass job all so we can see them get tense with each other. For a bunch of non-tiki builders, they got into the spirit, though. I'm in love with spray foam now.

1. Liked the entry hall terrarium. The hibachi table was a good start, but needed to be bamboo finished like the concept art showed.

2. Shower was fantastic. Wish the tile wasn't still white on one side, but a great job anyway.

3. Living room tiki fireplace was a great idea, with lights smoke, and fire. Didn't really like the look of the face though. Moai would have been better, and probably easier to do with simpler lines.

4. Backyard shipwreck didn't look wrecked. Needed to be on it's side like The Minnow. I don't think they showed the outside bar at the end. Come to think of it, they didn't spend nearly enough time at the end showing the finished work off. If only Ben had been there. They could have left him outside all week- it would have been great. The monsoon fans were a novelty once. I don't think I'd like the rain beating against me whil I was relaxing in the pool. Tropical showers in tiki places (like the Mai Kai and the Tonga Room) should be peaceful experiences. It might be nice to have the fans on a hot day in LA though.

So....as I said last week to the guy on Landscapers challenge: who are you people, where do you live, and when is the party? We will bring the booze!

-martin

I thought the stuff turned out kinda lame, totally rushed. You know if it doesn't look too great on video, it looks way worse in person. I wouldn't want raw painted foam in my house.
The guy with the nail through his finger though, wow!

Just looked at pics on the website:
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monsterhouse/houses/tropical/tropical.html

It looks like there were more projects than they included on the show. I don't recall any "reveal" in the bed room. The pics show a lot more of the final projects than the show did.

There is also an "after" interview on the site. Looks like there are some mixed feelings about some of the projects.

I would have gone with more of a Moai for the fireplace as well (Kahiki tribute). They should have also listened to the production designer a little more. The belching fire god really didn't belch that much. Plus the fire effect looked like it took up a bunch of time that could have been put to better use elsewhere.

I did enjoy the show. I was on the edge of my seat to see what was going to happen to the little guy next (nail through finger, electicuted, crawling through the cieling, crawling under the house, winning the opportunity to saw the fiberglass boat). I was fully expecting to see him fall off the roof of the house with the fan.

Chris

Angry Tiki:

I have to agree with you on the fireplace...definitely more Moai, definitely, yeah, yeah. Oh, and a nail or two through that Steve guy would have made it a much better show.

Matt

Saw the show last night and have to agree with everyone's comments here. Yes, the effort was there but it all turned out half-assed.

You know, I simply don't understand this -- so far between the shows Monster House and Landscapers Challenge, the tropical themes were put together by "designers" who don't really know how to execute it properly.

Poly-pop:

That's because most things in this country are watered down versions of their original form for the most part. Current designers follow this trend. It's avant gard to use pale green instead of taupe. It's a beige world out there...

Matt

Good idea - terrible execution.

That fireplace looks like Edward G. Robinson to me...

They thought it was just like the tiki room at Disneyland???? Sheesh...

ACK!
I didn't get to watch it!
POOOOOOOOOOH
Did anyone record it?
Pea

Yeah, the house wasn't perfect when they finished. So what? If it was me, I'd be thrilled to have so much done to my house for free. And the not-so-cool parts, well, it would be easy to fix everything up after the cameramen left... Even the tiki fireplace would be easy to change after watching the show and seeing how it was done. :)

I didn't see the show but from the pictures, I think it looks lame. Like I said before, designers that have stepped in from outside of our 'tiki culture' tend to miss the mark and get a lot of things wrong in their designs. If they are gonna do it right, they oughta get Leroy and the boys from OA, or Ben, or any number of other artists, 'in the know.'

I gotta agree, that fireplace is hideous. It would have looked a lot better in the back yard. I can't believe they were carving it without wearing respirators!

The bathroom and kitchen were OK, but I liked the back yard the best (except for that silly monsoon effect).

The fish in that aquarium aren't going to live too long -- you can't stock a brand-new tank with that many fish at once.

Yeah, in the backyard and made out of cement...I'd be worried about all that foam drying out and eventually catching fire....or maybe not...

Matt

Well it was interesting to watch but what a nightmare that place is going to be maintenance-wise. I hated the morphed out fireplace living room thingy. It was interesting but not really tiki and everything being on a deadline - it was really rushed - can you imagine trying to clean that waterfall shower - man the gunk and soap scum getting in those crevaces - a real nighmare, ladies, and as my husband mentioned, probably it will turn into a leaky nightmare in no time flat. I hated what they did with the boat. That was a total waste of a great idea. I would have had the boat "shipwrecked" into lava rocks at the edge of the deep end maybe with a waterfall or something. And that thing on the roof blowing water - what is the purpose of that? I'm sure the neighbors are loving every minute that thing is on, and who wants a storm in their backyard luau anyway? So I understand the show theme does not lend itself to practicality and the answer to the question of who would be thrilled to have all this work done for free - well, it was all rushed and much of it not really lending itself to long-term endurance. Also, this just sets us back in terms of getting people to respect tiki architecture and design.

Yeah... What was the deal with the boat? In the drawings it was supposed to be shipwreked and it ended up being some kind of shelves or somthing. They needed a photo from the Kahiki to make the fireplace work. His eyes were waaaaay too far apart from the begining.

Here's my two cents for what it's worth...
All of that foam stuff gave me a "Madonna Inn" vibe. Nothing against the Madonna Inn, everyone should see and enjoy the place, but it's just not my personal vision of tiki or the tropics.

I have to admit, I found the program entertaining as far as "reality shows" go.

more bamboo please...

If they had time to complete the projects with a decent amount of time I think the place would have looked a lot better. I agree, the fireplace was ugly, the monsoon on the roof was idiocy but, the boat was an absolute, horrible waste! What the hell were they thinking getting a 30 foot boat in the first place? A 15-20 footer would have been fine and they could have probably fit it over the fence instead of chopping it in half. At worst, why didn't they just cut 1/4 off the boat and lay it on its side and punch some holes in the hull? What kind of boat snaps cleanly in half when shipwrecked?

Otherwise, I have been digging the show - to be honest I dig Discovery's entire Monday night line-up...the best stuff on TV!!

I just watched the show tonight finally. The following are just my opinions, but hey, I feel my opinions count for something seeing I have done some pretty crazy stuff to my backyard.
http://www.geocities.com/erichtroudt/

I loved the fireplace. I thought it came out cool. Something that I didn't see mentioned was the fact of mixing the Fog machine that close to open flame. While its not likely to explode, it could. Fog Juice is flammable.

The boat was a total waste of time. I have been toying with the idea of having a crashed boat in my backyard for 2 years. Crashed is the key word.

The fan on the roof was dumb. Go to all the trouble to make it look tropical then put a 2 ton industrial fan on the roof. Didn't even bother to cover it.

I thought the Dinning room table, fishtank, and the plexiglass entry way came out nice.
The pool area looked great (except for the boat).The palm trees left in the crates half buried looked cool.

Heres my complaints. They spent way too little time showing the results. You barely got to see how anything came out. The camera was moving, no stills, closeups, or final details views.

Typical reality show of lying to the audience. There was way more help than they showed. 5 days or not, its impossible to have that much stuff get done. Notice the dirt, stone and trees just appeared? Too much stuff just happened. I understand the focus is on the 5 or 6 main workers, and yeah, they can't show everybody and every little step, but don't try and make me think it these 6 people did it all, I'm not stupid. (Trading Spaces does the same thing and hides their extra carpentar and seamstress)

All and All, fun show. Those people may have trouble finding the right buyer for that house someday, but oh well. I'm glad I watched it. Gave me a few ideas anyway.

Erich Troudt

On 2003-06-13 02:41, ErichTroudt wrote:
There was way more help than they showed.

Exactly...they had about 20 minutes left and all of a sudden the floor plan showed "done...done...done". Then they said the "finishing team" was coming in. I think i would have rather seen them go to work.

Also, did anyone hear the homeowner's comment after seeing the fireplace? He called it a "voodoo room".

The owner really had no clue about tiki culture... he just said he wanted something with a beach theme... the crew, well, actually that Steve guy had the idea for the South Seas tiki stuff...

The show is somewhat interesting and I think I will watch the next "Disco" episode just to see what the hell they come up with for that...

The fireplace just looked like a big junior high-school art class sculpture of a face. I cringed when I heard the "Easter Island" commentary. The boat? All I could think about is how much I'd love a 30-foot sailboat with (what looked like a) cutty cabin, and what a waste it was to cut 'er up. I think an old, rotten, shot Chris-Craft hull would have looked better.

Not wanting to miss a chance to gripe I'll jump in...Monstrous Mess would be a better name for this episode. The show had a macho bravado grunt-grunt he-man slant to it which meant everything else was secondary, particularly design and how livable the end result was. The idea that it's some sort of super manly remodeling because of all the weird crap is just plain dumb. Hell, why not just bulldoze the house and build a hut with a fire pit at the edge of the pool? The whole contest notion was asinine with the supposedly looming deadline. The concept drawings of the projects looked far better than the finished product. I'd like to see what that couple will do when they go to sell the house...Or hear the agent do a walk through if it's sold as is.

On 2003-06-09 23:17, martiki6 wrote:

If only Ben had been there. They could have left him outside all week- it would have been great.

-martin

A week is a long time out there by myself, especially at night!!! How bout 3 days??? Mahalo for the props Martiki! (and everyone else too!)

the Rev---

They re-ran the episode tonight (and will again at 11pm est) This time they added 5 minutes at the end of the home owners 6 months later and what they really thought. Did anyone else see it?

They showed one extra room, the bedroom, which didn't make the original show. Funniest thing was that the crew didn't ventilate the grill correctly and when used it fills the attic with smoke. LOL

-Z

I saw the episode last night too. It was my first time seeing this one. The bedroom was my favorite part, can't believe they left it off of the original airing.

Seems last night was tiki night on tv, they also had a tiki on Average Joe Hawaii. All the guys thought it was cursed and didn't want to touch it.

Horrendous!

-the eternal refrain, (re. 99.9% of television programming) "Honey, is it JUST US?!?"

On 2003-06-09 11:56, Nineveh wrote:

At home I've made a palm tree out of an unsightly clothesline pole, some copper wire and green tarp "banana leaves"

please show us how you did that and show some pictures!! that is an awesome idea!!

The 1950s California Ranch-style that was tikified in that episode of "Monster House" is now for sale on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=12605&item=4372012475&rd=1

I ran an appraisal on the property using about 50 comparables (I work for a huge Real Estate information company), and the appraised value right now is computed at $448,000. The owner is asking $515,000. Don't know if all the tiki-improvements are worth $68K. The owner bought the house in 2003 for $291,000 - just to give you an idea of what home prices in Los Angeles have been doing lately.

Sabu

With the shitty looking results you'd think the property value would have plummeted... If I bought the house the first two things I'd do is to take that stupid "hurricane machine" off the roof and get rid of the sawed in half sailboat near the pool. Next, you'd have to gut the entire living room and probably jackhammer out the lame fireplace and the thought of having to tackle the shower's plumbing nightmare makes my stomach turn!

I would take that Crazy Al's room in a heartbeat but there are more problems than good with this house. The fireplace- is that really even a tiki? or an old man,

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2012-05-01 20:25 ]

[i]On 2005-04-08 13:02, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:

I ran an appraisal on the property using about 50 comparables (I work for a huge Real Estate information company), and the appraised value right now is computed at $448,000. The owner is asking $515,000. Don't know if all the tiki-improvements are worth $68K. The owner bought the house in 2003 for $291,000 - just to give you an idea of what home prices in Los Angeles have been doing lately.

Interesting Sabu, based on my minor real estate comps in my area, $500,000 for a 3 & 2 1400 squ. foot house does not seem particularly outrageous in the outrageous real estate market, particularly including the tiki fireplace.

Is Canoga Park cheaper?