I have tile envy.

We're lucky to own a house at all in these tough times, let alone a pretty little Spanish Colonial Casita like ours. However, I will admit that I drool for the Catalina style tile work that is far more common in the fancier Casa Grandes found up the street and in other parts of Sacramento..as our home was not built with much except for what's left in the kitchen and bathroom. Though, I do wonder if our fireplace used to have such tiles as well....



















These pictures are from the front of the Espresso Metro complex on 11th avenue and Freeport and are typical of the California Art Tiles around Sacramento. I particularly love the narrow rectangular bordering tiles on the top and bottom.



















For me it's not just the Moorish style pattern's referenced in the design that I love so much...it's also the often bright and rare color combinations used in the ceramics. The tiles also follow a general geometric theme throughout that reverses in shapes and colors or repeats. The tiles above are the only one's in the Espresso Metro complex that are reproductions. According to Ms. Joan, owner of Metro she hand picked the tile and border pattern by request from the owner. Apparently the previous tiles were damaged beyond repair. Ugh! I wish I had an original picture of these...someone somewhere must!



















I am pretty sure my predilection for tile work likely grew out of my childhood exploration of Sierra 2 (a.k.a running through the halls and torturing Dan the Janitor with the other neighborhood brats) which has one of the most beautiful displays of California Art Tile in Sac.

But even before that was the cool red tile floor in my parents Heilbron Oaks dining room. I used to lay on that floor and color in the heat of the Summer as a child and then as a teenager, chat on the cordless phone late into the Summer night air.


In researching this blog post I came across an awesome chunk of research done by Erik Fay and Dan Murphy on Curtis Park art tiles. Read this brief history and check out the lovely slide show they put together.