For as long as I can remember there used to be a Denny’s here in town. The building had this late 50’s look with an exaggerated, jettisoning roofline and walls of glass, which faced east so to capture all the morning sun. It was a classic, old school, space-age diner. In my opinion, this building was a historical jewel, a building that talked about the optimism of the time. I watched as Denny’s closed and the building sat vacant for about a year. I had so many great dreams about how that building could be turned into a killer diner by some design savvy, hip foodies. But as luck would have it, Denny’s gets leveled and a piece of shit fast food joint goes up. Now in it’s place stands a monstrosity of a stucco box with some weak architectural embellishments meant to give the impression of a stylish, HEALTHY, higher end dinning establishment. What a sham.
My Grandparents used to love telling the story of when they lived next door to “Denny.” They lived in a nice So-Cal neighborhood, nothing pretentious or over the top by any means. They where blue-collar folks who used their ingenuity and hard work to get their dream. Long story short, Harold (aka Denny) used to live it up. A nice fellow, who’s pool wound from the inside of his house to the outside. A fellow who worked hard and played hard till all hours of the night until my grandfather had to go next door and ask for them to tone it down. I always pushed for more descriptions of “Denny’s” house, the feel, the style, anything to help complete my picture of the space with that pool! I never came away with those details so I’ve latched onto the house in the Peter Sellers movie “The Party,” to complete my image of Denny’s house.
Today, there are loads of cars causing traffic problems because everyone wants to try this novelty of the newest fast food restaurant in town. I like to think they’re lining up to ask how they could have leveled such a great building.
Lakewood Ball is set into the same frame as Summer Cooler, a two for one bargain never to be had again. The body of the piece is MDF with two colors of laminate applied to it’s surfaces. The structure is poplar and teak ply held together with screws and brads. This piece has a different look from every angle.
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