Wall Street Journal Covers Heartbreaking Destruction of The Dragon
The WSJ Cover Story Image for Pacific Palisades Homes Destroyed during Historic California Wildfires.
Journalists Sarah Paynter and Libertina Brandt for the Wall Street Journal kindly reported on the tragic loss of our Pacific Palisades property, The Dragon. The article’s featured image also showcased designer Jae Omar’s incredible work on this one-of-a-kind home.
Below is the excerpt from the WSJ explaining the terrible outcome of the historic wildfires:
The Dragon, a three-year project by builders JVE Development and Jae Omar Design, also burned down. Jae Omar, an interior designer who had to evacuate the area when the fires broke out, said it took a few days to learn the fate of the home.
“We heard that particular section or portion of the street was spared; then we heard it was gone; then we heard it was spared,” Omar said. “It was this roller coaster of emotions.”
“Each one of my projects comes from a deep, deep part of me,” he said. “You pour your heart and soul into something for three years and in an instant it’s gone.”
The roughly 11,500-square-foot, seven-bedroom Dragon house was on the market for $18.5 million. Its exterior was made of dark steel cladding and Japanese cypress wood treated with shou sugi ban, an ancient Japanese technique that chars and preserves the wood. Omar said the wood was treated by a company in Oregon that specializes in the Japanese technique.
A two-story, 19-foot waterfall over bookmatched marble began in the dining room on the first floor and ended in the plunge pool in the home’s basement. The waterfall took about six months and roughly $500,000 to install, according to Jae. The stone backdrop was created with four roughly 600-pound pieces of marble that were craned into the home. The stone also featured subtle 45-degree reverse cuts every inch to slow the water as it cascaded down the surface. The speed of the flow could be adjusted.
Adjacent to the waterfall was a glass-enclosed wine cellar and a bar made of the rugged ends of a slab Petit Granit, which is mined in Belgium. Omar said they spent about $1 million on the art pieces for the home.
Joseph Peretz, founder of JVE Development, said they paid around $18,000 a month for insurance with Nationwide. “We’re finding ourselves underinsured to a degree,” Omar said. “It’s pretty reasonable to assume we’re going to have to absorb some considerable losses here.” Peretz and Omar said that while the loss of the Dragon house is heartbreaking, it pales in comparison to the devastation experienced by those who lost their personal homes. They hope to eventually rebuild on the Dragon’s site.