University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Archives

Living the Dream: How George Fotion Became the Go-To Realtor for Palos Verdes Homes

DIGS March 15, 2024

Learn the story behind Palos Verdes’ real estate legend, George Fotion, whose 43-year journey from a Midwestern transplant to the premier realtor is filled with determination, innovation, and a deep love for the community. From navigating challenging market conditions to embracing the digital age, George’s commitment to his clients shines through in his unparalleled communication and transparency.

Teri Hawkins of RE/MAX Estate Properties

Constance Dunn September 21, 2022

Boutique real estate agent Teri Hawkins on the satisfaction of 25-plus years of selling real estate in the communities she calls home—Palos Verdes and the Beach Cities.

Marco Rufo: Broker + Managing Partner at The Agency

Constance Dunn May 18, 2022

Journeying from his birthplace of Rome, Italy to Boston, where he was raised and then later on, to Los Angeles to attend college, Marco Rufo figured he would study business and return to the East Coast to build a career.

Uncontrived, lush with exotica and featuring ponds and porticos, stonework and sculpture, “garden” actually seems too provincial a term for the hybrids of function and fantasy that Grace creates. Hers is a fine eye and a remarkable hand. “As a licensed landscape contractor, I build what I design,” she says. “That’s when my work took a big leap forward. There is no separation between design, installation, and maintenance, it’s all one and happens on a continuum. Unless it’s integrated, it doesn’t work—period.” This is how she thinks too, both pragmatically and painterly. Much like an artist, she uses “broad and fine brushstrokes” to transform a two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional work of art. And in a systematic fashion; first is attending to infrastructure beneath the ground, then to its surface with the layering of elements. Rocks, for instance, are not so much placed as they are selected and then worked such that their shadows will cause additional depth or bring color forward. From there the garden grows. One also sees this artistry in Grace’s exquisite new tome Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living (Gibbs Smith), a rapturous showcase of her elegant outdoor Edens, from rustic to coastal to modern. Each of the book’s made-to-age milieus represents a temple of residential garden know-how and is illustrative of nonderivative design that reflects the character of the native landscape. “The Art of Outdoor Living” idea certainly accounts for the substantial exterior living rooms and heated floors of our era. “About 10 percent of outdoor living comes down to ‘my fort is cooler than your fort,’” Grace refreshingly confesses. But at the root, “it is a way to describe a lifestyle connected to nature.” For Grace, who went from toiling in the family garden to forsaking a career in medicine after a 13-week stint as a park ranger proved she’d long lost her heart to the natural world, this is the point. “Step outside and you hear birdsong, you smell water evaporating. It’s a rich and simple experience, but relaxed and comfortable. We take a deep breath and feel better. It’s so automatic we don’t even think of it, but it is a very profound thing. It’s experiential, there is intentionality to it.” Landscape as soul, nature as a relief—what a thing of beauty. gracedesignassociates.com Photos: Grace Design Associates And Holly Lepere Johnson (Home).

A Lush New Tome: Margie Grace Cultivates Exquisite Gardens

Jenn Thornton May 14, 2020

Landscape designer and author of a lush new tome, Margie Grace cultivates exquisite gardens with singular flora and flourish.

Stephen Francis Jones: Architecture for the People

Constance Dunn April 5, 2017

Stephen Francis Jones arrival at his position as one the preeminent restaurant architects of his day is a function of time, talent, and a keen understanding of how to design such venues for modern sensibilities—plus, knowing how they are markedly different from residential and other types of commercial ventures.

Molly Hobin-Williams & The Hobin Company

Danielle Accovelli September 10, 2015

President & CEO of The Hobin Company, Molly Hobin-Williams helms a thriving office in Manhattan Beach, where she dedicates her time to providing the best possible client service.

Westside Digs • August 21, 2015

DIGS August 21, 2015

We’ve reached the final days of summer and although the temperature hasn’t shown any sign of the coming season, there’s something in the air. Kids are heading back to school, networks are promoting the start of new fall programming and magazines are boasting hundreds of pages of “must-haves” in their September fashion issues— but nothing says fall like the official start of football season.

Anthony Marguleas, Amalfi Estates, pacific palisades, realtor, agent, los angeles, brentwood, santa monica,

Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates

Abigail Stone April 17, 2015

Amalfi Estates, one of the leading independent real estate agencies in Los Angeles, founded by Anthony Marguleas in 1995, specializes in homes within the Pacific Palisades that evoke a vacationer’s mindset. Marguleas has independently sold over $600 million in properties, and was voted one of the top 250 agents—out of a possible million—in the country by The Wall Street Journal.

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Irene Dazzan-Palmer & Sandro Dazzan: A Dynamic Real Estate Duo Makes Waves in Malibu

Amy Adams March 20, 2015

Irene Dazzan-Palmer discusses getting started in real estate and how that grew into a family business with her son Sandro Dazzan. Now being one of the top real estate teams in Malibu with Coldwell Banker, Irene discusses what make Malibu so special.