Shev and Kevin first met almost 20 years ago over a Thanksgiving meal in Austin, Texas. Soon after, they discovered that they both had childhood dreams of becoming architects, but were told by guidance counselors that they were too bad at math to ever make that a profession. So, they both ended up with marketing careers. (They also ended up living together in San Francisco.)
That pent-up passion for design and architecture didn't remain stifled forever, though. Shev + Kev (or "Shevins," as they also became known) rather serendipitously and unexpectedly found themselves the owners of a 1959 Palmer & Krisel model home in Palm Springs, which ignited the long dormant architecture bug.
In the ensuing years, they went on to meticulously restore a Steel House (1962) by Wexler & Harrison (the only building in Palm Springs currently on the National Register of Historic places); Wexler's Leeds-Howard House (1954), commissioned by Seabiscuit heir Robert Howard and his Oscar-nominated wife Andrea Leeds; a unit in Silver Lake's Avenel Cooperative (1947) by Gregory Ain; and the Picetti House (1975), an early career residential project by Obie Bowman at The Sea Ranch.
Shev and Kev - still bitten - are currently finishing a restoration of the Kelsey House (1962) in Pasadena by Ladd and Kelsey (Norton Simon Museum, CalArts campus, the church at the end of "The Graduate"). They have also begun a light restoration of their home at The Sea Ranch, William Turnbull's Hines House (1968).
Which brings us to Placewares. Not long after meeting on that Thanksgiving nearly two decades ago, Shev (who'd first visited in the early '90's) introduced Kevin to The Sea Ranch, and their love affair with the area began in earnest. Over the course of many trips and a staggering number of stays in rental houses, they discovered Placewares.
Alongside their love of restoring homes had developed a love for furnishing them, and they found that the store they loved the most (despite frequent trips to other parts of the country and the world) was Placewares. And so it came to pass that they became the second owners of Placewares in 2016, the venerable store's 38th year.
