The preservation group Pasadena Heritage takes a turn toward the Modern when it hosts a May 19 tour of six homes built after 1940.

Stops will include homes by Lloyd Wright, Harold Zook, Ted Tyler and Lawrence Test, plus two houses by the iconic Midcentury firm Buff & Hensman: the 1954 Norton House and the 1983 Hamlin House. Patty Judy, the Pasadena Heritage education director who organized the lineup, said the last two stops serve as chronological bookends for Buff & Hensman’s work and were the suggestion of Ted Smith, the architect who carries on the practice.

The Test house is unusual,...

Learn more about sustainable design and green living as Altbuild, the Alternative Building Materials & Design Conference and Expo, opens Friday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. 

Architects, builders and landscape designers will be among the more than 150 exhibitors on hand to discuss green design, including modular housing, rammed earth building, solar power and water conservation.

Among this year's highlights:

What makes this weekend's Echo Park Craft Fair different from larger craft fairs? Local makers and an attempt to raise the bar for artisanal design, said textile designer Rachel Craven, a co-founder of the event.

"It's all artisanal goods," Craven said. "We're really working with people in our community for our community."

The event originated in the backyards of Craven and shoe designer Beatrice Valenzuela and has expanded to include more than 50 artists such as Heather Taylor Home, who makes hand-embroidered linens; Tanya Aguiñiga, who will have jewelry at the event; Brook&Lyn, which sells...

Hot from the kiln: the Saguaro lamp from Los Angeles designer Lesley Anton. The ceramic artist’s latest light rises a stately 3 feet tall, the stoneware base sheathed in a cool speckled glaze. “In a wheel-thrown piece this size, there is a lot of stacking,” Anton said. “When you get up close, you can tell it’s handmade.”

And that’s the point: The artist’s work often goes into modern homes “needing something handmade and irregular” to soften the hard edges of clean-lined spaces. One nice touch here: The bottom of the lamp is...

Landscape designer Jay Griffith believes in reinvention — in life and in the garden. “I love recycling,” he said, referring to his preference for rescued plants, reclaimed concrete, repurposed lumber and castoffs from commercial sites, all of which compose the mixed-media installation that he calls his studio garden.

His gardens for clients are often hidden behind fences or security gates. But the grounds at his studio, 717 California Ave. in Venice, are visitor-friendly, showcasing classic Southern California plants and an ever-changing stage for ideas on outdoor living.

PHO...

Gina Thomas remembers the day one of the Russian gardeners at the Wattles Farm community garden in Hollywood insisted on tasting a plump rocoto chile she had grown. She warned him to take only a tiny bite, but he insisted he didn’t have a problem with hot peppers. He popped the entire thing in his mouth.

A few seconds later, he flushed crimson and dashed for a hose to wash out his mouth. Two weeks later, he quit the garden.

Even in the notorious world of chile peppers, the rocoto chile (Capsicum pubescens) stands out. The pepper comes with black seeds, hairy leaves and a shape that...

What's billed as "the world's first gun made with 3D printer technology" had its BBC premiere Monday with a video demonstrating how, with the exception of one small metal pin, the weapon is wholly constructed of plastic components made with a machine bought on EBay.

As L.A. at Home reported in January, 3D printer technology is advancing toward the mass market, for better or for worse. Although our Solidoodle 2 review revealed that some low-cost models are not quite ready for prime time, a surprising number of 3D printersnow can be bought for a fraction of the $8,000 reportedly paid for the...

For more than 40 years, medical marijuana advocate and longtime High Times advice columnist Ed Rosenthal has written about growing cannabis, selling more than 2 million books. He has worked to change state laws on medical marijuana and is a faculty member at the Oakland marijuana industry trade school, Oaksterdam University.

But his new book, “Protect Your Garden,” is aimed at gardeners of all persuasions. For this edited Q&A, we talked with Rosenthal about his latest endeavor, which provides a well-balanced overview of the most common garden problems: pests, disease, malnutrition...

For years the neighborhood florist was the go-to place for special-occasion arrangements and the occasional pick-me-up of cut flowers. Now as grocery stores, farmers markets -- even hardware stores -- have made fresh flowers so readily available, designers Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo of the San Francisco firm Studio Choo have another suggestion: Make your own.

Harampolis and Rizzo share their floral arranging skills in "The Flower Recipe Book," a new how-to guide for creating 100 arrangements for all kinds of occasions. The book is set up as a series of recipes, with lists of...