California Closet Company

Buying Here: Fox Chapel

"I was inspired by two or three homes that I had seen on Fifth Avenue in Shadyside. I liked the look of the stone. I wanted to re-create it."

Anyone who lays eyes on the exterior of the Renaissance Revival-style home at 422 Fox Chapel Road in Fox Chapel would agree that the owner/builder nailed it. The inside is a whole different design story.

The stately home, which sits on 2.2 acres, is on the market for $3.8 million through Marie Pace of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services (412-361-4000, ext. 265 or www.howardhanna.com ).

Its interior design could be best described as modern art deco with classic touches. There isn't a surface you don't want to touch, sit on or envelop yourself in. It was designed to be used, and nothing feels off-limits.

The owner, who asked not to be identified, and his wife, an interior designer, have a young, active family.

The house has five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, but its heart is the 20-by-40-foot kitchen with shapely, sinewy curves that are lit for dramatic effect. In the ceiling, recessed lighting peeks out from a tiny bulkhead; small, red handblown-glass pendants hang above the island; and the 2-inch-thick glass countertops have a lighted edge that can be dimmed. The floor-to-ceiling curly maple cabinets are finished with a high-gloss poured acrylic, and a glass tile wall infuses the whole room with a jolt of color in shades of red, purple and tan..

The center island seats five and has an offset ancillary counter with a decorative design in the glass. The lower counter has a cooktop with a potfiller, a stainless-steel hood and lots of storage. .

The kitchen is outfitted with GE Profile appliances, including a 400-bottle wine room with temperature and light controls. The bottles sit on dark acrylic ruby-red rods that impart a warm glow that won't affect the wine quality.

Another fun feature is a serpentine-shaped bar sink sunk right into the glass counter between the kitchen and the great room. Its long, slinky shape is great for parties.

The March Group Announces Acquisition of California Closets ...

The March Group, a middle-market merger and acquisition specialist, announces the sale of a California Closets franchise in San Antonio, Texas. Established in 1978, California Closets specializes in designing storage solutions for any room in the home. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

California Closets, the pioneer in spatial design solutions, provides individually-designed custom storage solutions for any space. Its historical focus has been in creating custom closet solutions, but marked its 30th anniversary earlier this year with an announcement of a new marketing effort to expand its design expertise to include any room in the house. By applying organizational expertise to all rooms of the home, California Closets' new definition of traditional home spaces extends to media rooms, garages, pantries, craft rooms, entryways, mudrooms, and more. A new marketing campaign with a tagline of "Room to Breathe, Time to Define, Space to Be," the concept is grounded in the idea that California Closets can help a home owner create a more orderly home through spatial design and organization.

The seller, Robert and Liz Sisk, owned the franchise for over six years and hired The March Group as a consultant during the selling process. Sisk had a long-term relationship with The March Group that started in the mid-1990s when he sold a vending company to a Pepsi Cola bottling company. They hired The March Group once again in 2001 as their advisor with respect to the acquisition of the San Antonio franchise. "Bob (Bob Scarlata, CEO and President) evaluated our income statement, balance sheets and recast the numbers as well as made suggestions as to how to allocate the sales price to our advantage as far as income taxes go," recalled Sisk. The franchise is based in San Antonio, Texas with rights to the Austin, Texas market as well.

The new owners, Daniel and Jill Siegel, previously lived in Seattle, where they both worked for the California Closets' corporate office. Daniel worked as a development manager and Jill as a sales manager with over 40 designers reporting to her. With the purchase of the California Closets franchise in San Antonio, the Siegels saw an opportunity to own and grow their own business. "We think there is a serious lack of brand recognition in this market place," said Daniel Siegel recently. "The business was growing but not aggressively.

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