My Houzz: An Artistic Life Fills a 150-Year-Old Home
Patricia Gelman's 150-year-old beachside home is equal parts living space, studio, classroom and community gallery. The Paris-born artist uses her spacious rental to refinish and showcase flea market pieces from around the world, teach her gold- and silver-leaf techniques, and host biannual exhibits featuring other local artists. This mix of creativity, education, community and travel gives her interior a sophisticated but accessible style.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Patricia Gelman and her dogs Robine and Persefal
Location: Ajami, Jaffa, Israel
Size: 300 square meters (about 3,230 square feet); 1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, plus 2 studios and a gallery
That's interesting: Local movie makers and fashion photographers have used her house for shoots.
The house, built 150 years ago, centers around this living room and a courtyard. Her father played this baby grand; it's the only piece Gelman has from her childhood in Paris. The floor tiles are original to the home. Mementos from her travels and flea market finds make up much of the decor.
Gelman recently discovered that the home had once been a synagogue, and at various times it had been occupied by craftsmen. "I feel like it was meant to be a studio," she says.
A sitting area near the front entry features an Asian screen and chairs refinished with a fabric that Gelman printed. The art above the buffet is one of her original pieces and is printed on acrylic with feathers behind it.
She had a favorite card enlarged to poster size. The chairs, with painted legs, are from a flea market. A local artisan made the bookshelf.
Gelman's bedroom off the main living space includes a bathroom that opens to the central courtyard.
She restored the original door, re-creating its original appearance, and refinished the flea-market corner shelving unit with silver leaf. A print of a painting by French artist Gustave Caillebotte hangs above the bed.
She converted two other bedrooms into art studios that double as classrooms. A third bedroom serves as a gallery for her latest pieces.
Bed: Ikea
A living room window frames a view of nearby Jaffa Beach. Gelman painted the acrylic canvas in double layers for added texture, a recent technique she's been experimenting with. The piece hangs over a flea market chair.
This is the view from the living room window. Gelman enjoys the beach and boardwalk where she often walks her two dogs.
This refinished buffet in the living room is one of Gelman's art projects.
The open door leads to Gelman's gallery, where she hosts art exhibits twice a year. A recent event featured a painter, stage designer, photographer and a lecturer on art and philosophy. She's also hosted iron-sculpture artist Udi Dayan, son of the former defense and foreign minister Moshe Dayan, and photographer Gilli Schwartz.
Eclectic furnishings in the gallery include a modern painted acrylic chair, a chair from the 15th century, a gold Baroque-style table and other pieces from Austria.
Sunlight pours through the courtyard and into the gorgeous original arched windows with trefoil-like details. Thanks to her mild climate, Gelman often keeps the doors and windows open.
Gelman uses this outdoor sink to clean her paintbrushes.
She enjoys courtyard dining at a vintage table the previous owners left behind. The door leads to the main living space.
"I never thought I'd live in such a beautiful place," says Gelman, photographed at the entrance to her home.
