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Suppose you wanted to design a home away from home. What would you put in? What would you leave out? What kind of seating would you have? (Soft? Hard? Low? High?) What kind of tables — big working slabs or intimate little two-tops?

A good “third place” may seem casually homey, but its design is the end result of a million tiny decisions. This week, it’s a conversation with Kambiz Hemati, who oversaw store design at Starbucks for two years and now owns Love Coffee Bar in Santa Monica, where he gets to think hard — and think small — about what makes a place feel like home.

MUSIC:

• “Trader Ho Hey,” by Podington Bear
• “Whistle Work,” by Podington Bear
• “Song For A Pea,” by Podington Bear

Thanks to Kambiz Hemati of Love Observed and Love Coffee Bar.

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Up in the manicured hills of Los Feliz, a neighborhood that boasts at least three famous murder houses, the one with the weirdest history may be the Perelson house… where, deep in the night of December 6, 1959, a husband and father of three lost his fragile grip and went terribly, shockingly crazy. But the story only starts there.

Why did Harold Perelson snap? What does it mean when, without warning, the safety of a family home is shattered from within? And how do you explain what’s happened to the house since?

Read blogger Jen Clay’s account of a 2012 trip to the Perelson house here. That’s her photo to the right.

Thanks to Jeff Maysh, whose “The Murder House” is the definitive work of reporting on the Perelson case; Scott Michaels of Dearly Departed Tours; and Yolonda E. Lawrence.

Special thanks again this week to the fantastically talented, prolific and generous Podington Bear, a/k/a Chad Crouch, whose work is an invaluable repository of music that’s free for non-commercial use. 

MUSIC:

• “Epiphany,” by Podington Bear
• “Dark Matter,” by Podington Bear
• “Strikes Again!” by Podington Bear
• “Preservation,” by Podington Bear
• “How Fortunate The Man With None,” by Dead Can Dance
• “Corridor,” by Podington Bear
• “Velcro,” by Podington Bear
• “Got Spark,” by Pdington Bear