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Archive for Thursday, September 13, 2007<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Bart Simpson might not approve, but Nancy Cartwright, the voice of the cartoon brat, knows what she likes.<\/em><\/p>\n By David A. Keeps<\/a> ROSES. Chandeliers. Whimsy. Country. This is not a\u00a0decorating mantra that Bart Simpson would chant. Well, not without his\u00a0trademark smirk. But for Nancy Cartwright, the Emmy Award-winning voice\u00a0actress who puts the sarcasm into the cartoon rascal\u2019s mouth, those\u00a0four girly-girl design elements are not open for\u00a0discussion.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are my themes,\u201d the diminutive pink-clad mom\u00a0declares.<\/p>\n On a recent visit to her Northridge home, the roses are\u00a0freshly clipped blooms from her garden, set in a vase in the\u00a0wildly wallpapered dining room. \u201cChandeliers,\u201d she announces,\u00a0standing underneath a gilt and jade-colored glass confection in the\u00a0kitchen. Cartwright points out a tiny figurine of Tinker Bell suspended on\u00a0a beaded swag strung between the arms. \u201cWhimsy,\u201d she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n As for country? That river runs deep, from the\u00a0whitewashed scalloped trim and shuttered windows outside the\u00a01947 Connecticut-style farmhouse to the beamed ceilings inside.\u00a0A gambrel-roofed red barn serves as her garage. On the front\u00a0lawn, Cartwright has placed an appropriate sentinel: a life-size\u00a0fiberglass cow she named Milk\u00a0Dud.<\/p>\n The 1-acre spread also contains the property\u2019s\u00a0original pine-paneled guest apartment, now done up with Western\u00a0cabin furnishings found at flea markets, as well as cottages housing\u00a0a studio and offices for managing Cartwright\u2019s speaking\u00a0engagements, charitable activities, books on tape recordings and bulging roster\u00a0of animation voice\u00a0gigs.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n IN addition to portraying Bart and four other \u201cSimpsons\u201d\u00a0scamps, Cartwright does voices for \u201cThe Replacements\u201d and\u00a0\u201cBetsy\u2019s Kindergarten Adventures,\u201d produces a Web-based cartoon called\u00a0\u201cThe Kellys\u201d and frequently is called upon to play yet one more\u00a0role: hostess. At home, she presides over civic functions as the\u00a0honorary mayor of Northridge, holds get-togethers for the Church\u00a0of Scientology and her own philanthropic group called Happy House,\u00a0and throws fundraisers for a proposed youth recreation center\u00a0nearby.<\/p>\n \u201cI live in a very nice home with great neighbors, but you go\u00a0a quarter of a mile down the road and there\u2019s one of the\u00a0highest concentrations of gangs in L.A. County,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not\u00a0scared living here, but it\u2019s a little bit of an island in the middle\u00a0of\u00a0insanity.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently she and children Lucy, 17, and Jack, 15, jumped in a\u00a0golf cart and delivered more than 600 invitations for a\u00a0neighborhood \u201cmingle,\u201d she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted them to know that I am accessible and to get them\u00a0to volunteer at the youth\u00a0center.\u201d<\/p>\n Hosting large groups required a re-evaluation of the house\u00a0that began in 2002, around the time when Cartwright and her\u00a0husband, Warren Murphy, divorced. Three years later, with her ideas\u00a0fully formed, the actress sought out interior designer and landscape\u00a0artist Melinda Brownstone to renovate the house for her role as a single\u00a0mom and event\u00a0planner.<\/p>\n \u201cShe probably had 50 magazines dog-eared and marked with\u00a0Post-it notes,\u201d Brownstone says. \u201cFor the most part, it was her own\u00a0creative\u00a0concept.\u201d<\/p>\n The designer quickly nicknamed her new client Nancy Fancy\u00a0Pants.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s feminine and likes to surround herself with fun\u00a0and inspiring things,\u201d Brownstone says. \u201cWhen you have a personality\u00a0that big, you have to embrace\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n At the front of the house, they built a spacious sun room\u00a0with French doors crowned by a half-moon window. Filled with bookcases,\u00a0a folk-art game table and pink- and green-plaid chairs, the\u00a0addition spills into the formal living room, which has several seating\u00a0areas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve crammed 70 people in the living room,\u201d Cartwright\u00a0says proudly. \u201cAnd although there\u2019s a TV, it\u2019s hidden. I did not want\u00a0that to be the focal\u00a0point.\u201d<\/p>\n That honor goes to the enormous stone fireplace and the\u00a0antlered creature above it, a Semi-Normal Green-Lidded Fawn designed\u00a0by Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr.\u00a0Seuss.<\/p>\n Guests pass a bar built underneath a staircase to reach the\u00a0grand kitchen, which was blown open to accommodate a computer station\u00a0and laundry area. Doors lead out to a covered dining area and a series\u00a0of outdoor spaces created for\u00a0entertaining.<\/p>\n The most drastic change was the reconfiguration of the\u00a0landscape. An unused tennis court was dismantled and the original pool\u00a0filled in, allowing for a lawn with Adirondack chairs and\u00a0additional parking. A new lagoon-style swimming hole was placed at the back\u00a0edge of the lot, adjacent to an outdoor living room centered on\u00a0a fireplace made from Arizona flagstone. All-weather wicker chairs\u00a0in English hunting green and Old World-style outdoor carpets give\u00a0the spaces an old-time\u00a0down-homeyness.<\/p>\n If the ground floor was designed for guests, the\u00a0romantic second-floor suite is decidedly Cartwright\u2019s haven. Though she\u00a0admits to splurges, such as a hand-painted secretary that she says cost\u00a0in the $10,000 range, Cartwright also hunted for bargains at the\u00a0Rose Bowl Flea Market. The floor plan was redesigned to give the\u00a0actress an elaborate walk-in dressing room to accommodate her\u00a0vintage clothing and\u00a0furniture.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a Barbie-doll closet with all her outfits,\u201d\u00a0daughter Lucy\u00a0says.<\/p>\n Brownstone designed a master bath with sitting room\u00a0that, Cartwright jokes, \u201cis bigger than some New York\u00a0apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI spoiled myself with it, but it\u2019s every girl\u2019s dream to have\u00a0a big tub with a chandelier above\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n And not just any dangling, spangling array of crystals will\u00a0do.<\/p>\n \u201cA chandelier isn\u2019t just something that distributes light,\u201d\u00a0she says. \u201cIt has to have its own\u00a0personality.\u201d<\/p>\n Cartwright\u2019s taste is evident all over the property. Guests\u00a0who smoke will find a gazebo straight out of \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d painted\u00a0in vivid teal, and the walls of her recording studio are padded\u00a0with soft Mercurochrome-pink\u00a0fabric.<\/p>\n It is in the main house, however, where Cartwright turned\u00a0her rosy, whimsical, chandelier-lighted take on country living into\u00a0a resoundingly personal statement. The living room didn\u2019t\u00a0have particularly high ceilings, yet Cartwright wanted to incorporate\u00a0a huge original poster for the Fellini film \u201cLa Strada,\u201d as well as\u00a0an ornate upright piano and a massive coffee table made from a\u00a0door that, she jokes, \u201cprobably came from a\u00a0dungeon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n FINDING a balance between large pieces of furniture, bold\u00a0patterns and vibrant colors without creating claustrophobia required\u00a0a complementary sense of scale and a lot of custom-sized sofas,\u00a0chairs and bookcases, Brownstone says. Wherever possible, the designer\u00a0used white and black pieces to provide visual structure in the\u00a0boldly colored rooms. In the kitchen, that meant a black soapstone\u00a0counter top with a rich vein of green that coordinated with a 1940s\u00a0Wedgewood\u00a0stove.<\/p>\n The result is a home that can adapt as easily as Cartwright\u00a0can slip between cartoon voices, meeting the needs of a large gang\u00a0of adults or just two kids, two dogs (Lydia and Buddy) and three\u00a0cats (Emma, Cheerio and Pip Pip). It achieves a sense of comfort\u00a0without skimping on adult luxuries \u2013 or childhood\u00a0fantasies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a fun house, not a funhouse,\u201d Brownstone says.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s casual, but everything is stepped up to a custom\u00a0level.\u201d<\/p>\n The overstuffed furniture in floral prints with ruffles\u00a0and fringe, as well as the embroidered polka dots on the coral\u00a0curtains, may look like a page out of Martha Stewart\u2019s handbook, but\u00a0the fabrics are sumptuous silks, not country chintz. The floors\u00a0are covered in antique Persian and Aubusson\u00a0carpets.<\/p>\n Cartwright gave her kids free rein to create their own\u00a0spaces. Jack chose army green and camouflage sheets; Lucy went for pink\u00a0with simple colonial furniture and a wall of neatly arranged\u00a0fashion magazine tear sheets. A high ledge that once displayed Beanie\u00a0Babies is now an abstract clutter of empty wooden picture\u00a0frames.<\/p>\n \u201cI stole it from a magazine,\u201d Cartwright says of that idea, with\u00a0a raspy giggle not unlike Bart\u00a0Simpson\u2019s.<\/p>\n When the upstairs expansion required a steel support\u00a0girder through her kitchen counter, Cartwright happily sheathed the beam\u00a0in pine bark and turned it into a tree, lending the enchantment of\u00a0a storybook\u00a0forest.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you walk in the door, it looks like something out of a\u00a0fairy tale,\u201d says friend Lorraine New. \u201cEverywhere you turn, there\u2019s\u00a0some interesting detail, like her sea-horse aquarium in the kitchen, and\u00a0a multitude of\u00a0colors.\u201d<\/p>\n Like, perhaps, the bold coral pink throughout the living\u00a0room?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a hot Nancy Cartwright color,\u201d New\u00a0says.<\/p>\n Cartwright has a history with shocking\u00a0shades.<\/p>\n \u201cMy last house in Glassell Park was totally outrageous,\u201d she\u00a0says. \u201cIt was a \u201960s hillside stucco with 65 steps from the street to\u00a0the front door, and we painted it Bart Simpson\u00a0yellow.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Jack had turned 5, Cartwright craved a\u00a0neighborhood with sidewalks where the kids could ride their bikes. The search\u00a0led to the Northridge farmhouse, set on what had been 20 acres of\u00a0alfalfa and eucalyptus before the property was subdivided with\u00a0conventional suburban homes. The history of the place was intriguing \u2013 it\u00a0had been owned by singer Maxine Andrews of the Andrews Sisters as well\u00a0as an unrelated Cartwright family \u2013 but the property had a\u00a0more resonant\u00a0quality.<\/p>\n \u201cIt communicated solid Midwestern stability,\u201d says Cartwright,\u00a0the fourth of six kids all born in Kettering, Ohio. So in\u00a01996 Cartwright, then-husband Murphy and her two kids moved to\u00a0Northridge. \u201cI gave up the view for the land,\u201d she says, \u201cand I\u2019ve\u00a0never regretted\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n By then, her career was solidly established. As a\u00a0cartoon-loving teenager working at a radio station, Cartwright struck up\u00a0a correspondence with Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear\u00a0and Huckleberry Hound. In 1978 she transferred to the theater\u00a0department at UCLA and under Butler\u2019s tutelage soon found work. In 1987\u00a0she auditioned for the role of Lisa Simpson but was far more intrigued\u00a0by her older brother, Bart. Cartwright\u2019s r\u00c3\u00a9sum\u00c3\u00a9 grew to include\u00a0other classic characters, including Chuckie Finster of \u201cThe\u00a0Rugrats.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n THE suburban life \u2013 taking her daughter to dance class and\u00a0her son to soccer games \u2013 agreed with Cartwright, and her vast\u00a0property made it easy to build state-of-the-art facilities for her\u00a0two production companies on site. Although she is proud of this\u00a0small industrial complex, it is clear that Cartwright\u2019s heart belongs\u00a0to her house and the flashes of creativity\u00a0inside.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me it seems normal, because I\u2019ve always been around those\u00a0kind of things,\u201d son Jack says about the tree growing out of the\u00a0kitchen counter. \u201cBut if you could live in one of your dreams, this is\u00a0the exact house you would\u00a0own.\u201d<\/p>\n And it would have a garage with a second-story playroom, like\u00a0the one that serves as a gallery for Cartwright\u2019s collection\u00a0of autographed animation cells. Her kids\u2019 musical instruments\u00a0look primed for an impromptu jam session. There\u2019s a vintage jukebox,\u00a0an orange-felt-covered pool\u00a0table.<\/p>\n \u201cI call it the monkey room,\u201d Cartwright says, opening\u00a0curtains printed with simians dressed in Edwardian\u00a0finery.<\/p>\n Cartwright stops for a moment to look through the window,\u00a0toward the main house and the garden filled with flowers. A sign on\u00a0the white picket fence makes her chuckle. It\u2019s a sweet heads-up to\u00a0her guests and a reminder of her own good fortune. The hand-painted\u00a0black lettering simply reads: \u201cNo\u00a0whining.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n david.keeps@latimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Archive for Thursday, September 13, 2007 Country charm? Ay caramba! Bart Simpson might not approve, but Nancy Cartwright, the voice of the cartoon brat, knows what she likes. By David A. Keeps September 13, 2007 in print edition F-1 ROSES. … Continue reading Country charm? Ay caramba! <\/strong><\/h1>\n
\nSeptember 13, 2007 in print edition F-1<\/em><\/p>\n