Interior designers Michele Trout and Heidi Bonesteel of Bonesteel Trout Hall have been in the business of designing beautiful homes in Pacific Palisades for over 20 years. They have been recognized as one of America’s most successful residential design teams and have particular experience with the functional needs and design desires of a high-end clientele.
But the firm located on Haverford Ave. in the Palisades is taking on a very different type of client for its latest project. They are partaking in a bold new effort to transform an urban area into safe housing for veteran women and their children.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
This upcoming project involves the transformation of a closed Navy base located in San Pedro, California. This is one of the first housing projects in the country focused on female veterans and their children.
Volunteers of America Los Angeles has teamed up with the non-profit Designed from the Heart, which consists of professional and lay interior designers who will volunteer their expertise to furnish and decorate 76 townhomes.
The name of the project, Blue Butterfly Village, derives from its location, which is situated on a nature preserve that is the sole habitat of the Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly, the world’s rarest butterfly.
Bonesteel and Trout jumped at the chance to decorate one of the Blue Butterfly Village townhomes when one of their Palisadian clients, Marybeth Ursin-Smith, invited them to participate.
Ursin-Smith is working with Designed from the Heart on the project, handling social media and organizing all of the designers.
“I am excited to be involved with this worthy project… these woman served our country and now it’s time to give them a safe, loving home,” Ursin-Smith said.
Trout told the Palisadian-Post that she and Bonesteel have a clear idea of the type of ambiance they want to create in the townhome they are decorating.
“We want them to feel at home and safe and comfortable and taken care of because I think that’s what they need,” Trout said.
“We like to use bright colors – that’s a trademark of our work – because they make you happy and they’re so uplifting. Working with color is also a great way to make a small space feel special,” she added.
Trout and Bonesteel will meet with the future occupant of the townhouse prior to completing the interior design. This will offer a chance for the design duo to determine how the veteran will be using the space.
“For example, does she want to have breakfast in the kitchen? Does she want a homework area for her child? We’ll learn more about how she wants to use the space,” Trout said.
For Trout, the project means more than just being an opportunity to donate her talents.
“My father-in-law is a retired chaplain in the military, my sister-in-law is a colonel, and my brother was in the Marines,” she said of her familial ties to veterans.
Bonesteel, Trout and Ursin-Smith aren’t the only ones with Palisades connections involved in the housing project.
Heidi Bendetson, founder of the non-profit organization Designed from the Heart, works at St. Matthew’s Thrift Shop in Santa Monica, which is affiliated with The Parish of St. Matthew in the Palisades.
“I had really no connection to the military, but when you hear this as a mother, as a woman, you can’t ignore it anymore,” Bendetson said.
“This is a very hidden population because they don’t reach out to those natural resources,” Bendetson said. “Women generally don’t reach out to the VA because some of their services don’t accept children.”
But on February 14, 2015—Valentine’s Day— homeless female veterans and their children will get a new lease on life when they are given the keys to their new homes and provided access to child care, health care (including mental health care), job training and placement and a chance to start fresh.
VOALA began renovating the Blue Butterfly Village in December 2013, transforming the property into townhouse units with all new utilities and handicap access. The two-bedroom, two-bath townhomes will each house one woman and her children.
Bendetson said Designed from the Heart’s collective of designers will take it one step further, donating their time and talents to create healing, uplifting living environments for those most in need.
“We make it a home,” Bendetson added.
VOALA contacted Bendetson at the onset of their year-long renovation process, which is now nearing completion. Over 100 designers from Designed from the Heart will take Blue Butterfly Village by storm. Each armed with a $4,800 budget from VOALA, they will outfit the units with beds, bedding, sofas, accessories, supplies, televisions and more.
“Designers will create spaces that will be sanctuaries for these women, including some who have experienced sexual trauma and are suffering from PTSD, to assist in their recovery and the strengthening of their families,” Bendetson said.
On Valentine’s Day, the designers will be on site as the families move in and see their finished homes for the first time.
“There won’t be a dry eye in the neighborhood…They will feel taken care of for the first time in a long time,” Bendetson said.
Bendetson said VOALA is working with other organizations to find the ideal residents for Blue Butterfly Village.
When they move in and gain employment, each veteran will pay 30 percent of her gross income in rent, a policy designed to serve as an incentive to relocate to unsubsidized housing and a way to free up the homes for additional veterans.
Blue Butterfly Village does not exclude female veterans with substance abuse problems, but it does exclude men from living on the property.
To donate funds, new or gently used items, contact Heidi Bendetson at designedfromtheheart@gmail.com.
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