‘Breeze Block’ Breakthrough - Page 2

And then there's the new series planned with Shag, the popular Southern California illustrator who's become a darling among the MCM crowd.

"We haven't announced this at all yet," Jeske points out, but the Shag-designed line of breeze blocks, called 'Orb,' is also coming this summer. "They are like nothing you've ever seen," she says. "The Shag house in Palm Springs features them as a wall throughout the property."

"There are five designs coming in the Shag series," she says, "each with amorphous openings, allowing blocks to work independently or [in conjunction] with others. They're very cool designs, but we're not 100 percent finished yet."

Three of Tesselle's designs built on the classics are the 'Shamrock,' the 'Town Square,' and the 'Rotary'—each given these new names by Tesselle.

"These three are kind of our bread and butter," Jeske explains. "They're the ones people gravitate towards…though not necessarily our bestsellers." 'Rotary' was originally called 'Empress,' designed by Edward Durrell Stone, the architect who designed the Embassy in New Delhi, India.

Tesselle continues to be ambitious with their expansion, with the addition of close to 500 different tile designs currently on the table. Pleased to be able to offer such a diverse selection, Jeske says, "We're always working on these products. Our factories work with companies around the world."

Tesselle's breeze blocks are manufactured in both Asia and Mexico, which adds some complexity to the company's operation.

"Nobody in the '50s or '60s was doing anything as crazy as I'm doing, shipping all over the country," Jeske says of her manufacturing process. "By the time they get to Florida, sometimes they've traveled halfway around the world. It's taken us a long time to get our supply chain to where we can do that successfully most of the time."

Jeske points out that a new breeze-block design was recently introduced—and it's a winner, she says. "It's not a traditional mid-century modern design though. We have some customers who don't want designs that were popular in '50s and '60s—even people with Eichler homes. Joe Eichler didn't use breeze blocks, but we do have Eichler customers looking for them."

Want blocks in other colors? Tesselle carries 120 different colors. To find out what's available, order a cardboard paint chip for $6. The minimum for a custom order is 150 square feet, and special colors take 12 weeks. If your project can't wait for something custom, ask what they have in stock.

• For more breeze-block inspiration, read our historical story, 'Blocks of Beauty,' by clicking here. Also, follow architect Sam Marshall as he hosts a popular Instagram feed @breezeblockhead, where you can 'ooh' and 'aah' over breeze-block creations of every kind.