VENICE, CA — Architect and artist Maya Lin’s first foray into public design was Washington D.C.’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a project that was extremely controversial at the time.

Not only was the design unconventional, it was done by a female undergraduate student whose parents were Chinese immigrants, and there were many Americans, primarily Redneck-Americans, who didn’t like the way that added up. It’s no wonder that young Lin picked up some negotiation skills through the process, but who could have guessed her tactics would be so delicious?

The anticipation of residents along Venice’s 25th Ave., sometimes known as the Doggie Corridor, has been building for years for Lin’s latest masterpiece, a 7500-square-foot single family home.

Neighbors had questions that ran into the double digits: Will all of our names be etched in a marble wall out front? Will there be a guest room and can we use it on weekends? When they flush the toilets will the water swirl clockwise or counter-clockwise? Will there be video surveillance and, if so, where will the cameras be aimed? Given the opportunity, neighbors surely would have come up with even more questions.

Lin was recently the guest of honor at a neighborly get-together that featured the first public revealing of final blueprints and models of the house-to-be, and some change-hating residents showed up only to boo, hiss and throw peanuts, no matter how wonderful the design may be.

But Lin outfoxed them all by serving delicacies that she cooked up herself; Baby-back ribs, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, cornbread, banana pudding with Nilla® brand wafers and a 16 gallon beer keg—effectively allowing guests to stuff their complaint holes with tasty food while getting loaded on beer! She even baked a pair of pecan pies specifically for surly author Nancy Lamb, whose property line is shared with the Lin construction site.

Lamb, who earlier had been forced to check her burning “rioter’s stick” at the front door, was won over by the pie.

“It’s in the top two desserts of all time,” Lamb confided to friends. Curiously, when asked what she regarded as the other top dessert, Lamb refused to answer.“Is it banana pudding with Nilla® brand wafers?” one asked.“No,” Lamb said, lowering her voice to a whisper, “but I do declare this pudding to be most delicious!

”The small crowd hee’d and hawed at that one. Yes, they were enjoying the keg very much, thank you.Lin, who had been working the tap on the keg for nearly two hours—“Drink, drink!” she told her new friends. “More drink for everyone!”—then made her exit just as the crowd was raving about her extravagant banana pudding, quashing all conversations about why she had put the Jacuzzi on the first floor rather than the roof area.

“Goodnight, everyone,” she said with a sly smile. “I’ll pick up my pans later.” Rudely, no one was able even to thank her, as they were all busy gorging on pie and pudding.

Since the only objections raised regarded recycling paper plates at the party, construction will begin immediately. Stuffed neighbors said they looked forward to working with Lin.

“She sure does make a fine mac and cheese,” one neighbor was overheard telling his wife. “Uh-uh, it was cheese and macaroni!” his wife corrected him. “As the mother of two, I know these things.”

But did the young mother know she had just been sold on Maya Lin’s architecture with a second serving of banana pudding? No, she didn’t. And she didn’t even care.

“I don’t give a poopie if she puts up a three-story chicken coop down there,” she said as she waddled her way to the exit, slices of pie stuffed into her jacket pockets, “so long as she keeps making with the baked goods and kegaroonis. Hells yeah, we got standards in this here neighborhood!

”And with those words, Maya Lin was victorious, having again won the hearts and minds of those who might think to challenge her. They never even got to ask her if their names will be etched forever into the house’s walls. No, there won’t be any etched names.

But there may be a coleslaw recipe in it for you if you ask real nice.