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From the Editor
In Pursuit of the All-Season Interior PERHAPS IT’S NOT ENTIRELY ODD THAT NEW ENGLANDERS
tend to pay more concentrated attention to climate this time of year. When both the temperature and the duration of available sunlight dip below a certain lower bound, it tends to foster, shall we say, contemplativeness. Possibly for that reason, work on assembling the group of homes in this issue made me curious about how our region’s weather affects our interior design. Back in September I heard a talk at the Boston Design Center by Keith Bradshaw of the firm Speirs + Major, probably the brightest star right now in the firmament of international lighting design. One point he made about the company’s work was that projects in different parts of the world can require not only different aesthetic styles, but even different kinds of light. When designing an opera house in Scandanavia, a very warm, yellow feel is wanted; for a shop in steamy southeast Asia, a much cooler white light would be preferred—all due to the emotional influence of climate. It’s clear that similar weather-based preferences are operative in architecture and interiors. Have you ever had the mis-
12
New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
fortune to stay in someone’s beach house in February? Not so much fun. Those white ceramic tiles that lie so pleasantly cool beneath padding bare feet in July have become warmthsucking fiends; the screened porch where chairs are kicked back and prosecco is sipped on Labor Day is now an obstacle-strewn deep freeze with no purpose but to frustrate a quick traverse from car to back door. So what about year-round houses in New England? What do we do in a region that combines the torrid brightness of summer, with its spacious, almost endless-seeming days; the frigid darkness of winter, whose days are over almost before they’re properly begun; and pretty much every other known configuration of light and meteorological condition in between? Just how does one create an interior that will be livable and welcoming through all of that? When in doubt, poll the experts. Mechanics aside (size and placement of windows, depth of eave overhangs, use of insulated shades to regulate heat transfer while preserving views), one overall theme quickly stood out in the advice I received: flexible planning. As Westport’s Trudy Dujardin suggests, “The simplest approach is to change slipcovers— use red or deep colors for the holidays and winter, white for summer. The regular upholstery serves for the rest of the months. Also, cashmere throws can be swapped out for summer with lighter-colored pillows and silk throws.” Tamson Hamrock of Kismet in Southport agrees: “When one creates a foundation of neutrals, it’s easy to swap out the odd pillow and add simple accessories to suit one’s mood.” But, she continues, “seasonal changes are not necessarily about changing the decor, but bringing in simple things that touch the spirit. Light a fire, burn some candles, put daffodils or paperwhites on the table.” For her, it’s most important to “nourish the soul.” And that’s advice we can all take to heart, no matter the season.
Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief khoepner@nehomemag.com
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WINTER 2011 VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1
66
26
Featured Homes 46 Complementary Copy A design duo reprises its work in a New Canaan home, but the fresh
new result is so much more than a duplicate of the old. ARCHITECTURE: LOUISE BROOKS, BROOKS & FALOTICO ASSOCIATES • INTERIOR DESIGN: PETRA AND WHITNEY ROBERTS, BOXWOOD HOME & INTERIORS • PHOTOGRAPHY: BRUCE BUCK • TEXT: ERIN MARVIN • PRODUCED BY KARIN LIDBECK BRENT
56 Patience Makes Perfect A piece here, a piece there, and over time a New Canaan designer
achieved just the combination of glamour and comfort she envisioned. INTERIOR DESIGN: KRISTIN GALLIPOLI • PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN GRUEN • WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL
66 French Connection A Greenwich designer’s home reflects both her European upbringing
and the joie de vivre that has served her well in a life filled with adventure. ARCHITECTURE: 96
RUDY RIDBERG • INTERIOR DESIGN: CLAIRE MAESTRONI, MIS EN SCENE • PHOTOGRAPHY: BJÖRN WALLANDER • TEXT: MEGAN FULWEILER • PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL
78 Eternally Graceful Casual and comfortable for the children, chic and sophisticated for the
grownups, a young family’s first house is designed to suit them for a lifetime. ARCHITECTURE: JOHN CURRIE • INTERIOR DESIGN: LAUREN MUSE • PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL PARTENIO • TEXT: PAULA M. BODAH • PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL
Departments 12 From the Editor 26 Artistry: Ahead of the Curve Where some see a troublesome invasive vine, artist Laura
Spector sees elegant arbors, benches and other curvaceous forms waiting to be brought to life. BY NENA DONOVAN LEVINE • PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BAKER
34 Designers on Display: Generous Inspiration A host of recent charity events featured
Connecticut designers in top form. • • •
BY PAULA M. BODAH
90 Design Life Our candid camera snaps recent gatherings that celebrate architecture and design.
78
On the cover: Rustic and modern mingle in the dining room of designer Claire Maestroni’s Greenwich house. Photograph by Björn Wallander. To see more of this home, turn to page 66.
96 Perspectives Designers Amy Andrews, Catherine Avery and Connie Beale set a cozy
hearthside scene. Wish List: Paul Guzzetta shares his favorite home design products. 104 It’s Personal: Favorite finds from the staff of New England Home. 106 108 New in the Showrooms Unique, beautiful and now appearing in Connecticut shops
and showrooms. BY KARA LASHLEY 112 Resources A guide to the professionals and products in this issue’s featured homes. 119 Advertiser Index 120 Sketch Pad Designer Amy Aidinis Hirsch hits on a clever use for beadboard.
16 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
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Three generations of experience are behind our expertise and quality service. Family-owned and operated since 1952, we work with architects, designers, cabinetmakers and individual homeowners to supply major kitchen appliances from leading manufacturers. Our large, diverse showroom includes traditional appliances as well as increasingly popular commercialquality residential appliances such as ranges, cooktops, ovens, range hoods, exhaust systems and refrigeration. We also offer high-quality kitchen sinks, faucets, and water filtration systems. Our newest showroom space is dedicated entirely to the latest in outdoor systems. All at competitive prices. In addition to our knowledgeable sales staff, we also offer installation of the appliances we sell. Our installers are factory-trained and work closely with our customers to take the utmost care in getting the job done right (all while respecting customers’ property). And, if we install Miele and Viking products, customer enjoy an additional year on the warranty for free. We even have a resident chef who conducts our continuing education program, which includes cooking classes, free manufacturer demonstrations as well as personal and in-home instruction on how to maximize appliance performance.
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kyle Hoepner khoepner@nehomemag.com HOMES EDITOR
Stacy Kunstel skunstel@nehomemag.com SENIOR EDITOR
Paula M. Bodah pbodah@nehomemag.com MANAGING EDITOR
Erin Marvin emarvin@nehomemag.com ASSISTANT ART DIRECTORS
Jared Ainscough jainscough@nehomemag.com Sorae Lee soraelee@nehomemag.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Kara Lashley klashley@nehomemag.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Cheryl and Jeffrey Katz candjkatz@nehomemag.com Karin Lidbeck Brent klidbeck@nehomemag.com Louis Postel lpostel@nehomemag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Regina Cole, Caroline Cunningham, Megan Fulweiler, Robert Kiener, Christine Temin CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
r o b e r t
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a r c h i t e c t s
Robert Bruce Dean, AIA
111 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840
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Robert Benson, Bruce Buck, Tria Giovan, Sam Gray, John Gruen, Richard Mandelkorn, Laura Moss, Michael Partenio, Greg Premru, Eric Roth, James R. Salomon ••• Editorial and Advertising Office 530 Harrison Ave., Suite 302 Boston, MA 02118 (617) 938-3991 (800) 609-5154 Editorial Submissions Designers, architects, builders and homeowners are invited to submit projects for editorial consideration. For information about submitting projects, e-mail emarvin @nehomemag.com. Letters to the Editor We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at the above address, fax us at (617) 663-6377 or e-mail us at letters@nehomemag.com. Subscriptions To subscribe to New England Home ($19.95 for one year) or for customer service, call (800) 765-1225 or visit our Web site, www .nehomemag.com. Upcoming Events Are you planning an event that we can feature in our Calendar of Events? E-mail information to calendar@nehome mag.com, or mail to Calendar Editor, New England Home, 530 Harrison Ave., Suite 302, Boston, MA 02118. Parties We welcome photographs from designor architecture-related parties. Send highresolution photos with information about the party and the people pictured to pbodah@nehomemag.com.
20 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
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Andrea Kolden akolden@nehomemag.com Kim Sansoucy ksansoucy@nehomemag.com Robin Schubel rschubel@nehomemag.com Angela Stevenson astevenson@nehomemag.com Kathy Bush-Dutton kbushdutton@nehomemag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER
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Bob Moenster ••• Editorial and Advertising Office 530 Harrison Ave., Suite 302 Boston, MA 02118 (617) 938-3991 (800) 609-5154 Advertising Information To receive information about advertising in New England Home, please contact us at (800) 609-5154, ext. 713 or info@nehome mag.com.
••• NCI Corporate Offices 2305 Newpoint Parkway Lawrenceville, GA 30043 (800) 972-0189 Home Design Division PRESIDENT
Adam Japko SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS
Stuart Christian DIRECTOR OF PUBLISHING OPERATIONS
DAVENPORT Contracting, Inc. 203-324-6308 •
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Gerry Parker Photos by David Sloane
22 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
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Artistry
Ahead of the Curve
Where some see a troublesome invasive vine, artist Laura Spector sees elegant arbors, benches and other curvaceous forms waiting to be brought to life. TEXT BY NENA DONOVAN LEVINE • PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BAKER
A
rtist Laura Spector is allergic to right angles. On the other hand, she’s never met a curve she didn’t like. What she likes best—and uses to create her art—are sinuous, rope-like vines called oriental bittersweet. In her hands the twisty vines become striking pieces of furniture and landscape art, some cast in metals like aluminum and bronze. She made her first piece, a bench, nearly twenty years ago and has pushed rustic up against refined ever since. • In search of her raw material, Spector forages in 26 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
woodlands and wetlands beyond her Fairfield studio and throughout the Northeast. If she needs a quantity, she employs a battery-powered Sawzall to cut down the climbing vines. If fewer will suffice, she throws a bow saw over her shoulder and clambers up to reach them. When she’s done collecting, she flings the harvest onto the bed of her red pickup and heads back to the studio to begin her work. While the vines are alive, they are pliant, even if not readily so. Four weeks after cutting, they are dry, rigid and useless.
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Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) arrived in North America from China in the late nineteenth century as an ornamental garden plant, but it is now best known as an invasive pest. The vine spreads widely and wildly, strangling trees and eventually killing any foliage it embraces; its green tendrils become thicker and woodier over time. After obtaining permits to harvest it from protected wetlands and other properties, Spector clears out the invader and, through her artistry, renders it ornamental once again.
“It’s a dance,” Spector says of the transformation. A piece is “alive when it’s done. It’s still got energy, like when a dancer holds a pose.” As one might guess from her gestures and turns of phrase, Spector majored in dance at Bennington College. She describes her work as “more José Limón—very fluid—than Merce Cunningham—structured, angular.” She is just as agile today as she was in college and, at less than one hundred pounds, seemingly as delicate as a wood sprite. “But her arms and upper body are so
strong,” says Barbara Israel, a longtime client and the author of Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste. “They have to be,” she says. “Laura loves being in the woods pulling vines down.” (Spector’s most recent piece for Israel certainly appears to have been an undertaking: measuring nine feet tall, eight feet wide and five feet deep, the majestic
seating arbor, titled Dangerous Beauty, arrived at Israel’s property on a flatbed truck.) Her forays into the woods haven’t left Spector unscathed, however. She has contracted both malaria and Lyme disease in pursuit of her art. While she acknowledges the risk, hiring someone to harvest the vines for her simply isn’t an option. “I’m working with a feeling,” she says. “I have to meet [my pieces] where they live.” Spector’s fearless artistry has garnered her an impressive roster of clients, from New Jersey’s Grounds for Sculpture park to luxury hotels. Her whimsical furniture pieces—benches, chairs, tables, headboards, lamps Clockwise from above and mirrors— left: English bed (2002); have caught the Pirouette sconce (2009), 32"L × 14"W × 6"D; attention of Dangerous Beauty celebrities like (2009), 9'H × 8'W × 5'D Oprah, Sting and Cindy Crawford. Manhattan stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and designer Catherine Malandrino’s boutique have featured her work in displays. Spector’s large-scale spheres, which she designed as garden follies, have been used to particularly dramatic effect. The W Hotel in Dallas set one of her six-foot spheres on a pedestal in the hotel courtyard and lit it from within. For Holly Hunt’s 2008 Art Basel/Miami exhibit,
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Artistry
Spector linked three of the spheres, the tallest of which overshadowed the artist herself, in a bold ball-and-chain motif. Though she’s grateful for the recognition she’s received, including a recent nomination to Interior Design magazine’s list of “design icons,” Spector forthrightly says, “That’s not my agenda.” In fact, she was hesitant to begin selling her work at all. After college and ten years working in advertising, TV programming and marketing, including a stint in Los Angeles, New York City–bred Spector returned to Connecticut with her young family. As Spector relates it, she had just put the eldest of her two sons on the kindergarten bus and, feeling forlorn, wandered into the woods. That’s when she saw her first bench amidst the vines. Then, it was just a matter of figuring out how to realize—or perhaps obey— the vision. Initially, she created her pieces for herself alone, but word got around and a client soon approached her to buy that first bench. “It was like selling your kid,” she says with a grimace. For a time after that Spector made two of everything: “my one-for-them-and-one-forme phase,” she calls it. Today her work is commissioned, but she’s still guided by what she discovers in the 30 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
woods: she may well venture out for a headboard and see a table instead. Because her artist’s eye is uniquely her own, Spector isn’t worried about others purloining her designs. On the contrary, she takes great pleasure in sharing her craft through the furnituremaking classes she teaches. Her students first examine a bench base and a finished bench, followed by a “group-structured improv” using random vines plucked from a ready pile. Homework is to bring their own vines to trade with other students. Besides schooling them in the use of saws, drills and clamps, “My job is to open their eyes,” Spector says.
“When you turn someone’s light on, they start creating their own great stuff.” As for her own creative sparks, Spector recalls annual six-month pilgrimages to Paris with her French-born mother and two sisters, beginClockwise from above ning when she left: Echo nightstand was seven. In par- (2009), 30"H × 28"W × 28"D; The Living Stairticular, she cites the Art Nouveau way (2008); Ball folly (2003), 4' diameter curves of the city’s ironwork metro entrances, designed by Hector Guimard, as an early artistic influence. More contemporary yet equally curvaceous, jewelry designed by Elsa Peretti inspires Spector with its “organic movement.” But more than anything else, Spector explains, “Nature directs me in this collaboration. I see the furniture in the woods; I don’t make it.” • Editor’s Note To see more of Spector’s work, visit www.lauraspectorrusticdesign.com
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Designers on Display
Generous Inspiration
I
n just three short months last autumn, dozens of the gifted professionals who live and work in Connecticut lent their creative energy to no less than four events showcasing the amazing breadth and depth of talent—and heart—in the local design community. The spaces we highlight here were among the very best. • • • CYNTHIA MASON HERNANDEZ’s topical design for West Hartford’s DESIGNER SPACES AND MARKET PLACES created a buzz. In a dining room vignette she called Wall Posts, Hernandez explored connections and communication, contrasting the intimacy of sharing a meal with the high-tech 34 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
chatter—emails, texts and Facebook and Twitter postings— that surrounds us all daily. “We’re all bombarded with forms of communication that weren’t there when we were kids,” she says. “This is about the juxtaposition of our public and private lives.” Hernandez started by painting horizontal black and white stripes on the walls of her vignette and inviting friends to write “posts” all over them. One wall holds a multitude of black-and-white photographs that depict people engaging in various forms of communication. A corner is bedecked with draperies of Kravet fabric in a chain-link pattern “representing connection,” says Hernandez. “It’s all about becoming more interconnected the closer you come
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to the center of the table,” she says. Black and white seemed like the right palette, but, says Hernandez, “My normal M.O. is lots of color.” She couldn’t resist the bright pop that molded Panton chairs in chartreuse added to the scene. • • • For the past sixteen years, ALBERT HADLEY has spearheaded Southport’s ROOMS WITH A VIEW. This year the event turned the tables, honoring the internationally acclaimed designer (and Connecticut resident) by asking designers who have worked with the design guru over the years
to design vignettes that pay homage to him. BUNNY WILLIAMS, notable resident of Falls Village and a design powerhouse herself, did more than simply honor Hadley; she incorporated him into her vignette. She began with an enlargement of a photograph of Hadley’s own garden, then superimposed a photo of the designer onto the garden scene. Previous page: Cynthia She hung the pic- Mason Hernandez ture of Hadley in explored the contrast his garden behind between private and public communication. a set of French Above left: Bunny doors, so that the Williams honored Albert designer seems to Hadley. Above right: be looking in on Old Europe inspired Victoria Vandamm. the space she created. Everything in the vignette, Williams says, is something she knows Hadley loves. The Maya Romanoff paper she used on the 36 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
walls was something she knew he would approve of. “The gilded sunburst, the bright red-lacquered ceiling, books, objects, drawings—he loves so many things,”
orative painter Julie Hardridge, of Reddingbased Architexture Studios, created the walls with their mottled orange tones. To this antiqued interior Vandamm added the
she says. “I used bits and pieces of things that remind me of him.” Williams used pieces from her own Beeline Home collection, including the table, upholstered armchair and a mirror, to round out her vignette. • • • VICTORIA VANDAMM harked back to old Europe in her vignette for INTERIOR INSPIRATIONS in Old Lyme. She remembers seeing homes in the south of France where people place their modern furniture against Venetian plaster walls that are cracked with age. Using that recollection as inspiration, she created a vignette that is, says says, “all about antiquity meeting the modern.” Dec-
stark contrast of a glass-topped Lucite-based table and a glass-and-nickel console. Further contrast comes from black-and-white photographs by Vandamm’s husband, Kevin Dailey, surrounded by contemporary black frames. Tying the two extremes together is a Dunes and Duchess candelabra. “It’s a modern take on an old design,” Vandamm says. And like the rest of her vignette, it combines the best of old and new worlds. • • • Designers took on whole rooms for Stamford’s SHIPPAN SHOW HOUSE. PATRICIA LAPIERRE, of Greenwich Design Architects, took a decidedly nontraditional slant in the library. “When you think of the li-
LEFT: CAROLYN SOLLIS; RIGHT: KEVIN DAILEY
Designers on Display
Creative
INTERIOR DESIGN Violet Nastri, ASID | vnastri@optonline.net 203-891-9825 | www.crinteriordesign.com
Designers on Display
38 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
on, consulted at length with his young client. “She told me she likes blues and greens, and that she reads a lot,” he says. “She likes Rumpelstiltskin because the lady
was a princess and she got the baby back.” Fairytales, magic and happy endings all figured into Lyons’s design plan, which began with a selection of Zoffany and Sanderson fabrics in the client’s favorite hues. A baldachin canopy crowns the bed, and nearby stands a charming skirted table with dainty booted feet. Other furniture includes Above: Patricia LaPierre small-scale easy eschewed a traditional chairs from the look for her Shippan 1940s and a deli- Show House library. cate writing desk Left: Tony Lyons brought a sense of magic to a paired with young girl’s bedroom. Philippe Starck’s Lucite Louis Ghost Chair. “I got to play with scale,” Lyons says, “which created a sort of magical effect.” • • • Magical, in fact, describes the result when designers are given free rein to express themselves. The visitors who flocked to these events were no doubt inspired by what they saw, and thousands of dollars were raised for local charities. That, indeed, is a happy ending. •
MICHAEL PARTENIO
brary, you usually think of green and red,” she says. “I decided to go with the unpredictable.” LaPierre painted the walls Prussian blue, and the library shelves and trim a soft gray. “White would have been too harsh,” the designer says. Reds in a glorious variety of shades from strawberry to fuchsia to burgundy enliven the space, and accessories from the seashells scattered on shelves to the animal print rug add a touch of whimsy. “Libraries are often serious and stiff,” LaPierre says. “This is a happy room.” The bedroom of one of the owners’ daughters is a happy place, too—a peaceful sanctuary for the preteen who sleeps there. TONY LYONS, of Bartony Design in East-
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A design duo reprises its work in a New Canaan home, but the fresh new result is so much more than a duplicate of the old. TEXT BY ERIN MARVIN • PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE BUCK • ARCHITECTURE: LOUISE BROOKS, BROOKS & FALOTICO ASSOCIATES • INTERIOR DESIGN: PETRA AND WHITNEY ROBERTS, BOXWOOD HOME & INTERIORS • BUILDER: THAYER WEST, WEST CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION • PRODUCED BY KARIN LIDBECK BRENT
46 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
The great room’s neutral palette makes a perfect backdrop for the homeowner’s colorful art collection; a Thomas Nozkowski hangs over a fireplace mantel custom-designed by architect Louise Brooks.
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 47
Twin iron lanterns painted to look like bamboo hang above a Holly Hunt dining table. Facing page left: The libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paneled walls are knotty pine faux-painted to blend with the rest of the house. Facing page right: Shiplap board paneling on foyer walls adds warmth and an air of informality.
48 New England Homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Connecticut Winter 2011
I
f imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what better compliment could a new homeowner pay his designers than asking them to copy a scheme that they themselves had created once before— and in the same house, no less? Ron Marks was newly divorced and looking to start over with a clean slate when he found a lovely Shingle-style house in the picturesque town of New Canaan. Built by architect Louise Brooks of Brooks & Falotico Associates, it boasted a gambrel roof, bay windows, a screened porch and a fieldstone terrace overlooking a cultivated landscape of just under an acre, yet it was smaller and less traditional than the house he’d shared with his ex-wife. It spoke to his need for a cozy home that was manageable for a single person, though still roomy enough for his daughters when they visited from college. “Right away I knew this was a special house,” says Marks. “The quality was high. The crown moldings, the hardware, the light fixtures—it was all done firstclass. It had everything I wanted in a home—the right number of bedrooms, the right finishes—and I didn’t have to change anything structurally.” Inside, the house was just what he was searching for aesthetically, and since he planned to move in with little more than a few suitcases, some tennis rackets, and a large number of books and artworks (furnishings had been left with his ex-wife), he asked the original owners to sell it fully furnished. They declined but gave him the next best thing:
the names of their decorators, Petra and Whitney Roberts of Boxwood Home & Interiors. Marks was so taken with the house’s comfy-butchic style, he asked the mother-daughter design team to reconstruct the look and feel of the interiors that they had created for the original owners. The overall design scheme wouldn’t be an exact replica—Marks didn’t share the previous owners’ love of antiques,
Subtle shades of soft gray, blue and sea-mist green set a calming palette.
so a few pieces were replaced with more contemporary versions—but it would certainly be a quality reproduction. “It was a really fun project both times around,” says Whitney Roberts. The home’s blushing pink exterior leads to a neutral-toned interior, where subtle shades of soft gray, blue and sea-mist green on the walls set a calming palette. Beige strié wallpaper envelops the spacious Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 49
Brooks designed all of the kitchen cabinetry (also facing page bottom). Facing page left: A sculpture by Guy Dill. Facing page right: The house is affectionately known in town as “the pink house.”
50 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
first-floor great room, which is bookended by handsome fireplaces bedecked in decorative diamond and oval moldings designed by Brooks. The open, informal layout leaves plenty of room for a comfortable seating area of plump brown couches and creamcolored linen chairs, as well as a large X-base dining table that seats eight. Green in the toss pillows, cashmere throw and artwork above the mantel adds a pop of color. Texture is provided by the sisal carpet, and the zebra-print window treatments offer unexpected pattern play. Light flows freely through multiple sets of French doors that open onto the terrace and, in one corner, the screened porch. The great room gives way to the large kitchen, where Brooks custom designed white kitchen cabinetry and a marble-topped island. Thanks to large-paned windows that bring in outside views, light floods the stairway leading to the top two floors, which hold the master suite as well as bedrooms for Marks’s daughters and guests. Swedish elements—the soft gray wash on foyer walls, the chairs gathered around the dining table, barstools in the kitchen—are intermixed with the occasional animal print and a nod or two to old Palm Beach, such as the blue pagoda-like light fixture in the master bathroom, the iron lanterns painted to look like bamboo that hang over the dining room table and wicker seating on the screened porch. The house is “casual but still elegant, sophisticated but livable,” says Petra Roberts. The home’s neutral palette, plentiful wall space and abundant natural light make it the perfect back-
drop to showcase Marks’s extensive art collection. “I’ve been passionate about art since I was in college,” he says. “My roommate, luck of the draw, was the son of a very prominent art-collecting family in Beverly Hills.” So while their fellow students hung posters of Farrah Fawcett or Led Zeppelin, they decorated their wall with an original drawing by Matisse. “I was very fortunate to be exposed to that,” Marks adds. “It awoke a sleeping giant within me.” His collection is impressive, to say the least. Drawn to abstract expressionist, postmodern and contempoWinter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 51
An orchard print adds pattern to the robin’s-egg-blue master bedroom. Facing page top: Handwoven Elizabeth Eakins rugs cushion feet both upstairs and down. Facing page bottom: One of two master bathrooms, this boasts a light gray-and-white basket weave tile floor.
rary art, he owns about seventy significant works by artists such as Mel Bochner, Robert Kelly, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, David Shapiro, Louise
The house is “casual but still elegant, sophisticated but livable.”
Bourgeois, Jean Dubuffet and Alberto Burri (a famed Italian painter and sculptor who was also Marks’s 52 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
uncle). Other than sunlight, most of the home’s lighting had previously come from lamps, so Marks brought in a specialist to add sixty-five spots around the house to better highlight his collection. A large Frank Stella painting in the entrance hall is a favorite of Marks’s; it once hung in his office at Goldman Sachs, and he used his first Wall Street bonus check to buy it. A Thomas Nozkowski hangs over one of the fireplaces in the great room, and one of Marks’s newest acquisitions, a colored-pencil drawing by Mark Grotjahn, graces the far right corner. A work by Sam Francis adorns the stairway lead-
ing to the media room, which doubles as a gallery and includes works by such prominent artists as Ross Bleckner, Jasper Johns, Peter Reginato, Joseph McDonnell and Nancy Graves. The mudroom serves as a second mini gallery. In fact, not a room in the house is without art; even the backyard is home to large sculptures by Bernar Venet and Reginato. Bookshelves in the downstairs library are lined with monographs of all the artists Marks has ever collected (or wanted to). “I’ve amassed a pretty good collection,” he says. “But it’s never complete because you never have all the art you want.”
Though the house may have started as a reproduction, each eclectic element, personal touch and beloved painting makes it a unique work of art entirely its own. • Resources For more information about this home, see page 112. Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 53
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PATIENCE MAKES
PERFECT A piece here, a piece there, and over time a New Canaan designer achieves just the combination of glamour and comfort she envisioned. WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN GRUEN • INTERIOR DESIGN: KRISTIN GALLIPOLI
P
atience might be Kristin Gallipoli’s finest decorating virtue. It didn’t matter that the Harvey Probber table in her New Canaan dining room sat chairless for two years. When she finally found the perfect set of ten to go with it, at an auction house in Chicago, she didn’t have to worry about relocating any filler chairs that had held their places. • In fact, that whole “we’ll use this until we find something we like” attitude completely contradicts the designer and store owner’s personal philosophy. “It wasn’t important for me to furnish my home all at once,” she says. “I wasn’t going to buy a bedroom suite or a matching set of living room furniture. It’s like waiting for a guy. It can’t be just any guy; it has to be the right guy. I’m willing to wait, because the perfect thing makes me happy. For me, it’s not necessary to have pieces just to fill the room.” • Gallipoli’s been seeking and finding great things since she was ten, when she started
56 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
A Buddha gazes over the living room where antiques mix with new pieces. Facing page top: Animal prints and geometrics make a chic pairing. Facing page bottom: A collection of sterling-silver boxes shows designer Kristin Gallipoliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s penchant for display.
Gallipoli found the 300-year-old Tibetan thangka in a junk shop. The fuchsia mohair on the chairs is by Kravet. Facing page top: The midcentury modern cabinet is by Kaare Klint. Facing page bottom: The secluded lot has an expansive backyard.
Stark walls became the perfect blank canvas for showcasing her unconventional sensibilities.
working with her father, who renovated Victorian houses in Providence, Rhode Island. It was her last residence, though—the Philip Johnson–designed Wiley House in New Canaan—that lit her passion for midcentury modern. “I taught myself about midcentury,” she says. “It was like learning to cook. I knew what I liked, but I didn’t know what it was called. I got every catalog from all the modern auction houses and tons of books.” Now she rattles off the provenance of just about any piece as if it were her native tongue. Gallipoli’s current home is a Cape-style house that she has spent the last three years filling a bit at a time with treasures found through auctions, on eBay, at flea markets and antiques shows, in galleries and local shops. Last year she began channeling her funky-bold taste into a new outlet—her own store, Mason, in downtown New Canaan. “I wanted to open a store where I would walk in and want everything there,” she says of the collection of design books, midcentury modern furniture and new and vintage accessories. German pottery from the 1960s mingles with Danish coffee tables and low-slung chairs Gallipoli has re-covered in gorgeous linen. She calls the look “glamorous comfort,” and she works to make sure it’s livable. Her two teenage children, she notes, have grown up amid these things. “In my store, it’s original,” she says of the classic pieces by Henry Bertoia, Niels Moller and other masters of midcentury design, “but I want it to look new. Everything is so pristine. A good Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 59
David Hicks fabric pairs with cheetah spots and zebra stripes in the sunroom. Facing page top: Sally Mannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nightblooming Cereus hangs above the mantel in the library between the sunroom and kitchen. Facing page bottom: The vibrant hues make the sunroom Gallipoliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite space.
part of my day is spent looking. I do all the buying for the store. The store has Kristin written all over it.” She has since opened another location inside Stamford’s Hamptons Antique Galleries, this one filled with Warren Platner chairs, a Mastercraft console table, a Roche Bobois sofa, modern paintings and plenty of sculpture. So does she often keep her treasures? “I have to give up a lot,” says Gallipoli. “I stick with what I own—otherwise my house would be a rotating mess. There are hundreds of things that when I’ve sold them I feel like my heart is breaking.” Still, her house is full of prizes like the round dining table in her square dining room, a Kaare Klint cabinet from the 1950s and those perfect chairs, now covered in a fuchsia fabric by Kravet. Gallipoli launched her design plan by painting the whole house off-white. Those stark walls became the perfect blank canvas for showcasing her unconventional sensibilities. In a space off the family room, a photograph by Sally Mann hangs above the fireplace between busts of her children that she commissioned from Connecticut artist David Boyajian. Flanking the fireplace are six feet of books wedged into Sapien bookshelves. The living room, dominated by an enormous Buddha and a large Charles Hollis Jones Lucite table covered with a collection of sterling silver boxes, appears staid in comparison with the sunroom and its riot of sunburst colors. On one side of the window-walled room a squash-colored sofa piped in red holds a slew of colorful pillows, including one by Jonathan Adler embroidered with the Studio 54 logo. Two prototype chairs by the Danish designer Hans Wegner sit opposite in an eye-popping David Hicks pattern. A vibrant rug accents the furniture, along with a pair of hot-pink Moroccan poufs, which GalWinter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 61
Gallipoli played up the simplicity of the woodand-metal Eames bed by keeping the bedding sleek.
lipoli sells at the store in the more subdued shades of white, silver and gold. “It’s my favorite room,” says Gallipoli. “It’s one place where I just really let color take over. When I said I was going to cover my sofa in orange with red piping, people were like, ‘She’s lost it.’ ” Other rooms, such as the all-white kitchen and breakfast area and the neutral-hued master suite, stand in serene contrast. In the bedroom, Gallipoli played up the simplicity of the wood-and-metal Eames bed by keeping the bedding sleek. Legless nightstands protrude from the wall while a Curtis Jeré rain sculpture takes flight on the wall above the bed. The simple sheer curtains are the only ones in the house. The iconic hand chair by Pedro Friedeberg was another of her finds. “My home is not a Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware home,” says Gallipoli. “It’s important that people fill their homes with things they love. If it doesn’t all go together it doesn’t matter.” But in corner after corner of her two-story house, things do go together in tidy, magical ways. A trio of elf heads sits at the top of the stairs outside the door of the master bedroom; the vintage Buster Brown flag above them was a steal at $15. Rooms throughout the house are airy and bright. A ceramic zebra here, a bronze Rodin sculpture there, a smattering of accessories adds just enough interest to keep the spaces warm and lived in, each piece chosen with purpose. “I don’t like clutter. I like to see what I have,” says Gallipoli. “It’s a mistake to fill your house with furniture instead of things you love.” • Resources For more information about this home, see page 112. 62 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
Neutral tones in the bedroom break from the bolder colors in the rest of the house. Facing page top: Pedro Friedbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iconic Hand Chair occupies a bedroom corner. Facing page bottom: Whimsical elf heads sit beneath a Buster Brown ďŹ&#x201A;ag Gallipoli found for $15.
O
Our life paths meander in remarkably unforeseen ways. Certainly, no one— especially interior designer Claire Maestroni—needs reminding of that. Corsican-born Maestroni was raised and educated in Paris, the glorious City of Light. By the time she met her now ex-husband, this adventure-loving soul had already zoomed all about the globe as an international lawyer. Marriage entailed even more accelerated travel. • But eventually, fate played her hand and the couple came to rest in Westchester County, New York. Always high on energy and daring, Maestroni decided on a career switch. Many of her past journeys had involved new nests that needed feathering, bringing to life her unmistakable design talents. Without further ado, she enrolled in Parsons School of Design and began turning her creative skills into what would become a hugely successful business. • Her first baby step, a fetching retail and interior
66 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
A Greenwich designer’s home reflects both her European upbringing and the joie de vivre that has served her well in a life filled with adventure. TEXT BY MEGAN FULWEILER • PHOTOGRAPHY BY BJÖRN WALLANDER • INTERIOR DESIGN: CLAIRE MAESTRONI, MIS EN SCENE • ARCHITECTURE: RUDY RIDBERG • BUILDER: ERNIE BELLO • PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL
FRENCH CONNECTION
The living room is filled with wares from the designer’s shop, such as the dueling sofas covered in Italian cashmere, stools from the Philippines and a Belgian rug. Inset: African masks add interest.
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 67
This chic, uncluttered state began with a
The studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sparkly chandelier makes an interesting juxtaposition with the oak ďŹ&#x201A;oors and paneling. Facing page clockwise from top: The streamlined decor includes the occasional antique piece such as the armchair and a gilded mirror atop a marble-topped chest in the living room. The designer ďŹ nds room in her study for treasured collectibles.
good dose of taking away.
consulting shop nestled in Greenwich, Connecticut, blossomed so rapidly she undertook an expansion a mere two years later. Today’s showroom, Mis en Scene, which translates roughly to “setting the stage,” is an impressive 3,500 square feet of solutions for every design concern imaginable. The exuberant high-quality offerings hail from worldwide manufacturers; given the profound effect travel has had on her tastes, it’s unlikely Maestroni will ever fall prey to the mundane. Her aesthetic is characterized by a bold mix of contemporary and antique elements, a wealth of materials and a sophisticated palette. It’s highly individualized and—no surprise, as the French are renowned for their charm—incredibly beguiling. Take the designer’s own home, also in Greenwich. As soon as Maestroni purchased the pretty 1940s house, she launched a massive overhaul to give it her stamp. From the exterior color scheme to the backyard patio with its stellar granite fire pit, nothing is as it was. Thoughtfully pried apart and injected with sparks of color, the revitalized house is all about light and personality. It’s almost inexplicable—and totally enviable—how Maestroni maintains her home’s streamlined look while finding room for myriad decorative accessories, not to mention space for three children ages seventeen, ten and seven. “People sometimes don’t realize this is a kidfriendly house. My children have been raised as I was to take care of things. And
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 69
Reclaimed French oak
nothing is too precious or fragile anyway,” says the designer. Still, if we look to the beginning of the project for clues, this chic, uncluttered state began with a good dose of taking away. Rather than leave the downstairs rooms all higgledy-piggledy as they were, Maestroni— in consultation with Greenwich-based architect Rudy Ridberg—demolished the walls and forged an open plan, allowing the spaces to breathe. “I was coming from a dark Tudor,” she explains. “I was in need of something modern and airy.” Today the posh living room, dining room, kitchen and family room spill gently into one another. Should privacy be called for, sliding barn-style eighteenth-century doors do the job, serving as instant partitions between the living and dining areas and the kitchen and family room. A newly added mudroom accommodates the inevitable welter of coats and boots. And as for light, Maestroni designed a generous expanse of windows to parade along the entire first floor. The bountiful glass maximizes natural light and unites the house with the verdant landscape. Known for her fearless contrasts, Maestroni partners the living room’s matte black walls with a snowy Venetian-plastered hearth. Plexiglass chairs team with a rustic dining table. “The see-through chairs allow you to look at the beautiful wood,” she says. Reclaimed French oak planks cover the floors, unifying the living spaces. The aged
70 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
planks cover the floors, unifying the living spaces.
Terry O’Neill’s photograph of Brigitte Bardot sparks the family room. Facing page clockwise from top: Reinvented stairs sport modern materials. The patio features colorful furnishings. The traditional exterior belies the interior’s boldness.
“I was coming from a
wood’s hue also brings a note of warmth, as do plush fabrics and, where there is bound to be prolonged lingering (think family room), portly pillows and feel-good throws. Hide rugs—elegantly striped in the living room, an edgy circular pattern for the family room—are cozy rather than formal or fussy. The existing garage was repurposed as the new kitchen, increasing the square footage and boosting the livability factor. Dazzling white Corian counters and gleaming Miele appliances—hidden within a system of custom-made floor-to-ceiling wooden doors— are in keeping with the slick scheme. But even here, objets d’art find their place. Most intriguing is a cache of decorative treasures perched on pristine shelves mounted with rustic branch-like brackets. The kitchen’s adjacent cafe/bar is like the unexpected sweet that tops the perfect meal. The European-influenced space invites morning coffee or evening cocktails. All the necessary bells and whistles are in place, from fridges to a built-in espresso machine. Twin bistro tables evoke the mood of a sidewalk cafe, but there’s the added luxury of a sumptuous banquette and no nosy passersby to disrupt the intimacy. Originally the house had a pair of staircases. Maestroni dismantled one and ingeniously revamped the other. Retrofitted with metal and sporting a leatherupholstered guardrail, the reborn stairs defy their ho-hum past as they make their way to the remodeled second and third floors. The latter has been expertly converted from an almost-forgotten attic into a two-bedroom suite for the boys. Up here, Maestroni took a more casual route, clapboarding the walls to
72 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
dark Tudor. I needed something light and airy.â&#x20AC;?
A wire-and-plaster chandelier illuminates the dining table. Facing page top and bottom: A bistro-like space off the kitchen conjures coziness. Facing page right: Branches make intriguing brackets to hold decorative objects in the kitchen.
evoke an indoor/outdoor mood. Her knack for choosing materials is evident again in the master suite. Gray flannel reveals its underlying sensuousness, wrapping her bedroom walls in a luxurious cocoon. Purple— the color of kings—is the designer’s favorite. Married with gray, shots of the hue enliven the space without disturbing its tranquility. At 74 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
The designer’s lush upholstered bed is graced with an oversized headboard. The swivel chair is covered in velvet. Top and bottom left: The glistening master bath has a contemporary aesthetic.
the bed’s head hangs a painting by Jean-Marc Louis. “I love interior design, yet art has always been my main passion,” the manyfaceted Maestroni says. “Louis’s work is simple and unique.” Pass through her walk-in closet and you’re in the master bath. Luminous Corian-covered walls conjure the cleanliness of a sun-bleached
beach, while a sculptural tub moves center stage to claim the window. If it weren’t for its anchoring dark floor, the light-filled space could almost float. Like all the other rooms in Maestroni’s house, it’s a study in elegance, clearly the work of a designer with an unwavering eye. • Resources For more information about this home, see page 112 Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 75
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Eternally Graceful Casual and comfortable for the children, chic and sophisticated for the grownups, a young family’s first house is designed to suit them for a lifetime. TEXT BY PAULA M. BODAH • PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL PARTENIO • ARCHITECTURE: JOHN CURRIE • INTERIOR DESIGN: LAUREN MUSE • BUILDER: TIM GILSON • PRODUCED BY STACY KUNSTEL
C
ity living had been fine for the young couple when they were college students, then newlyweds and new parents. But as their elder son approached kindergarten age and they made plans to enlarge the family (baby number three, a daughter, is on the way), the suburbs beckoned. “We wanted a fresh start,” the wife says. “We wanted a community where our kids could go to school for the long term, where we’d have friends and family around.” • They settled on the village of Old Greenwich and quickly found a house they both loved—a not-quite-finished gambrel-roofed, shingle-clad shore colonial
78 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
Texture plays a large role in the living room, where walls are treated to a glossy chocolate-brown lacquer, chairs and sofa wear cushy fabrics and the rug is woven in a high-low geometric in wool and linen.
that, for all its newness, looks like it was built during the beach community’s early twentieth-century heyday. Designed by local architect John Currie and constructed by local builder Tim Gilson, the three-story house displays the high quality one would expect in a custom home, from the attractive moldings to the family room’s coffered ceilings to the arched details above the kitchen cabinets. “We both loved it,” the wife says. “We thought the bones seemed really solid.” As traditional as the house looks from the outside, Currie’s interior floor plan follows the more contemporary fashion of letting public spaces open to one another. “We wanted to set a relaxed tone,” the architect explains. “Old Greenwich is beachside, so we were shooting for something elegant, yet informal, a place more conducive to walking around in your bare feet.” To that end, the first floor holds smallish living and dining rooms for formal entertaining, while the kitchen, casual dining area and family room form an airy space ending in French
doors that open to the backyard. “I really like the layout,” the wife says. “It’s nice to be cooking and still keep an eye on the kids playing in the family room or in the yard.” While the house was in construction, Greenwich-based designer Lauren Muse lent her expertise, suggesting finishes and wall colors. The new homeowners liked what Muse had done, so they enlisted her to finish the job for them. “They wanted to start fresh, so they brought very little with them from their city apartment,” Muse says. “They were very open and really let me run with it.” Muse probed her clients’ likes and dislikes and discovered that they tended to prefer solids to patterns and favored neutral tones and blues. She also found that, though the two generally share similar tastes, they had slightly different priorities. “I like things to look very nice and maybe a little bit
In a nod to the nearby beachfront, the family room sports shades of blue from sky to turquoise against a background of sand shades. Facing page clockwise from top left: Traditional and casual come together in the wide entry hall. The homeowners love the shore gambrel for its “good bones.” Family room accessories add some playful pattern to the solid backdrop.
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 81
A distressed trestle table and a wipe-clean banquette make the breakfast area child-friendly. Right: Clean and classic defines the kitchen. Below: Textured linen chairs and a black lacquered table are a sophisticated mix in the dining room.
contemporary,” the husband says. “My wife likes extreme comfort and livability.” Like Currie’s “elegant yet informal” architectural plan, Muse designed an interior that meets the husband’s desire for sophistication and the wife’s wish for a comfortable, familyfriendly environment. The foyer sets a classic tone with its herringbone-patterned floor and its wainscoting topped with wide-striped wallpaper in pale neutrals. “I had a vision of what I think an entrance should look like,” the husband says. “I wanted it to be fairly classic, and I think Lauren got that right.” A bleached oak console with horn pulls, designed by Muse, and a contemporary sunburst mirror add a casual note to the traditional entry. 82 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
In the formal living and dining rooms, Muse indulged the husband’s preference for elegance. One wonderful element often triggers the design of a room, she says. “Something inspires me, whether it’s a piece of fabric or a carpet, and that starts the ball rolling.” In the living room, that inspiration took the form of the drapery fabric, a neutral linen with cocoa-colored embroidery. The stitching inspired the wall treatment—a rich, glossy lacquer applied layer by painstaking layer by New York artisan Roman Kujawa— which looks, Muse says, “like a melted Hershey’s candy bar.” The room’s overall effect is one of utter luxury thanks to those gleaming walls and Muse’s introduction of texture in the sofa and chair fabrics, chenille toss pillows covered
“Old Greenwich is beachside, so we wanted to set a relaxed tone.”
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 83
with openwork netting and a stunning wool and linen rug with a subtle geometric pattern in shades of brown, beige and the palest blue. In the formal dining room, Muse began with a wallpaper that depicts willow-like branches in ivories and light gold. Mindful of her clients’ leaning toward solids, Muse eschewed pattern in the rest of the room, opting for ivory linen drapes, an almost-black table and white chairs. Again, textures provide the interest: the lacquered table, the linen chair backs (the fronts are brushed velvet) and the smooth Lucite chandelier. A pair of purple-and-yellow cloisonné jars on the dining table adds energy to the quiet color scheme. The large family room offers all the comfort the wife sought without sacrificing style. “It’s largely neutral, too,” notes Muse, “but it’s a bit brighter, a bit more youthful.” Twin sofas in a striéd chenille face off across an ivory-colored lacquered coffee table with an inset grasscloth center. Pale blue recesses in the coffered ceiling and accessories in several shades of blue—a nod to the home’s waterfront location—
One wonderful element often triggers the design of a room, Muse says.
brighten the neutral backdrop. And, once more, textures— a grasscloth wallcovering and a geometric-patterned rug in a high-low weave—bring depth to the space. The kitchen is clean, classic and all-white, from the marble countertops to the Christopher Peacock–inspired cabinetry to the Ann Sacks mother-of-pearl tile on the backsplash. A child-friendly breakfast area sports a distressed trestle table and a banquette covered in a treated fabric that cleans up with the swipe of a damp sponge. “I want to design houses that are beautiful and modern and today but also very functional,” Muse says. “This house balances the two, and it functions very well for them as a family.” When they began the process, the wife says, “I was very focused on making it a great house for our family. My husband was thinking this would be our house forever, so let’s make it amazing.” In the end, the homeowners agree, they both got exactly what they wanted. • Resources For more information about this home, see page 112.
Traditional and modern mix in the master bedroom, where a Lucite-legged bench keeps company with aged, silvered nightstands. Facing page top: A custom bench in the vestibule gives a preview of the tranquil master suite. Facing page bottom: The wide-striped wallpaper from the foyer reappears on the stairway to the second ďŹ&#x201A;oor.
Winter 2011 New England Homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Connecticut 85
COLDWELL BANKER
I N T E R N A T I O N A L®
The Luxury Div ision of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
GREENWICH, CT
Gated 10,000+square-foot Doron Sabag English manor with exquisite entertaining venues, a large master suite, luxurious pool, brick terraces, wine cellar, beautiful vistas and heated 23-car garages. BARBARA ZACCAGNINI $14,900,000
RIDGEFIELD, CT
This vintage mansion is in a class by itself featuring 14 fireplaces, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and majestic ballroom on 3+ acres with a heated pool and pool house. MAUREEN KOZLARK $4,500,000
CANTON, CT
Craftsman-style lodge with 10,000 square feet of living space on 33+ acres with pool, pool house, brooks, wooden bridges, meditation areas, a trio of ponds, and a campsite. KATIE FRENCH $2,500,000
RIVERSIDE, CT
Classic 1926 renovated six-bedroom Colonial on 2+ acres in one-acre zone. Features exquisite moldings, three fireplaces, cherry cabinetry and built-ins. Guest house and English gardens. LINDA COLLINS $6,950,000
OLD LYME, CT
Magnificent and private 4.3 acre Connecticut River compound features 7,200-square-foot main house, two-bedroom guest house, heated Gunite pool and deep-water dock. Superb quality! JOE RHODES III $4,100,000
STAMFORD, CT
On 2.44 private garden acres, this story-book, one-of-a-kind, 6,230-square-foot French Normandy Colonial lodge is a comfortably updated 1925 romantic gem. JACK MULROONEY $2,499,900
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DARIEN, CT
Tastefully restored and expanded 1867 Victorian with views of Long Island Sound and Goodwives River features original details, a heated pool, guest suite and a restored original barn. VALERIE MESEDAHL $4,700,000
WESTON, CT
Country estate overlooking a meadow and the Saugatuck River. Masterfully built featuring deep crown moldings, custom woodwork, stone terraces and Gunite pool with spa. MARYLOU JAMIESON $2,689,000
MADISON, CT
New England Colonial features formal living and dining rooms, a custom kitchen, luxurious master suite, and inground Gunite pool complemented by a cabana with Viking kitchen. CATHY LYNCH $1,599,000
800.767.0078
©2011 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT LLC. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
I N T E R I O R A R C H I T E C T U R E & D E S I G N | C U S T O M M I L LW O R K
Jean Marie McLaughlin, ASID | jm@jmacinteriors.net 203.966.0828 | www.jmacinteriors.net
ELIZABETH EAKINS %6%29 25' (!3 ! 34/29
RUGS & FABRICS IN NATURAL FIBERS Meet Little One, the sheep that is the inspiration for the Private Reserve rug that bears her name. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Little Oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ&#x201A;eece that has been hand shorn and spun into the yarn that is hand woven in our Norwalk, CT studio in order to create one of these marvelous environmentally responsible rugs. Our entire Private Reserve line is made out of all virgin ďŹ&#x201A;eece from our own sheep and sheep from other carefully selected small farms. As a result, each custom made rug is not only completely traceable but feels incredibly personal. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the kind of superb quality clients expect from Elizabeth Eakins. And to think it all started with a sheep named Little One. Our studio is now open to the public with a splendid selection of pillows, fabrics and rugs. 4AFT 3TREET 3OUTH .ORWALK #4 s s -ADISON !VENUE .EW 9ORK .9 s elizabetheakins.com %LIZABETH %AKINS )NC Š
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Design Life Out and about in celebration of design and architecture in Connecticut
IT WAS A BUSY AUTUMN IN CONNECTICUT, WITH OPENINGS,
show houses and all manner of festive events. We were proud to help designers Tricia Izzo and Carolyn Kron celebrate the grand opening of SHELTER INTERIORS, their new design studio and store in Milford. Tricia and Carolyn have been friends for years, so it’s great to see them join forces. Our friends at Irwin Feld Design hosted NEW ENGLAND HOME ’s fall networking party in their Stamford gallery. Like all our networking parties, this was a fun, energetic affair where the magazine’s staff Should your party be and advertisers joined area designers here? Send photographs and architects to sip wine, nibble hors or high-resolution images, d’oeuvres and make new friends. with information about the event and the people in the The Stamford Museum & Nature photos, to New England Home, Center benefitted from the lovely 530 Harrison Ave., Suite 302, SHIPPAN SHOW HOUSE, this year’s Boston, MA 02118, or e-mail images and information to effort from show house promoter pbodah@nehome extraordinaire Franco Grimaldi. The mag.com. 1922 home was given a whole new look for the lucky family who lives there. Designer Carey Karlan of LAST DETAIL INTERIOR DESIGN opened her gracious Darien home for a plein air art show. Fine art and fine interior design do, indeed, make a happy union, especially when combined with a lively social event. So do fabulous interior design and shopping, as we discovered when Cindy Rinfret invited us to her Greenwich shop, RINFRET HOME & GARDEN, for a private holiday shopping event. The shop’s wonderfully eclectic mix of accessories had us wishing we were buying gifts for ourselves as well as those on our holiday gift list.
SHELTER INTERIORS From top to bottom: Ellen Malmon, Tricia Izzo, Carolyn Kron and Michele Scotto • Jenny McLaughlin and Holly Winslow • Kelly Boran and Michelle Bellucci
RINFRET HOME & GARDEN From top, left to right: Darrah Gleason and Patti Ekval • Monika Walker and Ricky Spears • Vince and Anna Cappucci • Jackie Ekholm and Cindy Rinfret
90 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
MASON STYLE, LLC | 48 ELM STREET | NEW CANAAN, CT | 203.966.6655 | WWW.MASONSTYLE.NET
Design Life
NEW ENGLAND HOME
LAST DETAIL INTERIOR DESIGN
From top, left to right: Philip Shortt, Tiffany Allan, Amy Andrews and Liz Hynes • New England Home’s Glenn Sadin, Betsy Abeles Kravitz and Kate Koch • Steve Cassler and Irwin Feld • Dan Paquette and Amanda Martocchio • Jane Speroff, Cynthia Mason Hernandez and Ann Morris • Erica DiMartino, Victoria Keating, New England Home’s Kyle Hoepner and Liz Hynes • Mark and Violet Nastri
From left to right: Beth Dempsey and Tammy Davis • Beth Dempsey and Carey Karlan
NEIL LANDINO JR.
SHIPPAN SHOW HOUSE
STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER
From left to right: Michael Delaney, Jamie Delaney, Franco Grimaldi, Barbara Malloy, Melissa H. Mulrooney, Howard Malloy, June Rosenthal and Rolf Rosenthal • Katherine and Bill Aron, Lynn Villency Cohen and Stephen Cohen • Leslie Bruzik and Lynn Villency Cohen
92 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
VI Vandamm Interiors
Interior Design for the Home and Of ice V.Vandamm@VandammInteriors.com (203) 622-9070 Studio â&#x20AC;˘ (917) 864-4279 Mobile
www.VandammInteriors.com
PARDO PHOTOGRAPHY
20 CHURCH STREET GREENWICH, CT 203.625.0491 WWW.RIDARCH.COM
RIDBERG+Associates Architects
Perspectives Fresh outlooks on design and resources
• Three area designers set a cozy hearth • Wish List: Designer Paul Guzzetta’s favorite items for the home • It’s Personal: Finds from the staff of New England Home
Hearthside Comfort: Armchairs
Teddy Club Chair from Coup d’Etat “I love this vintage chair from Coup d’Etat! Its lines and sink-into-me appearance are perfect for the hearthside.” THROUGH PEACOCK & BEALE
DEVON ELIZABETH BUTLER
CONNIE BEALE
AMY ANDREWS
Eddie Armchair by Lona Design “This chair is one of my very favorites, incorporating classic design elements with a whimsical twist. At the fireside, or in any space, this chair just begs you to relax and put your feet up at the end of a long day. THROUGH KATHERINE COWDIN, INC.
CATHERINE AVERY
Chair No. Three Ninety Five by The New Traditionalists “The balance of the feminine arms with the masculine leather detailing gives this chair family appeal. A pair of these chairs, which are manufactured in Connecticut, would be perfect for relaxing by the fireplace.” THROUGH AVERY DESIGN INTERIORS
96 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
SHARON MC CORMICK DESIGN, LLC
FINE INTERIOR DESIGN 8 8 8 - 4 9 8 - 5 9 8 8 | i n f o @ s h a r o nm c c o r m i c kd e s i g n . c o m W W W. S H A R O N M C C O R M I C K D E S I G N . C O M
Perspectives
Throws
AMY ANDREWS
Dorsey Throw by Sferra “These cashmere throws are so soft and decadent! The herringbone texture and fantastic colors are a wonderful accent to any room. They also make a fabulous gift, even to yourself.” THE LINEN PRESS, OLD GREENWICH, (203) 637-0200
CONNIE BEALE
Rani Arabella’s Capri Throw “This 100 percent cashmere throw is hip and luxurious at the same time. Made in Italy, it comes in an array of delicious colors.” THROUGH PEACOCK & BEALE
CATHERINE AVERY
Houndstooth Fringe Throw by A Soft Idea “Made locally, this oversized plush throw is available in five different colors. In easy-to-clean 100 percent cotton, it’s perfect for the kids to cozy up by the fireplace with hot chocolate on a winter evening.” FIG LINENS, WESTPORT, (203) 227-8669
With a passion for good design and wonderful spaces, Amy Andrews works to create environments that bring clients joy when they walk through the door. Her goal is to design interior and exterior areas where the homeowner feels comfortable and inspired. KATHERINE COWDIN, INC., GREENWICH, (203) 661-4844
98 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
&
G ardiner L a r s o n Comfort + Beauty + Quality
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HOMES
Perspectives
Andirons CATHERINE AVERY
Midcentury Fireplace Tools from Greg Nanamura “I love the sleek lines of these brass fireplace tools. The thick green glass base is a unique and unusual touch.” THROUGH AVERY DESIGN INTERIORS
AMY ANDREWS
Serpentine Andirons by Ironware International “These andirons are great fun. Their hand-forged artisan look and beautiful finish give them a warm, unique feel. Put them near the fireplace for a very special look.” THROUGH
GREG NANAMURA/CENTER44
KATHERINE COWDIN, INC.
CONNIE BEALE
Catherine Avery partners with her clients to create relaxed, yet elegant, family-friendly interiors. In her view, great interior design must reflect the style and taste of the client, evoking a warm and welcoming response from all who enter. AVERY DESIGN INTERIORS, WESTPORT, (203) 273-0898, WWW.AVERYDESIGNINTERIORS.COM 100 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
Fireplace Log Holder from Robert Altman “I love this early twentieth-century log basket from Robert Altman, one of my favorite dealers in unusual and interesting andirons and fireplace items. He always has something I want to buy for a client.” THROUGH PEACOCK & BEALE
Rinfret, Ltd Interior Design & Decoration
Cindy Rinfret is the founder of Rinfret, Ltd., which is one of the leading design firms on the East Coast. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including her book, Classic Greenwich Style (Rizzoli). Cindy Rinfret designed the elegant dining room on the left and bathroom below for a client in Greenwich, CT. This project was featured on the cover of the Inaugural issue of
New England Home's Connecticut.
354 GREENWICH AVENUE GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT www.rinfretltd.com SHOP 203.622.0204 DESIGN 203.622.0000
Perspectives
Mantelpiece Decor
CONNIE BEALE
Nola Sunburst Mirror “I had this mirror custom made for my store by Vernon Mirror Smith. Handcrafted of antiqued Polish glass, it would make a very special statement over the mantel.” THROUGH PEACOCK & BEALE
AMY ANDREWS
Sadge Barriers by John Funt (2005) “This oil painting would make an amazing focal point above the mantel, bringing peace, color and depth to the room. How wonderful it would be to sit with your feet by the fire and enjoy that view!” NELSON MACKER FINE ART, THROUGH KATHERINE COWDIN, INC.
CATHERINE AVERY
For thirty years, Connie Beale has designed beautiful, functional spaces for a diverse group of clients across the country. The primary buyer and creative energy behind home furnishings store Peacock & Beale, she recently launched a product development and branding venture, Riverbank Creative. PEACOCK & BEALE, ESSEX, (860) 767-1682 102 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
Sunburst Wall Sculpture “This 1960s piece adds that special touch of elegance above the fireplace. With its variegated shades of metal, it’s a modern take on a classic design.” IRWIN FELD DESIGN, STAMFORD, (203) 588-0567
Ma r bl e | G r a n i t e | L i mest on e Ti l es | Ta bl es | C ou n t er Top s Va n i t y Top s | F i r ep l a ces
34 Riverside Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06850 tel (203) 847-6880, fax (203) 847-3902 www.casatellimarbleandtile.com Custom fabrication of marble and granite since 1988
B O X W O O D home & interiors
44 East Avenue New Canaan CT 06840 (203) 972-1010 Fax (203) 972-3030 www.BoxwoodInteriors.com
IMAGES BY LAURA MOSS PHOTOGRAPHY
Perspectives • Wish List
LARA TOMLIN
What are some things you’d love to use in a project?
Paul Guzzetta, Stamford By the time he started his interior design business twenty years ago, Paul Guzzetta had already enjoyed an exciting career in fashion, first as a designer for Yves Saint Laurent and later for his own company. Today, he brings his meticulous eye for fit and fabric to interiors projects, creating rooms impeccably tailored for his clients’ lifestyles. “It’s clean and practical,” he says of his design sensibility, “somewhat trendy but very comfortable and easy to keep clean and manage.” Case in point: a fabulous pet-friendly living room he recently created for a client and her seven rescue dogs. While in the fashion industry, Guzzetta crisscrossed the globe overseeing the production of his designs, and travel remains his primary inspiration. His experiences abroad provided the spark for 4-orm, his new line of solid mahogany furniture. The collection seamlessly combines haute couture styling and down-to-earth practicality—a fitting embodiment of Guzzetta’s design philosophy. THE ITEMS ON HIS WISH LIST ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH HIS FIRM, IH DESIGN STUDIO, STAMFORD, (203) 9697227, WWW.IHDESIGNSTUDIO.COM
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1 Stratum Wallcovering by Weitzner Limited “This wallcovering is made from a veneer of actual slate and looks amazing. Great for a fireplace, mudroom or powder room, it’s real stone without the mason!” 2 Sydney Coffee Table by 4-orm “I may be biased because I designed it, but I really do feel this table is a practical choice—a great piece for any family room. The center is made from Portland cement so it’s virtually indestructible, and the surround wood is solid Asian mahogany.” 3 Varia Ecoresin from 3form “I wish every project could incorporate a bit of this product. 3form can take almost anything and imbed it in resin to create a solid surface. It works particularly well in the kitchen for cabinet doors, partition walls, sliding doors and more.”
PAUL ROBIDA
4 Boiled Wool from Holland & Sherry “Don’t tell your mother you have a sofa coming in boiled wool. She’ll tell you about a coat she used to own and probably still has in the closet. But this classic fabric is a keeper! It lasts forever and really has an amazing hand: soft and cuddly and incredibly durable. That’s why she still has the coat!” 5 Iris Design Studio’s Olinda Light “Is it a light fixture, or is it art? Iris has created a collection of unique wall lighting that can accessorize a room as well as provide ambient light. You can customize the image, which opens up endless possibilities.”
104 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
Photographer - Philip Ennis
Fi nished in Fabric european elegance (860)346-4843
| mark@finishedinfabric.com
Finished in Fabric is a family-operated, European-trained workroom that specializes in antique upholstery done in Old World style with hand-sewn edging and horse hair. The all-inclusive workroom can fulfill all of your homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upholstery and drapery needs, from decorative pillows, headboards and bedding to fabric walls and complete drapery installation.
Photo by Eric Roth. Painting by Bart Gulley, courtesy of art+interiors.
FROM TRADITIONAL TO MODERN
26 Arcadia Rd., Suite 6 | Old Greenwich, CT | (203) 540-5350 | www.VictoriaLyonInteriors.com
Perspectives • It’s Personal Favorite finds from the staff of New England Home
Stacy Kunstel, Homes Editor Having grown up with various animals stuffed and mounted on the walls (caribou, wild turkey, pheasant, bass, you name it), I probably should be over the hunting motif that’s been all the rage for the past few years. But when a look reinvents itself I have a tendency to fall for it all over again, as I did when I spied this painted aluminum deer head on the wall at J. Seitz & Co. Nestled between a pair of oyster-trimmed mirrors and over a bed covered in Matteo linens, it cast its gaze at me as I admired its mighty rack from across the room. I love the thought of bringing a bit of nature into my house—without having to feel guilty every time I look at it. $395. NEW PRESTON, (860) 868-0119, WWW.JSEITZ.COM
Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief
Classic mill-worked wainscoting, moldings and reliefs are hallmarks of the traditional architecture that makes a home feel abundant and luxurious. Handcrafted detailing of this sort never went out of fashion, but its cost gave homeowners pause. Enter Wainscot Solutions, which uses modern materials and tools to create stunning, room-transforming wainscoting that can be installed in hours, not days, and with more affordability. I met Michael Yedowitz, the mind behind Wainscot Solutions, a few years ago when I was styling a home that featured this beautiful, versatile wainscoting for a national magazine, and I became a fan of his product on the spot. Beyond the wide range of style options the company offers, Yedowitz is happy to work with homeowners to design something to turn ordinary walls, stairs and fireplaces into a unique and personal statement. NEW MILFORD, (860) 354-3638, WWW.WAINSCOTSOLUTIONS.COM
106 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
BRIDGEWATER, (860) 354-0700, WWW.EVB ANTIQUES.COM
TIM WEE PHOTOGRAPHY
Karin Lidbeck Brent, Contributing Editor
I’m a bit of a pushover for things that are rough, worn, scuffed, weathered, distressed, ragged, threadbare, patinated or otherwise textured in some way that betokens decades or centuries of use. So you can imagine the pleasure with which I came across this nineteenth-century country chair at Eleish van Breems, Ltd. Hailing from the town of Pietarsaari in western Finland, this piece is, according to co-owner Edie van Breems, “one of many such rustic chairs that can be found throughout the Scandinavian countryside. Often made by the farmers themselves during the long winter months, the chairs were painted using pigments derived from indigenous minerals. After 1830 and the development of chemically derived paints, chairs of this type would frequently incorporate colors like the cadmium-based navy blue seen here.” Now if only I had just the right little hallway corner in which to tuck it—time to move, I think! $625. FAIRFIELD AND
We are Outdoor Kitchen and Living Specialists We can build the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Preferred Lifestyle you so deserve.â&#x20AC;? Live beyond the walls of your home outdoors. 203.250.1030 â&#x20AC;˘ Mike.Preferred@att.net
www.OutdoorlivingCt.com â&#x20AC;˘ www.NightlightingDesigner.com
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New in the Showrooms Unique, beautiful and now appearing in Connecticut shops and showrooms BY KARA LASHLEY
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1 Inspired by the traditional folk art of Indonesia, the Indah tile collection from Ann Sacks features seven intricate designs carved onto antiqued reclaimed teak. (The Weave pattern is pictured here.) The collection takes its name from the Indonesian word for “beautiful,” but we think Indah’s exotic appeal translates to any language. GREENWICH, (203) 6228884, WWW.ANNSACKS.COM
2 Marvin Gardens’ dramatic steel orbs are just the thing to revive a barren winter landscape. Made by a Texas artist from repurposed agricultural parts, the oneof-a-kind sculptures range from two feet to four feet in diameter and come in a variety of shapes. For added interest, the interior of each hoop can be painted a contrasting color. WILTON, (203) 544-2020, WWW.MARVIN GARDENS USA.COM
108 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
3 New on the scene at Irwin Feld Design, this 1950s James Mont chair is half of a very handsome pair. The chairs’ sculptural cushions perch on hardwood frames stained a rich espresso and finished with an ultra-glossy French polish. Freshly upholstered in pumpkin-colored fabric by Bergamo, this power couple is ready for its close-up. STAMFORD, (203) 588-0567, WWW.IRWINFELDDESIGN.COM
4 Say buongiorno to Arabella, a saucy little number that’s just arrived at Signorello of Westport. The slant-backed armchair from Giorgetti swivels seductively atop a bronze-finished base and can be decked out in an array of comehither hues. Prefer something more demure? Imagine Arabella in white leather. WESTPORT, (203) 221-3200
5 As icicles adorn the outside of your windows, your draperies may be feeling a bit jealous. Treat them to some cool bling of their own with sleek accessories from Brimar’s Ice collection. Now available at DesignSourceCT, the line offers sophisticated acrylic curtain rods, finials and tieback rosettes (shown here) that won’t melt come spring. HARTFORD, (860) 9513145, WWW.DESIGNSOURCECT.COM
6 Rinfret Home & Garden is brimming with luxurious accessories that are sure to heat up a long winter’s night. This richly embroidered pillow promises to add a touch of warmth and elegance to any room. Or perhaps you’d rather snuggle up under the store’s sumptuous silver fox throw; lined with cozy fleece, it’s a faux-fur dream come true. GREENWICH, (203) 6220204, WWW.RINFRETLTD.COM/SHOP.PHP
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7 ’Tis the season for new beginnings, and this gracious antique fixture just received another lease on life from Restoration Lighting Gallery, a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind lighting finds. Lovingly restored and rewired, this decade-old beauty retains its original brass finish, Favrille-style glass shades and detailed cast arms. HARTFORD, (860) 493-2532, WWW.MY RLG .COM
8 Whether or not you’re having a baronet to dinner, Juliska’s pewter stoneware will lend your home the air of a European manor. Its metallic finish bespeaks oldworld elegance, but the durable glaze is made for modern convenience: the dinnerware and serving pieces can be popped directly in the dishwasher, no scullery maid required. STAMFORD, (203) 316-9118, WWW.JULISKA.COM
110 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
9 Attention bookworms: you’re bound to covet the lavishly detailed French biblioteque from Tara Shaw Maison, a new addition at Parc Monceau. Standing almost nine feet tall, this impressively proportioned bookcase—a faithful reproduction of an antique piece—will house a serious collection of tomes and bibelots.
11 Simon Pearce has been playing matchmaker, bringing together its signature glass and hand-thrown pottery in the Burlington lamp. Switch it on, and the lamp’s modest design comes alive as a soft glow illuminates the glass and accentuates the gentle curve of the pottery base. GREENWICH, (203) 861-0780,
WESTPORT, (203) 319-0001, WWW.PARC
AND WESTPORT, (203) 226-2353, WWW
MONCEAU WESTPORT.COM
.SIMON PEARCE .COM
10Is it a kitchen or a living space? Poggenpohl’s +Artesio, an innovative marriage of furniture design and architecture, will leave you wondering. A collaboration with architect/designer Hadi Teherani, the kitchen concept blurs the line between cooking and living, going beyond cabinetry to encompass walls, floor and ceiling. WESTPORT, (203) 227-1723, WWW .WESTPORT.POGGENPOHL.COM
12 Since its recent debut at Boxwood Home & Interiors, the Newport console from Oomph has caused quite a stir. Like Newport’s famous mansions, the tastefully trendy table doesn’t shy away from embellishment—or over-the-top color. Though it enjoys the society of more subdued pieces, this console can’t help but steal the show. NEW CAANAN, (203) 972-1010, WWW .BOXWOODINTERIORS.COM
GRANDBERG & ASSOCIATES A
R
C
I N T E R I O R S
H
I
T
E
A R C H I T E C T S
t. (914) 242-0033
C
T
S
P L A N N I N G
f. (914) 242-5937
info@grandbergarchitects.com
Resources A guide to the products and professionals in this issue’s featured homes
COMPLEMENTARY COPY PAGES 46–53 Architect: Louise Brooks, Brooks & Falotico Associates, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 966-8440, www.brooksandfalotico.com Interior designer: Petra and Whitney Roberts, Boxwood Home & Interiors, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 972-1010, www.boxwoodinteriors.com Builder: Thayer West, West Construction Corporation, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 966-7918, www.westconstructioncorp.com Art lighting consultant: Mark Mosello, Design Lighting by Marks, Elmsford, N.Y., (914) 3455100, www.designlightingbymarks.com Landscaping maintenance: Jessica Livingston, Riverside, Conn., (203) 561-0611 Page 46–47: Strié wallpaper by Hinson & Company, Long Island City, N.Y., (718) 482-1100, www.hinsonco.com; pillow fabric by China Seas through Quadrille, New York City, (212) 7532995, www.quadrillefabrics.com; sisal area rug through Stark Carpet, Norwalk, Conn., (203) 899-1771, www.starkcarpet.com; upholstered furniture by Edward Ferrell, New York City, (212) 758-5000, www.ef-lm.com; nickel sconces by Vaughan Lighting, New York City, (212) 3197070, www.vaughandesigns.com; artwork by Mel Bochner, Thomas Nozkowski, Robert Kelly, Bernar Venet and Joan Mitchell, all from the owner’s collection. Page 48: Dining table by Holly Hunt, New York City, (212) 755-6555, www.hollyhunt.com; chairs by Country Swedish, New York City, (212) 838-1976, www.countryswedish.com; custom hand-painted light fixtures through Boxwood Home & Interiors; wicker chargers, bamboo veneer tray, cutlery and framed plates from The Tulip Tree Collection, Washington Depot, Conn., (860) 868-2802, www .tuliptreecollection.com. Page 49: Faux wood painting in library by Melissa Barbieri Studio, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 622-6975, www.melissabarbieri.com; artwork above fireplace by Jean Dubuffet, from the owner’s collection; desk by Ralph Lauren Home, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 8692054, www.ralphlaurenhome.com; fabrics by Clarence House, New York City, (212) 752-2890, www.clarencehouse.com, Cowtan & Tout, New York City, (212) 647-6900, www.cowtan.com, and Ralph Lauren Home; console table in foyer by Niermann Weeks, New York City, (212) 319-7979, www.niermann weeks.com; hand-woven cotton area rug and stair runner by Elizabeth Eakins, South Norwalk, Conn., (203) 831-9347, www.elizabeth eakins.com; nickel lantern by Vaughan Lighting; artwork in foyer by Alberto Burri, Marco Breuer and Bernar Venet, from the owner’s collection; Snowy Egret wall color by Ralph Lauren paints through Ralph Lauren Home. 112 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
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“Cool things for your home!” Same GREAT SHOW • NEW Spring Dates • March 25-27, 2011
Visit www.CTHomeShow.com for tickets, exhibitor list & discount parking CT Convention Center • Downtown Hartford Proudly produced by your local home builders and remodeling professionals.
Resources
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Page 50: Colombian black clay soup pot and three hand-glazed ceramic celadon canisters from The Tulip Tree Collection; black platters, bowls and pitcher from The Privet House, Warren, Conn., (860) 868-1800, www. privethouse.com; Juliska bowls by sink and stone plates on island from J. Seitz and Company, New Preston, Conn., (860) 868-0119, www.jseitz.com; strié wallpaper by Hinson & Company; bell jars by Vaughan Lighting; paint colors by Farrow & Ball, www.farrow-ball.com. Page 51: Exterior trim paint color by Farrow & Ball; all light fixtures by Vaughan Lighting; outdoor sculpture by Guy Dill, from the owner’s collection. Page 52: Sisal carpet through Stark Carpet; furniture by Louis J. Solomon, Hauppauge, N.Y., (631) 232-5300, www.louisjsolomon.com; artwork in master bedroom by Helen Frankenthaler, David Shapiro and Louise Bourgeois, from the owner’s collection; paint color by Pratt & Lambert, www.prattandlambert.com. Page 53: Umbrella stand in stairway landing from J. Seitz and Company; nickel lantern in stairwell by Vaughan Lighting; cotton hand-woven area rug by Elizabeth Eakins; antique English spindle bamboo tables and rug in master bathroom from The Tulip Tree Collection; custom hand-painted pagoda lantern through Boxwood Home & Interiors; paint color by Pratt & Lambert with trim by Farrow & Ball.
PATIENCE MAKES PERFECT PAGES 56–63 Interior designer: Kristin Gallipoli, Mason, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 966-6655, www.masonstyle.net Upholsterer: Artistic Upholstery, Norwalk, Conn., (203) 849-8907 Pages 56–57: Mercury glass lamps from The Silk Purse, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 9720898, www.thesilkpurse.com; sculpture through and throw from Mason; zebra-print pillow from Dovecote, Westport, Conn., (203) 222-7500, www.dovecote-westport.com; Lucite table by Charles Hollis Jones through Mason. Pages 58–59: Cabinet by Kaare Klint through Wright Auction, Chicago, Ill., (312) 563-0020, www.wright20.com; mohair chair fabric from Kravet., Bethpage, N.Y., (516) 293-2000, www.kravet.com; gold goblet from Mason; Sciolari chandelier through eBay; German lava vases from Mason. Pages 60–61: Hans Wegner prototype chairs through Mason with David Hicks fabric through Lee Jofa, Stamford, Conn., (203) 5042640, www.leejofa.com; leopard-print ottoman from Dovecote; pink poufs and embroidered Jonathan Adler pillows through Mason; Kofod Larsen rocker and Eames chair through Mason; busts of children by David Boyajian, New Fairfield, Conn., (203) 746-6101, www .davidboyajian.com.
Page 62: Florence Knoll credenza through Mason; Pedro Friedberg hand chair through Mason. Page 63: Light fixture by George Nelson through Design Within Reach, Greenwich,, Conn., (203) 422-2013, and Westport, Conn., (203) 227-9707, www.dwr.com; Eames bed through Mason.
FRENCH CONNECTION PAGES 66–75 Architect: Rudy Ridberg, Ridberg + Associates Architects, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 625-0491, www.ridarch.com Interior designer: Claire Maestroni, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 422-0567, www.misenscene greenwich.com Cabinetry: Slavek Milewski, SM Carpentry, Stamford, Conn., (203) 979-4256 Builder: Ernie Bello, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 223-3412 Pages 66–67: Antique African masks and vase from Michael Lambrecht through Mis en Scene; bamboo coffee table from Interieurs, New York City, (212) 343-0800, www.interieurs.com; Loro Piana cashmere on sofas, New York City, (212) 980-7960, www.loropianausa.com; wood and metal stools from Kenneth Cobonpue through Mis en Scene; bronze mask, decorative wood circle, pillows and cow hide rug all through Mis en Scene. Pages 68–69: Reclaimed oak flooring and wall panels in office from Didier Cabuy, Belgium, Okwen table lamp from Bleu Nature, France, framed art by Jean-Marc Louis, living room armchair, side table, lamps, chest and gilded mirror all through Mis en Scene. Pages 70–71: Roma bronze bench by stairs from Objet Insolite, France, through Mis en Scene; flocked wall covering from Romo, New York City, (212) 319-7666, www.romo.com; Venetian plaster by Heidi Holzer, Heidi Holzer Design and Decorative Work, Redding, Conn., (203) 544-9471, www.heidiholzer.com; iron and wood coffee table from Central Station Original Interiors, cowhide rug from Limited Edition, bronze table lamp from L’Artelier, wool pillows and throw from Arcade Avec, photograph by Terry O’Neill, reclaimed oak flooring from Didier Cabuy, Belgium, all through Mis en Scene; patio’s driftwood and lacquered-metal stools from Bleu Nature, France, sofa and umbrella from Royal Botania, Belgium, through Mis en Scene. Pages 72–73: Natural wood dining table from Central Station Original Interiors, High Point, N.C., (336) 885-2055, www.centralstation interiors.com; Lucite dining chairs from PlexiCraft, Long Island City, N.Y., (800) 247-5394, www.plexi-craft.com; wire and plaster chandelier from Philippe Valenzano, France, antique barn doors from Stef Antiek, Belgium, clay urn from Atelier Vierkant, France, all through Mis en Scene.
Comfortably sumptuous furniture, lighting, textiles and accessories for your exceptional coastal home
www.CottageandBungalow.com
Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 115
Featured as one of Connecticut’s Outstanding Designers Town & Country
August 2010
“Creating extraordinary designs, in extraordinary locations for people living extraordinary lives...”
C2 Limited Design Associates 1226 Post Road, Fairfield, Connecticut, 06824 T: 203 259 2555 www.c2limited.com
A.S.I.D.
Long a favorite in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angles...Leicht, Germany’s top cabinet manufacturer, is now exclusively available in New England through Divine Kitchens. Divine introduces architectural concepts to create a fluid transition between the kitchen and the rest of the living space. Colors and options limited only by your imagination. Impressive pricing when comparing the modern landscape. Architects, designers and homeowners are invited to make an appointment to explore a whole new way to think about the home.
781-235-5650 www.divinekitchens.com EXQUISITE DESIGNS
TURN-KEY KITCHEN & BATHROOM RENOVATION
UNPARALLELED SERVICE
Pages 74–75: Bathroom floor tile by Porcelanosa, Ramsey, N.J., (201) 995-1310, www .porcelanosa; shower glass by Mr. Shower Door, Newark, Del., (800) 453-3667, www.mrshower door.com; Corian wall covering by DuPont, www.dupont.com; ceramic shower bricks by Lacava, Chicago, Ill., (773) 637-9600, www .lacava.com; window treatment with Castel fabric by Mis en Scene; velvet swivel chair and patent-leather stool from Marie’s Corner, Belgium, through Mis en Scene; upholstered bed and headboard by Mis en Scene; wall-mounted reading lamps and runners from Limited Edition through Mis en Scene.
ETERNALLY GRACEFUL PAGES 78–85 Architect: John Currie, Currie Associates, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 232-2813 Interior designer: Lauren Muse, Muse Interiors, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 344-9444, www.museinteriors.net Builder: Tim Gilson, Old Greenwich, Conn., (203) 253-5945 Pages 78–79: Lacquer wall treatment by Roman Kujawa, Miro Art, Chappaqua N.Y., (914) 484-8350; carpet by J.D. Staron Galleries, Stamford, Conn., (203) 351-1130, www.jdstaron .com; drapery fabric, coffee table, armchairs, pillows and sconces through Muse Interiors. Pages 80–81: Hallway wall covering from Sonia’s Place, New York City, (212) 355-5211; console designed by Lauren Muse; family room grass cloth wall covering from Kravet, New York City, (212) 421-6363. www.kravet.com; coffee table Oomph, New Canaan, Conn., (203) 216-9848, www.oomph-home-furniture.com; rug from Stark Carpet, Norwalk, Conn., (203) 899-1771, www.starkcarpet.com; console, mirror, ottoman sofas, armchairs, pillows all through Muse Interiors. Pages 82–83: Dining room wallpaper by Zoffany, New York City, (212) 319-7220, www.zoffany.com; dining table from Plantation, San Francisco, Calif., (415) 565-0888, www.plantationdesign .com; kitchen cabinets by Tim Gilson; globe pendants from Remains, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 629-1000, www.remianslighting.com; backsplash tiles from Ann Sacks, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 622-8884, www.annsacks.com; barstools from Design Within Reach, Greenwich,, Conn., (203) 422-2013, www.dwr.com; trestle table, chairs, oval light fixture, dining chairs, fabrics and draperies through Muse Interiors. Page 84: Landing carpet from Stark Carpet; vestibule bench designed by Lauren Muse; console from Lillian August, Norwalk, Conn., (203) 847-1596, www.lillianaugust.com; sconces from Restoration Hardware, Greenwich, Conn., (203) 552-1040, www.restorationhardware.com; pillows through Muse Interiors. Page 85: Bedding from Linen Press, Old Greenwich, Conn., (203) 637-0200; bench, fabrics and other furniture through Muse Interiors. • Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 117
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Advertiser Index A helpful resource for finding the advertisers featured in this issue
Albano Appliances 18 Amy Aidinis Hirsch 10–11 Apadana Fine Rugs 112
Finished in Fabric, LLC 105
The Residences at Black Rock 41
Gardiner & Larson Homes 99
Ridberg & Associates 95
Grandberg and Associates 111
Rinfret Design Limited 101
The Granite Group 44
Riverbend Creative LLC Back Cover
Hilton-VanderHorn Architects 65
Robert Dean Architects 20
iH Design Studio 6–7
Runtal North America 15
Jia Moderne 64
SB Long Interiors 31
Jmac Interiors 87
Sharon McCormick Design LLC 97
Jonathan Wagner 43
Shelter Interiors 118
Katherine Cowdin 27
Stirling Design Associates 77
Kitchens by Deane Inside front cover
SWS Builders LLC 32
Aqua Pool & Patio Inc. 111 Austin Patterson Disston 109 Back Bay Shutter Co. Inc. 19 Boxwood Interiors 103 Brooks and Falotico Associates, Inc. 55 C2 Limited Design Associates 116 Casatelli Marble and Tile Imports 103 ClearGroup LLC 21 Klaff ’s 89
TR Design 37
Coldwell Banker Previews International 86 Lynne Scalo Design 13 Colony Rug Company 14 Mar Silver Design 1 Connecticut Home & Remodeling Show 113 Marble and Granite Inc. 33 Cottage and Bungalow 115 Marvin Gardens 94 Country Club Homes 25 Darien Design Center 35 Davenport Contracting 22 Design Source CT 39
Mason Style, LLC 91
Michael Smith Architects 24
Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams 23
Divine Kitchens 116
Neil Hauck Architects LLC 117
The Drawing Room 4–5
NuKitchens 76
Earthscapes Inc. 2–3
Parc Monceau 54
Ed’s Garage Doors 42
Preferred Properties 107
Elizabeth Eakins 88
Putnam Kitchens 40
Urbane Construction 29
Vandamm Interiors 93
Vicente-Burin Architects 107
Victoria Lyon Interiors 105
Wadia Associates Inside back cover
Wainscot Solutions 8–9
Woodmeister Master Builders 45
Wright Brothers Builders 17
New England Home’s Connecticut, Winter 2011 © 2011 by Network Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint or quote excerpts granted by written request only. Editorial and advertising office: New England Home, 530 Harrison Avenue, Suite 302, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 938-3991, (800) 609-5154. Corporate office: Network Communications, Inc. 2305 Newpoint Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, (770) 962-7220. Winter 2011 New England Home’s Connecticut 119
Sketch Pad
NEIL LANDINO, JR.
Design ideas in the making
AS A DESIGNER, I DON’T want to completely reinvent the wheel, but give it a different spin. In this instance I took a very simple design element, beadboard, and turned it on a 45-degree angle. It seemed a particularly fitting material to incorporate into a playroom located in the basement of a Shingle-style house. The space was originally dark and unfriendly. We tried to make it warm and inviting, a destination for the family to play games, while adding cabinetry for storage. Initially I sketched multiple ways of creating an interesting pattern—patchwork, bull’seye—and finally decided to turn the material on an angle to create chevrons, forming a diamond element in the center section. This allowed for a symmetrical configuration when addressing the cabinets to the right and left of the banquette. The banquette itself provides a focal point, with an interesting interplay between its curved backrest and the pattern above. Painting the textured areas a dark brown only enhances the unexpected approach, and the dark color contrasts with the brighter hues of the multi-patterned fabric used on the banquette backrest, adding whimsy and charm. When designing, I always keep in mind the unpredictability of the simplest form. AMY AIDINIS HIRSCH, AMY AIDINIS HIRSCH INTERIOR DESIGN, GREENWICH, (203) 661-1266, WWW.AAHIRSCH.COM
120 New England Home’s Connecticut Winter 2011
APARTMENT ON CENTRAL PARK WEST DESIGNED AND DECORATED BY WADIA ASSOCIATES
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN ~ INTERIOR DESIGN AND DECORATION ~ CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (203) 966-0048 ~ WADIAASSOCIATES.COM
Interior Design | Architectural Consultation | Product Design
Riverbank Creative, LLC When details matter
P. O. Box 516 Essex, CT 06426 860.767.1693 RiverbankCreative@att.net