15 minute read
At Home with a Collector
1 The front door of William Pollard’s 3,600 square foot townhouse in Prospect, Ky. has a new coat of red gloss paint and polished nickel hardware.
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2 Pollard’s penchant for 18th century antiques is evident from the first step into his home. A virtually perfect circa 1800 Kentucky sugar desk with all original hardware, string inlay and reed legs sits on one side of the foyer. Opposite it is an early 18th century Philadelphia cellarette.
For William “Bill” Pollard, former vice president and dean of the college and professor of English at Transylvania University, downsizing meant less square footage and less maintenance. “My previous home had about 7,000 square feet,” he explained. Because he liked the location in Prospect, Ky., with its country club and proximity to downtown Louisville, Pollard downsized to a nearby, 3,600 square foot townhouse in the Spring of 2019.
Kentucky Homes & Gardens • March/April 2020 • 41 For Charles “Chuck” E. Bolton, an antique dealer with Lyle House Antiques in Lexington, Ky. who met Pollard when they were both students at Centre College, downsizing meant organizing his friend’s collections for display. “Bill’s collections had never been put together,” Bolton said. “They were spread out over various houses through the years.” Bolton wanted to create an environment that reflected Pollard. “Every house should have a narrative. Design should tell the story of the individual who lives in the space.” Pollard’s inspiration was to enhance his existing collection of family pieces and antiques with new additions to complement them. Among the family pieces, he owns a cherry wall cupboard made by his great-great-great-grandfather. This ancestor came to Henry County, Ky., from Bergen, N.J., in the 1790s as part of the Dutch Tract on property bought from Squire Boone. Although there were deep family roots in Henry County, Pollard moved frequently as a child before his father retired from the Army, and he has the Chinese carpet his parents bought in Panama in 1948 when the family lived in the Canal Zone. His love of 17th and 18th century English furniture is an interest he developed as a post-doctoral student studying medieval manuscripts at Keble College, Oxford University. Pollard said, “I wanted the townhouse to reflect my interests and my past.” “I think Bill likes the proportion of 18th century English furniture,” said Bolton. “That’s when furniture was scaled to the human body and comfort became paramount for the first time.” Furniture of the period began to use squab pillows as cushions to sit on and strong armrests to support people standing from a seated position. “The wingback chair was an amazing invention,” Bolton explained. “It protected your face from drafts and kept the heat of a fireplace from liquifying the paraffin-based makeup people wore heavily back then to cover smallpox scars.” In Pollard’s home, the individual antique pieces hold their own personal narratives, as well. In the living room, there is an oak ball and claw footstool carved with a coat of arms on one side and the words, “London 1719” on the other. Bolton and Pollard were both fascinated by the craftsmanship. “That rough etching makes the piece utterly undeniable,” said Bolton. Pollard added, “I bought that 300 years after it was made.” Bolton designed the living room as a living art gallery. “I wanted the room to look as if things had been acquired over time,” he said of the arrangement. By deliberately mixing centuries and styles of artwork, “It appears as if Bill is still adding to his collection, which he is doing.” Pollard admires nautical oil paintings and English landscapes, which hang in the room; as do an original sketch by the Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani and an India ink on board by French artist Henri Matisse. Of all his collections, Pollard admitted an obsession with one in particular. “I love old maps,” he said. “And how they depict the shifting boundaries of history. How geography was understood and how the knowledge at the time created interesting errors.” While in Australia, Pollard discovered a map that represents Tasmania, an isolated island off of Australia’s south coast, as a peninsula.
3 “One of my most prized possessions is an original Paul Sawyer watercolor of the Kentucky River bank,” Pollard said of the artwork in his dining room. Among his collection of Staffordshire, which he found at auctions with his father, “Is a depiction of Louisville around 1850 or 1860,” he said.
4 An early 20th century weathervane of a pointer rests on the refrigerator. Under the microwave is a Panamanian batea, or wooden plate, painted by Pollard when he was a teenager living in the Canal Zone. The kitchen is also home to Pollard’s collection of original Cecil Aldin sketches and ivorines of Scottish Terriers. These are on display over a mid-19th century Ohio jelly cupboard.
He has original maps from the 17th century and early 18th century, maps of the North American colonies, maps that delineate where native American tribes lived and a map of Kentucky from 1810. His favorite, however, is an early 17th century map of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, the period of time when seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established in England toward the end of the 5th century and the destruction of most of them by the Danes in the second half of the 9th century.
“The maps are something you need to get close to,” said Bolton. “You need to get your nose in them.” To accomplish that juxtaposition, Bolton arranged the maps to flow up the stairwell from the home’s lower level to its third level.
“The living room downstairs is more of a showplace for the variety and size of collections,” said Pollard. “While upstairs, where I spend time, is where I am surrounded by family pieces, family pictures and reminders of my time living in England.” Upstairs, overlooking the living room, is a wide balcony furnished with furniture dated between 1610 and 1650. “I use the oak Yorkshire refectory table from 1610 for my books,” Pollard explained. “My readings of Medieval English literature are informed by my interest in church history and theology,” he said of his library. Among the furniture and books, Pollard has original early 19th century oil paintings of terriers and bulldogs.
“I told Chuck I wanted comfortable chairs and good lamps and places to read. Just to sit and think,” Pollard said of his home. “Chuck pulled it all together for me. I feel at home throughout.”
“Bill has a wonderful story behind him that emerges as you get to know him,” Bolton said. “The same can be said of his house.”
5 The 18th century is represented with a Philadelphia sofa upholstered in Cowtan & Tout silk; an Irish tea table; and English chairs, including a George I. The bow front chest with a signed lithograph by Marc Chagall, a Russian French Jewish artist, is early 19th century American.
6 Adjacent to the upstairs study is Pollard’s sitting room where the television rests on a 17th century English oak coffer bought in Burford, England. The walls are decorated with family pictures while another family heirloom, a cradle used by his mother’s family since the 1830s, is settled under the window.
7 Behind the early 19th century English walnut partners desk is a mahogany breakfront bookcase housing first editions and memorabilia. Prints from the 17th and 18th centuries are of buildings in Oxford, England and were collected by Pollard when he was a student there.
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8 Pollards parents bought the Chinese carpet in the Canal Zone in 1948. The room also features two cherry Kentucky sugar chests, one at the foot of the bed and another to the right of the headboard. To the left of the headboard is an inlaid Green County chest of drawers.
9 Two 19th century prints of Native American chieftains hang in the bathroom decorated with blocked wallpaper from Farrow and Ball.
10 When Pollard was a senior in high school, he bought a Kentucky fall front desk, circa 1820. The desk is embellished with a walnut inlay of crescent moons and eight pointed stars on the lid as well as a carved tree of life growing out of a jug on either side of its front drawers. “Above the desk is a favorite modern oil on board by painter Tal Walton,” said Pollard.
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Lee W. Robinson’s Malvern House
Six Generations of Style in Louisville
By Kirsten E. Silven Photography by Walt Roycraft
1 The Louisville home of distinguished interior designer Lee W. Robinson and his wife Babs Rodes Robinson, Malvern House is a classic Georgian manor completed in 1922 that exudes Southern charm, rich history and classic style at every turn.
Some homes are destined to be grand estates, transcending the everyday to reach a sublime status, ultimately becoming local legends imbued with a real life of their own… Perched upon a scenic bluff just East of downtown Louisville, overlooking the Ohio River and Carrie Gaulbert Cox Park, Malvern House embodies everything that a grand old estate should be and then some. Incredibly, the property has remained almost exclusively in the same family for six generations (and counting), having entertained a long list of famous guests over its impressive life span, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
The historic estate spans 14 acres of exquisite grounds originally laid out by the Olmsted Brothers after the end of World War I, and today Malvern serves as the Louisville home of celebrated interior designer Lee W. Robinson and his wife, Babs Rodes Robinson. Amazingly, Babs can trace her family’s history on the property all the way back to the 1890’s, when her great-great-grandparents George and Hattie Gaulbert first acquired the land.
George founded the Peaslee-Gaulbert Corporation, which invented the first ready-mix paint product and was a thriving international business, giving people the widespread ability to paint their own homes for the first time. Initially, the property stretched all the way from the Ohio River to Brownsboro Road, but over the course of time, some land was given up to make way for I-71 and the park. Although George and Hattie never built on the property, their only child, Carrie Gaulbert Cox, and her husband Louisville businessman Attilla Cox, Jr. eventually built Malvern House. To accomplish such a monumental undertaking, they worked with respected New York architect Ogden Codman, Jr., who also co-wrote The Decoration of Houses with Edith Wharton. Construction was completed in 1922 and Malvern remains the only home Codman ever designed that is not located somewhere along the east coast.
Cox was the son of Attilla Cox, Sr., who founded Columbia Fidelity Bank, which is now PNC. Cox Sr. initially became acquainted with Codman and the Olmsted Brothers through his ownership of railroads with J.P. Morgan. A world-renowned architect of the era, Codman also designed The Breakers for the Vanderbilt family in Newport, Rhode Island, along with Kykuit, which was John D. Rockefeller’s home in Pocantico Hills. Incredibly, Malvern remained in the same family until 1992, when it was briefly sold, before Lee and Babs purchased the home in 2007 and began extensive renovations of both the house and grounds, which had fallen into some disrepair.
Since then, Lee has worked endlessly to bring the estate back to its former grandeur, putting his decades of experience, impeccable personal style and in-depth knowledge of design to fantastic purpose. The Lee W. Robinson Company handled everything, from the planning phase to the interior design and construction.
2 Since cars were a new phenomenon when Malvern was built, the home’s formal façade actually faces the Ohio River, but this splendid space serves as the main entrance from the motor court. Three sets of French doors allow natural light to flood the room, while classic dental molding and walls of Kentucky limestone lend a striking feel to this grand hall, as well as the marble flooring and staircase, complete with a bronze handrail and 24-carat gold leaf detailing.
3 Spectacular walls of Kentucky limestone frame this splendid view, which includes marble urns from The Breakers (a Vanderbilt mansion located in Newport, Rhode Island, if you aren’t already aware), as well as a tapestry woven with gold thread that depicts Queen Victoria’s coat of arms. The room on the other side of the arched limestone doorway features scenic Zuber wallpaper depicting a Hindustan scene, while the morning room beyond that boasts pickled pine paneling that was originally built for a home in London, then dismantled and reassembled here at Malvern House.
Using the original blueprints as a starting point, Lee has given new life to the tremendous residence, while carefully preserving an essential piece of local and architectural history in the process.
“The original limestone block walls in the entrance hall were inspired by the grand country homes of England,” Lee revealed. “The old screened-in porch was transformed into a music room inspired by the party pavilions of the 1920s, featuring hand painted Chinoiserie wallpaper from Stark, a sparkling crystal chandelier and classic black-andwhite marble floors that mimic those found in the entryway.”
There are also William Kent Hall leopard print chairs on display in the grand entrance hall (just like the ones seen in Buckingham Palace), along with yellow Louis XV period chairs and a 17th century screen that came from famed London antique dealer Charles J. Duveen. In fact, priceless antiques and works of art are waiting to greet guests at virtually every turn, including framed invitations from Buckingham palace, pieces from China’s Ming dynasty, cufflinks on display that were once owned by Czar Nicholas, a painting by Anthony van Dyck and original drawings by many of the world’s greatest artists, including Pablo Picasso and Hubert Robert. The very finest fabrics also make regular appearances throughout Malvern House, including custom window treatments, upholstery and other items swathed in luxury from Brunschwig & Fils, Fortuny and the House of Scalamandre.
Although historic homes may dot the landscape here in the Bluegrass state, Malvern House stands apart as one of the most extraordinary estates in the entire country, let alone Kentucky. Thanks to the meticulous planning and careful attention of Babs and Lee Robinson, the residence remains standing as a remarkable testament to a bygone era, replete with priceless heirlooms and original treasures that will continue to delight for generations to come.
4 Situated on the first floor, the morning room offers a cozy backdrop for any occasion, with marvelous pickled pine paneling originally built for a home in London and later brought to Malvern, where it was reassembled on-site. A formal invitation hangs on the wall addressed to Babs Rodes Robinson’s grandmother for her debutante presentation to the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace, while a Henry Moore bronze sculpture can be seen on the coffee table, and historic stained-glass English panels adorn two center windowpanes. Also noteworthy, this room is home to artwork by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, as well as midcentury pieces by Augustus John and Alexander Calder. 5 An original painting by Royal Academy artist Henry Raeburn holds court in the home’s formal dining room above a magnificent Robert Adam period mantle, which dates back to the 1700’s and was brought over from England when Malvern was built. The walls are upholstered in delicate Moire silk fabric, while three sets of French doors open to a terrace that overlooks the Ohio River, making this space ideal for hosting dinner parties of up to 40 guests. 6 With incredible river views, a flat-screen television hidden in the island, and a convenient banquette that offers the perfect spot to enjoy breakfast, the kitchen at Malvern House has been totally updated with a variety of sleek modern touches, including stainless steel appliances and Carrera marble countertops, as well as a convenient rolling ladder that makes it easy to reach even the highest upper cabinets.
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7 The music room is truly a study in elegance, with striking black-and-white marble flooring, incredible pieces from the Ming dynasty, a painting by Camille Pissaro, a Steinway grand piano and seven sets of French doors that reveal sweeping views of the Ohio River, unmasking Olmsted’s vision. A breathtaking piece by American glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell is just visible here in this radiant room, which—compared to its former life as a screened-in porch—is virtually unrecognizable, now that Lee Robinson has worked his considerable magic on the space, with its fine, hand-painted Winfield House wallpaper and aged mirrored molding accents.
8 The first-floor ladies’ lounge features a vanity table that once belonged to American socialite Babe Paley, who was married to the founder of CBS, as well as a stunning crystal chandelier, hand painted silver leaf Stark wallpaper and rock crystal Sherle Wagner fixtures, including a gold-plated laurel leaf sink.
9 A drawing room overlooks the Ohio River and features luxurious wood paneling that original architect Ogden Codman, Jr. found in New York. This room also houses an impressive Fabergé collection, a painting by Anthony Van Dyck, and showcases a number of incredible original master drawings by some of the world’s most esteemed artists, including Pablo Picasso and Hubert Robert.
10 Rich tones of green, black and gold create a lavish feel in the firstfloor men’s lounge, which also features a Sherle Wagner malachite towel bar (not pictured) and black granite flooring that was custom designed by Lee W. Robinson to include brass Schluter strips.
Interior Design & Construction The Lee W. Robinson Company Architect Ogden Codman, Jr. Landscape Design The Olmsted Brothers HOUSE CREDITS
