DC Design House

Tonight I attended the 'gala' opening of the DC Design house at the design center hosted by Elle Decor. Scrumptious food and decadent drinks, but we weren't there to be wined and dined, rather we were there to see the work of 8 talented designers. Drama was big in the showhouse, as it should be. A beautiful stuffed peacock greeted you in the living room by JDS Designs. I loved the grasscloth wallcovering by Maya Romanoff for Donghia.The foyer, equally dramatic, is by Kelley Proxmire. I loved the combination of turquoise and black. The floor was painted in a hexagonal pattern in black and white, continuing the theme.My favorite room was the study by Nestor Santa-Cruz. The perfect blue walls by Farrow & Ball with a cozy seating group AND stacks of my favorite magazines (WOI and Elle Decor) -just what I would want to spend an afternoon doing here!
The carpet (Stark) was such a great complement - blue, golden yellow with orange accents.

This adorable little brass telescoping table was just large enough to set down a drink.Back in the living room, I loved these console tables by William Switzer for Niermann Weeks. A modern take on a glamourous English console: gilding removed and a simple stone top! I would have gladly taken this home.
Loved this lamp in the master bedroom - a little rabbitt by Moooi! The desk was interesting but it left me in the mood for a massage, yes?

The lobby to the Design center, more drama, was also done by Kelley Proxmire (I guess she specializes in lobbies these days?). Loved the combination of reds with black: you KNOW you've arrived!

The design house is open thru December 4 at the Design Center - please visit if you are in the area and many thanks to Elle Decor for a great evening!

An evening with Thomas O'Brien

Yesterday evening I attended yet another great lecture at the Corcoran Gallery. Thomas O'Brien was visiting for a book signing and to talk a bit about his work. I expected him to be knowledgeable, but what I didn't expect (and found pleasantly surprising) was his charming ineloquence. I do not mean that as a back-handed compliment at all! Rather, the lecture was informal and conversational: straight off the chest rather than totally prepared. Rather than stand behind the lecturne, Thomas casually perched on the edge of the stage and went through images from his book and talked about them in depth. Of course an over-arching theme was his interest in revival; looking back to move forward as he put it.. I was so glad to hear him say what I'm always thinking: antiques were the modern items of their time! Each generation makes its own modernism. Thomas is always trying to see an object in the light in which it was created.

If you haven't seen the book, you must soon - a requirement for any design library! The images are gorgeous of course, but the text is really helpful and an interesting look at his iconic work: from target to high-end custom residential design. As he himself stated, he's not a decorater, but rather someone who is interested in the complete idea: helping you find 'who you are'.

Thomas's work is collection based. He's always on the hunt for unique and special pieces, often at local thrift and junk shops! For this reason, I thought it a bit odd that he's against boutique hotels; I wish he had expanded on that point a bit more. For instance, in DC he's staying at the Hay Adams hotel, undeniably a gorgeous hotel, but I would have thought he would have loved something with more character like nearby Tabard Inn. I suppose it's because he believes design is personal: a boutique hotel is inherently 'fake' in that it represents no one while a true hotel is anonymous and luxurious.

Thomas talked at length about his own homes: both on Long Island and his now famous apartment in New York. I love his reasoning of putting the bed in the living room as it's the most amazing space which he found he wasn't using. This aligns with my philosophy of 'why have nice things if you don't use them!'. During the question and answer session following the lecture, a discussion was started where he states his love for marble. Many people are afraid to use the material as it's 'high maintenance' but he strongly disagreed. He pointed out many uses of marble where it ages and develops a patina that sadly, many Americans are simply scared of. So use those marble countertops: no more boring granite!

Thomas is constantly inspired by everything around him: his interest in movies interested me especially. Gosford Park inspired his use of high sheen and gloss: the long hallways of gleaming white paired with glossy black doors. This also ties in with his interest in texture: the pairing of old with new, the highly polished with the rough. He also mentioned the gorgeous movie 'Fanny & Alexander' (1982) which inspired his love of the enfilade in architecture and fine millwork.

I loved how he talked also of his interest in color, much like another designer who gave a lecture at the Corcoran last year, Jamie Drake. Now, obviously, the two designers are oceans apart: yet the same concept interests them both. While Jamie is interested in the dramatic affects color can provide, Thomas is more interested in the subtleties and ephemereal qualities of color. He's interested in the feeling the soft colors provide and the ways in which light interacts with them. In every project Thomas showed, he spoke of the light the space had: like a true artist. And so he is himself!

Glass hood

Did you notice this glass hood from the May 2010 issue of the World of Interiors? Obviously architect designed (why ARE we architects obsessed with straight lines?), Lina Bo Bardi created the hood for her kitchen in Sao Paulo, Brazil, The Glass House. While not sure it's the MOST practical, I really love it. Just keep a supply of windex handy! What do you think? Could you do the glass box hood in your kitchen?
Photograph by Matthieu Salvaing

ArchitectDesign interview

Check out my interview by Samantha on We Love DC for some of my thoughts on architecture in DC.

Thanks for the opportunity, Sam! Check out her blog, Pretty Lovely Things.

Fonthill's garage

For the last installment on Henry Chapman Mercer's masterpieces, I've saved my favorite project of his which most articles don't even recognize: the garage of his home, Fonthill. Thats not Rapunzel's tower above, it's Mercer's garage!

This small building contains just as many details and even more surprises than any of his other buildings. The rough stone walls you see above (below the arched windows) are actually leftover from an old farm building. As mentioned, Mercer was very frugal and used everything he could as efficiently as possible. Why waste concrete when walls were already standing: Just build directly on top of them!

The downstairs houses a garage while upstairs is a large open room for entertaining called the 'Summer Parlor' with an adjoining terrace. The parlor has a blue ceiling with tiles that show the seasons of harvest and also the four winds. Of course the winds are directionally correct and ever a true Harvard scholar, the names are in Latin. Access to the parlor and terrace is via a charming outdoor staircase. I think this most closely resembles his German castle inspirations.

The building has a square fire pit about 28” high and 6’ square which Mercer put 8” square holes around the sides to experiment with a different way of firing tiles. He was always experimenting for his business, even in his garage!

Today the parlor and terrace are used for cocktail parties, weddings, birthday parties or business meetings; Rentals are the mainstay of many house museums anymore. Blogger convention anyone?

The garage itself now houses bathrooms, a kitchenette and a craft room for children’s programs. This downstairs is very plain and unornamented as a garage should be. Curiously, Mercer never actually owned a car or even buggy but still built this garage which he ended up using for storage. This window into the garage shows a typical wood sash window, painted red, with an arched transom of poured concrete above. Who thinks of these things? So unique!The punched openings in the exterior stairwalls are an unexpected place for a bit of color: Moravian tiles of course!

In addition to preserving antique tools and artifacts, Mercer was also interested in preserving natural history. Concrete bird houses were constructed on the roof of the garage, seen above, that he hoped would become a bird sanctuary. He planted 80 different species of trees native to Pennsylvania throughout the grounds and encouraged people to visit and explore: even creating tags for the trees at his tile factory (which are still available for purchase).

Again I encourage everyone to visit Doylestown, Pennsylvania: Fonthill, the Mercer Museum and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works; You won't be disappointed. What I've shown in this series of posts is only the tip of the iceberg; they're a national treasure!

Thanks again to Kelly who also helped me gather much of the information for this post.

Fonthill Interiors

The interiors of Fonthill are probably even more fascinating than the exterior; they were the driving force behind the architecture afterall! Above you see some of the remaining color in one of the bathrooms. Originally the house was filled with many bright and pastel colors (some might say garish). Mercer was a collector of many things, including prints, which are displayed everywhere he could find wallspace including over the sink!

Tiles by the Moravian Tile works are found everywhere - floors, ceilings and fireplaces. Mercer used the house as his laboratory and tile museum, bringing potential clients to see different examples and even allowing them to stay overnight. I especially love these tiles set into concrete on this chimney breast; Mercer was inspired by 16th century Italian fabric in this instance. Notice the Wedgwood Portland vase on the upper left-hand shelf.

In Mercer's private study, you can see how much the room was used. The leather on the sofa is worn OUT, which I love to see. Books line this room (as elsewhere) as do ancient pottery examples sourced from all over the world. The wood paneling was reclaimed from many sources, much of it from old doors; Mercer was nothing if not resourceful. This was one of the few rooms with wood flooring and where he would have spent much of his time; amazing views out the huge corner windows of the garden.

The Columbus room was dedicated to the discovery of the New World and the tiles are all about this event. The tiles were set into the concrete formwork as the ceiling was being poured and were not applied afterwards; an innovative technique!

The interior photographs are by Bjorn Wallander and were featured in the Sept. 2007 Martha Stewart Living magazine. Thanks to Kathy of Hearth and Hedgerow Ltd. for helping me gather some information. Check out her blog!

Fonthill

Down an allee of ancient trees in Bucks County lies a ancient looking fairytale arts and crafts castle. This is the last thing you would expect to find in rural Pennsylvania, more fitted to the English countryside perhaps.More bizarre however is the material: concrete. Much like his museum, the Mercer, Henry Chapman Mercer built his own house between 1908 and 1912 out of this versatile material. While not quite to the extent as the museum, the house still incorporates concrete in the roofs (mostly covered in clay tiles made at the adjacent factory), dormers, chimneys, floors, walls and ceilings. Light was Mercer's key concern. Over 200 windows were incorporated into the facade in all shapes and sizes: Most are operable. As a testament to the design, even on cloudy days candlelight (or electric lights) are barely needed unlike the castle's European precedents.The house is truly quirky and enchanting. As it's the brainchild of Mercer, I would expect him to be a fascinating character as well: I'd love to pick his brain over a meal!Color is greatly incorporated into the building, unlike his later museum. While most of the interior pastel colors have faded over the years (another testament to the amount of light received) the window sills and doors are still vibrant shades of red and yellow.

Mercer employed a surprisingly small number of employees in the building of his structures, whom he would personally train. He was a great employer in that he loved that they all took pride in their work and treated them well. Many are commemorated throughout the space, such as the work horse (literally) Lucy; He created a wind vane in her honor.The house is truely an amalgamation of styles and shapes - a working dictionary of forms. From one angle it may appear one way and then after turning the corner, the structure takes on an entirely different shape. Here you can see some examples of the concrete windows - inoperable of course. They were created from the moulds of operable antique wood windows, with the glass set into wet concrete. An unusual technique and one which works well obviously as the windows are original to the structure.

Mercer was lucky to have passed away at his beloved home in 1930. His housekeepers lived in the house till their deaths many years later at which point it became a museum. Of course, stories are passed around about the castle being haunted, but I had no such experience as I did at the nearby Phillips Mill!Don't miss the interiors tomorrow!

Visit Fonthills WEBSITE

Woodlawn Plantation

This past weekend, I attended a wedding at the Woodlawn Plantation. While not as well-known as its neighbor, Mt. Vernon, it certainly is a more beautiful building (in my opinion!). If Federal style architecture isn't your thing, the Pope-Leighey house by Frank Lloyd Wright is also on the grounds. Something for everyone!

The 126 acres that currently make up Woodlawn were originally part of George Washington's estate, Mt. Vernon and were deeded in a 2,000 acre parcel to his nephew, Major Lawrence Lewis. Lewis had Dr. William Thornton, the architect of the U.S. Capitol design this house which was completed in 1805.

The beautiful grounds are often the site of elegant weddings and it's the perfect setting for any party.

Cocktail hour was held in this side yard which has a fountain that frogs love to visit in the evening! Rib-bit!

While I can't offer a peak inside, this look into the window at night gives you an idea of the amount of restoration that went into this 200 year + old house. The last private owner, Senator Underwood of Alabama, sold the house in 1952 to become part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Keep in mind the weather in Northern Virginia is far from hospitable much of the year and it can get HOT and MUGGY. I don't know how I survived the 93 degree heat and high humidity let alone past residents in their heavy clothing and without our modern convienences.
My favorite part of the house is the bell mounted to the side of one chimney; To call everyone in for meal times perhaps? Now thats some technology (but I'd rather have A.C.)!

Visit this lesser known cousin of Mt. Vernon if you're in the DC area rather than fight the crowds at Mt. Vernon. Better yet -visit both!