Monthly Archives: June 2014

Villa Tre Ville – Then and Now

Posted June 26, 2014. Filed in Mediterranean Style, Orientalism, Renzo Mongiardino, Uncategorized, Villas

The opening introduction on Villa Tre Ville’s website – the Amalfitani home of Franco Zeffirelli until 2009 – reads: At Villa Tre Ville, there has always been an atmosphere of art and culture. The property was bought around the 1920s by Mikhail Semenov, the Russian writer, who was the first to gather around him that […]

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A TALE OF TWO VILLAS

Posted June 18, 2014. Filed in Emilio Terry, Mediterranean Style, Romantic Classical Style, Tuscan Style, Villas

The Amalfi Coast may very well be my favorite destination. The winding, vertiginous coastline – defined by calcareous-dolomitic rock formations – plunges into the Tyrranean Sea, creating a dramatic landscape  spotted with mountain-hugging towns and sun-kissed dwellings. The air, scented with lemon (an Amalfitani staple), Mediterranean scrub, local herbs, and the sea mix to produce […]

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Favorite Vintage Ad Friday: McGuire Furniture

Posted June 13, 2014. Filed in Favorite Vintage Ads, McGuire

Today’s “Favorite Vintage Ad Friday” features an advertisement by McGuire furniture printed in 1977. For many years McGuire advertised in House & Garden and Architectural Digest magazines on a monthly basis, setting the standard for high-quality, elegantly curated settings, and often photographed in the McGuire’s own residences and the homes of interior designers and their […]

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Throwback Thursday: François Catroux c. 1977

Posted June 12, 2014. Filed in Classic Contemporary, François Catroux

Today’s post is the second installment of Throwback Thursday featuring one of interior designer François Catroux’s early commissions for a bachelor, who had just purchased a spacious apartment in a grand and old elegant building in one of Paris’s most fashionable sections. Catroux’s new client’s apartment was well-suited to his maxim that the best of […]

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Aziyadé

Posted June 11, 2014. Filed in Frédéric Méchiche, Orientalism, Provence

You’ve been blindfolded, escorted by private car to a waiting private plane, where you’ll board with your host for an unknown destination – a surprise gift from your highly imaginative and devilish confidant. In flight you’re allowed to remove the blindfold, take in the appointments of the luxurious cabin, sip champagne and press your host […]

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SPARE SIMPLICITY IN ST. TROPEZ

Posted June 10, 2014. Filed in Frédéric Méchiche, Minimalism, Moderne, Riviera Style

Several years ago Frédéric Méchiche decided upon a 17th-century house in the Ponche district of St. Tropez as a retreat before its being published by The World of Interiors in 2005. His vision was not to reproduce, what he refers to as, the “Provençaleries” rife throughout the region – those quaint and cozy country French […]

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Favorite Vintage Ads Friday: Rose Cumming

Posted June 6, 2014. Filed in Favorite Vintage Ads

I’ve been trying to come up with something that would make it easier for me to post more frequently, especially on Friday when I’m usually out the door and hopefully off to a relaxing respite somewhere. The answer came when I was thumbing through old House and Garden magazines from the 80’s and rediscovered ads […]

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Throwback Thursday: Kevin McNamara

Posted June 5, 2014. Filed in American Chic, Classic Chic, Kevin McNamara

Today’s post is the first in what may become a serialized feature: Throwback Thursday. The concept has gained universal popularity, from Facebook to Pinterest, so I thought “Why not create a special feature for my Thursday posts?” Having themed posts also helps me stay on focus, truth be told! The late Kevin McNamara is the […]

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Up at the Villa

Posted June 4, 2014. Filed in Italian Country Houses, Villas

In an article written by Marella Caracciolo Chia titled “La Dolce Vita”, in the May issue of Architectural Digest, Caracciolo Chia shed further light on two villas – one imagined, the other real – that I particularly fancy: the imagined villa from the 2002 movie adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s novel Up at the Villa and, […]

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Folie de Jacques

Posted June 2, 2014. Filed in Chateaux, Follies & Pavilions, Jacques Garcia

Jacques Garcia conceived a fantastical pavilion, true to its origin, in the style of a decorated tent on the grounds of his chateau, Champ de Bataille, in Normandy, France. sometime in the  1990’s, several years after he purchased the expansive property. The English origin of the word pavilion comes from Old French, pavillon, based on […]

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