Annette and Oscar in their Manhattan apartment photographed by Oberto Gili in 1992.
Today’s post is a continuation of several posts I promised to write on the homes of Oscar de la Renta following his passing in October, beginning with Au Revoir, Oscar. After marrying Annette Reed in 1989 Oscar moved from his previous opulent apartment designed by Denning and Fourcade (Oscar de la Renta: New York, c.1980’s) to Annette’s apartment overlooking Central Park on the Upper East Side. It had been decorated by Geoffrey Bennison some twenty years earlier, and virtually nothing has been changed since.
To create more openness and light the de la Renta’s brought in architect and interior designer Thierry Despont to create one spectacular space out of several rooms: a central living area flanked at either end by the library and dining room, separated at either ends by half-height glass-front bookcases allowing the eye to travel from one end to the next. To this repurposed space Adamesque architectural detailing, book cabinets and dentil moldings were installed to give the rooms the feeling of a grand English townhouse with a nod to English country house-style decor. Large-scale English portraits and floor-to-ceiling bookcases against Nancy Lancaster “buttah yellah” walls provides a grand envelope for the de la Renta’s exuberant collection of impressive English, French and Italian furniture and decorative arts. A home at once elegant and comfortable; a home of great distinction.
Photo by Roberto Schezen.
Photo by Oberto Gili, 1992.
A white-painted William Kent table buttresses the butter yellow gallery’s sofa.
Nancy Lancaster’s yellow drawing room at Avery Row, London, inspired the wall color of the de la Renta’s gallery.
Photo by Oberto Gili.
Photo by Roberto Schezen
The 17th-century Gheeraerts portraits of the Fitton sisters (one of whom was supposed to be the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets) came from Haseley Court, Nancy Lancaster’s English country house.
The drawing room (above two photos) at Nancy Lancaster’s English country house, Haseley Court, featuring the Fitton sisters portraits.
Photo by Oberto Gili.
The line by Baudelaire, “There, all is order and beauty, luxury, calm and volupté“, perfectly summarizes the elegant atmosphere of these rooms.
Eliza Reed Bolan and her stepfather, Oscar, in his Manhattan apartment photographed by Oberto Gili in 2009.
Photo by Roberto Schezen
Photo by Roberto Schezen
Photo by Roberto Schezen
Photo by Roberto Schezen
Oscar photographed for Vogue sitting in the gallery of his New York apartment. The over-sized sofa was purchased by Geoffrey Bennison from the sale at Lord Iveagh’s Eleveden Hall in 1984. Bennsion covered it in “Bird and Basket” on beige linen from his own line.
Photos by Roberto Schezen from New York: Trends and Traditions. Other photos from Vogue, Wall Street Journal and Pinterest.
