Innehållsförteckning för May/Jun 2020 från Veranda

“Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is ever out of style.” DESIGNER BILLY BALDWIN’S charge must have rippled through the recent auctions of decorator Mario Buatta’s personal collection ❶. Their wild successes—beginning with Sotheby’s, which garnered more than 2.5 times the high-dollar estimates for almost 1,000 lots sold in January, followed by the Hudson, NY–based gallery Stair’s sales in March and April—indicate that an ardent appreciation for antique furniture, radiant color, and beautiful objects is alive and well and reaches far beyond the design community. “Of all the bidders, 46 percent were new buyers for Sotheby’s, and half of the other 54 percent had never bid in a furniture sale before,” says Dennis Harrington, head of Sotheby’s English and European furniture department. The fervor is not…

WICKER IS DESIGN ALCHEMY, turning humble natural fibers such as rattan, cane, and raffia to gold by weaving them into topographies unimaginable for more refined materials. But the greater magic is that wicker turns moments to gold as well. It tugs at the too-tight necktie of a formal room, offers a tactile reprieve from idealized surfaces, and playfully reminds us that the color tan can in fact be fabulous. And the alchemy is as strong as ever. From its first grand moment in the 19th century to a showy turn mid-20th, wicker is in the throes of a right-now renaissance as France’s Atelier Vime produces a breathtaking range of pieces and designers Amanda Lindroth and Justin Van Breda launch their own fresh lines. Meanwhile, the weave is anchoring notable design…

TO ARRIVE BY BOAT IS TO ARRIVE. And this is precisely how I feel, perched on the bright-white bow of a Hinckley, accepting a top off of Veuve Clicquot and feeling a sun-warmed, land-borne breeze mix with the salty cool of the Atlantic. The tidy harbor’s Victorian shop fronts grow larger. My captain draws down our engine to a purr as we cinch gently to dock. There, a small coterie lends hands for steady hopping from ship to shore. My luggage is nimbly hoisted and spirited away, and I’m welcomed like a queen of the seas. Because I too am arriving by boat, having gained passage on a rare maritime journey. The man behind the helm is Doug Gray, cofounder of Barton & Gray Mariners Club and a seaman long…

“THE FOUNDATION OF THIS room is white,” says designer Suzanne Kasler, pointing to much of the upholstered furniture, the sisal rug, and the water lilies chandelier. And yet, when it came to bringing in touches of lively Palm Beach color to the soaring central living area, a little went a long way. Painting a single bookcase wall flamingo pink was a way “to help anchor the room a bit,” notes the designer, who dropped hints of the shade, along with yellow, in a custom-trimmed de Gournay wallpaper and seating. “It’s funny how much color comes across with those few accents, but I think it embraces Palm Beach’s very sophisticated sensibility.” For complete sourcing details, visit veranda.com/kips-bay-2020-sources.…

CELERIE KEMBLE IS A DEEP-DYED FLORIDIAN. The celebrated Manhattan decorator grew up in a whimsically appointed former church in Palm Beach that’s been in her family for generations (her mother is designer Mimi McMakin). Over the years, she’s worked on and otherwise gotten to know a great many Florida houses. Still, when a Connecticut husband and wife brought her on board to decorate their stunning new home situated on the waterfront in Naples, Florida, she realized she hadn’t quite seen it all. “It really is fascinating to have what is basically a traditional house where the main rooms feel like grand entrances to the outdoors,” Kemble says. “There are enormous glass pocket doors. The walls retract. You can sit on the sofa and watch schools of dolphins swim by. You’re…

OWNING A HOUSE ON THE WATER is a familiar fantasy. But the man who built River Knoll wasn’t seeking breathtaking views or recreational diversions. He was a ferry captain, and the site he chose in 1748, on a rise overlooking the Connecticut River, was his lifeblood. Fast forward 272 years, and River Knoll still occupies its idyllic perch, despite dramatic changes to the world around it. The surrounding village has gone from thriving hub to quiet oasis, and the original cottage now anchors a welcoming summer house that pays tribute to history while residing gracefully in the present. “When people visit,” says the owner, “they can’t tell where the old part ends and the new begins.” Given its diminutive proportions and historical quirks (low, beamed ceilings; shallow paneling; wide-plank floors;…

HOTEL CALIFORNIA Pink and sage stripes on Santa Barbara Designs’s new decadent double-canopy umbrella channel the sun-drenched glamour of a legendary landmark. THE FIND • A striped pool umbrella inspired by the Beverly Hills Hotel MEET THE MAKERS • Los Angeles natives James Sheftel and Mark Sufrin of Santa Barbara Designs, which began building its American umbrella empire in 1981. “Everything, right down to the hardware, is made in this country,” says Sheftel. THE BACKSTORY • “We both grew up close to the hotel, and it was always this very glamorous landmark—an icon built more than 100 years ago. The pink-and-green palette brings an instant connection, one that we hope urges people to relax a little, to channel a sense of fun.” MAKE IT YOURS • Double Decker Beverly Hills…

RATTAN AND WICKER are a central part of my decorating DNA,” proclaims Amanda Lindroth, the island whisperer whose design sensibility practically comes with a cold drink under a slowly rotating ceiling fan. No wonder, then, that Lindroth, who lives part-time in the Bahamas, would offer us a peacock chair (a double one at that) to sink into. The piece is one of 25 in her first furniture collection, which debuts this spring. “I had been collecting sketches,” she says, adding that vintage items have become scarcer and scarcer. The collection—produced exclusively by Lindroth and created by artisans, craftspeople, and specialty factories—preserves and deftly modernizes the aesthetic, from wicker tables for dining and drinks to a 1930s-inspired rattan side chair and a pagoda étagère. And like the pieces’ designer, each is…

EARLIER THIS YEAR, a pair of white-painted side chairs garnered the attention of hundreds of attendees at Sotheby’s auction of Mario Buatta’s estate—and, ultimately, a sale price of five-to-eight times its original estimate. At first glance, the chairs appear rather humble: The painted finish is tired; the back splat fretwork is rudimentary, not to mention cracked; the legs are simple; and the fabric-covered seats have no trim to conceal the rusting upholstery tacks. But for those bidders at the Buatta collection sale, the chairs’ legendary pedigree overshadowed their more-shabby-than-chic appearance. Having once belonged to the London design firm Colefax and Fowler, the late-19th-century neo-Gothic chairs were purchased by Buatta for his country house in Thompson, Connecticut. Despite visions of bucolic bliss informed in part by visits to the Hampshire, England,…

The Open-Air Arrival AN ENTRY HALL THAT DOESN’T abandon the outdoors? How very Florida. The Lars Bolander-designed home features a broad foyer that remains open to a loggia on the far end, inspiring designer Alizee Brion to create a total embrace of the tropical landscape. Hand-painted palms and a terrazzo path pick up where Jobe Lopez’s evergreen entry garden leaves off for a welcome that feels like a mystical walk through a palm forest. Trending: Quiet Rooms CALL IT THE RISE OF THE SCREEN asylum. “More and more, clients are asking for quiet spaces inside their homes,” says designer Sarah Magness, who turned a second-floor study into a technology-free meditation room (right). Similarly, in a detached garden casita, Keith Baltimore and Marva Kalish banished the idea of a guest suite…

FOR KEVIN ISBELL, getting hung up on details is the whole idea. Especially when those details (extendable valet rods, integrated lighting, customized everything) make organizing a closet a Marie Kondo–esque dream. At this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach, the L.A.-based interior designer worked with The Container Store to design a sophisticated custom storage space for a writing studio that doubles as a guest bedroom, and the result is as posh and polished as a party queen’s spring wardrobe. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH The Container Store CUSTOM CLOSETS…

THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE when you enter Ophelia and Bill Rudin’s oceanfront home on the East End of Long Island is the precious metal. Everywhere. Not just the walls and furnishings but “every sheet, every napkin, every dish, everything,” says Alex Papachristidis, the esteemed decorator and Ophelia’s brother, who has been designing residences for the Rudins for more than 30 years. “When we started, I asked Ophelia, ‘What colors would you like?’ She said gold, silver, and white. And that’s the whole house.” The result is a kind of unrelenting—and ultra-refined—radiance, an eternal sunshine conjured by two very compatible minds. As both siblings will tell you, they are extremely close. Nine years older, Ophelia calls Alex her baby brother, whom she helped raise. “Alex was born with an innate…

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 8 Paint color: Deep Royal by Benjamin Moore; benjaminmoore.com. CURTAIN CALL Page 12 Wallcovering: Thibaut; annafrench.co.uk. INSTANT HEIRLOOM Page 17 Kai woven hat: Janessa Leone; janessa leone.com. Seabreeze pillows, Leila Bone Round Inlay tray, Cayman seagrass-wrapped pitcher, and Mallorca beach towels: Serena & Lily; serenaandlily.com. Woven tote: Amanda Lindroth; amandalindroth.com. FINER THINGS Page 29 Paint color: Winter Ice. Page 30 (top) Paint color: Summer Melon. Page 30 (bottom) Paint color: Winter Ice. Page 32 (back wall) Paint color: Nautilus Shell. Page 32 (left wall) Paint color: Summer Melon. Page 34 Paint color: Nautilus Shell. All by Benjamin Moore; benjaminmoore.com. MATERIAL MATTERS Page 38 Woven wicker cachepot: Aerin; aerin.com. Baytree wall bracket and Round Pagoda: Amanda Lindroth; amandalindroth.com. Rattan Curved lampshade: Amara Expressions; amaraexpressions.com. Rattan baskets and Eye placemat: Atelier Vime; ateliervime.com. Bedwyn lampshade: Fermoie; fermoie.com. Tapered vase:…

PATTERNS IN SEASHELLS have always been some of my favorites,” says Madrid-based artist Andrea Zarraluqui, whose delicately exuberant designs often capture the nuances of sea life, from schools of fish to branching corals. Here, grayscale depictions of scallops, scotch bonnets, and striped bonnets bring the shells’ innate curves, angles, and shades into sharp relief. And for Zarraluqui, who grew up near the Andalusian coast, it’s tenderly autobiographical. “In my childhood, everything related to the sea,” she says. “It brings sweet memories to me.”…

CARPET Bunny Mellon’s Painted Floors The geometrics the iconic gardener favored underfoot return, now with peak versatility. Long enchanted by Mellon’s painted patterns, designer Caroline Gidiere adapted them to handwoven wool kelim carpets for King’s House Rugs. “Bunny borrowed classic patterns from great halls, castles, and estates of Europe and Scandinavia but employed them in a softer, often pastel palette,” she says. TILE The American Bandana “Tilework is a cultural emblem that represents a country’s aesthetic,” says New York designer Sasha Bikoff, a sentiment that fueled her recent stone-tile introduction with New Ravenna, in which she dubs the image of the bandana the quintessential American textile pattern. Amid a familiar riot of paisleys, imperfect grout lines mimic creases in the well-worn cloth, clinching the prints’ ultra-relaxed sensibility. FABRIC The Hudson…

“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.”—JOHN F. KENNEDY…