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Ms Stein said that, Human beings are interested in two things. They are interested in the reality and interested in telling about it.
And how, she might have added.
I just reread my post on Anouska Hemple…Stein might have said that I was just telling about it… with no point.
….sometimes it is more pleasant to look at photos… Gertrude & Basket…. Alice & Gertrude…somewhere in France.
Lady Mendl said that in her house “After All” she found what she wanted : the ugliest house in Beverly Hills. She made it beautiful. It is what you think of when you look at this, admit. Architectural questionable but brilliant.
For reasons I won’t go into except to say, who knew Ford bought Volvo, I’ve been doing a lot of bike riding lately. Earlier in the week I rode by 344 Rimpau not far from my absolute favorite house on Hudson.
According to the website 344 Rimpau is a:
Unique gated 1964 compound with a large and dramatic 5 bedroom 1-story main house in original condition. A huge entertainment pavilion with kitchen, sitting area, and large gym and bath. 2 bedroom Guest House over a spacious 2 car garage and a large glamorous pool. Many original details include mirrors, hand-painted ceilings and walls, and crystal chandeliers. The main house also has large family room with bar, library, and breakfast room. Property has parking for up to 20 cars. A top Hancock Park location. 5 bedrooms, 6.5 bathroom. Offered at: $2,885,000.
I find 344 disjointed and in need of order, but it has many moments that delight, how could I have been passing it by? I must have been dreaming about my Tudor on Hudson that backs up to the golf course. Maybe it was the green trim that made me, LOOK AWAY! But suddenly there it was: struck by those palm trees and expression of an elegant awkwardness. Keep in mind that Lady M also said that she believed in optimism and plenty of white paint–the listing website has more interior shots–let’s vote on our favorite because, I’m in love!
31H x 68Wx 28 D
Thonet Bentwood Bench. Vienna, c.1900. Mahogany stained beechwood 39”H x 45”W x 19D x 19SH
Do you ever have a week or so when the veil doesn’t lift? Here; handsome secessionist settees, we can sit and stare out a window. Find more at Rita Bucheit & because I can never remember how… Thonet & don’t forget to Bend It.
A reader in Rodondo Beach emailed for some advice. “Dear Pontius, I used to be in marketing & advertising and since the recent economic downfall, it’s been rough… I decided to use this as an opportunity to do something that I’m more passionate about … I’ve always wanted to go into interior design…any recommendations for me as to how to get in?” Sincerly, Roughing it out in R.B.
Dear Roughing It,
Lady Weinberg or Lady Mendl may be of inspiration to you. Check out the the article on Anouska Hempel’s house, which was on the cover of the Feb. 2010 edition of World of Interiors. Read between the lines and connect the dots. It takes a certain kind of person to be a designer. Min Hogg tells us that the lighter veins in the dark green marble had to be chiseled out with a dental tool as consistent color is important. Anouska Hemple reminds me of Edwina Monsoon when she was redoing her kitchen (Absolutely Fabulous Season 3, Doornob). “… I’ve had it up to here with black taffeta…do you have any idea of the choice!” It’s funny because it’s true.
The first time I saw that AbFab episode I hadn’t any thoughts of being an interior designer. I had always just wanted to make things and put things in order. I did as a kid stay home from school with feigned sicknesses to look through catalogs and pick out new furniture: choosing bed spreads and curtains and pillows that I thought would be better than what we had.
One starts where ever one is. If you want to get into design, do all the research and interview interior designers and decorators and architects. It is important to realize interior design in Cleveland is different than London, or New York. It depends on what kind of life you want to have. The downside to design is that it can be incongruent to pick out objects for people that you will may not ever be able to afford yourself. It’s the decorator’s ailment. One begins to think that you are like your client:
“I want that sofa. I want that house! You want me to do what?”
I recently heard a story about the decorator of a celebrity couple becoming offended because he was instructed to do something that he felt beneath him. The client suggested that the decorator manage the repair of an exterior light fixture. He overheard one half of the couple saying, “Have him do it…isn’t that what we pay him for?”
So, Roughing, I hope that helps. With regards to your phrase “economic downfall” The heady and dense author, Caroline Myss, says that society (read: the world) is in the flow of a predicament of evolution.
We can not go backwards.
There will always be society decorators. As Dorthy Draper said, she was lucky enough to have been born into that society. Therefore, I might recommend that if one is smart, it helps to have an even personality and maintain austere but stylish surroundings.
Doornob, Ab Fab 8’10”
As a child we would visit my grandparents in Jasper County, IL. They lived outside Newton on Rural Route #4 where they owned seasonal greenhouses: geraniums, petunias; tomatoes, lettuce. The town square had the Jasper County Court house in the center, a drugstore (soda fountain; vanilla cokes) and a kind of General Store with a pet section. I liked to look at the animals for sale and wonder about humanity.
The surrounding villages had relatives in places that the proverbial blink would have you miss them. A favorite past time was shooting at birds in the woods with a BB gun. (There was a hierarchy of birds and my brother and cousins and I could only shoot the sparrows that Grandma found annoying because they took over the bird houses she put up for cardinals and blue jays). We attended my born again Uncle Ray’s church dressed up in suits and ties.
This Easter Card is from my Grandma, Inez Griffith’s, things (b 1917– Nora Inez Childress– d 2001). Grandma Griffith called on people from her church and her community–people who lived in places like Ste. Marie on the Embarrass River, Hidalgo and Rose Hill. There are 4 Easter cards and this is the best. I love the Rose window — and the pop out surprise– the Gothic archways, with the light of God shining through–a contrast to the church that she or anyone else attended in her community–which is perhaps why she never mailed it.
