Good Bones

When you have been in the design business as long as I have, you thank your lucky stars when you run across a house that already has a great vibe and qualities worth building on.  This French inspired house was built in 1969 and had just been maintained, but never updated.  When my client first purchased it, it was pink.  We changed it to the current faded out golden color. The copper Versailles dormer was added and I sponged on my “dusting of the centuries” with rust and moss patina paint.

The foyer had reclaimed Terra cotta floors already in place.  We did think that the bulky wood stair pickets should be replaced with wrought iron. Robert Dion painted the tone on tone mural wrapping the curved walls. The scene is of this house and grounds. Vintage French renderings used different tints and shades of blue, nothing else.

Authentic 100 year old heart pine ceiling beams graced the family room ceiling along with reclaimed floor tile set into rough sawn timbers.  We discovered this unbelievable Louie 14th style aubusson rug at the Marche’ aux Puces in Paris.

When starting from scratch on a new house (with a blueprint)  the first thing I do is thicken up the walls.  Here I didn’t have to.

The only thing missing was a garage.  We created a guest cottage with motor cars below and guest quarters above.  We call it the Paris Apartment.  Well, after all, it has a stone fireplace in the bedroom, a Murphy bed sleeping in the armoire and a kitchen complete with a built-in banquette.  I offered to be the chauffeur, but they did not bite!

I can’t wait to show you the gardens… Ok, I will save that for a later post. Please let me know if you like it, my main drive is for approval.  Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.

Yes, that’s me in the hat.

Photos by: Ron Royal