Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

While some might think The Devoted Classicist is comfortable only with houses adorned with Vitruvian-correct columns, this writer admires good architecture of all styles and periods. So it should come as no surprise that the exceptional prefabricated house featured on the cover of ATOMIC RANCH, MID-CENTURY INTERIORS by Michelle Gringeri-Brown with photos by Jim Brown would be so appreciated.

This house, one of eight featured in the book, was constructed in Brighton, a suburb of Rochester, New York in 1957. A recent, sensitive renovation was undertaken with the help of designer Josef Johns. On the surface, this might seem an unlikely match for a designer known for his work in the traditional style to find himself involved with a Ranch style house from the mid-century. "Yet this is no ordinary ranch house," explains Josef Johns about the Alcoa House. "The logical disposition of spaces, the contrast of gleaming surfaces with warm woods, the pleasing mixture of comfort and glamour would seem to place the house in a class by itself. And there is the fact of its being perfectly symmetrical. That's what won me over".

Architect Charles M. Goodman, 1906-1992, was engaged by Alcoa to design a prototype for domestic architecture that relied on aluminum and prefabricated elements.  It contains 7,500 pounds of aluminum;  the roof, exterior walls, doors, window grilles, interior partitions, folding closet doors, cabinetry, and decorative trim are all aluminum.  Twenty-four Alcoa Care-free Homes were built in sixteen states;  this is the only one in New York State.

The end walls are supported by wood clad in aluminum and in-filled with plate glass framed by aluminum, and each end has six sliding glass doors.  The covered garden court and private bedroom courtyards also contribute to the extension of outdoor living.  The Alcoa House reflects a survey of middle-class homemakers who were asked many questions about their preferences for the ideal home and its features.  Included were how many bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and even the ideal height for countertops.

The Ranch style house has 1,900 square feet with an open floor plan where the Entrance Hall, Living Room, Dining Room, and Family Room all flow in a U-shape around the Kitchen.  The interior walls and cathedral ceiling are finished in wide-plank cypress.  There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Bobby demonstrates the classic comfort of a Barcelona chair in the Living Room as it appears today.
The patterned carpet fits into a recess bordered by linoleum.

The Living Room today.

Aluminum panels in the entrance framed by walnut.

The Dining Room today.

The Family Room today.  Interior designer Josef Johns reupholstered the original sofas as part of a fresh contemporary scheme that pays tribute to the concept of the house.

A view of the Family Room showing the decorative grilles.

The present owners and their designer have been particularly sensitive in undoing previous renovations and making improvements in keeping with the original design concept.  The bathrooms have been fitted with a wall-hanging toilet and lavatory as Goodman intended.  And the new kitchen appliances were carefully selected to be sympathetic.  And the house is furnished in the style of the 1950s, including the art;  many paintings by nationally prominent Rochester artist Robert Marx are particularly suited to the style of the house.

Bathroom One as improved.

Bathroom Two as improved.

Bedroom Two as it appears today.

In 2010, this house was listed in the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.  All the photos are courtesy of the designer Josef Johns of Rochester, New York, and may not be copied or used without his permission.

Homeowners Steve Plouffe and Mike Linsner with Bobby.

Thomas Jayne & The Finest Rooms in America

The Master Bedroom of Annette and Oscar de la Renta at their home in Connecticut.
Photo from THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA by Thomas Jayne.

Readers of The Devoted Classicist that are within convenient travel distance to Memphis should take advantage of an up-coming presentation by Thomas Jayne on the subject of his book THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA.  On Saturday, January 28, 2012, 10:30 am, Thomas will speak at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (featured in a previous post here) as a guest of Decorative Arts Trust (featured here).  This invitation also includes the reception immediately following the talk including a book sale and signing.  As part of the Trust's goal to advance education in the decorative arts, the program is open to the public, free with regular museum admission.

Author and interior designer Thomas Jayne.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Jayne Studio.

As regular readers might remember from a post on the book about a year ago, here, Thomas is also an interior designer with a line of products developed for Chelsea House, E.J. Victor, and Stark Carpet.  Just last month, Thomas was named to Architectural Digest's prestigous list of the magazine's favorite designers, The AD100.  The JAYNE DESIGN STUDIO BLOG, accessible through My Blog List in the right-hand margin of this post, is always an interesting read.  We have been friends for almost 25 years, sometimes collaborating on projects.  We both worked at Parish-Hadley in New York City and attended the Attingham Summer School in England, but our tenures did not overlap.  The book is particularly interesting because it features 50 rooms from a range of periods and styles, all extant.

The Tea Room at Monticello.
Photo from THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA by Thomas Jayne.

Beginning with Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello, which he began designing at age twenty-five in 1768 and re-designed for over 40 years, the book includes a number of historic examples and continues to current times, ending with Albert Hadley's apartment in Manhattan.

The Guest Room in the Manhattan apartment of Albert Hadley.
Photo from THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA by Thomas Jayne.

There are enough wonderful rooms in between to inspire those with a wide range of taste in residential design.  My favorites include the Master Bedroom in the Connecticut home of Annette and Oscar de la Renta, and the big room of the Barn at the Connecticut home of Bunny Williams and John Rosselli.

The main room of the Barn at the Connecticut home of Bunny Williams and John Rosselli.
Photo from THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA by Thomas Jayne.

All the images of rooms come from THE FINEST ROOMS IN AMERICA by Thomas Jayne with Anne Walker, The Monacelli Press, New York City, 2010.  Copies at a discounted price with the option of free shipping may be ordered here.

Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah Pottery



Image of Walter B. Stephen pottery courtesy of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.



Walter B. Stephen, 1876-1961, was a remarkable artist with no formal training who became an imaginative and gifted potter.  First with slip-painted pots made from Nonconnah Creek clay in the then-rural area outside Memphis, Tennessee, and then with more variety of forms and glazes he developed after moving to the hills near Asheville, North Carolina.  Stephen's work spanned Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau to the Moderne era.  His decorative schemes were widely diverse, ranging from memories of his young life on the Nebraska frontier, Bible references, and Asian art.  Also, themes with Mayan and Egyptian motifs as well as Wedgwood influences were explored.



Image of Walter B. Stephen pottery courtesy of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

 More than 70 rare examples of Walter B. Stephen's pottery are currently featured in the exhibition Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah Pottery on view through November 13, 2011, at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, sponsored in part by Decorative Arts Trust.  There will be a lecture by master ceramist and American pottery expert Rodney Henderson Leftwich on Saturday, September 24, 20011.  The presentation which will discuss the life and work of Walter B. Stephen will be held at 10:30 am in the museum's auditorium, free to the public.

Dr. Stanton Thomas, Curator of European and Decorative Arts, at the entrance to the exhibit.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

"I am fascinated that we have an exhibition by a largely undiscovered and incredibly innovative art potter who began working in Shelby County around 1900," says exhibition organizer Stanton Thomas, Curator of European and Decorative Art at the Brooks.  "Stephen is a little idiosyncratic and very much an individualist, and at the same time. he's part of the larger Arts & Crafts movement, when artists were getting away from mechanization and focusing on the handmade."

Mr. Leftwich's book Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen is available for purchase in the museum's gift shop and here.

La Fiorentina Furnishings, Part II

As the fourth consectutive post with the common link of decorating legend Billy Baldwin, The Devoted Classicist continues with a presentation of the furnishings of the Cap Ferrat villa La Fiorentina.  Rebuilt and furnished by Roderick "Rory" Cameron and his mother Enid, Lady Kenmare, following World War II, the notable home was sold to Mary Wells and Harding Lawrence in 1970 with the Billy Baldwin interiors incorporating some of the Cameron-Kenmare decoration and furnishings.  Following the 1999 sale of the furnished villa, the interior was gutted and the furnishings sold at a celebrated 2001 auction at Sotheby's New York.  The following are selections from the catalog, Sale 7638, with the prices being the Hammer Price plus the Buyer's Premium.

A marble sculpture by Andrea Cascella, 1920-1990, UNTITLED, in three parts, 24.25" high, $10,800.

A brown lacquer center table top, now without a base. 5 ft by 30.5 in, $1,080.

The Front Hall has walls that appear to be painted to resemble marble.  No detailed photo is given for the Regency style tole peinte and glass hurricane lamp, but it is listed in the catalog, with a height of 30 inches and sold for $2,160.

A Louis XV style marble and composition console, 33.5" high, 7ft 3in wide, 23.5in deep.  $69,750.

A marble bust of Cardinal Fesch, 19th century, attributed to the workshop of Antonio Canova (1757-1822), 29" high, $21,450.







A Louis XV style rusted bronze cut-glass eight light chandelier, 5ft 3in by 42 in.  It appears that some of the crystal drops are missing in the catalog image, but note the bell-like covers for the concealed lights within the cage. $9,000.





The Master of the Liverpool Madonna (the name given to the anonymous painter active in Rome during the late 1490s), THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN, 62.5" by 45.5", $64,000.









The Dining Room as it appeared with the Billy Baldwin decoration for the Lawrences.  The Devoted Classicist does not think the white curtains were a successful treatment in this case, and was thrilled, as chance would have it, that Toby Worthington submitted the photo below from the days of occupancy by Rory Cameron and Lady Kenmare.



From Les Resussites de la Decoration Francaise 1950-60, Mr. Worthington tells us that the murals in this room date from the 18th century, but note the curtain in the center of this photo painted to match the mural.  Lady Kenmare was once a scenic painter in Hollywood, and it is said that she painted the curtain, herself.  Also of note is the sisal rug; Rory Cameron is often credited as introducing this humble material, formerly reserved for wet areas (such as around a swimming pool), for use in combination with fine furnishings.



A Venetian Twelve-light glass chandelier, modern, 4ft 4in high by 4ft 9in diameter, $9,600.




A Louis XVI cream painted console desserte, late 18th century, together with a later copy, each with a white marble top.  Painting refreshed.  32.5in high by 4ft 1.5in wide by 18.5in deep.  $43,875.

 

A faux marble center table, modern, with a glass top.  There were three.  All of the Dining Room furnishings date from the Cameron-Kenmare decoration except for the cloths below.



Three cream painted tables, modern, two with green and ivory silk fern pattern table cloths with an ivory placementre edge, together with a green damask lined table cloth. $3,600.

The Devoted Classicist can understand editing out the lesser pieces if the replacements are much more interesting.  However, he would probably have found a place for at least three items that were included in the sale.  The locations that they held in La Fiorentina are not known.



A tree-formed painted and parcel-gult side table, 30in high by 20.5in wide by 30.5in deep, $11,400.



A watercolor of a hawk by Van Day Truex, $6,000.

A Louis XVI white painted and black lacquer-mounted chaise.  $10,800.

This last chair is much appreciated among bloggers.  The author of What Is James Wearing? revealed that he was the successful bidder of this chair and shows two similar chairs reproduced by the noted company Frederick P. Victoria & Son that were recently in a Christies auction.   Dean Farris Style and The Peak of Chic have also featured this model, known as the Cole Porter chair, in posts on their blogs.  More on remarkable chairs from Frederick P. Victoria & Son will be featured in upcoming posts of The Devoted Classicist.

Except as noted, all photos are from the Sotheby's sale catalog THE COLLECTION OF VILLA FIORENTINA with vintage copies available here.

La Fiorentina Furnishings

This essay is the third of a consecutive series of The Devoted Classicist with the common link being decorating legend Billy Baldwin. His scheme to revitalize the internationally renown Saint Jean Cap Ferrat villa La Fiorentina became an iconic example of interior design with popularity that endures to this day. The 1999 buyer of La Fiorentina purchased it fully furnished, but sold all the contents in a celebrated 2001 auction at Sotheby's New York. The lots consisted mostly of the furnishings selected by Billy Baldwin for Mary and Harding Lawrence, but also some items from the previous owners Roderick "Rory" Cameron and his mother Enid, Lady Kenmare, and even some items included by the new owner.

While the primary sitting room was undoubtedly a glorious space, with a beautiful courtyard on one side and a view down stepped turf steps to the pool and sea beyond, some might be surprised at the number of architectural inconsistencies from what one might expect in a classical room.  The space, which is called the Main Drawing Room in the Sotheby's catalog, was not a classic rectangle in plan, and the French doors had arched transoms on one side and flat head transoms on the other.

In this view from the courtyard towards the Main Drawing Room, one can see the line in the stucco where two floors were added in the rebuilding by Roderick Cameron and his mother Enid, Lady Kenmare.  It is presumed that the interpretation of the checkerboard parterre was the work of noted garden designer Russell Page.

In the descriptions of furnishings from the 2001 Sotheby's catalog, Sale 7638, that follows, the price shown is the Hammer Price plus the Buyer's Premium.

A Louis XV style marble chimneypiece, from the Cameron-Kenmare rebuilding, $14,400.

A Louis XV giltwood mirror, mid 18th century, 7 ft 1 in. by 4 ft 1 in., also from the collection of Cameron-Kenmare and visible in the photo of the room in the previous post of The Devoted Classicist.  $12,000.

Two similar Chinese export blue and white baluster urns with handles, 25 inches high, $4,500.

A Chinese export blue and white porcelain charger, 18th century, in the Kangxi style.  $6,600.

A blue and cream wool carpet designed by Billy Baldwin, one of a pair, both 12 ft 2 in by 9 ft 8 in.  Each sold for $7,200.

A Chinese export style black lacquer low table, modern, designed by Charles Sevrigny, 60.5" by 49" by 17.5", $6,600.
Sevrigny was a popular French furniture and interior designer in the 1960s and 70s;  he also designed the lighting for this room.

A contemporary pale blue upholstered four seat sofa with six additional decorative silk pillows, $11,400.

A pair of pale blue cotton upholstered armchairs, $4,800.

A view of the Main Drawing Room, opposite the fireplace.  The pairs of French doors with flat-head transoms open to a gravel terrace and broad turf steps down towards the sea.

A Louis XVI fauteuil a la reine, third quarter 18th century, signed J.M. Pluvinet, $6,600.

A set of four Louis XV/XVI painted fauteuils a la reine, circa 1770, $36,400.

A pair of Billy Baldwin designed two-tiered upholstered tabourets, 20.5" x 20.5" x 15.5", $12,000.



A pair of metal wire end tables designed by Warren Platner, circa 1970, manufactured by Knoll, missing glass tops, 18" high. $3,000.
A pair of brass three-tiered side tables, 20th century, designed by Billy Baldwin, missing glass shelves, 28.25" high, $6,000.



A Louis XV provincial ebonized table a ecrire, mid 18th century.
There were a couple of small black writing tables used as end tables in this room, but it cannot be determined from the photos if this and the following example were actually from that room.

A Louis XV style ebonized table a ecrire, $1,920.

A pair of Chinese export blue and white porcelain ovoid jars, one fitted as a lamp, together with a baluster-shaped urn.

A pair of Chinese export blue and white porcelain double gourd vases now mounted as lamps.
A pair of Chines export porcelain blue and white porcelain headrests.
A German blue and white pottery baluster-shaped jar, circa 1700, now mounted as a lamp.

 

Kenzo Okada, 1902-1982, ISLAND, oil on canvas, 73 by 48.75 inches, circa 1954-55.  $21,450.

A pair of white linen three seat upholstered sofas, 6 ft 10 in. by 34.5 in. deep by 28 in. high.  $10,200.

A view towards the Gallery with Martin Battersby murals (outside the Dining Room) and the Entrance Hall beyond.

A Louis XV style ormolu-mounted ebonized bureau plat, last quarter 19th century, 6 ft 9 in by 30 in by 32.5 in high, $23,750.

Two similar Wedgwood style black basaltware urns on stands, raised on modern ebonized bases, 38 in. high.  $6,600.



A pair of Louis XVI style black lacquer and parcel-gilt bookshelves fitted at the sides with Chinese export lacquer panels, 86.5" long, $12,000.



A pair of Chinese export blue and white baluster-shaped jars and covers, 25" high, $4,800.



Theodoros Stamos, b. 1922, GRAND BLUE SUN-BOX, 68 by 60 in., dated 1969.  Note that the painting is installed reversed from this image in the photo of the room.



A pair of Louis XVI style ormolu three-light bras de lumieres, 19th century, 29 in. high by 20 in. wide.



The Main Drawing Room of villa La Fiorentina as decorated by Billy Baldwin.

The views of the room are from BILLY BALDWIN REMEMBERS by Billy Baldwin, 1974;  vintage copies of this book may be purchased here.  The furnishings are from the Sotheby's New York auction catalog Sale 7638 and vintage copies of the catalog may be purchased here.