Who Picked The Rug?

A Kips Bay Show House room by Robert K. Lewis
featured in an ad for F.J. Hakimian.
Architectural Digest, January 1990.

In the days prior to internet exposure, decorator showhouse rooms were often an ephemeral commodity.  Although a popular venue such as the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Manhattan would have several thousand visitors a day during the 3 to 4 weeks duration, a photo record of the rooms was not guaranteed to be otherwise circulated.  Sometimes, a newspaper would photograph a room or two, but that usually would not extend to out-of-town editions.  In the 1990s, vendors who had supplied their products for these rooms might place a glossy advertisement in a national magazine, however, that featured the room and its designer.  The rug vendors were particularly helpful in promoting these showhouse rooms that might otherwise have not been seen across the country.  One of most appreciated series of these advertisements were those done by the firm F.J. Hakimian who headlined their ads with "Who chose the Hakimian?".


The Kips Bay Show House room by Juan Pablo Molyeux
also featured a ceiling commissioned from
Anne Harris Painting Studio loosely based on
Michelangelo's "Last Judgement"
that depicted the decorator's face on an angel.

Typically, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is located in an Upper East Side townhouse that is on the market for sale.  (There have been instances, however, that such a property was not available).  Usually there are at least a few rooms that already have architectural interest, but the others depend entirely on the décor for success.  In any case, the foundation of any decorating scheme can always benefit from a terrific floor covering.  Both Robert K. Lewis and Juan Pablo Molyneux benefited from their rooms have good 'bones' as well.


A Kips Bay Show House room by Mario Buatta
featured in an ad for Stark Carpet.
Architectural Digest, June 1991.

Mario Buatta does his best work when he is his own client; his show house rooms are never a disappointment, and often the most memorable of the year.  This room, pictured, also benefited from good, existing architectural detailing, but the real spark came from the talent of the decorator, putting all the furnishings together to create an attractive room.  Here Stark Carpet was the patron who featured the room in an advertisement.  First with the addition of Old World Weavers fabrics, and now including Lelievre, Fonthill and Grey Watkins fabrics among others, the conglomerate known as Stark has become an even more prestigious To-The-Trade source, and promoter of show house designers.


A Kips Bay Show House room by Arthur E. Smith
featured in an ad for Stark Carpet.
Architectural Digest, November 1992.

The room decorated by Arthur E. Smith was in the same 1992 show house at 32 East 70th Street, New York City, as Molyneux's drawing room, but located on the fifth floor.  A former protégé and business partner of legendary decorator Billy Baldwin who took over the office at the elder's retirement, only the use of sisal and kraft paper lampshades give a nod to his mentor.  The late Mr. Smith, who also had an especially stylish antiques shop, was a well-respected talent in the NY area, but not particularly well known across the country (until his connection with gallery owner and accused killer Andrew Crispo was publicized).


A Kips Bay Show House room by Michael LaRocca
featured in an ad for F.J. Hakimian.
Architectural Digest, June 1993.

A gothic revival library was decorated by Michael LaRocca for the 1991 Kips Bay Show House at 121 East 73rd Street.  The 1908 Federal Revival townhouse is located across the street from a John Tackett Design project at 128 East 73rd Street which held his field office for almost two years, coincidently, so this writer was very familiar with the house.  (Additionally, assistance was provided to Mariette Himes Gomez who decorated the dining room for the same show house:  a photo from a previous post may be seen here.)


A Kips Bay Show House room by Justin Baxter
featured in an ad for Stark.
Architectural Digest, December, 1993.

Despite the prestigious neighborhood, the 1993 Kips Bay Show House at 813 Park Avenue was in an awful apartment building consisting of a maze of rooms.  The renovated spaces were all poorly proportioned and some had ceilings less than eight feet high.  Justin Baxter had one of these less-than-desirable rooms, but did an admirable job of pulling it together with the use of striped wallpaper and mirrors.


A room by Bennet & Judie Weinstock
featured in an ad for Stark.
Architectural Digest, April 1994.

Based in Philadelphia, the husband-wife team of Bennet & Judie Weinstock have been regular participants in the Kips Bay Decorator Show Houses over the years.  This writer does not happen to remember this particular room, however, although it is assumed to have been a show house presentation.


A Kips Bay Show House room by Dennis Rolland
featured in an ad for Stark.
Architectural Digest, September 1996.

This sitting room by Dennis Rolland was remembered, however, and thought to have been featured in the 1994 Kips Bay Show House which was a double Georgian Revival townhouse designed by architect Charles Platt for Sara Delano Roosevelt and built 1907-08.  In addition to the large red-pencil drawings that decorated the room, another notable feature was the soft gray ceiling which was reportedly colored with graphite.


A Kips Bay Show House room by Kenneth Alpert
featured in an ad for Stark.
Architectural Digest, March 1997.

The sitting room by Kenneth Alpert is another that, sadly, this writer cannot identify by year or address.  But it featured a whole range of Stark products, most notably the popular carpet pattern of leopard spots and roses designed by Mrs. Stark, herself.


A Kips Bay Show House room by Scott Salvator
featured in an ad for Stark.
Southern Accents, March/April 2001.

Scott Salvator is another Kips Bay regular and this writer is not sure of the date or address of this decorator show house.  Notably, Mr. Salvator has also designed showrooms and offices for the Stark Carpet group.

A note of appreciation goes to both Hakimian and Stark for showcasing these interesting rooms and their designers in their advertisements over the years.

Designers' Favorite Things

Juan Pablo Molyneux
Photo by John Lei.

"Selecting The One Object They Could Not Live Without" is the subtitle of the article in the September, 1996, issue of Architectural Digest.  Whether it was truly the most appreciated possession, or one that was chosen for image value, that will be left up to you, Devoted Reader.



The silver tape measure engraved JBK
bought at the April, 1996, auction by
NYC interior designer Juan Pablo Molyneux.
Photo:  People Magazine.

Juan Pablo Molyneux is pictured with a pair of Anglo-Afghan campaign chairs that he had owned for over a decade.  He restored the inlaid mother-of-pearl marquetry, disabled the collapsible feature to make them more stable, and covered the seats in zebra silk velvet, vowing never to sell them.  In the first image, he's holding the silver Tiffany's tape measure he famously bought in the April, 1996, Jacqueline Kennedy auction.  Engraved with her initials, he paid $48,250 for the souvenir.  "I like to think she was measuring the White House with it," said Molyneux.


Mario Buatta.
Photo by Feliciano.

Mario Buatta is shown with a few creamware plates.  "It's difficult to pick out one, because the whole set of botanical plates is my favorite," Buatta is quoted in the article.  At the time, he had about one hundred dishes made between 1790 and 1870 with decoration based on botanical drawings, collected over 30 years.  Fans of the decorator will recognize the same designs, painted on cushions, that often serve as accessories in his interiors.


Robert Denning.
Photo by Scott Frances.

Robert Denning, who died in 2005, relates that the first thing that he and his late partner Vincent Fourcade, who died in 1992, bought together was a 19th century Copeland Spode monkey.  "It cost fifteen dollars, but there was a decorator discount of two dollars," he said.  Denning added the bronze feet to the base.


Bruce Gregga.
Photo by Russell Ingram.

Bruce Gregga is pictured with a 19th century Rococo-style clock supported by an enamel elephant and topped with an enameled Chinese man sitting on a gilt, lacquer and enamel seat.  He had admired a similar clock in France 6 or 8 years before happening to find this clock in a New York store.  He says that the clock has moved around to several locations in his Chicago residence before occupying the perfect spot "on a console in the living room with a Botero painting hanging above it and delft vases set on either side, so it fits in with the kind of things that I like."


Clodagh.
Photo by Daniel Aubry.

Clodagh, the Irish-born designer who goes by her first name only, often incorporates Feng Shui and Chromotheraphy in her international projects.  She first saw the Buddha in 1971 in the apartment of photographer Daniel Aubry who would later become her husband.  An 18th century Kmer statue, Aubry's aunt had given it to him from her husband's collection of Asian antiques.  "I'm not covetous of things.  Everything in our house could go.  But this statue, not any other Buddha, is the spirit of our house," Clodagh said of the statue that had traveled to nine different residences with the couple up to that date.


William 'Bill' Hodgins.
Photo by Richard Mandelkorn.

William Hodgins found the 19th century cast-iron statue of Hercules in the early 1990s in the beloved London garden centre, Clifton Little Venice.  Placed on a fluted, marbleized truncated column pedestal in his Boston living room, Hodgins says, "He's kind of wonderful.  I'll always like this one."


Juan Montoya.
Photo by Feliciano.

Juan Montoya's grandfather bought the alabaster urn, thought to be 300 years old, in the 1870s in Florence, Italy, and had it shipped back home to Columbia.  It occupied a prominent spot in his parents' small chapel and Montoya had admired it since he was a child.  When he changed the décor of his apartment in the mid 1980s, he had it shipped to New York.  "It is the texture, the feeling, the element itself that makes me happy.  I would never be able to live without it," he says in the feature.  "But someday it may go back to Bogota, to my sister."

Devoted Reader, do you have a possession (a non-living thing, of course) you would be particularly sad to lose?