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Mood of the Moment

“The Christmas season is fleeting, isn’t it?
But beautiful and sentimental while it lasts.”
— DESIGNER RICHARD KEITH L ANGHA M

The soaring 20-foot tree—trimmed with thousands of colored bulbs, foil icicles, and dime-store
ornaments—inside interior designer Richard Keith Langham’s former New York City atelier rivaled the
neighboring display at Rockefeller Center in size and spirit. This dinner party scene appeared in our
2008 holiday issue, and 15 years later, its merriment endures to inspire this edition’s moments of gifting
and gathering, decked-out decorating (including a woodsy Langham encore on page 122), and the
wonderment of global travel. As the designer reflects, “By the end of the year, we all need it.”
14

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PHOTOGR APH BY ANNIE SCHLECHTER • WRITTEN BY GR ACE HAYNES

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C O N TA I N E R S T O R E . C O M

CONTENTS
Volume 37 • Issue 6

Objects & Artifacts
28 Ringing in the Weekend
Our dusk-’til-dawn holiday gift guide
for the ultimate celebration with friends
40 Magic in Miniature
A Connecticut home aglow in a wonderland
of rare and antique German ornaments
48 Carved in Splendor
Jewelry maisons seize on the ancient art of
stone carving for modern sculptural baubles
and objets d’art.
50 The Rich Road to Damask
Shiny new woven and printed tributes
for the sumptuous Silk Road descendant

54 Feast of Florals
The artistry of iconic serving patterns is
reimagined in four festive centerpieces.
60 12 Trims of Christmas
Floral maestro Mark Thompson unleashes
wild winter bounty on New Orleans’s
Hotel Peter & Paul with ideas from banister
to bedroom.

ON THE COVER
A centerpiece of peach Kensington
roses and blush ranunculus conjures Imari
porcelain’s elaborate illustrations.
COVER PHOTOGR APH BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
ST YLING BY SAR A CL ARK
FLOR AL S BY BUFF Y HARGETT MILLER

18

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (FROM TOP) BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER, STYLING BY RACHAEL BURROW;
BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER, STYLING BY SARA CLARK, FLORALS BY BUFFY HARGETT MILLER.

Flowers & Gardens

Southampton · Palm Beach · Lake Tegernsee · Sylt · Munich
Also available at select Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and fine jewelry stores
www.tamaracomolli.com

Wanderlust & Journeys
70 Star Sojourns
From Mexico and Morocco to Saudi Arabia,
our 2023 World’s Most Beautiful Hotels
80 The Rides of a Lifetime
Contributing travel editor Tracey Minkin
sets out by rail, river, and Land Cruiser.
88 Red-Hot Round Top
Alessandra Branca outfits a 1,300-square-foot
bungalow for Texas guesting with Italian gusto.
96 Blending a New Noir
An oenophile’s master class in creating delicious
alchemy in Oregon’s Willamette valley

70

102 Craft in Translation
Patek Philippe’s horological homage
to Japanese stencil carving

Architecture & Decoration

112

106 For the People by Design
First Lady MK Pritzker and designer
Michael S. Smith thoughtfully redecorate
the Illinois governor’s mansion.
112 Golden Tidings
The Southampton media room of designer
Alex Papachristidis dazzles for holiday dinner.

122 Revelry in the Pines
Richard Keith Langham raises the bar on rural
refinement with a Mississippi hunting lodge.
130 Now Serving: A Radiant Glow-Up
Daring color reigns in the most social spots in
the house, from a crimson kitchen to a mint bar.

IN EV ERY ISSUE
14
24
134
136

Mood of the Moment
Editor’s Letter
The Sourcebook
Designer Confidential

G ET MO RE V E R A N DA E ACH W E E K !
Sign up for a free weekly newsletter from our editors with
designer spaces and fresh ideas for indoors and out, plus
our favorite new products. Visit signup.veranda.com.

20

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (FROM TOP) TRACEY MINKIN; ALISON GOOTEE, STYLING BY DAYLE WOOD.

116 A Very Merry Menagerie
Palm Beach design matriarch Mimi McMakin
delights in enchanting yuletide theater.

Photographed at The Boston Athenaeum

© 2023 Kravet Inc.

LEEJOFA.COM

Editor in Chief

HEARST MAGAZINES ADVERTISING

STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX
I N D UST RY L E A D E R S H I P
Design Director VICTOR MAZE
Executive Editor ELLEN M C GAULEY
Managing Editor AMY LOWE MITCHELL
Deputy Editor, Digital JAIME MILAN

Food, Pharma, Liquor, CPG & Pet PATRICIA HAEGELE
Fashion & Luxury HALEY BACHMANN
Beauty, Wellness & Mass Retail ELIZABETH WEBBE LUNNY
Home & Design JENNIFER LEVENE BRUNO
Travel, Tech, Finance & Outdoor CHRIS PEEL

STY L E & M A R K ET
Style Director RACHAEL BURROW
Associate Style & Market Editor SARA ELLIS CLARK

C AT EG O RY L E A D E R S
KAREN DEUTSCH, DAN FUCHS, CHRISTINE L. HALL, DAVID HAMILTON,
RW HORTON, BRIDGET McGUIRE, JEANNE NOONAN, COURTNEY PAPPAS,
SARA RAD, JULIE SPITALNICK, BILL UPTON, JOHN WATTIKER,

E D I TO R I A L

TARA WEEDFALD

Senior Home & Garden Editor GRACE HAYNES
Assistant Managing Editor MADOLINE KOONCE
Copy/Research Editor KATHLEEN PENTON
Assistant Editor SARAH D I MARCO

V E RA N DA
Vice President of Marketing JULIA FRY
Brand & Content Strategy MATTHEW HARE

Office Manager DEJA STEPHENS
FINANCE & OPERAT IONS
A RT & P H OTO G RA P H Y

Group Finance Director BRIAN M C COACH
Director, Advertising Services MERRILL DIAMOND

Visual Director KATE PHILLIPS
Art Director JULIA LUDLAM
Visual Editor IAN PALMER
Staff Photographer BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER

H E A R ST M AGA Z I N ES
Chief Marketing Officer TODD HASKELL
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Chief Media Officer JEFFREY W. HAMILL
Advertising Revenue Operations RACHAEL SAVAGE
Agency Relations LESLIE PICARD
CO N S UM E R M A R K ET I N G

CO N T R I B U T I N G E D I TO R S

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Design JOY MOYLER
Interiors CAROLYN ENGLEFIELD
Travel TRACEY MINKIN
Research Editor STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE

P U B L I S H E D BY H E A R ST
President & Chief Executive Officer STEVEN R. SWARTZ
Chairman WILLIAM R. HEARST III
Executive Vice Chairman FRANK A. BENNACK, JR.

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22

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P R I N T E D I N T H E U. S . A . VERANDA assumes
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bevolo.com • 504-522-9485 • 521 Conti • 304 • 316 • 318 Royal • French Quarter • New Orleans

Editor’s Letter

My dress is by Marie
Oliver; the chair is
from Design Supply,
covered in Jim
Thompson fabric.
The curtains feature
a Jasper fabric.

I traveled
to Japan for the first time for an
immersion into the world of Swiss
watchmaking. Yes, you read that
correctly: I was there for the Patek
Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Tokyo, a biennial installation the
manufacture holds in a unique market. For two
weeks, the company welcomed 60,000 visitors
into a nearly 27,000-square-foot exhibit to
experience the extraordinary world of Patek. In
addition to the display of 190 antique and noteworthy timepieces from its museum in Geneva,
artisan demonstrations, and multisensory presentations of two centuries of timepiece innovation, the exhibition featured six limited edition
introductions, including a new self-winding
Quadruple Complication (so named for its
minute repeater, perpetual calendar, and twin
chronographs) and the first World Time watch
equipped with a date display synchronized with
local time (collectors, take note).
ARLIER THIS YEAR,

While the narrative of the exhibit centered on Patek’s heritage, craftsmanship,
and artistry, a stirring subplot of cultural
exchange unfolded in the most exquisite way:
The manufacture presented a collection of
40 timepieces showcasing rare handcrafts
of miniature painting on enamel, cloisonné
enamel, hand engraving, and microwood
marquetry thoughtfully inspired by Japanese
art, history, and landscape (see page 102 for its
tribute to katagami, or stencil carving). When
I asked Patek President Thierry Stern about
what prompted these faithful homages in craft,
he said: “When I was younger, my dad told
me, ‘To know and to understand the product,
you have to travel. You have to visit the world.
You have to listen to people. You have to look
around you. Everything is there.’ That’s what
is driving me today.”
Witnessing the meticulous Swiss artistry
and the Japanese awe and appreciation in
response was a powerful reminder of how what
we make—and collect—reflects a bit of who we
are. It’s as true about textiles, tableware, and
holiday traditions as it is about timepieces. In
addition to an abundance of festive decorating inspiration, this issue features our annual
special travel section, Wanderlust & Journeys
(p. 68), with stories about the World’s Most
Beautiful Hotels (p. 70), rediscovering the
romance of classic journeys (p. 80), and the art
of blending wine (p. 96), to name a few. I hope
it awakens your desires to look around, listen,
and visit the world.

ED ITO R IN CHIEF
EMAIL: steele@veranda.com
INSTAGRAM: @steelemarcoux

WIN THESE CHA MPAGNE CUPS!

VERANDA

FIVE NEW DESIGN
BOOKS WE’RE
GIFTING THIS YEAR

Steele Thomas Marcoux

We’re giving away these Eleish Van Breems x Augarten Champagne
cups, featured on page 30. Visit sweepstakes.veranda.com (see
page 135 for details), and enter for a chance to win. Retail value: $470

24

Editor’s
Bookshelf

FROM TOP: VERANDA Simply
Chic by Stephanie Hunt (Hearst
Home) • Ralph Lauren: A Way
of Living by Ralph Lauren
(Rizzoli) • The Art of Home by
Sara Story (Rizzoli) • Alexa
Hampton: Design, Style, and
Influence by Alexa Hampton
(Clarkson Potter) • Home: The
Residential Architecture
of D. Stanley Dixon by
D. Stanley Dixon (Rizzoli)

PORTRAIT, BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER; HAIR AND MAKEUP STYLING BY CELINE RUSSELL/ZENOBIA.

Lessons in Time Travel

THE BEST GIFTS
FOR WEEKEND
MERRYM AKING,
F R O M A R R I VA L S
TO AFTER HOURS

•
AN ENCHANTING
COLLECTION OF
ANTIQUE GERM AN
ORNA MENTS

•
T H E L AT E S T C A R V E D
S TONE BAUBLES ,
BOWL S, AND BOXES

•
DA M A SK ’S SILKEN
TE X TILE LEGACY
SHINES ANEW
IN WOVEN AND
PRINTED TRIBUTES

26

VERANDA

For the aspiring grand
master on your list, an
impossibly chic art glass
chess set by Jeffrey
Andrews for Harvey’s
on Beverly. Checkmate.
Playing cards, Smythson. •
Simile small wine glasses,
ABC Carpet & Home. • Raindrop
earrings, Harakh. • Art glass
chess set, Chairish

PHOTOGR APH BY
BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
ST YLING BY
R ACHAEL BURROW
AND SAR A CL ARK

VERANDA

27

G
D
N
I
N
G
E
N
K
I
E
R the WE
in

Pop the Champagne:
It’s our dressed-up, dusk’til-dawn HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
for the ultimate celebration
with friends. So drop your
bag and freshen up, and
we’ll see you downstairs.
Cocktails are at six.

For buying information, see page 30.

28

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER • PRODUCED BY RACHAEL BURROW AND SARA CLARK • WRITTEN BY ELLEN McGAULEY

Objects & Artifacts

4
3

5
9
8
7

2

6
11
1

PAGE 28, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Scallopino bedding, Schweitzer Linen. • Clawfoot Opaline glass box, Loren Hope. • Jardin cache-pot, CeCe Barfield. • Velvet Venetian
mules, Le Monde Béryl. • Velvet quilt, Biscuit Home. • Luggage stand, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. • Paravel Main Line duffle, The Travel Studio. ABOVE: 1. Scala Insignia

clutch, CH Carolina Herrera. 2. Wave cocktail napkin, Matouk. 3. Gems cocktail glass, LSA International. 4. Bubble vase, March. 5. Augarten Champagne cup, Eleish
Van Breems. 6. Radiant Gold eye shimmer and Lip Cristal, Chantecaille. 7. Reine de Naples 8918 watch, Breguet. 8. Bal d’Afrique perfume, Byredo. 9. Venini Murano
frame, Found by Maja. 10. Creart Doge glass box, Artemest. 11. Mint Green earrings, Mateo. For other buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

30

VERANDA

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH, LISA-BLUE/GETTY IMAGES.

10

The Other Elizabeth • 17 East Main Street, Boyce, Va
Elizabeth Locke Jewels • 968 Madison Avenue, New York City • 212-744-7878
Store Locations: 540 - 837-3088 or www.elizabethlocke.com/where-to-buy

Obj ects & Artifacts
6:42 p.m.

Gamers’ Cocktail Hour
Herend’s cheeky porcelain dominoes tease
a crowd for whom games are both gift and
ceremony. A lapis and brass playing card case
for the ace among them, Dior’s embroidered
backgammon set for the dueling classicists,
and the Prohibition-chic shaker and hand-cut
Japanese martini glasses? Clutched tightly by
all, particularly spectators whispering around
the loungy perimeter. May the best guest win.

2

1
3

7

4
5

8

6

ABOVE: 1. Match Pewter Custom engraved cocktail shaker, Weston Table. 2. Tiffany & Co. Sterling scalloped bowl, Croghan’s Jewel Box. 3. Embroidered
backgammon set, Dior. 4. Haruya Hiroshima Layer martini glasses, Roman and Williams Guild. 5. Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date watch, Vacheron Constantin.
6. Cassiel mosaic card set, Aerin. 7. Dominoes, Herend. 8. Brass mistletoe, Amy Meier. For other buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

32

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Objects & Artifacts

5

4

3
6

2

7
1

9:50 p.m.

Elegant
After-Dinner
Banter
34

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8

In flickering candlelight, the laughter-streaked thread of conversation snakes around the table well into
the evening. Like prodding companions, sinuous, ’70s-cool patterns mirror the fluidity of conversation,
from potter Sylvie Saint-André Perrin’s marbled urn (genius as a wine cooler) to Pinto’s rattan-inspired
plates and Muranese tumblers that read like aqueous modern art, coaxing guests to linger a bit longer.
ABOVE: 1. Roma napkins, Sferra. 2. Jeweled Bark ear clips, Mish Fine Jewelry. 3. Glam Stripe II tablecloth, Casamota. 4. Murano
glass tumblers, R. Runberg Curiosities. 5. Sylvie Saint-André Perrin Marbled urn, John Derian. 6. Bianca collar, Jenna Blake. 7. Squiggle
5-piece cutlery set, Misette. 8. Vannerie Cottage plate set, Pinto. For other buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

W E ’ R E

fRg n



D I S C O V E R
B E A U T Y
T H A T
B E G S
T O
B E
D E V O U R E D

JENNAIR.COM



Ur

O F

L U X U R Y

At JennAir, we’re abandoning the
pack with the industr y exclusive
black obsidian interior illuminated
with dramatic ecliptic lighting.

Objects & Artifacts

1
1:21 a.m.

A Glowing
Nightcap Nibble
The queen of late night rolls out
bites and cordials in warm metallics
and etched glass that catch light
from a roaring hearth. Their star:
a silver swing-arm aperitif service
that slides down tables (perfect
for roving guests). Dishes in freeform polished brass easily pass
from lap to floor, while a regal
stone and wood inlay tray mimics
swirling malachite, as hypnotic
as the low-lit atmosphere.

2

8

6
7

5

9

3

4

ABOVE: 1. La Double J Costiera dessert plate, Design Supply. 2. Young Huh Victoria Polished dish, Modern Matter. 3. Silver aperitif service, Houses & Parties.

4. Eclisse Endless necklace, Vhernier. 5. Alex Cobblestone bracelet, Single Stone. 6. Natalia Whiskey decanter and snifters, Vietri. 7. Dice cocktail napkins,
Elizabeth Lake. 8. Babylone small bowl, Christofle. 9. Sapian Bay tray, Wildwood. For other buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

36

VERANDA

CRAFTING

perfection

INSIDE AND OUT

4 EXOTIC COVERS / 650 INDIVIDUAL NAIL HEADS / 1 CARVED WOOD FRAME
BRISTOL CHAIR IS HAND CRAFTED IN AMERICA

HANCOCKANDMOORE.COM

Objects & Artifacts

3
2
4

1

5

7

6

9:15 a.m.

Late Riser
Breakfast
in Bed
38

VERANDA

Inviting guests to ease into the day, the host assembles a warmly personal morning greeting: croissants and
berries on earthen terre mêlée plates she picked up in France, with fresh juice in a melon-hued, mouth-blown
glass jug and tumbler by favorite artist Helle Mardahl. A soft knock at the door, a fragrant offering atop a
woven tray, and just like that, the swap of late-night stories begins. With it, a new day’s roster of merriment.
ABOVE: 1. Hadley tray, Sharland England. 2. Bon Bon jug and water glass, Helle Mardahl Studio. 3. Catherine Rivière necklace,
Larkspur & Hawk. 4. Terre Mêlée dinner and dessert plates, SL & Co. Shop. 5. Botany napkin, Maison Venu. 6. Crosshatch throw,
Sunbrella. 7. Ann Mashburn Buckle shoes, Lé Weekend. For other buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

ƬƞƫƞƧƚƚƧƝƥƢƥƲƜƨƦ

WIT T Y WINTER TABLE AU
The sunroom’s window display features
roughly 250 glass ornaments—ranging
from merry snowmen to devilish Krampus
designs, fairies with floral hats to pretty
dogs and cats (purposefully distanced
from each other)—arranged as vignettes
on a goose feather tree.

Collectors Bill Miller and
Paul Landy spend more
than 100 hours setting their
Connecticut home aglow
in a wonderland of rare and
antique German ornaments.

IN
40

VERANDA

PHOTOGR APHY BY DAVID PRINCE • PRODUCED BY DAYLE WOOD • WRITTEN BY ALICE WELSH DOYLE

VAUGHAN

Shoreham Table Lamp
Bramdean Collection

vaughandesigns.com

Objects & Artifacts

HIGH TOA ST
TO THE COSMOS
“I call this my ethereal
tree,” says Miller of the
living room’s heavenly
arrangement, where a
tabletop tree is adorned
with ornamental figures
that float and fly, “celestial
bodies such as moons,
suns, and angels and
things of the air—birds,
butterflies, parachutes,
dirigibles, and the like.”

U R H O M E I S L I K E A T I M E C A P S U L E ,”

says Bill Miller of the restored 1773 Connecticut home he owns with his partner,
Paul Landy. It’s a melding of period architectural styles both Federal and Greek
Revival with abundant tweaking over its
long life, he explains, “neglected for about 40 years when Paul
and I purchased it five years ago. We completely renovated
it and now it has the spirit of a ‘new’ old house.” Filled with
42

VERANDA

fine early 19th-century American
classical furnishings and Grand
Tour objects with some Black Forest thrown in for fun, during the
holidays it serves as an enchanted
canvas for their collection of
antique German ornaments and
other collectibles—many of them
extraordinarily precious—from
delicate hand-painted glass baubles
and a gnome diorama housed inside
a suitcase to old green goblets deaccessioned from a museum.
A love for holiday decorating
began early in life for both Landy,
director of a New York–based
museum, and Miller, a retired
banker. But it shifted into a passionate devotion over a decade ago
when Miller discovered circa 1900
to 1940 German glass ornaments at
an antiques show. “I had never seen
anything like them before,” he says.
“The fragility of these ornaments
fascinated me; they are as thin as
a sheet of paper. I quickly became
obsessed.” Now a collection of more than 600 adorns three
antique goose feather trees while a fourth tinsel tree from
Landy’s collection displays a few dozen leaded silver ornaments.
While the collecting is serious, the presentation is full of
studied charm; thematically oriented, each feather tree is
arranged with carefully chosen vignettes like chapters in a
fairy tale. Like a page-turner read under the glow of a winter
fire, the story is one of individual and shared passions of Landy
and Miller, imparting a magical curiosity at every turn. ✦

Objects & Artifacts

KINGS OF CHRISTM A S PA ST
CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT: A metal
suitcase diorama that Landy found
at auction opens to reveal a gnome
village; he outfitted it with custom
illumination. • A German-made
Benjamin Franklin ornament,
originally imported by Woolworth
and sold for around 25 cents, is the
only one believed to be in existence
today. • Antique glass icicles drape a
1970s tinsel-wrapped tree, joining
leaded silver ornaments from the
Saxony region dating from around
1850 to 1900. • Miller (at right)
and Landy with Atticus—“a real
Heinz 57 mix,” Miller jokes—in front
of their 1773 Connecticut home

44

VERANDA

Objects & Artifacts

FANTA SY SUPPER CLUB
The couple rack up quite the guest
list with the merry troupe dangling
from their dining room tree:
Elevated on an 1820s mixing table,
the display “shows the evolution
of Santa, from a thin 11th-century
bishop to today’s jolly version,” says
Miller. “The figure on the ladder
[inset] is a Brownie, a comic strip
character created by illustrator
Palmer Cox in the 1880s that was
a phenomenon during that time.”
The green Georgian and Regency
period glassware is antique.

JOY TO THE WHIRL
Lighting the candles on this circa
1900 German wooden pyramid
sends heat to the pinwheel, causing
the top to spin. “It’s a wonderful
effect if we can get it to work—it’s
very temperamental!” notes Miller.
The economical Germans would
reuse the figurines for a variety
of exhibits, like the bottom tier’s
sheep in a Nativity display and
the top tier’s wooden folks people
in a Noah’s ark set crafted within
the same period.

“The fragility of these
ornaments fascinated me; they
are as thin as a sheet of paper.
I quickly became obsessed.”
— HOMEOWNER BILL MILLER

46

VERANDA

abchome.com

888 Broadway
New York, NY

in
A ravishing new stone age unfolds as
jewelry maisons seize on the ancient art
of stone carving, turning out a spate of
sculptural baubles and objets d’art.

A S B L U E - C H I P ACC E N T S ↘
Coveted lapis is carved
into a floral motif to crown
a petite aventurine box—
a genius layering of
midnight-hued stones.

PHOTOGR APHY BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
PRODUCED BY R ACHAEL BURROW
WRITTEN BY ELLEN McGAULEY

48

VERANDA

↙ A S Q U E E N LY VA N I T Y V E SS E L S
Ancient Egyptian Coptic cosmetic
jars inspired Loren Nicole’s rock
crystal bowl with a 22K gold lid
that doubles as a regal pendant.

AS PRECIOUS HUES IN JEWELS ↘
Tony Duquette mixes rubies,
emeralds, and diamonds with
sculpted agate and tourmaline
for a breathtaking cohort.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ebony, lapis, turquoise, and diamond necklace, Haute Victoire. • Smoky quartz vessel, Loren Nicole. •
Large agate box with carved jadeite centerpiece and finials, Seaman Schepps. • Nephrite jade and gold saddle cuff, Belperron. • Rock
crystal vessel, Loren Nicole. • Ruby, dyed agate, emerald, tourmaline, and diamond necklace, Tony Duquette. • Pyxis earrings, Prounis. •
No. 146 cuff, Verdura. • Small blue aventurine box with lapis carving, Seaman Schepps. • Carved emerald, yellow sapphire, and
mother-of-pearl earrings, Tony Duquette. • For fabric and wallcovering information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

VERANDA

49

Objects & Artifacts

The

ch ad

BELOW: A pair of handwoven
silk damasks that date to the
1700s, including a robe à
l’anglaise (left) likely crafted
of repurposed fabric

swathing walls of
palazzi and châteaus of medieval and Renaissance Europe, not to
mention dinner tables and even well-to-do women. Though damask
first emerged in the third century BCE, when Chinese weavers
used one warp and one weft thread to create opulent, reversible
topographies of silk that draped the shoulders of emperors, it gained its
moniker when Syrian merchants introduced the fabric to European weavers.
In western hands it became damask, for the trading post it arrived from, and
took on symmetrical patterns of flowers, feathers, and fruit that became
forever linked to the technique. Today’s wave suggests another resonant
rediscovery with Nobilis’s channeling of a Mediterranean paradise, Cowtan &
Tout’s rustic expressions in linen, and Chelsea Textiles’ “sun-faded” Venetian
Damask that sings of distant ports and whispers of old-world fever. ✦

I
50

T WA S T H E U LT I M AT E W E A LT H S I G N I F I E R ,

VERANDA

TOP, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Alexandria fabric, Nobilis. •
Rinceau Scrolls trim, White River. • Braquenié Clery fabric, Pierre
Frey. • Ruskin fabric (on lamp base), Colefax and Fowler. • Early
19th-century French side table, Lolo French Antiques. • Venetian
Damask fabric (on sofa), Chelsea Textiles. • Namay Samay Bernard
fabric (bolster), John Rosselli & Associates. • Pavone fabric,
Pintura Studio. • Estate Damask fabric, Scalamandré

PHOTOGR APHY BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER • PRODUCED BY SAR A CL ARK • WRITTEN BY TR ACEY MINKIN

ROBE À L’ANGLAISE, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/PURCHASE, IRENE LEWISOHN BEQUEST, 2018; GREEN SILK DAMASK, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ROGERS FUND, 1909.

to

Century believes that style and service are personal and best provided by passionate local businesses.
We are proud to be family owned and operated in Hickory, North Carolina since 1947.
centuryfurniture.com

REIM AGINING
FOUR BELOVED
S E R V I N G P AT T E R N S
THROUGH FLOR AL S

•
12 J OYO U S
TRIMMINGS IDEAS,
S TA R R I N G F R E S H LY
C L I P P E D G R E E N E R Y,
FRUITS, AND BLOOM S

52

VERANDA

A bucolic brown-andwhite transferware
pattern blooms to life
in a centerpiece of roses,
tulips, ranunculus, and
seeded eucalyptus spilling
over a vintage tureen.
PHOTOGR APH BY
BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
ST YLING BY
SAR A CL ARK
FLOR AL S BY
BUFF Y HARGETT MILLER

VERANDA

53

OF
The good china as you’ve never seen it: Birmingham floral designer Buffy Hargett Miller
reimagines the artistry of iconic serving patterns in four festive centerpieces.

The New Royal Botanicals
—

Pinto Feuillages
dinner and soup
plates, Ellis Hill

54

VERANDA

Alberto Pinto’s Feuillage pattern pays vivid homage to Chelsea
porcelain’s botanical collection, a prized acquisition of Queen
Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, with hand-painted herbarium-like
studies of flora and fauna on Limoges porcelain. Miller reprises
the naturalist scene with regal lavender anemones and magenta
Astrantia mixed with chartreuse hydrangeas. Spiky veronicas
lend an English garden feel, plus enticing perches for butterflies.

PHOTOGR APHY BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER • PRODUCED BY SAR A CL ARK
FLOR ALS BY BUFF Y HARGETT MILLER • WRITTEN BY GR ACE HAYNES

STYLING STUDIO SALARIS - PH. MATTEO IMBRIANI

Fr a m m e n t i Ve n e z i a n i
2 0 2 3 Te x t i l e s C o l l e c t i o n

Find your representative on
rubelli.com

Flowers & Gardens

Humble, Rosy Romanticism
—
It was caviar taste on a tuna fish budget.
Transferware sported designs as refined as its
fine china contemporaries but sold at a much
lower price, thanks to a new copperplate printing
method developed in Staffordshire in the late
18th century. Here, Miller recreates the pottery’s
pastoral scenes with a cottage garden–inspired
arrangement of Tinkerbell garden roses, spray
roses, and tulips in mellow, muted tones; slim,
meandering willow branches retrace the
finely drawn lines of the floral artistry.
Vintage transferware tureen, Nickey Kehoe

A Golden Imitation Game
—
Although the Netherlands’s famed tin-glazed
earthenware seized on the blue-and-white
boom of Chinese porcelain, the Dutch’s rustic
spin—known as delftware, depicting sailboats,
songbirds, and European garden scenes—was
masterful in its own right. Drawing on this circa
1780 dish’s mimosa leaf motif and mustard
slip painted edge, Miller mixed the flowering
yellow branches with golden tulips and lemony
butterfly ranunculus. Blue antique hydrangeas
star as nods to the cobalt oxide used to
color the porcelain—imitation being the
sincerest form of flattery, after all.
Blue and white delft dish, Bardith

56

VERANDA

WE STONTABLE.COM

Flowers & Gardens

A Blooming Sunset Tapestry
—
In 1616 ceramicists in Arita, Japan, conceived of Imari ware
by wheeling local kaolin clay into porcelain and adorning it
with textile-inspired illustrations of elaborate flowers. Here,
the ruffled petals of peach Kensington roses and ranunculus
in shades of butter and blush conjure Imari’s ornate, densely
patterned designs, while scarlet tulips, blue thistle, and silver
dollar eucalyptus revive the pieces’ saturated underglazes.
Antique Chinese Imari porcelain charger, Bardith

Buffy Hargett Miller is a Birmingham, Alabama-based artist, stylist, and floral designer as
well as the owner and creative director of Buffy Hargett Flowers. buffyhargettflowers.com

58

VERANDA

12 tMs of
PHOTOGR APHY BY
CEDRIC ANGELES
PRODUCED BY
R ACHAEL BURROW
TRIMMINGS BY
M ARK THOMPSON

Floral maestro Mark Thompson
unleashes wild winter bounty on
New Orleans’s Hotel Peter & Paul
with ideas from banister to
bedroom, off-kilter garlands to a
cure for the common fruit bowl.
60

VERANDA

LOCATION, HOTEL PETER & PAUL. OPPOSITE: PORTRAIT, WES FRAZER.

WRITTEN BY
GR ACE HAYNES

1. Storybook Swags
A magnolia garland mixes with
sprays of Leyland cypress, draping
both sides of the banister (opposite)
“as if the birds in Cinderella hung it,”
says Thompson. Taupe and blue
Samuel & Sons silk tassel tiebacks
knotted into shoestring-like bows
secure it for quite the fairy-tale ending.

Mark Thompson is a
Birmingham-based interior,
garden, and floral designer.
Follow him @markg.thompson.

2. Warm Notes of Citron
“To me, citron is the color of Christmas,”
says Thompson, channeling memories of his
mother’s orange-and-clove arrangements
into an airy, organic centerpiece of wisteria
greenery and Christmas ferns with clementinehued standard and parrot tulips fanning out
from an antique iron urn.

VERANDA

61

Flowers & Gardens

3–8. Berries, Bows, and Pretty Bedposts
ABOVE, FROM LEFT: An ethereal swathe of plumosa fern brings a vintage woodland tapestry back into the wild. “A thin garland feels elegant,” says

Thompson. • A white pine wreath hung with a gold-embroidered trim by Houlès draws beauty from simplicity (and spins a little cockeyed). •
An asymmetrical Fraser fir garland framing a doorway is garnished with jewel-toned pomegranates that mimic glass ball ornaments dangling
from the boughs of a Christmas tree. Tassel tiebacks, Houlès. BELOW, FROM LEFT: Foraged Fraser fir, nandina, and ilex berries gather easily atop
a Federal-style armoire like jovial friends settling in for a nightcap. • Holiday romance abounds with a leafy mistletoe branch hung with
silk citron and velvet olive ribbons threaded through an antique mirror. • Humble handmade swags of black juniper berry and boxwood are
dressed up with black velvet bows and join a crowning boxwood wreath, emphasizing the canopy bed’s lithe wrought-iron architecture.

62

VERANDA

Made for you.

Featuring Lowell, Nocturne, and Prado. matouk.com

Flowers & Gardens

9. Manteltop Festoon

Artfully Askew
A sinuous swag of Fraser fir swoops into a
guest room’s gilded mirror. “It hangs almost
precariously across the mantel,” he says, adding
wisteria branches for texture and clusters of
golden quince to echo the glow of candlelight.
Foragers can substitute privet or ivy clippings
for the wisteria, Thompson notes.

64

VERANDA

Flowers & Gardens

10. A Forest of

Evergreen Garlands

Flourishing boughs of yaupon
holly (hearty woody branches with
red berries) filled with additional
clippings of pine, Leyland cypress,
winged elm, Fraser fir, and boxwood
emulate the front doors’ dramatic
scale. Tidy boxwood wreaths, hung
with a braided citron border (Samuel &
Sons), balance the free-form garland.

11. Winter Whites Untamed
Loose clippings of black pine and Fraser fir spill
over a papier-mâché basket with pearly garden
roses, tulips, and flowering quince. Thompson’s
design ethos of bringing the beauty of nature
indoors shines especially bright during the
holiday season, he notes, “when our decorating
traditions call for bringing the outside in.”

12. A Vivid Citrus Still Life
A shining moment for the holiday fruit basket: Thompson
filled a vintage silver-plated punch bowl with oranges
and then on top staked layers of limes, Meyer lemons,
oranges, and blood oranges to create a voluminous
centerpiece for bars or tables. Cut fruits and lemon tree
blossoms lend an irresistibly fragrant finishing touch.

66

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For buying information, see The Sourcebook, page 134.

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FROM ME X ICO TO
MOROCCO, OUR 16
MOST BE AUTIFUL
HOTEL S IN THE WO RLD

•
WRITER TR ACE Y
MINKIN REVISITS
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R O M A N T I C V O YA G E S

•
A R O U N D TO P
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68

VERANDA

The divine end of the road:
Amid rice fields, waterfalls,
shrines, and the jungles of
central Bali, you find the
luxury resort Buahan, a
Banyan Tree Escape.
PHOTOGR APH COURTESY
OF BANYAN TREE GROUP

VERANDA

69

STAR SOJOURNS

70

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) COURTESY OF GRAND HOTEL
SON NET; COURTESY OF ROBERT RIEGER; COURTESY OF ELIN ENGELSVOLL.

Age-dimpled beams, banana-leaf courtyards, vivid tilework: The year’s
16 BEST HOTELS and villas, manor houses and balés shine as ambassadors of
their habitats from rowhouse-rich London to the rocky river banks of South Africa.

World’s Most
Beautiful

HOTELS
2023

Grand Hotel
Son Net

Aman New York
NEW YORK

FORSAND, NORWAY

MAJORCA, SPAIN

In New York’s 1921 Crown
Building, transformed
by architect Jean-Michel
Gathy, an aura of discreet
and exclusive calm pervades, from the entry’s
glass fireplace to the
25,000-square-foot spa
complete with a 65-foot
swimming pool and
cryotherapy chamber.

When Tom Bjarte Norland
bought land overlooking
a world-famous fjord, he
imagined a set of hermit
huts. Taking innovative
form, these arose as a
quartet of modernist
cabins by Norwegian
architectural firm
Snøhetta that levitates
reverently amid pines.
Hermits welcome.

What becomes a 17thcentury Majorcan estate?
Designer Lorenzo Castillo’s
historically cohesive vision
for its restoration. Gathering spaces and 31 suites
thrill with the decorative
bravura of Mediterranean
Baroque and Iberian
Peninsula style. It’s a
whole new aristocracy.

—STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX

PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY TR ACEY MINKIN

The Bolder

VERANDA

71

Portrait Milano

Villa Mabrouka

MILAN

TANGIER, MOROCCO

Who better to wow in
Italy’s fashion capital than
Ferragamo? Its Lungarno
Collection has restored
a 16th-century seminary,
bestowing a coutureworthy makeover with
designer Michele Bönan’s
vivid colors and pattern.
A true runway moment.

British designer Jasper
Conran’s elegantly
restrained hand has
refashioned Yves Saint
Laurent’s famed 1940s
escapist hideaway as
a seaside hotel that
enchants with period fixtures, Roman busts, and
bejmat and zellige tiles.

Boys Hall
KENT, ENGLAND

After falling in love with a
1600s Jacobean manor
in the country, Londoners
Kristie and Brad Lomas
sought local experts for
historic restoration guidance, then dressed the
rooms in fresh bucolia.
The result: a relaxing rural
getaway to lure city folk.

72

VERANDA

Naviva, A Four
Seasons Resort
PUNTA MITA, MEXICO

Biophilic design meets
Mexican craft in 15 safaristyle tents across the
resort’s 48 acres of forest,
where regional artisans’
imprint prevails in bespoke
fabrics and furniture that
feel at home in nature.
—SARAH D I MARCO

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT)
COURTESY OF PORTRAIT MILANO; COURTESY OF
ANDREW MONTGOMERY; COURTESY OF NAVIVA, A FOUR
SEASONS RESORT; COURTESY OF MARK ANTHONY FOX.

Wanderlust & Journeys

NOUVELLE HANGING LANTERN
HINKLEY.COM | #HINKLEYSTYLE

Wanderlust & Journeys

Vermelho
After a long-standing affair with the
Portuguese countryside, Christian
Louboutin makes the relationship
one for the ages with his first hotel.
Designed by architect Madalena
Caiado, the interiors take virtuoso
maximalist (and high craft) turns
directed by the designer’s friends
Carolina Irving and Patricia Medina.

74

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF VERMELHO.

MELIDES, PORTUGAL

Celebrating
15 YEARS OF

OLD ST. NICK

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Wanderlust & Journeys

Wildflower Farms, Auberge
Resorts Collection
GARDINER, NEW YORK

This jewel of the Hudson valley
hotel renaissance takes notes from
its farm-to-mountain setting,
channeled by New York design
studio Ward + Gray’s layered,
collected interiors that lean into
the region’s deep history of craft.

Buahan, A Banyan
Tree Escape

Our Habitas AlUla

BALI, INDONESIA

Natural and man-made
wonder meet in this Ashar
valley hotel. Nestled between ancient sandstone
canyons, find eco-friendly
glass villas, contemporary
art installations like neon
rock gardens, and an
infinity pool that mimics
a mirage. —JAIME MILAN

Beaverbrook
Town House
LONDON

It’s hard to imagine a softer
landing in Chelsea: Two chic
Georgian townhouses feature
14 cheery yet sophisticated
suites by Nicola Harding
and the art-filled Sir Frank’s
Bar, where martinis invoke
historic London figures.
—STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX

76

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT) COURTESY OF AUBERGE
RESORTS COLLECTION; COURTESY OF EXPERIENCE ALULA; COURTESY OF
BEAVERBROOK TOWN HOUSE; COURTESY OF BANYAN TREE GROUP.

Overlooking terraced
rice fields from its jungle
redoubt, this collection
of 16 open-air balés built
with reclaimed ironwood
displays Bali’s superb artisanship, from hand-hammered copper bathtubs
to carved headboards.

ALULA, SAUDI ARABIA

Wanderlust & Journeys

PARIS

The author himself could
not have appointed a finer
countryman, decorator
Jacques Garcia, to conjure
a hotel inspired by the
belle epoque salons and
characters in his masterwork, In Search of Lost
Time. Garcia’s interiors are
masterpieces to match.

Madwaleni River
Lodge
KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Like a procession of elephants
making its way along the
banks of the White Umfolozi
River, these 12 sweeping
luxury tents exhibit a quiet
grace befitting—and honoring—their rocky setting
in the glorious Babanango
Game Reserve.

Shiguchi

78

VERANDA

Dornoch Station

HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

DORNOCH, SCOTLAND

Named for the Japanese
architectural method of
joining wood to wood,
owner and curator
Shouya Grigg’s divine
ideal of a “gallery stay”
is a material-forward,
artistic reimagining of
five 150-year-old rural
farmhouses into villas.

Tartan wallcoverings, nautical accents, and wood
paneling pay homage to
this world-class golfing
destination’s rugged
Scottish Highlands setting. Even Bar Ross is golf
obsessed, saluting local
course architect Donald
Ross. —JAIME MILAN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT) COURTESY
OF SVEN MUSICA/LOVE AFRICA MARKETING; COURTESY OF
MARINE & LAWN HOTELS & RESORTS; COURTESY OF SHIGUCHI;
COURTESY OF BENJAMIN ROSEMBERG.

Maison Proust

LAURA KIRAR FOR ARTERIORS

THE FINE BALANCE BETWEEN ART & INTERIORS

|

ARTERIORSHOME.COM

Can classic journeys of the past
make sense in our modern world?
Wide-eyed adventurer Tracey
Minkin channels early explorers
as she sets out by rail, river, and
Land Cruiser, slipping between eras
into a new golden age of travel.

80

VERANDA

of

Venice. Budapest. Nairobi.
The names set a hook: circles inked on a map, fingers tapped on a drawing room
globe, stickers layered on a valise. We set off from here. We head there—to a
great city, up a grand river, into the African wild. We plan and thrill at what’s to
come. A journey that echoes of historic provenance and links us with travelers
of the past but that seizes us by the collar amid the high-velocity hurly-burly of
21st-century life and says: Slow down. Regard. Savor. These are grand journeys—
these are the Great Journeys. But can something distinctly old resonate as
powerfully today? Can we find the slow gear and inhabit the deeper beauty of
such travel? With the murmurs of diarists and explorers in my ear, I set out on
three Great Journeys to test the theory: Paris-bound aboard the Venice SimplonOrient-Express (VSOE); cruising the snow-flecked Danube to Christmas
markets in Hungary and Austria, Germany and Slovakia; and flying into the
Kenyan bush for a week on safari. What did I discover? Where do I begin?

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISES INC.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY (OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP) JONATHAN COSH/VISUAL EYE;
COURTESY OF VENICE SIMPLON-ORIENT-EXPRESS, A BELMOND TRAIN.

The

FROM TOP: A traditional safari

sundowner in Mahali Mzuri
luxury camp. • The SS Maria
Theresa glides down the
Danube River. • A decadent
Grand Suite on the Venice
Simplon-Orient-Express

a

Wanderlust & Journeys

My steward, Melissa, flicks her
glance warmly at me while never
losing track of the Veuve Clicquot
she’s pouring. I’m dumbstruck—by her crisp
posture amid the gentle shudder of our train
car as it lumbers across the watery landscape
outside Venice but also by the wild understatement of the question.
Simply put: My cabin is gorgeous. All I
can manage is to blurt in clumsy French that
I want to live here forever—but we both know
that in less than 24 hours I’m going to step
onto the platform of the Gare de l’Est and my
life on the Orient Express will be over.
But what a cabin to inhabit until then. A
jewelry box to human scale, this triumph of
restoration and imagination is one of eight
Suites installed in a pair of circa 1920s and
1930s cars that joined the VSOE this summer.
The Suites are a new category between the
train’s Historic Cabins and their haute-opulent cousins, six Grand Suites with full or
twin beds, sofas, dining tables, and full baths.
The new Suites lie literally between
the categories. Each has a commodious
banquette and table—a setup that converts
to a double bed (or two twins) with crisp
white sheets—and an en suite bath. Rachel
Johnson of London’s Wimberly Interiors
conjured the four distinct designs, each
inspired by the train’s Art Deco heritage and
the landscape we traverse (mine is La Forêt,
the forest) and rich in French marquetry, Art
Nouveau–style textiles, hand-blown and
-etched glass fixtures, brass hardware, and a
marble bath that would charm an aristocrat.
It’s enough to pass an entire day in this
intimate Arcadia, but three dining cars
beckon with their ebullient patterns and
palettes, ample velvet and tassels. It’s said
one can never overdress for dinner on the
Orient Express, and jolly travelers oblige,
with some in fully formal attire, others in
thoughtful semiformal dress. The service
brandishes lots of Champagne, while the
rhythm of cocktail shakers and standards at
the grand piano in the famed Bar Car “3674”
sing a post-prandial siren song.
And this—brilliantly—is the sum of life
aboard the Orient Express. It’s a journey of
jostled, colorful minijourneys from my cabin
down hallways so narrow they require sideways slides, smiles, and nods; luxuriating at
meals; chatting and laughing in the bar; and
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VERANDA

repeating with the cadence of lunch, dinner,
nightcap, midnight brunch, and breakfast in
my cabin as Paris looms to the west.
My only duty, really, is to discover I can
roll down my window to let the cool Alpine
air refresh my cabin, then lean my head
out and spy my train’s gorgeous curves as
it rounds bends north through Italy and
Austria, then turns west across Liechtenstein and Switzerland. To count cows and
chalets, to wonder at the world sliding past.
To look down at a book, to feel the soothing
conversation of old wheels with stalwart
rails. And to pause at border stops to step
down to the platform, examine the navy
shine of our cars with the gold letters telling
the world who we are, and catch the curiosity
of passersby. We lucky overnighters.

V E N I C E TO PA R I S

A J EW EL BOX
ON THE R A ILS
La Forêt (top right) is among eight newly
added Suites on the Venice SimplonOrient-Express, a Belmond train, which
includes the legendary Bar Car “3674”
(above) and three dining cars that each
feature signature rail-inspired china. Rates
vary according to season and itinerary.
Cabins for Venice to Paris one night begin
at $3,980 per passenger; belmond.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF VENICE SIMPLON-ORIENT-EXPRESS, A BELMOND TRAIN (3); PLATE, TRACEY MINKIN.

H

OW DO YOU FIND YOUR CABIN?”

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E R E ’ S TO Y O U, M A R I A T H E R E S A ,

I think, lifting my steaming mug of
glühwein in tribute. It’s the perfect
place to toast the 18th-century
empress: I stomp my boots against the frostglazed forecourt facing Schönbrunn, Vienna’s
Baroque masterpiece that was her favorite
palace, and take in the glimmering goodwill of
the market stalls that surround me.
With mulled wine in hand, I’ve spent an hour
in besotted stroll among vendors offering the
bounty we imagine the idealized European
Christmas market would contain: gifts and
decorations made from blown glass, carved
wood, pottery, needlework, even dried fruit—
where plastic or paper cups seem never to
have existed (all glühwein comes in decorative
ceramic mugs, to keep as souvenirs or return
for a small refund). Despite the December chill

84

VERANDA

B U D A P E S T TO PA S S A U

A R EG A L W INTER
PASS AGE
Architectural triumphs like the Hungarian
parliament building (bottom left) tip
their turreted caps to Uniworld’s SS
Maria Theresa as she floats by on her
glühwein-spiced tour of Christmas
markets with empress-worthy cabins
for tucking in at night. Uniworld’s 2024
Danube Holiday Markets cruises from
Budapest to Passau start at $3,599 per
guest double occupancy; uniworld.com

the market is rich with aroma—roasted nuts,
waffles, and crepes, with top notes of cloves,
cinnamon, and citrus. Crimson-cheeked
schoolchildren roam in excited packs, queuing
up for chocolates. Crystal lights wink overhead,
and I swear I hear classical music. Perhaps from
the palace, perhaps in my head. It doesn’t matter, because this journey—up Europe’s Danube
River—occupies that gently liminal geography
between history and dream.
The empress is with me for the entire week—
not just this Viennese afternoon. My journey
is aboard the SS Maria Theresa, a cruise ship
designed to honor her historic empire along
the river. (And reign she does, overlooking the
lobby’s marble double staircase from a massive
18th-century portrait.) Fittingly Uniworld’s
interior designer Toni Tollman has created
the closest thing to a Habsburg palace on the
water: My stateroom’s walls are covered in fabric; my bed canopied; my bathroom lined in
marble. Antiques and artwork from the period
keep company with gilded reproductions; in
the resplendent lounge and bar, five murals
by decorative artists at London’s Croxford and
Saunders wrap the scene in Austrian rurals.
It would already be a Great Journey to ply
this historic artery through Europe as we do,
linking centers of art, politics, and culture.
From Budapest we sail overnight into Slovakia and Bratislava, which, although rich with
Gothic, Baroque, and Art Deco architecture,
feels like a new European discovery after its
years hidden away under Soviet rule. Gliding
through Austria we tour the museums and walk
the grand boulevards of Vienna, meander and
marvel at the sky blue Baroque tower in the riverfront village of Dürnstein, and leave our ship
for the day to drive up to cinematic Salzburg.
Finally we cross the German border and to
Passau, another startling discovery of Baroque
and Rococo architecture both church-like and
civil. Each day we tread nimbly down our gangplank into each world to feel the overlapping
sunbeams—and shadows—of empire.
And of course, at this time of year, the journey
takes on the additional patina of the Christmas
markets, each speaking its own dialect of history,
food, and crafts. From honey wine in Bratislava
to spun sugar in Passau, I taste (and try to pronounce) something new every day. I collect a
few glühwein mugs. And I thank, again, Maria
Theresa for her imperial inspiration and for the
water that ties this world together.

INTERIOR AND SHIP COURTESY OF UNIWORLD BOUTIQUE RIVER CRUISES; CHRISTMAS MARKET AND WINE, GETTY IMAGES.

Wanderlust & Journeys

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Beyond the day-trip thrills of wildlife spotting,
Virgin Limited Edition’s Mahali Mzuri luxury
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in land and culture, including thoughtfully
designed tents inspired by Maasai dress
(top right). 2024 rates begin at $1,100
per person per night double occupancy
in low season; virginlimitededition.com

T

ODAY IS A DAY FOR ELEPHANTS.

We can feel them out there, roaming the Kenyan grasslands; it’s just
a question of finding them. We joke
that the only elephant we’ve seen so far has
been on our bottle of Amarula, the creamy
African liqueur that plays a sweet role in our
sundown ritual. But today, my safari-mates
and I assure one another, climbing into our
Land Cruiser, is a day for elephants.
This is the optimism of the adventurer,
and a safari of any length, anywhere, hands
you the chance to occupy that exotic position. But it’s a double down to anchor that
safari at Mahali Mzuri, the luxury tented
camp created by Sir Richard Branson’s
Virgin Limited Edition. For one, the camp
leaps forward in design, leaving the traditional silhouettes (and colonial aftertaste) of
pale canvas tents behind for swooping shelters inspired by the bows carried by Maasai
86

VERANDA

hunters. Secondly Branson chose land
adjacent to Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara
reserve (where so many safari operators go)
and helped steer it, with other partners and
Maasai people, into conservancy.
So we spend a week here in the Olare
Motorogi Conservancy, sometimes in
pursuit of spotting the fauna famed for
this part of East Africa—lions, cheetahs,
leopards, Cape buffalo, antelope, giraffes,
warthogs, hyenas, jackals, and yes, elephants—but other times in conversations
with Mahali Mzuri’s partners at a nearby
school, with elders who work to manage
cattle movement to ease the burden on the
habitat, and with leaders of a handicraft
collaborative offering financial independence to local women. After so many years
of tourism taking from Kenya’s ecosystem
and cultural currency, this approach to
parity and partnership with people and

animals and habitat feels like a new form
of an adventurer’s optimism.
In other words, it might be enough to
bounce merrily along river valleys and
across ancient volcanic plains, seeking
encounters with these astonishing members
of the animal kingdom, pausing for bush
picnics, and gathering after dark below the
spread of a baobab for a campfire, songs, and
dancing. But it’s far more to know that my
Great Journey into the African bush treads
lighter and joins a forward-looking relationship with this fragile global treasure.
And then, one brilliant late morning under
the Kenyan sun, we find our elephants. It’s
a threesome: a newly born calf, trotting
gamely to keep up with its older sibling,
then nuzzling the rear leg of its mother, who
gracefully allows her baby back into the family’s rhythm. I watch from the quiet of our
SUV, as I had watched from my ship pulling
into a historic port, as I’d watched from the
cabin of my train, and think yet again: This is
the gift of the Great Journey. An opportunity
to be small, to observe, to be led. To be slow.
To be taught. To draw memories close to the
chest, and to dream of the next great chance.
To spin the globe and let the globe spin us. ✦

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTESY OF MAHALI MZURI (2); TRACEY MINKIN (2).

A N A DV ENTUR E
OF OPTIMISM

for

Alessandra Branca two-steps into the antiques mecca, outfitting
a 1,300-square-foot bungalow for Texas guesting with Italian gusto.

A wire-brushed Danby
and Nero marble mantel
(Strike) is the sociable living
room’s centerpiece; Casa
Branca’s faux-bois wallpaper
mimics the look of rustic
paneling. Pendants, Hector
Finch. Rug, New Moon

INTERIOR DESIGN BY ALESSANDR A BR ANCA • PHOTOGR APHY BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
PROP ST YLING BY SAR A CL ARK • FLOR ALS BY JIMMIE HENSLEE • WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE HUNT

88

VERANDA

LIGHTING FOR LIFE

Wanderlust & Journeys

The cabin is painted Black Tar and
Moroccan Red, both by Benjamin
Moore. BELOW: On the front porch,
guests can recount thrills of the hunt
around a birchwood-inspired dining
table (Woodard). Lantern, Hector
Finch. Cabana-striped rug, New Moon

Ciao, y’all,
pretty much says it all. The phrase is a two-word roundup of what
Chicago-based designer Alessandra Branca brings to Round Top:
her Italian sophistication plus a wink to Texas swagger plus a heaping dose of Southern welcome. Never mind that prior to this project
Branca had yet to join the throngs of design enthusiasts who flock
to the tiny Texas town known for its three annual antiques markets.
She was invited down by longtime friends and Texas natives Greg
Fourticq and John Cone, the developers and visionaries behind Red
Antler Bungalows. Fourticq and Cone had both grown up in Houston
and, after years living in New York and elsewhere, returned to their
roots with dreams of finding property near Round Top. When this
well-located parcel came available and their “bungalow” concept (a
grouping of six two-bedroom short-term rentals, with four built to
date) became clearer, they decided to turn one cabin into a showhouse with the designer’s help.
Branca, for her part, was readily charmed by the small town’s
friendly character. “Round Top is like Brigadoon—it sort of appears
and then disappears before and after the markets, when a town of
90 transforms into a whole world full of wonderful design—but the
continuum is this lovely, quiet historic town and all the gorgeous
rolling hills and farms that surround it.” She also quickly realized that
Round Top was red-hot, and only getting hotter, and thus Red Antler
Bungalows presented an opportunity to bring in other collaborators,
specifically VERANDA and its partners, to elevate her designs.
90

VERANDA

A collection of seven bespoke fireplaces.
Made to order in thirteen unique stone finishes.
strikefireplaces.com

Wanderlust & Journeys

Brass wall lights (Hector Finch) flank a ruby red mirror that bounces sunlight around the screened porch. • The
dining area’s soft-pile rug (New Moon) is inspired by Native American southwestern motifs. • An oversize zinc lantern by Hector Finch
crowns the screened porch. Furniture, Woodard. • Lustrous finishes reign in the kitchen, where the gas range (Monogram) features ringlit knobs while the island’s quartz countertop (Cosentino) sparkles with gold veining. Wall paint color, My Valentine by Benjamin Moore
CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT:

92

VERANDA

Wanderlust & Journeys

ROUND
TOP
ROUNDUP
How to hit the wildly
popular antiques
fair like a pro
—
“Our cottage is on a creek, so we let the woodsy cabin-like
vernacular drive our design,” says Branca. “And I loved
that the [Red Antler] logo was in red.” Indeed in Branca’s
European-accented world, red means “go” and go big, as
she does starting with a red-and-white-striped front porch.
The curtains add softness to the ebony exterior but are also
practical, “helping control light on the west-facing porch
and enhancing privacy,” says Branca. In the main living and
dining room, form and function similarly saddle up. Twin
banquettes tucked on either side of the fireplace expand
seating options for entertaining, a clever move enhanced
by Branca trading the standard bungalow’s flush fireplace
for one by Strike featuring a wire-brushed stone mantel.
Faux-bois wallpaper from the Casa Branca collection
becomes “a playful version of wood paneling,” she says,
while her Verdure camo fabrics on the banquettes and
porch furniture are an abstract spin on the outdoorsy
classic. “Everything’s a slight twist on what’s expected,”
notes Branca. “And don’t be deceived by the word bungalow,” she adds. “My clients love art, and though only 1,300
square feet, this is a sophisticated project.”
To wit: Abstract cowboy photographs flanking the fireplace are from artist Steve Wrubel’s “Rodeo” series. But
Branca was careful not to overlasso the western theme.
“I’m Italian, not Texan,” she asserts. “I’m not about to
imitate Texan interiors. But both Europe and Texas have
a strong sense of identity and that’s where we overlap—the
spirit of Texas meets the spirit of me.” ✦
94

VERANDA

STAY
The Original Round Top
Antiques Fair is hosted
triannually; visit round
toptexasantiques.com
for 2024 dates. Bunk
beside the fields and
barns at the Branca
Bungalow (redantler
roundtop.com).
E AT
Set in an early 1800s
stone building, Lulu’s
is Branca’s favorite
dinner spot for Italian
fare in the heart of the
Texas Hill Country.
SHOP

TOP AND ABOVE: Textural caramel and ivory
wallcoverings (both by Casa Branca) ensconce
a guest bedroom and adjoining bath, echoing
a graphic Indian wool rug (New Moon).
Vanity countertop, Cosentino. ABOVE RIGHT:
Designer Alessandra Branca

While Casa Branca’s
tent beside Red Antler
Bungalows immerses
antiquers in extraordinary home decor and
accessories, you can
often find the designer
snapping up vintage
clothing at modernMarla
and hitting the booths at
Market Hill, a 135,000square-foot shop that
is open year-round.

Oenophile ADAM ERACE
travels to Oregon’s pinot-rich
Willamette valley for a master class
in creating delicious alchemy.

First planted in 1965,
the vines at David Hill
Vineyards & Winery
(right) are some of the
oldest in the region and
include seven clones
of pinot noir grapes
(above), which are kept
separate until blending.

96

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEJA/GETTY IMAGES; INSET COURTESY OF EXPLORE TUALATIN VALLEY.

BLENDING
—A—

Wanderlust & Journeys

of sunlight left when I hop
in Jeff Lewis’s silver F-150
hybrid to meet the icons of
Oregon’s Willamette valley.
“The idea is to build some
context so you get a lexicon
of how to speak about the
valley and understand the
wines,” Lewis says as we trace
the emerald contours of the
Dundee Hills he knows like
the back of his hand. This is the valley’s most
prestigious appellation and the home of Alexana
vineyards and winery, whose portfolio Lewis manages. When pioneering winemakers planted the
first vines in the hills in 1965, people said they were
crazy—turns out they weren’t—and that can-do,
counterculture spirit is as ingrained in the valley’s
DNA as the iron in its ruddy Jory soil, left over from
million-years-old lava flows. “The culture here is
built on dreamers and doing something that people
didn’t believe in,” Lewis says. “And now it’s a proven
thing. If you want a guaranteed win in the wine
business, you develop a brand in the valley.”
The Willamette valley is in what Lewis calls its
golden era, somewhere between Wild West fairy
tale and corporate Napa. I’m here as part of The
Vines, a traveling club of wine obsessives who
jet from Champagne to Tuscany to Mendoza to
the Mosel throughout the year to visit acclaimed
wineries like Alexana and blend bespoke vintages. “There are lots of places in the world
where you can pay to put your label on a bottle
of wine,” says Michael Evans, who founded The

ABOVE: Rolling vineyards
Vines in 2005 after falling hard for the
near
the city of Yamhill in
Malbec grapes of Mendoza. The club’s 99
Oregon’s Willamette valley.
members and counting, meanwhile, are
BELOW: Michael Evans, who
founded The Vines wine
creating the wine in that bottle. “When
club, perfects a blend.
you invite somebody over for dinner
and you spend the day cooking and you
start off in the morning by going to the farmers’ market, it’s way different
than if you call the caterers. That sense of creation is really powerful.”
We’ll get to playing God with grapes in a bit. First, that context.
“We’re gonna taste through the icons of the valley,” Lewis says as we pull
up to the Atticus Hotel in McMinnville, Willamette’s thriving little town with
a main street out of a Rockwell painting. In a private room off the lobby, he
and Alexana’s head winemaker, Tresider “Tres” Burns, uncork, pour, and
talk through pinots from legends like Hyland Estates, Elk Cove, and Eyrie,
whose founder, David Lett, is considered the valley’s viticultural godfather.
Seated at a long table with a Renaissance centerpiece of local cheese,
charcuterie, nuts, and dried fruits, our group includes a Brazilian antitrust
attorney, the former chief of staff of a U.S. senator, a cardiologist from L.A.,
and a toilet magnate from Dallas. Everyone has a different favorite from
the icons tasting. The 2019 Estate Reserve from Ribbon Ridge, a fatherdaughter winery from the valley’s tiniest
AVA (American Viticultural Area), fascinates me with its voluptuous blackberry
expression tinged with wet earth and
cookie spices. Burns finds the vintage
a little “nervous,” and I laugh through
a mouthful of Oregon hazelnuts. I love
talking with wine-industry people
because they talk like writers, and over
the course of three days, our group talks
— M I C H A E L E VA N S ,
to a lot of wine-industry people.
FOUNDER OF THE VINES

“I’m a big believer
that you’ve gotta
let wine tell you
where to go.”
98

VERANDA

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (FROM TOP) TERRY EGGERS/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF THE VINES.

H E R E ’ S M AY B E A N H O U R

F I N E L AC QU E R F U R N I T U R E ,
C U S TO M U P H O L S T E RY, I N D O O R / O U T D O O R
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Wanderlust & Journeys

100

VERANDA

Burns talks through each of the four blending wines, starting with the Block 7 Pommard
clone from 2022, a roller-coaster year that
saw a catastrophic late-spring frost, perfect
summer, and the hottest October on record,
which triggered an early, hypercompressed
harvest over 17 days. “It was nail-biting,”
Burns remembers, “but the vines ended up
rebounding a really interesting way—creating
the biggest clusters we’ve seen.” Bigger grapes
= higher juice-to-skin ratio = lighter-bodied
wines. Coupled with the lower alcohol
content from the early harvest, I know the
Block 7 Pommard would be the foundation
of exactly the type of Pinot Noir I love to drink: easygoing, young, and vividly juicy.
I taste and scribble some notes on the placemat: Basket of raspberries and
cherries, Light strawberry rose violet nose, Honey and heather, Too lightweight on
its own need to strengthen.
And strengthen I do. To a base of half Block 7 Pommard, I add 30 percent of
my second favorite of the four wines, a Block 21 Coury clone with a beguiling
maple nose, followed by 10 percent each of Block 19 Pommard (feisty, higher
alcohol, crusted like a prime rib with green and black peppercorns) and Dijon
114 Block 14 (astringent and acidic, my least favorite of the four). I swirl the blend
in a bottle, pour a glass, and taste: Too spicy, too tart. Holst and Lewis taste and
recommend increasing the Dijon and decreasing the Block 7 Pommard—counterintuitive to my notes!—and the morning unspools with milliliter-by-milliliter
tinkering. “[Blending] is like how a painter has a palette they can use to create
the masterpiece,” Evans says, but as much as artistry and instinct inform style,
so do science and craftsmanship.
I find my way to a blend I love around noon, primarily Coury (40 percent)
with less Pommard 7 (35 percent), more Dijon than I thought I could tolerate (15
percent), and a dash of Pommard 19 (10 percent). My wine has the Softer tannins
of the young pinots I prefer but also a Stronger structure, with most of the ripe
berry notes dethroned by Black licorice and Anise. It’s completely delicious, but
perhaps more importantly surprising.
Evans, who makes 10–15 wines a year, probABOVE: A tasting room with a
ably could have predicted this. “I start out with
view at Alexana winery. LEFT:
Guests’
final blends are made
[a plan], but almost always I have to throw that
from four young pinots, from
out,” he says with a laugh. “I’m a big believer that
a Coury clone with maple
you’ve gotta let wine tell you where to go.” ✦
notes to an acidic Dijon 114.

I taste and scribble
some notes on
the placemat...
raspberries and
cherries, light
strawberry rose
violet nose...

PHOTOGRAPHS BY (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF ANDREA JOHNSON/ALEXANA WINERY; CHRISTINA BALDWIN/GETTY IMAGES.

One of them, Page Knudsen Cowles, leads us on
a hike the next morning to the top of her family’s
52-year-old Knudsen Vineyards. On the uphill
walk, we pause for wine refills and viniculture
notes but mostly to catch our breaths. The view
of the undulating Dundee Hills from up here is
stunning, an ombré of neon, olive, hunter, and
viridian greens feathered like brushstrokes in a
mammoth, living landscape painting.
As tourism in the Willamette valley continues to
explode, experiences like this become increasingly
rarefied. Traveling with The Vines, Lewis says, “you
get immediate access to things that would take most
people 10 years of coming to the valley building
relationships.” And while these exclusive interactions are all fun and hedonic and, sure, maybe
include a bit of bragging rights, they are more so in
the service of building that critical context that will
help us dial into the blending session at Alexana.
“As you make your blend, you want to look for
things you want to highlight,” Alexana’s cellar
master, Tim Holst, explains. On the winery’s cavernous production floor, we’re sitting at a table
covered in empty wine glasses and bottles, graduated cylinders, and four young pinots from different clones and different vineyards on the property.
“Are you looking for more oak inclusion or more
acid? Do you want things to be fruit-forward?”
The white tablecloth becomes increasingly winesplotched as I try to answer Holst’s questions and
create a pinot suited to my palette.

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Wanderlust & Journeys
Etching a Tradition
Master stencil carver Rokutani Baiken
(left, 1907–73) practices the art of
katagami in which layers of washi paper
are soaked in tannin-rich persimmon juice,
then carved, often in leaf or vine motifs,
to create stencils used for resist-dyeing
textiles. The 1850s Edo-era stencil below
was used to dye kimonos; chairish.com

A Virtuoso Tribute in Time

I N TRAN S L AT I ON
Patek Philippe flexes its mastery of rare handcraft in a dazzling homage to the Japanese
tradition of stencil carving—a compelling reminder of art’s universal dialect.
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PRODUCED BY R ACHAEL BURROW • WRITTEN BY STEELE THOM AS M ARCOUX

PORTRAIT, CITY OF SUZUKA.

One of nine pocket watches created for Patek Philippe’s
Watch Art Grand Exhibition Tokyo 2023, “Katagami”
(992/178J-001) nods to the historic craft with graphic
allusions to paper cutouts and hand-engraved vertical
grooves finished with enamel that recall textile fibers. Gold
vine leaf appliqués embellish the case back and stand,
which is set with an emerald cabochon on a malachite base.

THEMONOCHROMELOOK—WHEREELEGANCEMEETSSIMPLICITY

Scan QR Code to find your nearest Vispring retailer or call 888.298.5795

VISPRING.COM

B R I D G I N G PA S T
AND FUTURE INSIDE
A R E D E C O R AT E D
GOVERNOR’S M ANSION

•
A L E X PA PA C H R I S T I D I S
DRESSES HIS DEN IN
S O U T H A M P TO N F O R
C H R I S TM A S D I N N E R

•
MIMI McMAKIN’S
A N I M AT E D S P I N O N
H O L I D AY S T Y L E

•
A RUR AL MISSISSIPPI
HUNTING LODGE
DESIGNED FOR
UNPLUGGING

•
THE NE W COLOR
RULES FOR KITCHEN,
BAR, AND BUTLER’S
PA N T R Y

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In the first family’s living
room at the Illinois governor’s
mansion, a sepia edition
of Joseph Dufour’s 1812
Les Monuments de Paris
wood-block wallpaper offers
a muted, contemporary take
on 19th-century artistry.
PHOTOGR APH BY
MICHAEL MUNDY

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105

For the

In the Music Parlor,
paintings by 20thcentury Illinois
artists Gertrude
Abercrombie (left)
and Karl Wirsum
(right) lend modern
contrast to the
Greek Revival–style
interior architecture.

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by
First Lady MK Pritzker and designer
Michael S. Smith honor Illinois history with
a thoughtful redecoration of the governor’s
mansion for a powerful expression of how a
house can be so much more than a home.

INTERIOR DESIGN BY MICHAEL S. SMITH
PHOTOGR APHY BY MICHAEL MUNDY
WRITTEN BY STEELE THOM AS M ARCOUX

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107

Architecture & Decoration

N A SPRING DAY in 1954, hundreds

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Lincoln artifacts, including portraits on loan from the
nearby Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum,
adorn the moiré-clad walls of the Lincoln Parlor. ABOVE LEFT:
Members of the Illinois PTA queue on the mansion lawn.
INSET: In the State Dining Room, a pair of Christmas trees
flanks the mantel and gilded Baroque-style mirror, donated
to the mansion by Governor Richard Yates Sr. in 1865.

administration in a spirit echoing the original one celebrates
entry to the house with Corinthian columns and a central
staircase that unfolds with welcome onto the front lawn.
Inside, primary public spaces on the first and second floors
radiate from a central elliptical stair hall, reconstructed in
the 1970s when First Lady Dorothy Ogilvie discovered marks
tracing the arc of the original staircase, that allows for views
and a graceful flow from room to room and floor to floor.
Thanks to the restored Greek Revival interior architecture,

TOP LEFT, ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL
LIBRARY AND MUSEUM; (OPPOSITE PAGE, INSET
AND PREVIOUS PAGE, EXTERIOR) SCOTT SHIGLEY.

of women donning cat-eye sunglasses,
fascinators, and strands of pearls
befitting the newly coronated
Queen of the United Kingdom
gathered in front of the Illinois
governor’s mansion in Springfield.
They were members of the state
Parent-Teacher Association and had
been invited by First Lady Shirley Breckenridge Stratton for tea (thus the sartorial nods to Her Majesty
were not only au courant but also appropriate). Stratton had
overseen a comprehensive redecoration of what was known as
the People’s House, the largest and one of the oldest governor’s
mansions in the United States, with the goal of making it feel
more welcoming to the public. She and Governor Stratton were
so committed to sharing the mansion with the people of Illinois
that they began a new tradition of opening it for tours in 1960.
It was this legacy into which Illinois First Lady Mary
Kathryn “MK” Pritzker stepped when she ventured into her
own redecoration of the People’s House in 2019 shortly after
her husband, JB, was sworn in as the state’s 43rd governor.
Between 2015 and 2018 Pritzker’s predecessor, Diana Rauner,
led an extensive renovation of the mansion, only the third
since it was built in 1855. “I felt I needed to continue the good
work she had started and that, in doing so, I had a responsibility to showcase all that is great about our state,” Pritzker told
me earlier this year about the work she had recently completed, underwritten entirely by private contributions. “JB is
so gregarious and loves to entertain, and he really wanted the
mansion to be the social hub of Springfield.”
Today the mansion is an architectural manifestation of
Pritzker congeniality. A portico rebuilt during the Rauner

the rooms exude a proper formality worthy of the building’s
purpose with a correctness that puts visitors at ease.
Decorating such a large, historic—and public-facing—home
might have intimidated some. But for a naturally curious
woman with seemingly endless enthusiasm for design history
and material culture like Pritzker, the project was a natural
fit. “She’s such a doer, and she attacked this from so many
directions to elevate it and with the same level of energy she
brings to anything she does,” says designer Michael S. Smith,
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109

Architecture & Decoration

STATE OF THE ARTS
The elliptical staircase, an original design element, was rebuilt in the 1970s. • Dessert plates featuring an oak
tree and leaf motif were designed by Pritzker with Illinois-based Pickard China. • First Lady MK Pritzker and Governor JB Pritzker.
BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT: The Chicago Room is a tribute to Windy City design icons like Frances Elkins; reproductions of her canopied
twin beds take center stage while the walls are clad in her signature tea paper. • A pressed zinc cornice dating from 2018 recreates
a pressed iron version. • In the East Parlor, a recamier and gilt over-mantel mirror nod to the mansion’s 19th-century origin.

who happens to be a longtime family friend and worked
with Pritzker to redesign the mansion’s interiors.
Smith was an ideal partner for the First Lady given
his experience in decorating residences that house
public officials, most notably the White House during
the Obama administration but also the American
ambassador to Spain’s residence in Madrid and other
ambassadorial residences. “Part of the responsibility of
working on a house like this is to always bear in mind that
you’re a caretaker of something with great history that
belongs to the people. These houses are not palaces but
rather tools meant to bring people together,” Smith notes.
“JB and MK have made this a representational gathering
space that’s also a really comfortable home.”
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▲
All proceeds from
Pritzker’s book, A House
That Made History
(Rizzoli, 2023), go to
a trust that supports
the mansion’s care.

For the public reception spaces on the first floor, for
example, Smith and Pritzker selected colorful wallcoverings—a buttery yellow-and-white stripe for the symmetrical East and West Parlors, an emerald green moiré
fabric for the Lincoln Parlor, and a matching Turkish
blue moiré for the adjacent Music Parlor—that not only
bring into relief the original Greek Revival–style millwork but also make the grand spaces feel more intimate
and inviting. The duo furnished the state rooms with
pieces collected by previous governors, 19th-century
antiques that evoke the spirit of the building’s origins,
in some cases with actual ties to the mansion or Illinois
history, and contemporary elements that reflect how the
Pritzkers live today. The result is a Continued on page 134

CORNICE, SCOTT SHIGLEY.

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT:

The Kankakee Room, named for
the women who donated funds
for its decoration in the 1970s,
features new panels of Les Vues
D’Amérique du Nord, the Zuber
wallcovering originally installed
some 50 years ago.

CHANGE OF SCENERY WITH AN INTIMATE
HOLIDAY FETE AROUND THE BANQUETTE.

COZY, MEET KINGLY
With Papachristidis’s ingenuity and, he
admits, “a lot of work,” the media room
transforms into an enticing enclave,
including a dining table improvised by
a board straddling two ottomans and a
tablecloth made-to-order. Turkish pillows
and leopard-clad taborets round out the
seating, lending a whiff of the exotic.
The banquette is upholstered in Fortuny
cotton and the walls in a Cowtan & Tout
strié velvet. The rug is a Beauvais moiré.

INTERIOR DESIGN BY ALEX PAPACHRISTIDIS
PHOTOGR APHY BY ALISON GOOTEE
ST YLING BY DAYLE WOOD
FLOR ALS BY ANASTASIA CASALE
WRITTEN BY FR ANCES SCHULTZ

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113

Architecture & Decoration

H, THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, that most decorated

of seasons. Yet by stint of their relentless inevitability,
they are in peril of aesthetic ennui. If not hidebound by
tradition, taken for granted in their predictability. To
disabuse this notion look no further than the Hamptons
country house of Alex Papachristidis and kin. The New
York designer and author is changing it up.
He begins by moving the tree, transplanting it from
living room to soaring entrance hall. The noble fir is 14
feet in all its glory, with enough gold tinsel to make Midas

blush. Then (gasp) he moves Christmas
dinner. While this borders on heresy
in the minds of some, Papachristidis
breezes over it. “I love using rooms in a
new way,” he parries, belying his fancy for
reinterpreting tradition. Thus the media
room beckons with its wraparound banquette and velvet upholstered walls, an
inspired and intentional echo of Parisian
Alain Demachy’s famous green-andgold dining room. That and Jeannie’s
bottle, the designer adds, recalling the
zany and beloved 1960s sitcom I Dream
of Jeannie. Swathed in jewel-toned velvets
and gold lamé, Jeannie-the-genie’s bottle
was as cozy and cushy as it was cheesy. It
was also glamorous. In its slightly more
restrained palette, Papachristidis’s room
is every bit as inviting and glamorous, a
delightfully novel choice for hosting an
intimate family dinner.
Which is not to say informal. The
proper dining room does get its just
desserts, pun intended, with its mantel
lavishly decorated and its table proffering a panoply of sweets. It is an elegant
tableau to mark the evening’s delicious
finish. Or not. “I love to get up from the
table and have a dessert buffet,” says the
designer. “It keeps the evening livelier
and a little more fun.” By the sound of it,
he’s not ready for anyone to leave. ✦

MASTER OF CEREMONY
CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT: Papachristidis
pairs his Climbing Peonies plates and
scallop-edged napkins (from Everyday
Elegance, his collection with business
partner Lisa McCarthy) with Christofle
flatware and Syrie Maugham–designed
ceramic-handled knives. • The designer
with partner Scott Nelson (at right) and
their Norwich terrier, Cooper. • Cocktails
are served in the living room, where the
bar is set up in the shade of a giant camellia
arrangement that relieves the space of
need for a tree. “It’s important to have
things that are of a large scale in a room.”
• Placing a dessert buffet in the dining
room allows guests to get up and move
around after dinner. Of the heirloom silver
and china, Papachristidis notes, “I cherish
the beautiful things that belonged to my
parents because they hold memories of
them. People live on in the memories of
things they loved—favorite flowers, favorite
foods, favorite objects,” he says, pausing.
“And of course the lessons they taught you.”

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TINSEL RENAISSANCE
“This is the first time I have put the tree
in the entrance hall,” notes Papachristidis.
“I liked the idea of placing something
taller and more dramatic here, and how
divine is it to walk in the front door
and see that tree?” Images from
Christmases past supply more
inspiration. “I was looking at pictures of wonderful old nostalgic
trees covered with tinsel,” he
adds. “I love the way it shimmers and captures the light.”
Garlands, Anastasia Casale
of Sag Harbor Florist

In the living room,
Balinese umbrellas,
glitter-dusted stars,
and animals galore,
some acquired from
an old Neiman Marcus
display. OPPOSITE:
McMakin with Jack
Russell terriers
Mango and Panda

At home in Palm Beach, design matriarch
Mimi McMakin delights in enchanting yuletide
theater with zebras, gators, and giraffes—oh my!
INTERIOR DESIGN BY MIMI McM AKIN • PHOTOGR APHY BY CARMEL BR ANTLEY
ST YLING BY R ACHAEL BURROW • WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE HUNT

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117

WHEN YOU LIVE
IN AN U N U SUAL
HOUS E, YOU NEED
THE NECESSARY
WH IM SY.”
— DESIGNER & HOMEOWNER
MIMI McM AKIN

O N ’ T T E L L M I M I M C M A K I N T H AT

it’s only the thought that counts. Having
grown up wading through the tattered
remains of gift-giving carnage long
after Christmas morning, she knows
the wrapping paper counts too. “My
dad’s rule was no cleaning up the Christmas-wrapping tornado for at least a
week. He loved Christmas, and with eight
kids, that made for a big happy mess,” she
says. This “bring it on” exuberance still reigns
at McMakin’s Palm Beach home, a cedar-shingled
former church next door to her gift wrap–strewn childhood abode fronting
the Palm Beach lake trail (“I’ve come a long way,” she jokes. “I’ve moved
north one house.”). Here, family tradition cleaves as tightly as the bougainvillea climbing the more than 100-year-old facade and the holidays are one
cheerful indulgence in all things bright and whimsical.
Actually every day is an embrace of whimsy for McMakin, the maven of
Florida interior design and founder of Kemble Interiors, but in December she cranks it up a notch. In a porch sunroom where the church’s old
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shingles are painted a jolly pink, a festive
flock of cardinals alights on a fiddle-leaf
fig espaliered over an arched doorway
for a clever red-and-green garland. Outside, Sasquatch-sized vintage stockings
and papier-mâché reindeer adorn the
entrance to her grandchildren’s play cottage, tucked amid lush tropical greenery.
In the main house a towering 14-foot
Douglas fir is decked to the absolute max.
“My husband once suggested we get a
smaller tree and elevate it on a table; I
glared at him,” says McMakin. “The more
decorations, the better.”
You might assume the glittery stars
hanging from the living room rafters
are part of the Christmas fa-la-la, but no,
they’re year-rounders—leftovers from a
50th-anniversary party McMakin hosted
for good friends years ago. “They were
being taken down, and I said, ‘Leave
them! They’re fabulous,’” she recalls.
Neither are the giant zebra and giraffe
holiday fugitives from FAO Schwarz, but
part of McMakin’s ongoing menagerie
of wonder, along with a butterfly with a
15-foot wingspan, an alligator that was a
prototype for a client’s coffee table base,
and Balinese umbrellas outfitted with
tiny branch lights (solving the problem
of sanctuary rafters that are not chandelier friendly). Such playful ad-libbing
comes with the territory. “When you
live in an unusual house, you need the
necessary whimsy,” says McMakin, who
added Portuguese tile floors 45 years
ago, lightened some of the dark shingles, installed a Kemble Interiors wicker

Architecture & Decoration

A soaring 14-foot Christmas
tree and collection of vintage
planes, trains, and automobiles
spin up magic on the cedarshake porch. OPPOSITE: Toasting
old Palm Beach is a charming
woven rattan bar (Lane Venture)
with retro stools from local
shop Wilhelm’s Rattan.

Architecture & Decoration

bar (“To me a bar is like a fireplace. People love something
to gather around.”), but otherwise retained the spirit of the
place, including a church’s sense of welcome.
“It’s the happiest structure. It’s old Palm Beach—that casualness of being outdoors, all the flowers, the beach, kids running
around barefoot or rollerblading inside. And it’s proof that you
don’t have to have a grand house to have a sweet house,” says
McMakin, who prefers an open door, even when passersby
wander over from the lake trail, not realizing it’s a private residence. “When we entertain, it’s typically less fancy Palm Beach
dinner party than why don’t you just stay for supper?” she adds.
Table centerpieces are a hodgepodge of creatively arranged
whelk shells or coconuts salvaged from recent tree trimming.
Variegated leaves from the garden become impromptu placemats for her great-grandfather’s Maddock china. On the terrace
a cement coquina floor is inset with favorite seashell finds from
her children and grandchildren, while overhead Vietnamese
lanterns cast a soft glow at night. “Aren’t they divine?” McMakin
says. “It’s all theater for me. My own Shangri-la.”
This relaxed joyfulness is McMakin’s decorating secret.
“But it’s the antithesis of my professional life, where everything is very planned and organized,” she admits. “Here, I just
let it be. Friends snuggle in; there’s an immediate feeling of
comfort and welcome and joy.” ✦

CLOCK WISE FROM ABOVE: For
holiday dinners outdoors,
arrangements of natural
lime-green leaves become
placemats for heirloom
Indian Tree china (John
Maddock & Sons). • Vietnamese silk lanterns dangle
from the dining pergola,
shrouded in banana and
areca palms, bleeding
heart, and elephant’s ears.
• Clocks on the church’s
original tower overlooking
the lake are set to the times
of McMakin’s daughters’
births. Lounge furniture,
Mimi by Celerie Kemble for
Lane Venture. • Decorative
cardinals perch atop an
espaliered fiddle-leaf fig
tree on the “pink porch.”
The patterned flooring
is comprised of handpainted Portuguese tiles.

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WHEN WE ENTERTAIN ,
IT’ S T YPICALLY LES S
FANCY PALM BEACH
DINNER PART Y THAN
WHY DON’T YOU JUST
STAY FOR SUPPER? ”
—MIMI McM AKIN

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121

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Richard Keith Langham raises the bar on rural refinement
with a holiday-ready hunting lodge in the Mississippi woods.
Spode Woodland turkey china,
antler handle flatware, and
foraged elements channel the
wilderness. OPPOSITE: French
iron and seeded glass wall
lanterns cast a warm glow on an
Arkansas ledge stone mantel.

INTERIOR DESIGN BY RICHARD KEITH L ANGHA M
ARCHITECTURE BY LEWIS GR AEBER III
PHOTOGR APHY BY BECK Y LUIGART-STAYNER
PRODUCED BY R ACHAEL BURROW
WRITTEN BY CELIA BARBOUR

123

Architecture & Decoration

R E J U V E NAT I N G H O L I DAY G E TAWAY

can take many forms, from skiing in the
Alps to sunning in the Bahamas. But for one
extended family, it often happens at the end of
a long red-dirt road on the banks of an oxbow
lake “in the middle of nowhere Mississippi,” as
designer Richard Keith Langham puts it. Black
Bear Lodge is more than a physical destination;
it’s also a way of spending time together. “The
whole place speaks of Southern hospitality in a

real, old-fashioned sense,” says Langham. “Big, comfy
guest rooms; wonderful meals and roaring fires; great
fellowship, plus a huge amount of time in the piney
woods”—some 6,000 acres of piney woods to be exact.
Equally important is what it lacks. “There’s no internet,” says the client. “There’s a big rock about 50 yards
to the north of the lodge where you can go sit and get
a little bit of service. When we’re there, we just enjoy
each other and the outdoors—fishing, hunting, and
watching for alligators.”
The lodge, created by Langham in collaboration with
architect Lewis Graeber III, is tailor-made to support
such low-key, low-tech gatherings. The downstairs consists of one very big, open room (“I don’t like the term great
room,” says Langham) loosely organized around different
activities: There’s the fireplace area for conversing, the
games table, the bar, the billiards table, and the “snug”—
an L-shaped sofa beside a media center. Four upstairs
bedrooms all open onto a central gallery that overlooks
the big room. So everyone—the clients, their four children
and spouses, and 15 grandchildren—can be off doing their
own things and feel connected at the same time.
Much of the decor is rustic, partly by necessity, partly
by design. “It was tough getting a crew in there to work
on the lodge,” says Graeber. Remoteness wasn’t the only
hurdle; the drive was under a foot of water during part
of the construction, and materials and skilled craftsmen could be difficult to come by. Yet Graeber didn’t
compromise in creating what he calls “a country sort
of perfection,” using elements like custom-made wood
windows and doors, hand-plastered brickwork for the
fireplace, and reclaimed wood and beams from old sugarcane barns meticulously pieced together for ceilings.
He also left room for whimsy, which shows up in
details like the bark panels in bar-cabinet doors and the
custom round window in the reading nook upstairs. “I
always want to add a little something,” he says. “It’s like
putting Tabasco on your scrambled eggs.”
Langham underscored this homespun spirit, using
chalky milk paint on the shiplap walls, a gauzy Belgian

Dogs, Ducks, and Rustic Reds
A pair of antique dog statues guards the transomed front door fitted with bark veneer panels that repeat throughout
the house. • Duck decoys nest on a reclaimed wood bookcase with zigzag detailing. • An antique hooked rug (Woodard & Greenstein) and a
billiards table set a warm, easygoing tone in the entry. • The kitchen’s wrought-iron chandelier (Currey & Company) lights a maple-topped island
and suede swivel counter stools (Louis J. Solomon). OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: A Leyland cypress decked in broad burlap ribbon and hand-turned
wooden ornaments (Emily Ford) oversees an intimate holiday table. • The lodge’s deep red trim (Cottage Red by Benjamin Moore) and tin roof
are offset by earthy brown exterior siding (Great Smoky Brown by Benjamin Moore) that feels at home in the woodsy landscape.
CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT:

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125

“THERE’S NO INTERNET. WHEN WE’RE HERE, WE JUST
ENJOY EACH OTHER AND THE OUTDOORS.” — H O M EO W N E R

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A 19th-century French oak
table and oak armchairs invite
guests to pull a seat up to game
night. Embroidered chair fabric,
Kravet. OPPOSITE: An antique
painted table displays woven
baskets and stag curiosities.

Architecture & Decoration

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127

wall—itself clad in rough-hewn logs mortared with chink. A magniflinen for the downstairs curtains, antique hooked rugs on the floors,
icent pair of antler-and-hide armchairs from the Paris Flea Market
and lots of twig-work and faux-bois furniture. He “color-coded” each
graces the big room, as does an antique tortoise shell. And taxidermy
of the upstairs bedrooms “so you can say to guests, ‘You’re in the blue
creatures populate many corners, a commingling of pieces acquired
room; you’re in the yellow room,’ like being at the White House.”
from antiques dealers and those harvested by the family. At home
He even provided the country decorations for the lodge’s annual
among these pieces are French, American, and English country
Christmas tree, including red burlap bunting, brass tinker bells, and
house antiques—handsome chests
hand-turned wooden ornaments.
and sideboards, stately splat-back
But a hunting lodge can be more
chairs. “Even though I’m a good old
than a paean to rusticana. Wherever
Mississippi girl, I was exposed to a lot
human beings have hunted wild game
of fine traditions,” says the client, who
on this planet—which is to say, most
everywhere they’ve ever lived—they’ve
recalls being expected to dress up for
adorned their homes (and bodies) with
black-tie dinners after each day of
the spoils of their pursuits. Over time
hunting at a Scottish lodge.
these elements have evolved a sophistiBut of all her house’s details, the
”
cated style language all their own, with
ones that resonate most are those that
dialects reflecting regions as diverse as
remind her of her childhood. “I was
— D ES I G N E R R I C HA R D K E I T H L A N G HA M
Germany’s Black Forest, the Scottish
a tomboy,” she says. “I caught butterHighlands, African savannas, and the
flies; I found feathers and arrowheads.”
Pacific Northwest.
In recent years she’s gone through her old collections and conThis client is an aficionado of them all. “She has a great eye and a
structed shadow box arrangements from the mementos; these, too,
great affinity for hunting lodge relics from around the world,” says
adorn the lodge’s walls. “The outdoors is my passion,” she adds—so
Langham. “Black Bear gets personality and charm from her wonmuch so that she embodies it wherever she goes. “My husband and I
derful, quirky collections.” A flock of duck decoys greets guests at
live a busy life, and most days I have my porcupine spines raised up.
the front door. Antique nature dioramas are inset into the staircase
But here it’s just so soothing. I can let my quills lie flat.” ✦

“THE WHOLE PLACE
SPEAKS OF SOUTHERN
HOSPITALITY IN A REAL,
OLD-FASHIONED SENSE.

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Architecture & Decoration

Spinning the Color Wheel
OPPOSITE: A collection of animal watercolors layers mustard planked walls. Terra-cotta–hued linens, Linoto. Striped duvet
fabric, Fabricut. CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT: Sea green walls (paint, Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.) meet blue Linoto bed linens and
complementary tonal lampshades for a supremely restful guest bedroom. Double swing-arm lamps, Black Forest Decor. • A
low post bed (The Country Bed Shop) in a worn finish imparts humble beauty; here, it’s topped with a patterned Irish linen
(Kerry Joyce Textiles for Holland & Sherry). • A 19th-century American faux-grained cabinet houses an intriguing collection of
Palissy ware. • Folk patterns and delightful ticking charm in the barn red room. Duvet and drapery fabric, Fabricut

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129

This year’s holiday guest of honor:
DARING, DIVINE COLOR for the most
social spots in the house, from a
crimson kitchen to a minty fresh bar.

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•••
WRITTEN BY
L AUR A KOSTELNY

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131

BLACK-TIE BUTLER’S PANTRY
20th-century millwork in this Connecticut
butler’s pantry was a gift—even if it needed a little elbow grease to return it to
its former glory, says interior designer Sarah Blank. “The original architect,
Cameron Clark, was known for building beautiful estates in Fairfield, and his
understanding of proportion resonates throughout the rooms, including this
one.” First came removing “about 27 coats of old paint from the hinges, restoring
a ratchet system for the shelves, and building a bottom for the existing wall
cabinetry to house underlighting, which adds a little extra warmth and sparkle.”
But it was the black-and-white marble flooring that ushered in the glamour,
echoed in lacquered onyx paint on the original woodwork and newly milled
appliance fronts—too many coats to count, notes Blank. “There are no shortcuts with high-gloss paint, so it took about six weeks,” she recalls. “But it was
worth it—the black is so rich. There’s really nothing like it during the holidays.”
T H E B E AU T Y O F O R I G I NA L

DOUBLE SPICE
KITCHEN
Kristen McCory’s clients presented her with a rosy
proposition: Use the deep burgundy Lacanche range
and hood as a starting point and then don’t hold back.
“It was a chance to do something completely different,” says McCory, who repeated the rich shade inside
the glass cabinets flanking the sink and on floor-toceiling cabinetry in an adjacent butler’s pantry (shown
on page 130). But like all satisfying spice, the beauty is in
the balance. Pegasus marble countertops, linen white
cabinetry paint, and black accents temper the red,
while painted, parquet-like floors and a sepia English
garden mural nod to the early 20th-century Georgianstyle architecture. “Everything here is in conversation,
providing a beautiful sense of age and character,”
notes McCory.

Hailey quartz,
Cambria

Burlesque refrigerator,
JennAir

THE BLACK IS SO RICH. THERE’S REALLY
NOTHING LIKE IT DURING THE HOLIDAYS.”
No. 16001 Colonial
sink fitting, P.E. Guerin

132

VERANDA

Dual Fuel range,
BlueStar

—DESIGNER SARAH BLANK

BURGUNDY RANGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD, READ MCKENDREE/JBSA, STYLING BY MATTHEW GLEASON (3); BLACK BUTLER’S PANTRY, NEIL LANDINO, STYLING BY BROOKE
COOLEY. OPPOSITE PAGE: GREEN BAR, BECKY LUIGART-STAYNER, STYLING BY SARA CLARK; BLACK CABINETRY COURTESY OF JEFFREY TOTARO/JOANNE HUDSON.

IN HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, interior designer

Architecture & Decoration

Henry Chronos faucet with
walnut lever handles, Waterworks

CVA 7370 Built-in coffee
machine, Miele

Native Trails Redondo Grande
sink, J. Tribble

MINTED
COCKTAIL
LOUNGE

RO510 Outdoor cooler,
Liebherr

Prima M2 cabinetry,
Downsview Kitchens

Louisville-based
designer Chenault James conjured the breeze-swept verandas of the famed Sea Island, Georgia, resort in transforming
a newly enclosed space into a dining room–adjacent bar.
Influential, too, was a charming skylight, which inspired
a “solarium, porch-like direction,” notes James. In came
the louvered cabinetry with treillage detailing and verdant
green paint, together summoning a sun lounge’s garden embrace and sense of airiness.
“Before long the resort and Elsie de Wolfe were in full effect,” she says.
Practical elements like a minifridge and ice maker were tucked behind cabinetry doors,
yielding focus to playful details such as an arbor-inspired arch and “windows” revealing a
hand-painted mural featuring trees and plants from the homeowners’ Sea Island property.
Says James: “The energy of this one little space vibrates throughout the entire house.” ✦
K E N T U C K Y, M E E T T H E C LO I S T E R :

ABOVE, FROM LEFT: Perrin & Rowe Large contour drawer handle, House of Rohl. • Bar cart,

Officine Gullo. • Forge Heated ice press, Monogram. • DrawBar, Dometic

VERANDA

133

The Sourcebook
FOR THE PEOPLE BY DESIGN
Continued from page 110

certain timelessness that honors the past, yet
it is poised for the promise of tomorrow—and
brilliantly belies the redecoration efforts. “I
am sort of obsessed with brushing away my
tracks in the sand,” Smith acknowledges.
The tapestry of old and new, stately yet
welcoming proved the perfect complement
for Pritzker’s selection of art, both fine and
decorative, that celebrates Illinois history
and culture. The collection, which features
many works by female Illinois artists such
as Evelyn Statsinger and Gertrude Abercrombie, comprises a mix of pieces from
the Pritzkers’ collection as well as those on
loan from the Illinois State Museum and
the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
and Museum. “This house is a representation of all that is great about our state, our
people and culture, and our contributions
to American democracy as well as our great
art, architecture, and design traditions,”
says Pritzker, herself a student of art and
architectural history. “I wanted to showcase
it here so that when people come to visit,
they feel proud to be from Illinois.”
In sifting through historic archives and
artifacts, Pritzker developed a deep connection to the governors and their spouses
who had helped shape the mansion over
nearly two centuries. “You can’t help but
feel a link to the people who came before,
especially the women. Reading about all
the First Ladies who had come before, I felt
compelled to tell their stories,” Pritzker says.
So she decided to write a book—“my COVID
project”—documenting not only the work
she and Smith did but also the contributions
of every administration to occupy the house.
Published in September, A House That Made
History also reveals the first family’s private
quarters and the mansion decorated for the
holidays. All proceeds from the book fund a
trust that supports care of the mansion.
Pritzker’s work at the Illinois governor’s
mansion—as well as the retelling of its
history in her book—is a reminder of the
extraordinary power of beauty in bridging
divisions among us. “Beauty is universal,
a language that everyone can understand.
Experiencing beautiful space, art, or music
brings people together,” she says. “My goal
was to create a warm and inviting governor’s residence that the people of Illinois
could be proud of, a place to honor our past
and help to create our future.” ✦
134

VERANDA

OBJECTS & ARTIFACTS
Pages 26–27 L’Objet Linen Sateen tablecloth, Collecto.

RINGING IN THE WEEKEND
Page 28 Trellis Twine fabric, Soane Britain. Antique rug,
Eighteenth Street Orientals. Risheh fabric, Natasha
Baradaran Textiles. Nightstand, lamp, and mirror,
Design Supply. Margeaux cushion, Soho Home. Page 30
Vintage evening dress, MK Quinlan. Antique desk,
Architectural Heritage. Spanish Sunburst mirror, Maison
de France Antiques. Japanese painted screen, Foxglove
Antiques. Brookings table lamp, Serena & Lily. Page 32
Calix mantel and St. Amour French oak flooring,

François & Co. Silver vase, Circa II Antiques. Obelisk
Chesneys. Cordell Travertine fireplace tools,
Palecek. Antique wooden armchair, Design Supply.
Promontory drinks table, R Hughes. La Foce rug,
Patterson Flynn. Hex ottoman in Fortuny Apollo fabric,
Grant Trick Collection. Page 34 Vase, The Travel Studio.
Page 36 Angora Shag rug, Marc Phillips. Cirrus fabric,
Holly Hunt. Casa Paros side table, Bernhardt. Parisian
midcentury coffee table, Circa II Antiques. Page 38
Aziza Matelassé coverlet, Matouk. Classic Ruffle bed
skirt, Annie Selke. Embroidered Indian suzani, SL & Co.
Shop. Autumn rug, Ward + Gray. Nightstand, Design
Supply. Fern lampshade, Sorella Glenn. Famille Verte
table lamp, Vaughan.
firedogs,

CARVED IN SPLENDOR
Pages 48–49 Aether wallcovering and Athena fabric,
Zak+Fox. Capriccio and Rigoletto fabrics, Kerry
Joyce Textiles.

FEAST OF FLORALS
Page 54 Mother of Pearl flatware, Houses & Parties. R
Etsy. Page 56 Barley fabric,
Whiteworks. Fleurs Sauvages tablecloth, Cutter Brooks.
Page 58 Jasper Indian Flower fabric, Michael S. Smith.
and G Tapestry background,

12 TRIMS OF CHRISTMAS
Page 60 Veronique and Palais silk double tassel
Samuel & Sons. International Silver Co. Garden
City Hotel punch bowl, Batterby House. Page 61 Antique
iron urn, Architectural Heritage. Page 62 Antique brass
candlesticks, Architectural Heritage. Page 64 Antonino
Piscitello Lemon vase, Sud. Michael Aiduss Diana braid,
Houlès. Diva tassel tieback, Houlès. Page 66 Oxford
border, Samuel & Sons. 19th-century French brass scale,
Lolo French Antiques. 19th-century wooden pedestal,
Tara Shaw, 1st Dibs. Papier-Mâché flower basket, Casa
Gusto. International Silver Co. Garden City Hotel punch
bowl, Batterby House.
tiebacks,

FOR THE PEOPLE BY DESIGN
Interior design: Michael S. Smith; michaelsmithinc.com.
Architecture: Vinci Hamp Architects; vinci-hamp.com.

Pages 106–107 Wallcovering and curtain fabric:
Templeton Fabric; michaelsmithinc.com. Rug: Patterson
Flynn; pattersonflynn.com. Sofa and slipper chair pillow
fabric: Lee Jofa; kravet.com. Slipper chair fabric: Kravet.
Floor lamps: Visual Comfort & Co.; visualcomfort.com.
Pages 108–109 Wallcovering: Templeton Fabric.
Rug: Patterson Flynn. Green sofa fabric: Claremont;
claremontfurnishing.com. Armchair fabric: Bernard
Thorp; bernardthorp.co.uk. Stripe sofa fabric:
Schumacher; schumacher.com. Page 110 (top left)
Wallcovering: Adelphi Paper Hangings; adelphipaper
hangings.com. Page 110 (bottom left) Wallcovering:
Gracie; graciestudio.com. Rug: Stanton; stantoncarpet
.com. Chair, ottoman, and mirror: Jasper. Chair and
ottoman fabric: Templeton Fabric. Ottoman fringe:
Houlès; houles.com. Page 110 (bottom right) Wallcovering:
Cowtan & Tout; cowtan.com. Drapery fabric: Morris &
Co.; sanderson.sandersondesigngroup.com. Yellow chairs:

Jasper. Page 111 Drapery fabric: Kravet.
Blue sofa fabric: Holland & Sherry;
hollandandsherry.com. Lampshades:
Munder & Sons; munderandsons.com.

Page 120 (top left) Cutlery: Kemble Interiors.
Page 120 (bottom right) Chair cushion
fabric: Brunschwig & Fils. Page 121 (bottom)
Fabric for cushions and throw pillows:

Perennials; perennialsfabrics.com.

GOLDEN TIDINGS
Interior design: Alex Papachristidis;
alexpapachristidis.com. Architecture:
Kathrine McCoy; kmccoyarchitect.com.

Pages 112–113 Shade fabric and tablecloth:
Cowtan & Tout; cowtan.com. Lantern:
Galerie des Lampes; galeriedeslampes.com.
Fabric for banquette pillow and stool
cushion:

Pierre Frey; pierrefrey.com.

Gold garden table: Bergdorf Goodman;

bergdorfgoodman.com. Floor pillow fabric:
Clarence House; clarencehouse.com. Floor
pillow trim: Samuel & Sons; samuelandsons
.com. Handbag: Scotstyle; scotstylebracelets
.com. Candelabra: Christofle; christofle.com.
Page 114 (top left) Silver artichoke and salt
and pepper shakers: Everyday Elegance;
everyday-elegance.com. Page 114 (bottom
right) Rug: Tibetano; tibetano.com. Drapery
fabric: Larsen. Dining chair cushion fabric:
Claremont; claremontfurnishing.com. Tall
mirror: Burden; jonathanburden.com.
Starburst mirror: Gerald Bland; gerald
blandinc.com. Lamp: Objets Plus Inc;
danielbarney.com. Lampshade: Blanche
Field; blanchefield.com. Page 114 (bottom left)
Bookcase: Victoria & Son; victoriaandson
.com. Silver tea set: Christofle. Silver pear
and cake stand: Buccellati; buccellati.com.
Tea cups and saucers: Everyday Elegance.
Page 115 Wallcovering: Rose Tarlow;
rosetarlow.com. Stair runner: Stark;
starkcarpet.com.

A VERY MERRY MENAGERIE
Interior design: Mimi McMakin;
kembleinteriors.com.

Page 116 Hand-painted rug by Zenon Toczek:
zenontoczek.com. Coffee table: Harrison-Van
Horn; h-vh.com. Fabric for sofa and kid’s
chair cushion: Brunschwig & Fils; kravet.com.
Red chair cushion fabric: Pierre Frey; pierre
frey.com. Stars: Bronson van Wyck; vanwyck
.net. Page 117 Lanterns: Kemble Interiors. Page
119 Chair fabric: Cowtan & Tout; cowtan.com.
Side table: Savoy House; savoyhouse.com.
Woven chair cushion fabric: Pierre Frey.

REVELRY IN THE PINES
Interior design: Richard Keith Langham;
richardkeithlangham.com. Architecture:
Lewis Graeber III; 601-366-3611.

Page 122 Paint color: Driftwood by Old
Fashioned Milk Paint Co.; milkpaint.com.
Lanterns: Reborn Antiques; rebornantiques
.net. Floor lamps: Visual Comfort & Co.;
visualcomfort.com. Club chair: Langham &
Company; richardkeithlangham.com. Chair
pillow fabric: Clarence House; clarencehouse
.com. Rug: Woodard & Greenstein; woodard
weave.com. Pillar candlesticks: Match;
match1995.com. Page 123 Pillar candlesticks:
Match. Page 124 (left) Pillar candlesticks:
Match. Lanterns: Reborn Antiques. Chairs:
Fauld; fauld.com. Chair cushion fabric:
Kravet; kravet.com. Page 125 (bottom right)
Paint colors: Driftwood (trim) and Barn Red
(walls) by Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.
Lantern: Reborn Antiques. Page 125 (bottom
left) Island paint color: Cottage Red by
Benjamin Moore; benjaminmoore.com. Stool
cushion fabric: Hines & Co.; hinescompany
.com. Page 126 Chairs: Fauld. Chandelier:
Currey & Company; curreyandcompany.com.
Drapery fabric: Calvin Fabrics; calvinfabrics
.com. Page 128 Paint color: Mustard by Old
Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Bed: The Country
Bed Shop; countrybedshop.com. Duvet
fabric: Fabricut; fabricut.com. Sconces and
shades: Visual Comfort & Co. Valance fabric:
Lee Jofa. Antique urn: Lolo French Antiques;
lolofrenchantiques.com. Page 129 (top left)
Beds: The Country Bed Shop. Coverlets:
Pom Pom at Home; pompomathome.com.
Duvet fabrics: Zimmer+Rohde, zimmer-rohde
.com; Pindler, pindler.com. Page 129 (top
right) Bed linens: Linoto; linoto.com. Sconces
and shades: Visual Comfort & Co. Page 129
(bottom left) Paint color: Barn Red by Old
Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Beds: The Country
Bed Shop. Bed linens: Linoto. Sconces and
shades: Black Forest Decor; blackforestdecor
.com. Drapery fabric: Fabricut. Valance
fabric: Pollack; pollackassociates.com.

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VERANDA Volume 37, Number 6 (ISSN 1040-8150) is published bimonthly by HEARST, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
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VERANDA

135

Designer Confidential

fhioning
an idyll
Famed couturier Ralph Lauren on the
uncomplicated glamour of his Jamaican
winter escape and the comfort of sky,
water, and dressing for dinner

I always
looked forward to summer
because I could go out and
play ball and go swimming.
Then, years later, I discovered Jamaica. In the middle
of winter, I could step out of time.
We came there on holiday as a young family more than four decades ago. It wasn’t long
before we moved into a romantic old villa on
the highest point of Round Hill, a resort overlooking the Caribbean. We called it High Rock.
It had a spirit and a glamour that harkened back
to the days when Grace Kelly, Noël Coward,
the Astaires, Errol Flynn, and Ian Fleming
wintered there—there was a timelessness that
we loved. Surrounded by a jungle of trees and
flowers, it was our own Garden of Eden.
With our children growing up we needed
more space, so in 1997 we purchased Cottage
26 and renamed it White Orchid. Perched right
on the water, the cottage was just a short walk
down the hill. While High Rock has a classic
feel, White Orchid is clean with a barefoot
kind of luxuriousness. With a horizon of sky
and water all around, it felt like being on a boat.
There’s a naturalness and ease of living here
that I love. This is the kind of place you can feel
comfortable in. You just get here and think
about the water and the air, and then you put
on a pair of shorts and go for a swim. There’s
nothing formal, nothing complicated. My life
here is about rejuvenating, a sense of quiet, a
sense of privacy. Every time I come here, it’s
like the first time.
When I first started attending black-tie
events, I never totally felt like myself. Then one
night I decided to mix my tuxedo shirt and jacket
with jeans and cowboy boots. I remember some
people were shocked, but I felt good—I felt like
myself. Now things are different. Today, whether
at a private party or on the red carpet, showcasing one’s individual style through what we wear
is not only accepted, but what’s expected.
H E N I WA S A K I D

136

VERANDA

Sometimes dressing up for
no particular reason is reason enough,
especially on a balmy evening on
the decks at White Orchid (inset).
ABOVE:

Reprinted from © Ralph Lauren: A Way of
Living (Rizzoli New York, 2023), the style
titan’s new book featuring his residences
and commemorating the 40th anniversary
of the brand’s home collection.

PORTR AIT BY BRUCE WEBER • WRITTEN BY R ALPH L AUREN

INSET, GILLES DE CHABANEIX.

When I’m at our home in Jamaica there are
evenings I dress up, not necessarily for a party
or because it’s expected, but just because I’m
in the mood for something different. After a
day in the sun, choosing to wear a crisp white
pleated evening shirt with cuff links, then
slipping into a beautifully cut dinner jacket
and trousers, barefoot instead of in cowboy
boots, feels cool. You never know who might
show up—James Bond, perhaps? ✦

Where Leisure Becomes Legend
DISTINCTIVE ARCHITECTURE, RESIDENCES & HOMESITES
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