What Libraries Are For

"What's the room with all the books for?"  If you read Peter Haldeman's recent New York Times article on his experience with using a home stager ("The Twilight Zone of Home Staging"), then you were likely horrified by this quote, which was uttered by the stager upon seeing the author's home library for the first time.  Honestly, if someone came into my home and asked such a dumb question, I wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I realize that people don't read like they once did, and I understand that, sadly, libraries are no longer symbols of aspiration like they were in the recent past.  But have our standards slipped so much that a home library is considered a detraction and not a luxury by many?

It seems to me that the Eighties was the last decade in which the library was lavished with attention, and two stellar examples from this decade are the libraries of Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard (today better remembered as the mother of Annette de la Renta)  and Carter Burden.  Both serious book collectors, Engelhard and Burden created not just some of the finest book collections in private hands, but two of the finest libraries to house them.

Converted from a former bedroom suite, Mrs. Engelhard's library was designed by architect Robert Raley and Parish-Hadley.  Perhaps reflecting the American focus of Mrs. Engelhard's collection of rare books and manuscripts, the library is efficiently designed and somewhat restrained in its furnishings.  The glass bookshelves were inspired by those at the Morgan Library, while the lighting was copied from that at Yale's Beinecke Library.  With its fireplace, round reading table, and leather-covered chairs, the library was, to quote Albert Hadley, "a little jewel of a room."

Burden's library, on the other hand, was more decoratively effusive, famously decorated by first Parish-Hadley and, later, the great Mark Hampton.  An obsessive collector of modern American literature, the late Burden said, "Books do not merely furnish my rooms, they engulf them."  (This was the man who also quipped, "You can never be too thin, too rich, or have too many books.")  But alongside those books were personal mementos, a flock of comfortable chairs, and layers of cosseting fabric, all of which must have encouraged hours upon hours of reading, reflecting, and relaxing, which is exactly what a room with all the books is for. 




The library of Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, decorated by Parish-Hadley:

Carter Burden's library, decorated by Parish-Hadley and Mark Hampton:

All photos from House & Garden, March 1987, Oberto Gili, photographer

Plum in Pink and Red

Unless you've been a recluse over the past week, you have likely seen photos of last week's Met Gala. I'm not going to get into too much detail about it except to say that my picks for the three best-dressed guests were Lauren Santo Domingo, Vanessa Traina, and Plum Sykes, all of whom work in the fashion world. Plum Sykes's decision to wear scarlet satin Manolo Blahniks with her pale pink column dress especially captured my attention because the color combination was a bit unexpected. And yet, it was really quite smashing, with Sykes's red shoes making her prim gown sing. It also reminded me of how much I love this color pairing. (I did not want to fool with obtaining permission from Getty Images to use their photo of Sykes, so you'll have to click here to see her stepping out to the Gala.)

Rarely do you see pink and red used together within the same room.  In fashion layouts, however, you do.  When standing alone, pink can appear slightly (or sometimes sticky) sweet.  But when dashes of red are thrown in for flavor, the effect can be sophisticated and effervescent.  Could this be why Babe Paley wore pink and red for her Round Hill, Jamaica portrait?

One interior designer who did mix the two colors together to great effect was David Hicks.  Hicks, however, took a brash approach to the pairing, using pinks that had vigor and swagger.  Cerises, scarlets, and magentas mingled to create rooms of bravado, fit for even the most manly of men.  If all of this sounds too swashbuckling, you could take your cue from Hicks (or even Mark Hampton, whose 1970s-era Manhattan apartment included a red and pink bedroom) but tone it down for more feminine sensibilities.  Paint a room's walls in lacquered aubergine and upholster its furnishings in pink silk and red damask.  I think that such a room would like really pretty...or, to use a phrase that gets on my nerves, such a room would look "very gala."

A 1962 Ormond Gigli photo of Halston back in his early days as a milliner.

Veruschka photographed in 1970 wearing a jeweled necklace and beaded red, pink, and white silk headdress.

A David Hicks-designed room in Yorkshire. The curtains are red tweed, while the chairs appear to be upholstered in red leather.  The table is covered in a fuschia silk cloth.

The Paris apartment of Rambert Rigaud. (Photo from Vogue, March 2013)

The Maharaja of Jaipur (photo by Constantin Joffe)

The dining room at Britwell Salome, decorated by David Hicks, was energized with cerise velvet-upholstered wingchairs and a red silk damask tablecloth.

The early Manhattan apartment of Mark and Duane Hampton. Their bedroom was decorated in shades of magenta and pink with some red thrown in for good measure.

Serge Obolensky photographed by Slim Aarons at the St. Regis Roof, New York. I can't really tell if the room was mostly pink or if there was some red somewhere (perhaps the ceiling?)


Photo of Paley and Obolensky from A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons; Hicks and Hampton photos from David Hicks: Designer; Maharaja of Jaipur photo from The World in Vogue 1893-1963.

Taking a Stand

Here in Atlanta, we finally got a taste of fall a few days ago.  With nightly temperatures hovering in the 30s, it was time for my pretty potted geraniums to come indoors.  Unfortunately for them, though, they went from a comfortable balcony to the floor of the kitchen, the only spot that I could find for them where they would get sun.  And because I do find geraniums to be a genteel plant, they really have no business being unceremoniously dumped on the floor.

I could always find a narrow table like the one in the illustration above, one on which I could park a few plants, but the problem is that such a table takes up space, something in short supply around my home.  What I want, and think that I need, too,  is a good old-fashioned plant stand, one dignified enough for geraniums, not to mention my living room as well.  Of course, what I covet is a stand much like that owned by the late John Fowler, seen immediately below this text.  That has to be the all-time best looking plant stand that I've ever seen. 

While looking for other photos of plant stands, I realized that the best examples I could find were featured in books on English and Irish design.  Not surprising, really, as a pretty stand holding a flowering plant seems made for both quaint country cottages and grand country houses alike.

For all of you who are being affected by Hurricane Sandy, please stay safe and be well!

John Fowler's stand in the hall at his Hunting Lodge.

A plant stand in Lady Gunston's drawing room in Pelham Crescent, decorated by John Fowler.

A wire plant stand on a table in Fowler's home-showroom at 292 King's Road.

A modern scheme includes a column supporting a potted urn, decorated by David Mlinaric.

A stand with what looks like a terrarium on top, in an 18th century lodge decorated again by Mlinaric.

The charming and much-photographed living room of the late Mark Hampton. The curvy plant stand in the window held a pot of pretty paperwhites.

A fountain converted into a plant stand, at Killadoon, County Kildare

And a Victorian looking stand at Birr Castle, County Offaly.


Image #1 and #7 from Colefax and Fowler: The Best in Interior Decoration by Chester Jones. #2 from Nancy Lancaster: English Country House Style by Martin Wood; #3 and #4 from John Fowler: Prince of Decorators, also by Wood; #5 and #6 from Mlinaric on Decorating; #8 and #9 from The Irish Country House.

The Hamptons and Hickory Chair

In my speech on "Timeless Interiors" that I presented a few weeks ago, I mentioned two designers whose work I believe will stand the test of time. Those two designers are Mario Buatta and Mark Hampton, two of the best decorators this business has ever seen. I have already written much about the two in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

But not until the day before I gave my lecture did I realize how appropriate it was to include Mark Hampton in a speech presented in Hickory, North Carolina. As you probably know, Mark Hampton created a wonderful line of furniture in collaboration with Hickory Chair. In fact, it was my friend Will Merrill who, while working at Hickory Chair as Design Director, was responsible for bringing Mark Hampton to the venerable furniture maker back in the 1980s. I was fortunate enough to have been given a fantastic tour of Hickory Chair while up in North Carolina, and while I certainly appreciated their furniture before the tour, I have even greater respect for it now. How impressive to learn that almost all of the furniture is still made in America! While on my Hickory Chair tour, I saw how furniture designed by the likes of Thomas O'Brien, Mariette Himes Gomez, Suzanne Kasler, Mark Hampton, and Alexa Hampton are made. While Mark Hampton's line has been edited down to a smaller number of items, Alexa's line is filled with all kinds of wonderful chairs, tables, and casegood pieces.

So, in the spirit of timeless interiors, the Hamptons, and Hickory, North Carolina's own Hickory Chair, I thought I would highlight a few pieces from the Hamptons' collections and also show a few of them in situ. While I had a heck of a time trying to find Mark Hampton designed interiors where his Hickory Chair line was used, I was able to find some great photos of Alexa's work where Hickory Chair furniture does make appearances, including a photo of a room in which she used a writing table that was part of her father's collection.

Mark Hampton Collection:




Regency Bamboo Writing Table, part of Mark Hampton's collection for Hickory Chair. According to Will, the table was part of the very first collection that Hampton did for Hickory Chair. Alexa used the table in one of her projects, seen above.



Faux Bamboo Bench, which I have always loved.



Tufted Victorian Pouff. Only Mark Hampton could make Victorian look good.



Alexa Hampton's Collection:



Ash Cocktail Table





Nadine Chairside Table






Chris Set of Four Trays



And I couldn't find an interior photo where the Susannah Side Table was used, but I'm showing it anyway because I absolutely love this piece:

Susannah Side Table


Alexa Hampton interior photos from Alexa Hampton: The Language of Interior Design.

A Beauty of a Table

So what's today's "I want it. I need it. I have to have it."? Why, that would be a William Kent style table. A stretch, I know. I think that my desire for pleated lamp shades will be fulfilled long before that of a William Kent table. Still, one has to have those aspirational pieces on her wish list. After all, you gotta have something to work for.

So, who was William Kent and what did he have to do with tables? In a backward history lesson kind of way, that will be the focus of tomorrow's post. But in this post, I'll show a few examples of how these beauties are being used today.

See that photo at top? That's a William Kent table in the home of Oscar and Annette de la Renta. An elegant table for an elegant couple.



In the manner of William Kent, this eagle based console resides in the London home of Sue Stafford, former marketing director for David Hicks.



Alexa Hampton has this William Kent style table in her office.



I wonder if Alexa's table is the same one that her father, Mark Hampton, used at the Kips Bay Showhouse in 1997. Looks like it.



Mark Hampton also used a William Kent table in his Manhattan dining room.



Who could forget that Miles Redd used his William Kent style table to serve drinks?



A William Kent style table appears in another Redd project.



I'm not so sure about the red plush finish to this William Kent style console and mirror that was recently auctioned off at Christie's. That said, the carved eagle base is rather nice.

(Image #1: Vogue, 12/08, François Halard; #2 from House & Garden, October 2010, Sarah Hogan photographer; #3 from New York Social Diary, Jeff Hirsch photographer; #4 and #5 from Mark Hampton: An American Decorator by Duane Hampton; #6 from House & Garden, Paul Costello photographer; #6 from Elle Decor, Simon Upton photographer.)