Golden Era of Georgia's Golden Isle

I know that there are many of you who, like me, have fond memories of summers spent at Sea Island, Georgia. Although my family usually rented houses there, the old Cloister hotel is what I remember most vividly. It was my first exposure to the work of Addison Mizner, architect of The Cloister. As a child, I had no idea who Mizner was. I just liked the Spanish style architecture of the hotel. I remember the hotel's Spanish Lounge where there was always a table set up in the corner with a jigsaw puzzle at the ready. The Dining Room at The Cloister makes me think of Baked Alaska (which I had there for the first time on my 10th birthday), finger bowls and doilies, and Kadota figs. Kadota figs were always on the menu for breakfast as was prune juice. I never indulged in either one. And of course, there were The Cloister's legendary Bingo games. Bingo was what you did at night after dinner.

The old Cloister was torn down back in 2003, and a new, fancy version replaced it. It's sad, really, as I miss that great old building. I came across these c. 1941 photos of The Cloister, part of the Gottscho-Schleisner Collection of photographs, over the weekend and wanted to share them with you. The interiors that you see here are credited to Francis Abreu, the noted architect. Although Mizner was responsible for The Cloister's architecture when it was built in the late 1920s, Abreu was the architect behind the adjacent buildings as well as later additions and renovations. The photo captions make note of the "new" dining room, so I'm assuming that the dining room seen here must have been an addition to The Cloister around 1940.

So, for all of us who remember Sea Island for what it used to be, here is a trip down memory lane:


Large club room




Blue club room






Passage to new Dining Room




New Dining Room




New Dining Room




New Dining Room

Hotel Inspiration

Over the last few years, much has written about how hotels have influenced the way in which people decorate their homes. You know the look. A home's entryway that's made to look like a hotel lobby thanks to the circular center table holding an oversized floral arrangement. Or the bedroom that looks straight out of a mid-range hotel. It's generic and, I hate to say it, boring too.

I think that if you want to make your home feel like a hotel, you should replicate (to an extent) the look of a hotel that has real style. There have been a few hotels that have influenced my aesthetic: The Carlyle in New York; The Stafford in London; and The Hotel Gritti Palace in Venice. My stay at The Gritti Palace occurred eleven years ago, but I haven't forgotten its elegance. I recently read that the hotel is currently closed for a renovation, something that had me worried until I learned that Chuck Chewning of Donghia was overseeing it. Knowing Chuck, he will be respectful of the hotel's history and will update it in an appropriate and yet stylish way. When it reopens in 2013, I really should try to travel to Venice to see the refreshed hotel for myself.

While we wait for the Gritti Palace to reopen, we should take a look at another Venetian hotel for design inspiration: Bauer Il Palazzo. I found these photos in a December 2001 issue of French AD, so I'm not sure if all of the interiors seen here look the same today. Regardless, these are some beautiful photos of some beautiful rooms. And I for one would not mind if my own home resembled Il Palazzo.





























All photos from French AD, Noelle Hoppe photographer.

Umaid Bhawan Palace

The Million Dollar Decorators (that would be Mary, Nathan, Martyn, Jeffrey, and Kathryn) came to ADAC this month, and I have never seen such a turnout at ADAC before! I think that almost everybody in the Atlanta design community was there, and the consensus is that all five of the designers cum reality stars came across as the witty and vivacious people that they are.

During the panel discussion (which was led, by the way, by Veranda editor-in-chief Dara Caponigro), the designers were asked about what inspires them, and the topic of travel came up. I for one am quite envious because they all seem to be jetting hither and yon to all kinds of exotic places- and often. Mary McDonald mentioned a hotel in India that she found particularly inspiring because of its Art Deco interiors that were in pristine condition. It sounded like she called it the Umaid Bhawan, but I can't be sure because I didn't write it down.

Over the weekend, I was reading Architectural Digest Chateaux and Villas, a book that was loaned to me by my friend Will Merrill. In it, there was a chapter on the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, one of the last great palaces of the maharajas. Built in the 1930s by Maharaja Sir Umaid Singh, the vast palace boasts a hybrid design of both Eastern and Western architecture of which the British architectural firm Lanchester and Lodge was responsible. What caught my eye more than the impressive size of the palace, though, are the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne interiors. And the murals by Polish designer Stefan Norblin just add to the appeal.

Unfortunately, a finished palace never completely came to fruition as World War II hindered the completion of the palace's interiors. Today, the palace is a hotel run by the Taj group, although the current Maharaja still retains residence in another part of the palace. In addition to the AD photos, I also found a few intriguing ones from the hotel's website. I don't know if this is the hotel that Mary spoke so highly of, but even if it isn't, I'm going to add it to my list of places that I want to visit- hopefully someday soon.

(By the way, I have to congratulate Will Merrill. One of his designs for Currey & Co.- a small drinks table that is so charming- made the cover of the new Charlotte Moss book. Yay, Will!)




The Central Hall is a circular wonder.




The oval grand staircase adjoins the Central Hall. Look closely to the left of the staircase and you'll see some type of tented curtain.




A Guest Suite was inspired by the great luxury ocean liners. The mural was painted by Stefan Norblin, as were the murals in the photo below.




The Throne Room.





A Guest Bath sheathed in onyx and marble. According to the book, the wall sconces were a "recent innovation at that time."




A Guest Room featured a chrome-banded bed on a platform. The acid-etched black glass panel above the bed was executed by Norblin.




I found this photo of a Deco room on the hotel's website.




And, ending the post with a splash, the hotel's photo of the Zodiac Pool. Again, the murals were by Norblin. Is this pool amazing or what?


All photos with the exception of the last two from Architectural Digest Chateaux and Villas; bottom two courtesy of the Umaid Bhawan website.