Junior League of Greensboro Show House 2013 Sponsored by Traditional Home Magazine: Miles Redd's Grand Reception Room.

We arrived for the press breakfast at Adamsleigh, the unbelievable remnant of the American Country House Movement, to view the resurrection of a home that had been virtually untouched since 1930. To read our last post on the architect, Luther Lashmit and other artisans on the property click HERE.

I showed the main reception room in the previous post, but wanted to juxtapose the dramatic Miles Redd, Oscar de  la Renta Century Furniture transformation. 

While we can see that Arthur Cassel Griffin, the original designer was adhering to the antiquarian precedents of an ancient structure, Miles Redd relevantly applies a graceful Chinoiserie style throughout the room. Open fretwork Oscar de la Renta chairs are ingeniously placed in the central area of the room allowing a clean, homogenous visual sweep of the room. 

Parsing the large space with a central table and chairs creates a functional gathering area maintaining the characteristic airy Chinoiserie effect without sacrificing the density of seating required for large receptions. Flow throughout is achieved by the repetition of the branching patterns on the rug, fabrics, wall panels, that the fretwork chairs echo. This room becomes engaging and complex by Redd's masterful mix of blues, complementery orange, bold large scale ceramic pieces and architectural pediments. The original architect, Luther Lashmit, had a predilection for octagonal windows, so Miles Redd nailed the vernacular in his mirror selection above.  

This is a characteristic octagonal window in a friend's Lashmit home in Winston-Salem. Many of the surviving homes feature this signature flourish. 

Early mid-century lighting combined with a modern abstract painting convey a light-handed sense of continuity and the evolution of decor over generations. This market more than any other market in years, reiterates a luxurious aesthetic through rich tactile fabrics, carpeting and precious veneers. Chinoiserie, popular since the 17th century French infatuation, has never gone out, but is more visible in the showrooms and has been reinterpreted by many designers. Where did we find the look around market? Let's start with Mary McDonald's beautiful linen chinoiserie wall panels. 

Chelsea House had a wide array of Chinoiserie on hand for buyers, as has been their tradition for decades. 

The prices are unbelievable!! 

Christine and I are never tired of Alexa Hampton's Susanna Table. Hickory Chair is a custom manufacturer, so we love seeing what Alexa does with this piece every market. Don't you love how you can add notes to your images in Google+?

Bungalow 5 speaks fluid Mandarin and Cantonese in their well curated line and demonstrated how to use it with neutrals several markets ago. Here is what they've got going on this market!

Bungalow 5 High Point April 2013

Worlds Away

Liz Gray of HGTV's Design Happens blog and I chatted about our collaboration on a Worlds-Away giveaway for the Feebie Friday post. Worlds-Away does a fantastic job with modern interpretations of Chinoiserie fret work, lacquer and pagoda designs. Finally, I have to say Mirror Image Home has a premium line of Mirrors with design legends Bunny Williams and Barclay Butera. We were delighted to find them in Market Square Suites and look forward to adding these items to our online store. 

We Have Thousands of Beautiful Items to Choose from in Our Online Store!

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Luther Lashmit's Adamsleigh: The Junior League of Greensboro and Traditional Home's Showcase House April 2013

Thanks to the Junior League of Greensboro and Traditional Home, the spot light is on Luther Lashmit, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina native and architect to the industrial revolution scions of the early 20th century.  Tobacco, textiles and furniture revived the broken post civil war South, in the same way that the electronic, and computer revolution generated fortunes at the end of the 20th century. World War I fueled Southern industries as soldiers required uniforms, underwear, socks and gun-stocks, as armies consumed vast quantities of tobacco. Cone Mills of Greensboro produced miles of denim while their heirs fed the modern impressionist artists in Paris. With the South resurrected, versus reconstructed, Southerners transferred their positions as plantation owners to estate builders.  The Junior League Showcase House in Greensboro is one of Lashmit's period house masterpieces. Commissioned by textile (hosiery) business man, John Hampton Adams, Adamsleigh has endured as a prime example of the American Country House Movement, comparable to the great estates of Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Newport and Long Island.

Luther Lashmit, of the offices of Northrup and O'Brien was undoubtedly commissioned to lead the Adamsleigh  project, because of his great success with Graylyn, the home of Natalie Lyons and Bowman Gray of Winston-Salem.  Northrup and O'Brien had maintained close communication with the local Lashmit throughout his education and career. Receiving his architecture degree from The Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA.,  Lashmit went on to win the prestigious Fontainebleau Fellowship, studying at the revered Ecole des-Beaux-Arts, traveling extensively to survey the great houses of England, France and Italy. Having taught architecture in Georgia and Pittsburg, Northrup and O'Brien brought Lashmit home to create the Gray's magnificent Norman Revival estate which was to be the second largest house in North Carolina after Biltmore.

A Portion of the Graylyn Front facade

Lashmit, in conjunction with the Northrup and O'Brien office assembled an unrivaled team to complete the vision of the sophisticated and well traveled Reynolds Tobacco magnate and his wife. Europe had not fully recovered from the Great War and wealthy American industrialists traveled throughout Europe and the Mediterranean purchasing masterpiece ancient rooms, fireplaces, paneling and flooring for their trophy estates. Arthur Cassell Graffin of Baltimore designed and procured much of the interior architecture with Northrup O'Brien. Very notably, J. Barton Benson, a wrought iron master craftsman of Philadelphia, created the detailed intricate gates, locks, railings and other metallurgic flourishes through out Graylyn and later Adamsleigh. 

The distinguishing departure of the Country House Movement from its feudal predecessors is aptly noted by Harry Desmond and Herbert Crowly in their early survey: Stately Homes in America (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903) 

".....our greater rural residences are..... occupied by people who, no matter how varied and sincere, their interest in their country places {may be}, spend their money upon the land without any reference to making money on it."

Graylyn Rear Facade

Harvard trained landscape architect, Thomas Warren Sears, who had worked with Fredrick Law Olmsted was introduced to North Carolina and Virginia industrialists via his Reynolda House Commission through Charles Barton Keen, chief architect of the earlier R.J. Reynolds estate, across the street. The collective design team was easily transferred to the Adamsleigh project. While there are many vernacular similarities, adaptations were made to create a unique estate. 

Unusually this house remained in the original family from inception to 2003.

Employing a brick veneer versus Graylyn's stone facade, makes Adamsleigh more Norman English than French Norman. Characteristics of these European houses adapted for 1920's tastes included fewer, but more spacious rooms for grand entertaining with open floor plans. Picturesque, French style estates were designed to look as though they had grown organically over time transitioning from fortifications to homes. To achieve these ends, Lashmit massed irregular outlines along asymmetrical wings. Graceful, quaint chimneys rose above round, square or hexagonal towers pierced by narrow windows enclosing spectacular vertiginous medieval staircases. The Graylyn stair tower has holders for plants and flowers that are reminiscent of Addison Mizner's Worth Avenue. Creative cribbing is common in design, and my friend, Tom Gray who wrote his Master's Thesis on Graylyn discovered an identical previous image from the Newbold house in Laverock, PA. 

Grayln stair tower

Adamsleigh has come through a remarkable era of singular family ownership. The current asking price of $4,000,000 will hopefully attract a preservation minded buyer. Meanwhile, we will tantalize you with the empty rooms that are being reinterpreted by this talented roster of designers building on the legacy of the great Country Home architects, landscape designers, interior architects and artisanal craftsman. 

 Adamsleigh

I chatted up Suzanne Kasler in her stunning space at Hickory Chair today and her excitement over the project was refreshing.  She relayed that Miles Redd was up to his usual theatrical magic and was afforded a great amount of creative latitude. I noticed world class floral designer, Randy McManus, was  present and accounted for. Blogger friends Lisa Mende and Traci Zeller have been sending fun, behind the scenes posts worth perusing. The list is endless and it will be fascinating to see an intact American Country Place refurbished by a complimentary contingent 83 years after inception.

Suzanne Kasler waxed poetic about the original metal, window doorways that flank the house:

"These are the doors we want to install in both contemporary and traditional houses, we can't get enough of it now, and there they are exactly as we want them from the 1920's."

 Rear Terraces by Thomas Sears at Adamsleigh

 Adamsleigh aerial view

 Adamsleigh mantel detail

The Thomas Sears Gardens at Adamsleigh

 I spoke with charming architect, Bob Myers, who spent many years working and traveling with Luther Lashmit. He was impressed by the fact that Lashmit moved brilliantly in multiple vernaculars and was able to adapt skillfully to modern architecture. Notably, Merry Acres, for  R.J. Reynolds Jr., was a 1940's marvel. Dick Reynolds received his pilot's license from Wilbur Wright and was also a competitive yachtsman. He wanted his house to feel like one great cruise and Lashmit delivered. 

Softened by nautical curves with extending decks, a pilot's house and smoke stack/chimney, Merry Acres is a wonderful idiosyncratic home.  I, for one, think houses should have personality. Luther Lashmit had a fluid, creative ability to treat with the past and effortlessly leap into the future. 

Kind thanks also to my friend Tom Gray for encouraging me to read his master's thesis on the Graylyn Estate with much scholarly insight into the work of Luther Lashmit, Arthur Graffin, J. Barton Benson, Northrop and O'Brien,  and Thomas Sears.

I hope you will all come to visit the Junior League Show House 

sponsored by Traditional Home. 

We are honored by an enviable roster of top designers. 

April 20th-May 5th

3301 Alamance Rd., Greensboro, North Carolina

Do not miss some of the wonderful events and opportunities to meed the designers. 

More Later!! 

The High Point Market is opening today!! 

If you are looking for furniture, lighting and accessories for 

your home, call us at 336-705-1316. 

Miles Redd Shares His Inspirations for The Mint Museum Design Syposium

The Mint Museum Auxilary is a fund raising powerhouse. Their design and social events attract top designers and toute la Charlotte. Last year, Oscar de la Renta, and his home furnishings creative director, Miles Redd, graciously led the centerpiece fashion show event and design symposium respectively. We attended the design symposium to hear Miles Redd discuss his approach to interior design furiously scribbling all the insights we could gather. Sponsors Circa Antiques and Garden and Gun Magazine could not have been more generous. Despite tornado warnings and much of the South flattened during the previous evening, we took off down the road to see the maestro! Sadly, due to a blogger glitch the post blew up after about 6 hours, so as I was looking through my photo files for inspiration, I decided to resurrect this wonderful presentation.

Taking his inspiration from both photography and fashion, Redd conjures the glamorous style days of the 30's and the 40's, occasionally creating a swinging 60's aesthetic. This fabulous mirrored bathroom was salvaged from David Adler’s Armour Estate. The entire bathroom was found in a restoration yard and was once featured in a Robert Altman movie. It might be the best bathroom in the world. 

Miles evokes this legendary photograph, which requires some attribution, anyone want to chime in? Miles Redd is not in the business of decorating rooms, he is in the business of wrapping a set around people for the drama, mystery and glories of life of life to unfold. The room below inspired his own apartment. If you have ever experienced an unhappy moment in La Grenouille, I don't want to hear about it. 

The post war ambiance and sheer glamour of this legendary dining experience, define and inspire the signature "cozy glamour" aesthetic, that Miles Redd practices. In his wildly popular living room in New York, Redd places the La Grenouille style banquettes in a colorized curated clutter.

If Syrie Maugham, Dorothy Draper, and Frances Elkins did a room together, it might look like this. Or, if an Englishman moved to Hollywood in the 30's, you might have this glorious, and swanky pad. Miles creates interiors that are reminiscent of the "devil may care," romantic Hollywood regency era. 

 

 Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald with Simone, Barbara Mullen, Frederick Eberstadt, and Dr. Reginald Kernan, Evening Dresses by Balmain, Dior, Patou, Maxim's, Paris

If Redd cites a single inspiration for his decor, it is: Richard Avedon 1944-1977. When a fashion house expands its oeuvre into the world of interior design, the ingredients for the perfect marriage are present. Oscar and Miles are a synergistic pair and Redd's interiors reflect the flirty, feminine, and timeless elements of the de la Renta atelier. 

Miles Redd's house in NYC via NYSD

A vestibule outside of the powder room and a Venetian mirror. The wallpaper is custom deGournay.

 Image: Zuma Press
Oscar's Flamenco Spanish ruffles on a billowing skirt, create motion in this stunning Spring 2010 gown.

 

For his Sister's living room, these flouncy drapes could work for Scarlet O'Hara, in a New York minute. 

 

Or, she could wear this Oscar creation.

 

 Dorothy Draper signature stripes

Miles Redd with DD stripes and signature lacquer cabinets

This Miles Redd designed house in Houston, featured in Veranda has sensational Hollywood Regency dressmaker draperies, repeating a pagoda entry to the house. Strong graphic statements mixed with a soft, yet colorful palette, anchor this large space. For once, we have an unapologetic grand statement, but, with a light Fred Astaire heart. You could be romanced in this room, sung to in this room, and fall in love with the leading man of your dreams--in this room. It is no surprise that Miles Redd studied set design at NYU.  It is a prelude to a kiss. Inspiration is not imitation, and Miles Redd was generous to share his educated and trained eye with us. Fashion designers create beautiful interiors, and Coco Chanel is no exception. Redd illustrates his inspiration. 

Coco Chanel's apartment in Paris is a spactacular pumpkin colored space with baroque and organic elements. Miles Redd shared he loves certain elements in this room and repeats them, if appropriate, in multiple projects. The horns and classical busts are a common motif in Redd's accesorizing.  Below we have Redd's treatment. 

Like Frances Elkins, Redd mixes contemporary, European, American and Chinoiserie with plenty of color, accessories and punchy graphics. He often collaborates with traditional architect Gil Schafer, who shares the philosophy of time-worn easy comfort. Miles confided to us that he would have used a stronger shade of orange on the walls, but was restrained by the client.  His creativity fuses multiple strands of influence creating layered interiors with a vocabulary of continuity. 

Again, Redd explains that his clients were struggling with a dark hall, and while it seems counter intuitive to use a dark blue shade on the walls, the lacquer and the shine on the bold graphic floors creates a bold, dazzling modern statement that holds our interest. The heavily carved mahogany entry table and flanking side chairs add a layer of patina. As a counterpoint to the modern Dorothy Draper settee and mirror,  the combination evokes history continuity and honestly, confidence. Notice the beautifully finished and painted door. Dorothy Draper was famous for her marvelous doors, and Redd follows suit. 

Thank You Oscar and Miles

for your wonderful support 

of the Mint Museum in Charlotte! 

You might also like: 

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/NYSDhouse/milesredd.php

To purchase any Oscar de la Renta furniture

contact us at Dovecote Decor