My Humble Retreat

Home..... my sanctuary.

What is "home"? I often asked myself this question. Is home the house where I  was born, where my parents still live in my small village of Clermont Dessous? Is it my house here in Connecticut, where for the past 18 years I have seen my sons grow up; my garden evolve? 

I believe that home is really my sanctuary where I find the true meaning of life and love, all within a few walls. I feel safe and at peace in my private cocoon, every object, every piece of furniture has a story, emotions are linked to every room, to every book on my bookshelves. I do not have personal photographs on walls or tables, as I do not need reminder of the past, home for me is the moment, the present....my photo albums are in the library, personal treasures to be cherished and shared with close friends.

How does home relate to design? When designing for clients or myself, I operate from instinct, I need to know my clients, feel the space, and my role is to create an environment that will become  their sanctuary, their place of peace, beauty and warmth. Home is not about trends or fashion, it is about comfort, design; a home needs to have a soul.

My home has been published numerous times in national and international magazines and  books (latest in the new Conran book about green design). I often ask myself why,  as it is not nearly as sophisticated or as large as most houses I worked on.  I like to think that that my house just shows as what it is ... pure and simple ... a house with all its imperfections, its raw beauty, its life, a house with a soul if you will.

At Home Magazine recently published a story on my home which I am sharing with you, and I feel that they truly capture the inherent simplicity of what transforms a house into a true home. Thank you Amy, Stacey and Josh for including my humble home in your wonderful publication.

Swimming Pools

Living in the Northeast United States means living through long cold and too often dreary winters. During those long winter months I console myself with the thought of the sunny summer days to come with the deep rich fragrance of Damask roses, rosemary and thyme and the visual explosion of white Sea Foam blooms that cascade over the edge of my pool.

Swimming is my sanity and I do my best to make a habit of swimming a mile every morning before I head off to Manhattan for work because it clears my head for the day ahead and gives me just enough of an endorphin kick to make a very challenging time easier to manage.

Below are three images of my pool at home. Placing it was quite a challenge due to the nature of my land and the vagaries of my town's zoning laws. We were finally able to reach an agreement with the town for placement, but it meant terracing the site and cutting out a great deal of deeply buried rock and large boulder's left behind in the wake of retreating glaciers from the last ice-age. We eeked out every last foot we could within the zoning restrictions on the property and the final dimensions of the pool are 45 feet long by 18 feet wide, making a short but very usable lap pool that is also suitable for entertaining.

The great thing is that my mason was able to recycle all of the stone that our pool contractor extracted from the pool site to use in the construction of the stone terrace walls. My landscape and masonry contractor (a now retired old school native Italian) understood immediately the look and ambiance I wanted to achieve and his team built all the walls within 10 days of starting the project.

At the rear, above the pool, is a separate seating area for meals or cocktails

Sea Foam roses run the length of the pool

Below are some stunning pools from the pages of one of my favorite French design magazines, COTE SUD (No. 117 / April-May 2009).

Photo: A. Font

Photo: A. Font

Photo: B. Tuillon

Photo: B. Tuillon

Photo: E. Nicolas

Whenever I travel for pleasure or business, I make a point of trying to stay in a hotel with a beautiful pool.

Below are a sampling of some of the beautiful hotel pools I've been lucky enough to swim in or lounge around...

The Baray Villa Pool - Sawasdee Village Resort, Kata Beach, Phuket

Photo: FG

Photo: FG

Photo: FG

If you're new to this blog, see my earlier post of February 13th on the Baray Villa Resort and Spa



When I'm on a business trip in Bangkok, it is particularly pleasant to have access to a nice pool to relax in after a grueling day of tuk-tuk rides to and fro.

The Peninsula Hotel, Bangkok
By day:

Photo: internet

at night:

Photo: internet

Governor's Palace Hotel - Yangon (Rangoon) Burma

Photo: internet

Four Seasons Hotel, Langkawi Island, Malaysia

Photo: LGG

Photo: LGG

Villa Des Orangers, Marrakech Medina

Photo: internet

Hotel Les Deux Tours, Marrakech Palmeraie

Photo: internet

Photo: internet

INDUSTRIAL - The Hot Design Trend That's Here To Stay

How did we come to appreciate the rough ragged beauty of reclaimed industrial furniture?

Interieurs is the trailblazing New York showroom that introduced the blend of modern furniture with non conventional found industrial pieces. I remember when we displayed (in our original Wooster Street store) an old steel bench with wheat grass laid out on the seat. This whimsical combination of funky furniture and simple greenery earned us the the opening full-page story in the New York Times Home & Garden section in November 1994 just weeks after Interieurs first opened.

From Cote Sud Magazine, March 2008

I have always found beauty in dark corners of nature and the least expected environments; here below, a junkyard where odd pieces, machine parts and other industrial refuse lay rusting away....

Once while skiing in Utah, I found sudden inspiration for a client's ski house when, in search of ultimate champagne powder, I came upon the rusting skeletal remains of an abandoned coal mine.

Here, I'm like a kid in a candy store

It takes imagination to find the beauty in these long abandoned objects. I find it truly enriching to uncover the history of a given piece that catches my eye, for instance a 19th century mine cart from eastern Europe and to read up on the horridly difficult life of the miners during the industrial revolution. When the mines finally closed all the equipment became instantaneously obsolete and layed abandoned in place to the elements.

It is such a thrill to look for and find that special perfect piece and transform it - with lots of love and labor - to its new purpose.

I can already envision the end product

This piece will need more than a little TLC...

and, when finished, will make a great cocktail table

Potential base for a dining table.

Below are some very recently snapped shots of my New York showroom demonstrating the easy blend of conventional and reclaimed industrial furniture

Two old military parachute cabinets sit behind a table of reclaimed parts. The table
consists of cast-iron industrial machine bases topped with a refinished antique oak plank.

Soft touch meets harsh world

The cocktail table and buffet cabinet in this image were
once equipment in a European coal mine

This three tiered Jose Esteves "Brocante" Chandelier is the perfect
complement to your kitchen, breakfast nook or loft space dining room.

From "Maison Francaise" Magazine, Jan 2009

Breakfast anyone?

From Cote Sud Magazine, March 2008

An Interieurs advertising campaign photo that shows the easy grace
of mixing reclaimed industrial furniture with more modern comfort.

Spring has Arrived in Connecticut - Very Quickly Indeed

Today, Spring really did arrive here in southern Connecticut, and with something of a fury at 88 Degrees. On March 2nd - not even two months ago - the scene was vastly different with nearly 6 inches of snow on the ground!

March 2, 2009

and the same scene Today, April 26, 2009

Crab Apple Blossom Detail

Weeping Cherry, just shy of peak bloom.....

Magnolia, beautiful, but in need of some pruning for optimal blooming


Whisteria Chinensis (White) just now budding out for bloom in a week or two


Wisteria budding detail.

Wisteria are among my most favorite plantings with their sensuously fragrant blooms, but they are very difficult to coax to a bloom here in the Northeast.

My (very small) vegetable garden now ready for planting and we just expanded it this year! Last year we lost almost all of our organic produce to a ground-hog who took up residence in the stone wall that back stops the garden. My husband had some dark thoughts on how to permanently evict him, but I was able to persuade that adopting 2 dogs was the better way... of course that solution came with its own set of problems.

Finally, the Forsythia are in full bloom as well. This year the blooms were particularly abundant. It's taken quite a few years of feeding and aggressive pruning to get this result.