SEPTEMBER 2023

Megan Rapinoe
and Sue Bird Kick Of f
T heir Next Chapter
in New York City

GLAMOUR FOR
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CONTENTS
THE STYLE ISSUE
74
GAME CHANGER
When the sports superstars
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird
come home to nest, they need a
bold retreat. Enter Mark Grattan.
By Katherine Bernard
Designed by Mark Grattan
82
GILTY PLEASURE
A rising French design talent lends
brilliant luster to an apartment
on Paris’s Right Bank.
By Ian Phillips
Designed by Pierre Gonalons
A hand-painted de Gournay
wallcovering is the star
attraction in the drawing
room of a Paris apartment
designed by Pierre Gonalons
(page 82). Custom furniture
by Gonalons.
24 ELLE DECOR
S EP TEMB ER 2023
90 98 112
THE BELLE OF NEUTRAL PARTY THROUGH THE FIRE
BEL-AIR A Manhattan oasis that’s as luxurious After a catastrophic blaze, an art
A dose of va-va-voom—courtesy as it is cool? That’s just what these collector couple calls upon Jamie Bush
of Mary McDonald—turns up two high-octane clients ordered. to design a home that’s built to last.
the volume at a historic California By Max Berlinger By Camille Okhio
estate. Designed by Michelle R. Smith Designed by Jamie Bush
By Camille Okhio
Designed by Mary McDonald 106
SLEEP, EAT, PARTY,
REPEAT
Wherever hostess Rebecca Gardner
goes, good times follow—even to
her Greenwich Village pied-à-terre.
By Kate Bolick
Designed by Rebecca Gardner
STEPHAN JULLIARD. FOR DETAILS, SEE RESOURCES
Subscribe to ELLE DECOR at elledecor.com/join
ANTIQUE COLLECTION
 27768 28009

LONDON · NEW YORK · LOS ANGELES

MANSOUR.COM · 310.652.9999
CONTENTS

The stairwell of a home

in Montecito, California,
designed by Jamie Bush
(page 112) is painted
a custom yellow.
Custom half-dome fixture
by Spark Lighting.

36
EDITOR’S LETTER
39
WHAT’S NEXT
The latest home introductions
from top fashion brands

42
FALL LIGHTING
SPECIAL
These sconces, pendants, and
chandeliers will make for a truly
electric design scheme

46
THE AGENDA
What’s shaping our tastes and
topping our to-do lists this month

52
POINT OF VIEW
What does “glamour” mean in
the social-media age? One writer
delves into the past to find out.
By Thessaly La Force

58
JEWELRY BOX
Our favorite new watches
all put their best face forward

62
SHORTLIST
Fashion icon Giorgio Armani
shares eight things he can’t
live without
YOSHIHIRO MAKINO

28 ELLE DECOR
CONTENTS

64
TALENT
How a new creative director is
turning the 200-year-old textiles
firm Sahco into a house of design

67
BUILDER
There’s more out there than white
subway tile—kitchens today are
glamming it up with a multitude
of colors and materials.
By Julie Lasky

122
RESOURCES
124
MY KIND
OF ROOM
Why a Gio Ponti–designed
villa in Venezuela sparks joy
for designer Delia Kenza

Jolie Fleur Water Glass

(top), $128 for two;
Mochaware Soup Bowls,
Serving Bowl, Salad
Plate, and Dinner Plate,
from $148.
toryburch.com

For more fashion-forward

home accessories,
see page 39.

ON THE COVER Scan the QR code to join

ELLE DECOR All Access
Former WNBA player Sue Bird (left) and soccer star Megan Rapinoe in the for exclusive digital home
dining room of their New York City pied-à-terre, designed by Mark Grattan. tours and more!
Bird’s top by Bode; pants, Lemaire; shoes, Nike x Comme des Garçons.
Rapinoe’s top by Harago; pants, Balenciaga; shoes, Maison Margiela.
Photograph by Kelly Marshall

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30 ELLE DECOR
 ASAD SYRKETT
EDITOR IN CHIEF
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32 ELLE DECOR
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34 ELLE DECOR
moltenigroup.com

MOLTENI&C FLAGSHIP STORES

160 MADISON AVE, NEW YORK NY 10016, T 212 673 7106 — 4100 NE 2ND AVE, SUITE #103-203, 33137, MIAMI, T 786 652 1500 — SHOP.MOLTENI.IT
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EDITOR’S LET TER

THE Designer Mark

Grattan (left) with

STYLE
Megan Rapinoe
(center) and
Sue Bird at the
couple’s home

ISSUE in New York City

(page 74).

OUR COVER STORY THIS MONTH BEGAN, AS SO MANY THINGS DO
these days, with a slide into the DMs. When U.S. Women’s
National Team soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe and her
wife, former WNBA guard Sue Bird, purchased a Manhattan
apartment and found themselves in need of an interior
designer, they tapped Mark Grattan for the job with a
message that included an earnest call for “HALP!”
service of a look, but also as a way of creating a home that is
a true expression of who you really are? Grattan’s work for
Rapinoe and Bird is a resounding answer in the affirmative
to those questions.
Elsewhere in this issue, we visit exceptional homes in
Paris, California, and New York City. For our essay column,
writer Thessaly La Force explores the meaning of “glam-
FROM LEFT: MARCUS MORRIS; KELLY MARSHALL

What Grattan delivered is the same finesse that landed our” outside of the filter of nostalgia that so often defines it.
his own Mexico City apartment on the cover of this And just in time for the new season, we also survey the
magazine in April 2021: a home that is as cool and well most exciting new furniture, lighting, and accessories for a
edited as it is livable, full of clever color combinations home in need of a bit of autumn oomph. Enjoy. ◾
and sumptuous textures. It’s a testament to Grattan’s skill
that Rapinoe and Bird’s aerie feels like a distillation and
heightening of their tastes.
And isn’t that what style is all about? Identifying your
fascinations, obsessions, and pet interests, not just in the @as4d

36 ELLE DECOR
 THE BEST DESIGN DISCOVERIES

CURB APPEAL
Five fashion-forward
home introductions hit the
Saut Hermès Teapot, $720;
Creamer, $270; Teacup, $250.
streets of New York City.
hermes.com By Parker Bowie Larson
Photographs by Vincent Dilio
St yled by Andy Harman

ELLE DECOR 39
W H AT’S N E X T

Duke Bar by Ralph Flora Tigers

Lauren Home Quilt by Gucci
Price upon request. $1,800
ralphlauren.com gucci.com

Royal College Pillow Animalier Vase

by Loro Piana by Lucia Massari
$925 for DGCasa
loropiana.com Price upon request.
dolcegabbana.com

40 ELLE DECOR
FA L L L I G H T I N G S P E C I A L

ALL
AGLOW
Tri Stars Sconce by
David Rockwell
$9,730
lasvit.com
Light fixtures can often be pared
back or minimalist, but the latest
designs—like the sconces on this
page—balance graceful forms
Gemma Sconce by In Common
with fresh finishes and colorways. With x Sophie Lou Jacobsen
Here, we share our favorite $1,750
incommonwith.com
recent releases. Get ready to go
for the bold. —Helena Madden

Trifoglio Sconce
Price upon request.
achillesalvagni.com

Ear Blooms 2 by
Vincent Pocsik
$4,200 Banner Sconce
objectivegallery.com Price upon request.
bluegreenworks.com

Loire Small Sconce

by Aerin
$479
visualcomfort.com

BANNER SCONCE: JOSEPH DE LEO; LURE R ADIATA SPRIG: DANIEL SEUNG LEE
GEMMA SCONCE: MICHAEL DRUCE; EAR BLOOMS: SIMON LEUNG;

Apollo by
Studio 0405
$345
us.hay.com Oscar Sconce
Glass Shade
$7,050
rwguild.com

Lure Radiata Sprig 2

$10,500
pelledesigns.com

42 ELLE DECOR
 EAST WEST
COLLECTION

EýJेsg
FA L L L I G H T I N G S P E C I A L

It’s Lit Pendant Neo-Vanity

Price upon request. Pendant Light
kathytaslitz.com $4,000
kikigoti.com

PH Artichoke by
Poul Henningsen
for Fendi Casa
Price upon request.
louispoulsen.com
and fendicasa.com

Ginkgo Blossom
Chandelier
Price upon request.
rosieli.com
Astrid Chandelier
by Four Hands
$1,450
perigold.com

Crowning Glory Metal No. 2

Pendant by
Time to cast some light Mark D. Sikes
on the subject! The newest $1,036
hvlgroup.com
pendants and chandeliers
do more than just illuminate
a foyer or salon: Sculptural,
elegant pieces also add a
welcome dose of statement-
making style to your home.
Snap up any of these
glamorous options for
a truly electric design
GINKGO BLOSSOM CHANDELIER: BL ACK & STEIL

scheme. —H.M.
NEO -VANIT Y PENDANT: CHELSIE CR AIG;

Afloat by
Luca Nichetto
$4,405
lladrocontract.com

Iriss Suspensions by
Maylis et Charles Tassin
Price upon request.
theinvisiblecollection.com

44 ELLE DECOR
SHE always PREFERRED THE CLASSICS.

E X C E P T W H E N S H E d i d n’ t .

THE MODERN GODDESS

FEATURING THE KINTSU® BATH COLLECTION
W H AT’S N E X T

THE AGENDA
What’s shaping our tastes and topping
our to-do lists this month.

The bar at Kyoto’s

Jean-Georges at
the Shinmonzen, a
restaurant designed
by architect
Stephanie Goto.
EAT: KYOTO

HAI, CHEF!
Though Kyoto, with its plentiful temples,
is widely considered the seat of Japan’s
cultural heritage, the city has modernist
bona fides too. For evidence, look no
further than ELLE DECOR A-List architect
Stephanie Goto’s elegant scheme for
Jean-Georges at the Shinmonzen,
the restaurant in a new boutique hotel
designed by Tadao Ando. Local craft
traditions, like the space’s shikkui plaster
walls in deep crimson, and the raw beauty
of natural materials, as in the bar made
from a single slab of heavily veined Rosso
Antico stone, inspired Goto’s interiors.
“We wanted to keep everything very
simple” but offer “whimsy and an
unexpected quality” on a closer look,
says Goto. Mission accomplished.
— Asad Syrkett theshinmonzen.com

The new Dries

Van Noten
beauty and
accessories
boutique in the SHOP: PARIS
French capital.

FINISHING
TOUCH
Belgian fashion icon Dries Van Noten’s designs are
widely coveted. But Van Noten is also known for his
impeccable interior design taste, as at his neoclassi-
cal home in the Belgian countryside (with interiors
by Gert Voorjans) and his shops on Paris’s Quai
Malaquais. The new Dries Van Noten beauty
DRIES VAN NOTEN: JEAN - PIERRE GABRIEL

and accessories boutique, which opened in

THE SHINMONZEN: SHUN JI YOSHIDA;

July beside the brand’s men’s store, brings that lush,

gimlet sensibility to a space dedicated to hand-
bags, scarves, perfume, and more. Swathed in
alabaster and ocher velvet, the boutique occupies
a ground-level space in a 17th-century hôtel
particulier that was once home to the prince of
Transylvania. Today, visitors can find Van Noten’s
wares in an environment that combines a 1970s
Venini glass chandelier and a 17th-century Flemish
tapestry with ease. We would expect nothing less
from a master of the mix. — A.S. driesvannoten.com

46 ELLE DECOR
W H AT’S N E X T

VISIT: PARIS

CHEZ
AMOUR
This month, one of Paris’s most famed
addresses—the Left Bank home of song-
writer Serge Gainsbourg and his lover,
actress and singer Jane Birkin, who
died in July—will open to the public
as a house museum. Their daughter,
Charlotte, who owns the home,
spearheaded the project. She kept
the space, which she has renamed
Maison Gainsbourg, exactly as it
was when her parents lived there, down Jane Birkin and
to the Gitanes butts in the ashtray. A Serge Gainsbourg
nearby annex houses exhibition space, at their home
a bookshop, and a piano bar and café. in Paris.
—Karen Burshtein maisongainsbourg.fr

BOOKMARK
A guest suite (left)
and a sitting area
at New York City’s
DAZZLE
THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL: DOUGL AS FRIEDMAN; BOOK COVER: IL AN RUBIN
Fifth Avenue Hotel,
designed by
Martin Brudnizki. ’EM
The late jewelry designer David
STAY: NEW YORK CITY
MAISON GAINSBOURG: MICHEL L AURENT/GET T Y IMAGES;

Webb believed that jewelry is an art

form, as critical to culture as painting
and architecture. The Art of David

TO THE MANOR REBORN Webb: Jewelry and Culture, by

the jewelry historian Ruth Peltason,
chronicles Webb’s wide-ranging
Tourists with a taste for Gilded Age New York will soon alight upon the Fifth Avenue Hotel, references, from a 19th-century
opening this month, from the ELLE DECOR A-List firm Martin Brudnizki Design Studio in collabo- chrysanthemum print by the
ration with Flâneur Hospitality. Formerly the site of the home and carriage house of one Ms. Japanese artist Hokusai, which
Charlotte Goodridge, herself a doyenne of 19th-century hospitality, the project marries two Webb reimagined as a coral brooch,
spectacular buildings—the Mansion, a five-story Renaissance-style palazzo by McKim, Mead & to Gustav Klimt’s painting Tree of
White dating back to 1907, and the Tower, a new 24-story glass column designed by Perkins Life, which inspired a necklace
Eastman and PBDW Architects. With 153 guest rooms and suites outfitted in Brudnizki’s signa- of the same name. Most exciting for
ture sumptuousness (think hand-pleating done by Parisian craftsmen) and a food and beverage the architecturally inclined might
program under the direction of chef Andrew Carmellini—the force behind local favorites like be Webb’s interpretation of the
Locanda Verde and Carne Mare—this corner of NoMad is elegantly poised for a return to form. Guggenheim Museum as a banded
— Sean Santiago thefifthavenuehotel.com gold cuff. — Camille Okhio rizzoli.com

48 ELLE DECOR
 Lumens.com
Super Table Lamp by Memphis Milano • Ripple Lacquer Mirror by Jonathan Adler
Roly Poly Armchair by Driade • Chess Table by Moooi • Pilastro Stool by Kartell

Lumens is proud to support authentic design as a member of Be Original Americas.

 KELLI FONTANA ADVERTISEMENT

Tommas Carrara
Ceramic Wall Tile
This ceramic wall
tile has a truly
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with its raised, fl uted
surface, which can
lay both horizontally
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Patina Siren
Mirror Wall Tile
Add a touch of
vintage glamour to
your space with a

ELEVATE
light grey mirrored
surface featuring a
lightly weathered,
patina fi nish
and a confetti of

YOUR SPACE
cloudy sparks.

Renowned Minnesota-based interior designer Kelli Fontana has

handpicked a selection of stand-alone stunners for The Tile Shop’s
latest collection that will effortlessly transform any space. Drawing
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vate your senses.

CAPTIVATING ELEGANCE
The large-scale Tommas tiles possess a commanding presence that
is both crisp and dreamlike. These tiles are designed to make a
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their generous dimensions, they create an immersive and awe- Patina Gilded
Mirror Wall Tile
inspiring visual experience. When installed in the
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UNLEASH CREATIVITY mirrored tiles add an
For those seeking to create an enchanting powder bathroom, the intriguing element to the
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TIMELESS PATTERN
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Visit your nearest Tile Shop showroom to view the Kelli Fontana
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0 ;ѴѴb om|-m-ķmѴ- uor;u Ѵou;m1;-1;ķ-rѴ;v;-1_-m7 7;m7;
POINT OF VIEW

An obsession with a rare vintage lamp helps one writer gain

an understanding of glamour in the social-media age.
By Thessaly La Force Illustrations by Mar tin Cole
MIRROR, CHAIR, L AMP: COURTESY OF 1STDIBS;

R
ecently, I bought an apartment that will require a light,” and his command of it deserves reverence. Partly
PL ATE: DEA/A . DAGLI ORTI/GET T Y IMAGES

complete renovation. Nothing fancy, though it won’t
be cheap, and as with such endeavors, I’ve found it’s
become an all-consuming project. For instance, I am now
fixated on acquiring a vintage Uchiwa pendant lamp made
by the midcentury German industrial designer Ingo Maurer.
Crafted from bamboo fans, fabric, and paper and resembling
the open petals of an anemone f lower, the lamp is a
beautiful relic of the 1970s. Maurer was called “the poet of
because his Uchiwa lamps have not been produced since
1984 and partly because of the frailty of their materials, they
are expensive. According to the Parisian dealer I’ve been
emailing with, the lamp I want costs more than a year’s
worth of childcare for my toddler.
Much of its allure has to do with my having first
glimpsed the lamp in the apartment of a New York fashion
designer I had long admired. This was many years ago,

52 ELLE DECOR
POINT OF VIEW

but the impression it made on me still runs deep. She was

throwing a dinner party. There were white anemone flow-
ers on the table, and she had set out her mother’s silver. The
designer’s taste was so idiosyncratic and singular that any
attempt on my part to imitate it was likely a grave mistake.
And yet, the Uchiwa lamp’s beauty took on a possessive
quality for me, the way many glamorous objects do. It felt
as though my appreciation for it empowered me with a
sense of ownership over it.
But as I became familiar with the lamp’s existence,
I realized that it had, in recent years, taken on a new dimen-
sion. It often appeared in the bland homes of wealthy people.
Unlike the apartment of the quirky fashion designer, these
interiors were conventionally tasteful and carefully consid-
ered. Which isn’t always a good thing. As the late critic
Dave Hickey once wrote: “Bad taste is real taste, of course,
and good taste is the residue of someone else’s privilege.”
What had become of glamour? Of the way an object (or
a dress or a room) can create a beguiling sense of sophisti-
cation and worldliness that makes us believe that simply by
being in its presence, we’ve been elevated out of the tedium
of everyday life? Glamour had become almost moribund in
its consistency. Every wealthy home looked like everybody
else’s wealthy home—Instagram-ready, with Ettore Sottsass
mirrors and Pierre Jeanneret chairs and Ginori china and
Japanese coffee kettles. I was reminded of the time I worked remembered—if at all—as having ended in poverty, in an
for a billionaire whose townhouse was filled with original imaginative need they could not themselves gratify.”
pieces by Claude Lalanne and Charlotte Perriand. She com- The luxury market has also changed radically. Too
plained to me of the musty smell of her Pierre Paulin sofa. many objects are mass-produced and mass-marketed. What
Hadn’t that been part of its appeal? No. I soon discovered we’re mostly paying for these days is a brand or a logo and
that for her, its worth was in its connection to the past, in its rarely much else, something Dana Thomas explored in her
ability to telegraph exclusivity and rarefied taste. While 2008 book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.
working for her, I got the sense that it was boring being so So we revel in the past. We worship craftsmanship. We
extraordinarily rich. With money, no gratification was left elevate the creator. We cling to nostalgia. I’m sure if I could
unsated. Collecting hard-to-find, one-of-a-kind antiques afford an Uchiwa, I would still buy one. But I was able to let
offered an escape, however temporary, from the ennui. it go once I recognized what was behind my own obsession.
I’ve long suspected that we live in a moment that is a I, too, wanted something that felt touched by history. That
little too enamored with the past. As W. David Marx writes seemed as though I had discovered it and not stumbled onto
in his 2022 book Status and Culture, the internet has made it after a late night f lipping through the internet on my
it harder for the cool things to stay cool. “Retromania,” as phone. People have long filled their homes with antiques.
Marx labels it, reveals our exhaustion with the endless cycle But beauty—like glamour—is defined by more than just
of the new that our hyperconnected age produces. It’s all nostalgia. As I continue my hunt for the right lamp, I’m
too easy to figure out—with a scroll through Pinterest or a curious to see how much my affection for both can detach
quick search on 1stDibs—what that 1960s cocktail table is from the past. For now, my new apartment’s dining room
called, who designed it, where to buy it, and for how much. holds a sense of possibility. Whatever I end up choosing will
The past is too accessible, which, in turn, destroys whatever ultimately come with its own narrative, one that bridges
KET TLE: GET T Y IMAGES

opportunities we have to create in the present. Marx quotes
the literary critic Harold Bloom, who wrote that “strong
poets keep returning from the dead . . . . How they return
is the decisive matter, for if they return intact, then the
return impoverishes the later poets, dooming them to be
the distance between the past and present in ways I won’t
fully know until it’s there, an object firmly embedded in the
texture of my life. ◾
Thessaly La Force is a writer living in New York City.

54 ELLE DECOR
@ELLEDECOR_COLLECTION
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Photographs by Sharon Radisc h
St y led by Jocelyn Cabral

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58 ELLE DECOR
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60 ELLE DECOR
 Patek Philippe
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Price upon request.
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SHORTLIST

5. Uri by
Marcantonio
Raimondi
Malerba
A life-size resin
gorilla, originally
from a movie set,
he represents
my love for the
seventh art.

1. Armani/Fiori
Our new book commemorates
20 years of our singular
approach to floral design.
rizzoliusa.com

2. Rose & Co
Manchester
This lavender water
was created by a
British aviator who
6. Notorious
My favorite film. I consider it to
dedicated it to
be pure elegance, thanks to
his daughter.
the style and perfection of
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman.

7. Antoinette
Vanity

GIORGIO Art Deco has inspired

many of my [furniture]
collections. I love its
rich purity of shapes.

ARMANI
With a new autobiography
armani.com

out this year, the maestro of

Italian minimalism is opening
3. Pantelleria up to his fans. Here, he tells

PORTR AIT: COURTESY OF GIORGIO ARMANI; T- SHIRT: FABRIZIO MARCO NANNINI;

My home here is the only place
where I truly feel I can “turn off” from
stress. The Italian island is great
for reconnecting with nature.
us what keeps him inspired.
MOVIE POSTER: GET T Y IMAGES; STILL LIFE: ALESSANDRO VASARI/ARCHIVIO
As told to Sean Santiago
VASARI/MONDADORI PORTFOLIO VIA GET T Y IMAGES

4.
Cashmere T-Shirt
Over time, blue has 8.
become my uniform. Giorgio
It’s a classic, vibrant color Morandi’s
that I find calming. Still Lifes
armani.com They convey
deep feelings and
sensations despite
being humble
assortments of
everyday objects.

62 ELLE DECOR
TA LE N T

FOLLOWING
THE THREAD
How one fashion insider is
turning a textile brand into the
world’s first house of design.

Fabric samples
from Sahco’s special-
edition colorway
for the Shigeru
upholstery line.

RIGHT: Designer
Bengt Thornefors.

FAR RIGHT, FROM

TOP: A chair uphol-
stered in a Shigeru
textile; a swatch of
Sahco’s Vivus textile.
sahco.com

WITH THE HEELED-BOOT GAIT OF AN INDIE
rocker and a perfectly imperfect mane
of black hair tumbling past his shoul-
ders, Beng t T hornefors seems a n
un li kely champion of upholster y-
weight textiles. But looks, as everyone
knows, can be deceiving.
When the entrepreneurial Swede
career under Acne Studios cofounder
Jonny Johansson and later making
his way to Saint Laurent, in the mid-
2010s, with then creative director Hedi
Slimane, himself no stranger to an alt-
rock mindset.
But interiors held a special appeal,
and Thornefors’s proven ability to
gallery, interweaving the fabrics—
tailored into garment bags and hang-
ing from rolling racks—with fine art
photographs and furnishings from
Swedish institution Svenskt Tenn. “I
was a bit nervous. I’ve heard people
say Jonathan [Olivares, the space’s
architect] can be a bit hard to please,”
CHAIR: ELIZ ABETH HELTOFT; PORTR AIT: CASPER SE JERSEN

was appointed creative director, in
2022, of the nearly-200-year-old textile
bra nd Sa hco, he was tasked w ith
mining the tension between past and
present to create collections worthy
of a true textile maison. As cofounder
of the bedware brand Magniberg—
which, like Sahco, is now owned by
Kvadrat—Thornefors brings with him
decades of expertise in the fashion
industr y, work ing ea rly on in his
move seamlessly between worlds made
Kvadrat’s CEO, Anders Byriel, take
notice. “Anders is interested in art, he’s
interested in culture,” Thornefors says.
“I think he wants to learn more about
other points of view.”
A fresh perspective is exactly
what Thornefors offers. For Sahco’s
first press presentation at Kvadrat’s
New York Cit y headqu a r ters, he
approached the space as a white-box
Thornefors says. After the event, how-
ever, Olivares texted his approval.
The new collections have a heri-
tage sensibility—decorative florals are
a Sahco mainstay—refracted through
a contemporary Scandinavian lens.
T hor nefors poi nts to l i me-g reen
embroidery on a jet-black background,
for example. “At the end of the day, we
sell more than fabric,” he says. “We sell
emotions.” —Sean Santiago

64 ELLE DECOR
LOCKET
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Platform Bowls, Yin Yang Bowl Set by Tortuga Forma, $93.60. White Double Sphere Bottle Vase by Giselle Hicks, $650. Coal Black Diamond with Funnel Vase by Giselle Hicks, $450.

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 BUILDER

COUTURE COOKING
The kitchen can be much more than merely
a room for dishing.
By Julie Lask y

In a San Francisco
townhouse designed
by Nicole Hollis, the
DOUGL AS FRIEDMAN

marble-on-marble-on-
marble kitchen, in pale
purple-veined Breccia
Capraia, makes a
case that restraint
can be overrated.

ELLE DECOR 67
BUILDER

D
aniele Busca tells of a client who went hunting
for rugs to match the artwork in his new kitchen.
The New York City–based creative director of
Scavolini USA, the Italian design company, was impressed
that the painting hanging near the client’s island was a
mustard yellow Picasso. “A Picasso in the kitchen,” he
marveled. “That’s glamorous.”
Long ago, the kitchen was the embodiment of domestic
servitude—plain, functional, and unobtrusive. Now it’s
evolved into the centerpiece of home life, taking on the
coloring, materials, and textures of the room into which
it flows. Today’s kitchen may be arrayed along a living room
wall or suddenly pop up when you turn a corner of the
family room. Either way, it’s expected to put its best face
forward. This means out with naked appliances, in with
statement lighting, rugs, and furnishings.
Nothing helps a kitchen blend with its surroundings
more than cabinetry. Appliances and gadgets are given
millwork facades or enclosed within modules, as are
nonculinary kitchen features like desks and wet bars.
Busca says Scavolini offers custom containers for kitchen
Luxe floor-to-ceiling
appliances that are up to eight feet wide with retractable features and finishes
doors. The most popular use is to hide the army of inven- like brushed brass
and chiseled stone
tions that are helping us cook: the juice extractors, vacuum combine to level up
sealers, air fryers. this Los Angeles kitchen
by Mary McDonald.
“A lot of our clients don’t even want to see the sink (For more of this house,
anymore,” says Nina Magon, whose Houston design studio see page 90.)
specializes in streamlined, modern looks. In many cases,
sinks along with refrigerators are banished to the pantry so effect was to make the appliances look more like sculpture.
that her kitchens look more like entertainment spaces. “You For Chicago designer Summer Thornton, kitchen
don’t know if the room is the kitchen,” Magon says. glamour is about unexpected colors and materials. She did a
Rich materials contribute to a feeling of modern luxury, red lacquer kitchen with oak cabinetry and plum-colored
whether they are natural stones treated to become more stone—hues that not only evoke dishes like pasta with
stain-resistant and durable or engineered surfaces that are tomato sauce but also disguise any messes. In another of
long on practicality and charm. Onirika, for example, a her creations, a jade green Officine Gullo range takes up an
collection of marble-inspired surfaces that Magon designed entire central island. Thornton has even put hand-painted
for Cosentino, can be vein-matched to create a f loating de Gournay wallpaper on backsplashes, behind glass. “It’s
appearance when the material is wrapped around a water- totally fun to make sure that the kitchen is speaking to the
fall countertop. “You can’t do that with natural stone,” rest of the house,” she says.
Magon says. But even small gestures can make a kitchen more
Glamour also means distinctiveness. The Hamptons- glamorous. Thornton suggests adding art (it doesn’t have
based designer Timothy Godbold says he’s developed an to be Picasso) “or something that doesn’t necessarily feel
allergy to generic kitchens—like the ubiquitous white mar- that it belongs in the kitchen. I’m always for bringing in
ble model lit by a trio of pendants over the island. “I don’t something old: a bowl, a vase, a lamp.” The goal is less
want my client ripping out their kitchen in five years when starkness, more texture.
the trend is over,” he says. For a recent project, Godbold used But whatever you do in your is-that-really-a-kitchen?
marble with a camouflage pattern to cover the refrigerator, kitchen, make sure the vent is working properly. “There’s
SAM FROST

freezer, and ovens. “I’m really influenced by military style,” nothing worse than walking into a house and smelling
he says. (He even published a book on that subject.) The food,” Godbold says, “no matter how good it is.” ◾

68 ELLE DECOR
BUILDER

SmartTouch
Kitchen Faucet
by Jason Wu
Add lightness
to the countertop
with this matte
white fixture.
$1,343
brizo.com

Fenimore Pendant
by Ariel Okin
This light blue
pendant from
Mitzi beautifully
illuminates a
kitchen island.
$390
lightology.com

Dual-Zone
Wine Column
True Residential’s new
Bluestone colorway
makes any bottle of
HAUTE IN HERE
Turn up the heat with these glamorous
vino shine.
$14,000
true-residential.com
kitchen upgrades. By Helena Madden

Costa Emerald Tile

Set some under-the-
sea vibes with these
glossy green tiles.
$21 per square foot.
tileshop.com

Berkshire
Brass Quartz
Subtle brass veins
bring understated
elegance to a
kitchen surface.
Price upon request.
cambriausa.com

Tipped A+B Tiles

A backsplash with
these graphic red-
and-white tiles makes
a striking statement.
$30 per square foot.
pophamdesign.com

70 ELLE DECOR
 Asha Tiles by
Lisa Hunt
Play with pattern
by mixing and
matching these
graphic tiles.
From $75 per
square foot.
annsacks.com

La Grande 2000
Classique
Need a pop of color?
Look no further than
this coral range.
Price upon request.
leatelierparis.com

MyBespoke
Refrigerator Panel
Personalize your
kitchen from top
to bottom with
customizable
electronic panels.
$300
samsung.com

Cabinet Pulls by Thom Filicia

These architectural hardware
pieces add classic style to
your cook space.
From $90 each.
thomfiliciaforaccurate.com
Aquazzura Cooking Range
Fashionistas will gravitate
toward this chic collaboration
with Aquazzura.
Price upon request.
officinegullo.com

Purist Suspend
Kitchen Faucet
Even dish washing
is dreamy with a
faucet that hangs
from the ceiling.
$2,505
kohler.com
AQUA ZZUR A R ANGE: MAT TIA AQUIL A

Brass Designer
Refrigerator Panel
Nothing says glitz Timeless Classics
and glam quite like Hardware
a brass refrigerator. Collection
From $3,500. These chic cabinet
monogram.com pulls pair well with
all paint colors.
Price upon request.
emtek.com ELLE DECOR 71
 « R AY U R E S J U M E L L E S » WA L L C O V E R I N G

Auteur & Éditeur.

WA L L PA P E R , FA B R I C , WA L L C O V E R I N G , L’ A C C E S S O I R E / / S H O W R O O M S : N E W Y O R K / / 9 7 9 3 R D AV E N U E S U I T E 6 1 1 , N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 2 2 / /
LOS ANGELES // 8687 MELROSE AVENUE - SUITE B650 LOS ANGELES, CA 90069 // SOUTH FLORIDA // 2901 SIMMS ST - UNIT H HOLLYWOOD, FL 33020 // WWW.ELITIS.FR
 Is it any wonder that the homes in this
issue are so memorable—and personal?
After all, they belong to a pair of sports
superstars, a consummate host, a man-
about-town, and more. Come on in.
ELLE DECOR 73
Sue Bird (left) and Megan
Rapinoe in the dining
room of their modern
pied-à-terre, which
was designed by Mark
Grattan, in Manhattan’s
SoHo neighborhood.
Wallcovering by Élitis;
artwork by Xavier Kelley.

OPPOSITE: In the living

room, the sofa, which
is upholstered in a linen
by Dedar and leather by
Milton Sokol, the cock-
tail table, and the mirror
are all custom by
Mark Grattan. Rug by
Hechizoo Textiles.
For details, see Resources.

74 ELLE DECOR
Mark Grattan crafts a bold retreat
for two globe-trotting sports
superstars come home to nest.
By Katherine Bernard Photographs by Kelly Marshall Styled by Tessa Watson
 n 2021, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe, one of the
most decorated power couples in sports, found
themselves in pursuit of a new kind of ornamen-
tation: the interior design of their first home
purchased together. For the former W NBA
guard and the reigning U.S. Women’s National
Team champion, the winning tip came from
Rapinoe’s stylist, Karla Welch, who put her on to
ELLE DECOR A-List designer Mark Grattan.
Rapinoe slid humbly into Grattan’s Instagram DMs:
“My fiancée and I just got a place in SoHo and need HALP!”
The place in question was a 1,650-square-foot, two-bedroom
pied-à-terre with high ceilings, sweeping views onto the
city, and a rooftop terrace to boot. “New York is a really
special place to both of us,” Rapinoe says. “Sue is from here.
It feels like the place where we fell in love—it feels like
home in so many ways.” Grattan was charmed by the soccer
star’s effusion of emojis. “I typically let people sweat a little
bit,” he says. This time, he responded the same day.
Grattan knew he’d need “HALP!” with the project, his first
residential design commission outside his own Mexico City
home. (That apartment, in a Luis Barragán–designed building,
was on ELLE DECOR’s April 2021 cover.) To that end, he brought
on friend and frequent collaborator Chloe Pollack-Robbins, of
Curious Yellow Design, to manage the job and keep things
progressing on an admittedly compressed timeline. “I’m more
of a storyteller,” Grattan says. “Chloe understands my glitches,
my triggers, my mess. It was very easy to go into this with her.”
Rapinoe and Bird were traveling constantly throughout
the process, primarily living at their home in Seattle. When
they were present, they recognized the strong teamwork at
hand. “Athletes and artists aren’t that different,” Bird says.
“There is a process. And you can’t skip steps, you just can’t.”
The biggest undertaking was the open-plan kitchen,
which Pollack-Robbins, while looking for utensils for take-
out during a meeting early on, noticed was missing func-
tional drawers. By the time the Brazilian quartzite was
installed—a variation called Crystal Tiffany used for the
countertops, backsplash, and a custom-built island—even
the drawer pulls were bespoke.
A deep emerald statement ceiling makes the living area
feel organically grand, like living under a spectacular leaf.
An illuminated lilac, like the underside of a sunlit petal, was
Grattan’s unexpected choice for the home’s transitional
areas, the hallway to the private quarters and the stairwell
leading up to the roof. Rapinoe was initially wary, but the
palette, while hard to grasp in theory, is beautiful in execu-
tion. “I wanted to try a moment where it doesn’t work on
paper,” Grattan says. “It works only in real life.”
The project also allowed the designer the space, both
literally and figuratively, to test new production methods.
76 ELLE DECOR
He successfully fabricated and installed a freestanding bent
mirror behind the living room’s custom sectional sofa, a feat
he’d been attempting for years. He also pulled in new pro-
cesses from his work with Solange Knowles’s creative firm
Saint Heron, collaborating with the artist Quincy Ellis of
Brooklyn-based Fracture Studio to develop a resin material
for the base of the triangular-glass-topped dining table, off-
set by an orange velvet banquette with leather piping.
The minty monochrome primary bedroom features
wall-to-wall carpeting of which the bespoke bed seems a
piece, rendered in velvet and chrome and dressed in a bed-
spread made from fabric remnants of Grattan’s upholstered
stool collection for the gallerist Cristina Grajales. Built-in
nightstands and another instance of mirrored wall offer
discreet functionality and a sense of grandeur at scale. The
en suite bathroom is a peaceful dual-showerhead sanctuary
inspired by Grattan’s recent travels in São Paulo, swathed in
aqua-tinted Sicis mosaic tiles with floor-to-ceiling alumi-
num shades dressing the windows.
This apartment provides a homecoming for the couple
in another important way: Bird retired from the WNBA
in 2022, and Rapinoe announced in July that this year’s
Women’s World Cup would be her last. Grattan’s work sets
the stage for this exciting new chapter in their lives. “When-
ever I think about retirement and the future, I think about
our friends and family sitting on the couch, sharing joy with
each other,” Rapinoe says.
Bird echoes the sentiment, nodding to their one
nonnegotiable—to install a television in the living room
where they can gather and watch live sports. For two of the
world’s greatest athletes, Grattan was game. ◾
Interior designer
Mark Grattan in
the living room.
The kitchen countertops,
backsplash, and custom
island are in Brazilian
quartzite. Barstools by
Mario Bellini for Cassina;
Rombini tiles in Glossy
Brun by Ronan & Erwan
Bouroullec for Mutina;
fittings by Kohler.
78 ELLE DECOR
 LEFT: In the powder room,
the wallcovering is by
Élitis. Custom sink in red
travertine; fittings by
Studio Piet Boon for
Cocoon. Vintage mirror,
Fenestella.

BELOW: The stairwell to

the roof terrace is painted
in Benjamin Moore’s
Whisper Violet. Vintage
cowhide stool; artwork
by Xavier Kelley.

OPPOSITE: In the guest

room – cum – office, the
sofa is by Flemming Busk
in a Dedar fabric. Rug
from R & Company;
vessel by Nur Ceramics.

“New York is a really

special place to both of
us. It feels like home in
so many ways.”
—Megan Rapinoe
 In the primary bedroom,
the bed, bedding, night-
stand, and mirror are
custom. Rug by Fabrica;
oak armchair from
R & Company; walls
painted in Antique Jade
by Benjamin Moore.

80 ELLE DECOR
The primary bathroom’s
walls are covered in glass
tiles by Sicis. Showerheads
by Studio Piet Boon for
Cocoon; vintage chair
by F.A. Porsche for Ycami.
A custom églomisé fire-
place anchors the living
room of an apartment
designed by Pierre
Gonalons on Paris’s
Right Bank. Leather
sofa and armchair by
Pierre Gonalons for
Duvivier Canapés;
vintage armchair in
a Métaphores floral;
walls painted in Rusling
by Little Greene;
artwork by Jacques
Villeglé. For details,
see Resources.
A rising
design talent
lends brilliant
luster to an
apartment
in Paris.
By Ian Phillips
Photographs by Stephan Julliard

ELLE DECOR 83
 couple of years ago, the owner
of th is apa r tment was i n
France’s rural Auvergne region
during the quiet week between
Christmas and New Year’s. She
took to browsing real estate ads
online, deciding to visit some
of her discoveries on her return
to Paris. “I had no intention of
moving,” she insists. “It was
simply out of curiosity.”
That was until she stepped
inside this 1,900-square-foot duplex in a 19th-century
building on the city’s Right Bank. She’d been drawn by a
photo of an almost psychedelic motif of interlocking
cubes in metal that lined the walls of the stair hall. “It
looked like something from a 1970s nightclub,” she says.
What appealed to her more, however, was the apartment’s
atmosphere. “It gave me a really good vibe,” she recalls.
“It was very cozy, like a cocoon.”
Everything was in working order, and the layout largely
suited her. Nonetheless, she called upon one of France’s
hottest designers, Pierre Gonalons, for an update. He had
recently made a splash with a series of strikingly staged
exhibitions of his furniture and lighting collections in grand
historic buildings in Paris and Milan. This September, he
opens his first U.S. showroom, in New York’s D&D Building,
which he will share with French wallpaper manufacturer
Atelier d’Offard. His creations are often characterized by an
interplay of circles or curvaceous forms, as well as the use
of finely crafted materials. A series of lights, for instance, is
made from Murano glass with a speckled effect known as
macchia su macchia, achieved by an age-old technique.
For the owner of this apartment, Gonalons was the
obvious choice to oversee its transformation. “There’s
always something a little classical to Pierre’s work, which I
thought would work well within this context,” she says. “We
weren’t starting with a blank canvas.” Her main requests
were to add a touch of warmth and a dose of color, and to
create an aesthetic link between the staircase and the apart-
ment’s other eye-catching visual element—a drawing room
wrapped in a hand-painted, panoramic de Gournay wallcov-
ering called Japanese Garden. “While the existing decor
was certainly fun, it lacked coherence,” notes Gonalons.
The project was in keeping with his creative interests.
“I like it when there’s a bit of fantasy,” he says, “and I also
love playing with things that are already in place. I’m a firm
believer that you don’t need to get rid of everything when
redecorating an interior.”
Gonalons maintained the kitchen more or less as it was,
keeping the stained-oak millwork and black marble counter-
tops and repainting some walls a pale blue. He also opted not
84 ELLE DECOR
Designer Pierre
Gonalons in the
drawing room,
in front of a
de Gournay
wallcovering.
to change the gold-flecked runner on the stairs. In the draw-
ing room, he installed a low-slung, L-shaped arrangement
of ottoma ns a nd a r mcha i rs covered i n a d ia mond-
motif fabric of his own design. For Gonalons, it has not only
a slightly 1970s optical effect but also conjures a couple of
legendary interiors. One is Diana Vreeland’s riotously red
Manhattan living room, and the other a room swathed in
Indian printed cottons in Lee Radziwill’s London home.
The de Gournay paper also inspired the palette. In the
primary bedroom, he hung a honey-toned fabric on the
walls. Elsewhere, he chose largely subtle paint colors,
including a hint of pink in the sitting room.
Gonalons’s most significant addition comes by way of
the fireplace. The chimney breast was clad in large églomisé
glass panels backed with a gradation of copper, brass, and
silver leaf. The hue gets lighter from bottom to top. “My idea
was to give the impression that a fire had burned the mirror
at the bottom,” he relates. The metallic squares also provide
a perfect bridge between the aurous tones of the wallpaper
and the patterned staircase.
The rest of his intervention was largely decorative, the
primary bathroom being the only space he reconfigured, in
response to a request for a tub. Yet he more than made his
mark by incorporating a host of his own creations.
For his client, the result is an extension of the home’s
original coziness, with what she calls “a certain eccentricity
to the decor.” These days, she likes nothing better than curl-
ing up in the drawing room with tea. “When I first came, I
thought I’d be living in a nightclub,” she says with a laugh.
“In reality, things have turned out rather more sedate.” ◾
Gonalons designed the
custom banquette, twin
tables, and chairs in the
dining room. Pendants by
Staff Leuchten; artwork
by Pierre Seinturier.
In the kitchen, black- OPPOSITE: The walls of
stained oak cabinets the stair hall are sheathed
are topped with black in polished and patinated
Marquina marble. brass plate in an interlock-
Fittings by MGS Taps. ing cube pattern.

86 ELLE DECOR
“I’m a firm believer that you don’t need to get rid
of everything when redecorating an interior.”
–Pierre Gonalons

In a guest bedroom, OPPOSITE: A bathroom’s

the custom bed is in a walls and ceiling are tiled
Métaphores fabric and in mirrors, which reflect
dressed in linens by a vintage opal glass
Hermès. Nightstand by pendant. Walls painted
Pierre Gonalons for in Mid Azure Green by
Moissonnier; rug by Little Greene.
Pinton; artwork by William
Wegman.

ELLE DECOR 89
A historic California estate gets
a va-va-voom redo at the hands
of designer Mary McDonald.
By Camille Okhio Photographs by Sam Frost Styled by Amy Chin
The family room of Jeremy
Johnson and Jerrod Blandino’s
home in Bel-Air, California,
which was designed in 1927
by architect Gordon Kaufmann
and renovated by designer
Mary McDonald and architect
Mike Holtz. Custom sofa and
19th-century French armchairs
in Schumacher fabrics; cocktail
table and stools by Chaddock;
curtains of a Pierre Frey fabric.
For details, see Resources.

ELLE DECOR 91

ore is more, as the adage goes. That’s certainly always been
the motto of beauty entrepreneurs Jerrod Blandino and
Jeremy Johnson. The California-based founders of the
makeup brand Too Faced have always relished excess, so
perhaps it’s not surprising that for them, one home wasn’t
enough—even when it is a maximalist mansion designed to
their hearts’ content. Their 17,000-square-foot home in
Corona del Mar, featured in ELLE DECOR in March 2019, has
Chanel tweed upholstery and a malachite-hued library. It is
where they spend their workweek running Toy Box Brands,
a beauty brand lab they started after selling Too Faced to
Estée Lauder in 2016.
In early 2020, the couple bought a second home, in
Bel-Air. After living in it for a year, they reached out to the
designer of their first house, ELLE DECOR A-List talent
Mary McDonald, whose fashion background lends her
interiors a chic sense of color and pattern. “We create
products that inspire people to live their best lives, so we
need our own environments to make us feel like we are
living that dream,” Blandino says. “Mary captures that
desire so beautifully.”
While they work in Orange County, the couple’s social
life tends to be in Los Angeles. They wanted a second home
where they could be closer to their friends, a place to relax
and entertain. Their plan was to build a house from
the ground up, but then they discovered the Bel-Air estate.
The original owner was the lawyer of Alphonzo Bell, the
founder and developer of the neighborhood. “Instead of pay-
ing for his services, Bell gave his lawyer his pick of Bel-Air’s
600 original acres,” Blandino explains.
And what beautiful acreage he chose, with views of
rolling hills cascading down to the beach. Landscape archi-
tect Patricia Benner planted a grove of California sycamores
The tea room is envel- OPPOSITE: The dining room’s
oped in a custom wall- oak table and Minton-Spidell
paper by Iksel. Custom chairs were designed for the
slipper chairs in a Casa project. Custom rug by PFM;
Branca stripe; Dennis & 19th-century chandelier
Leen armchairs in a from Z. Sierra Antiques
and Decorative; sconces
from KRB NYC; molding by Ralph Pucci; curtains of
painted in Brittany Blue a Holland & Sherry linen;
by Benjamin Moore. painting by David Bell.

ELLE DECOR 93
94 ELLE DECOR
“I am a classicist at heart,
so I tried to retain as
many original details
as possible.”
—Mary McDonald

The Jasper sofas in

the living room have
custom slipcovers in
a Schumacher perfor-
mance linen. Armchair
(left) by Baker; cocktail
table by Maison Jansen;
rug by Patterson Flynn;
custom pink wall paint
by Benjamin Moore;
artwork (right) by
Karina Gentinetta.
ABOVE LEFT: Bert Stern
photographs of Marilyn
Monroe hang at the end of
the entry gallery. Louis XVI
bergères; pendants by
Formations; wallcovering
by de Gournay.

ABOVE RIGHT:
The antique pendant in the
front stair hall is by Carlos
de la Puente. 19th-century
Empire table; custom
runner by Codimat.
RIGHT: In Blandino’s dress-
ing room, graphic tiles by
Walker Zanger play off the
shape of the octagonal cen-
ter island. Custom pendant
by Paul Marra; sconces by
Jonathan Browning Studios;
lamp by Visual Comfort;
antique Venetian mirror.

OPPOSITE: A custom
oak bed pairs with floors
painted to mimic parquet
in the primary bedroom.
Vintage French swivel
chairs; custom wallcover-
ing by Gracie; curtains
of a Schumacher moiré.

96 ELLE DECOR
on the great lawn to add to the mature sycamores already
on-site. Forest pansy redbuds and crepe myrtles rustle
outside the living room windows, while Chinese elms and
hollyhocks surround the fountain in the garden. “We take a
walk every morning and night throughout the property,”
says Johnson. “It’s the most private, magical, beautiful piece
of land in Bel-Air,” Blandino adds.
Inside, the feeling of quiet grandeur continues. If the
couple’s first home was a pure Francophile fantasy, with
bold colors and prints in virtually every room, their Bel-Air
home is quite calm by comparison. It was built in 1927 by
the architect Gordon Kaufmann (who later helped to design
the Hoover Dam) in an architectural blend of Regency,
French country, and Italianate influences. McDonald pre-
served historic features like moldings, wood paneling, and
geometric floors. “I’m a classicist at heart, so I tried to retain
as many original details as possible,” the designer says.
That’s not to say the renovation wasn’t extensive. The
primar y bedroom suite was completely redone and
expanded, and the kitchen needed an overhaul. Original
elements that couldn’t be saved were replicated or reinter-
preted, most impressively the floors in the primary suite,
which were hand-painted to look like neoclassical parquet.
The bedroom transforms from neutral-toned retreat by day
to sparkling oculus by night. “The room has the most
incredible views,” says Blandino. “You can see the twinkling
lights of the city out of the windows.”
Much louder is the Madeleine Castaing–inspired TV
room, doused in rich raspberry hues with leopard walls. But
most of the rooms speak more softly. The main living room
has walls in the couple’s favorite seashell pink (Too Faced’s
signature hue). “Instead of their preferred velvet sofas
I persuaded them to try slipcovers, which they thought of
as old-fashioned, in the living room,” says McDonald. She
showed them a picture of what she had in mind—upholstery
in a Chanel boutique—and that was the clincher. Now, box-
pleated, cream-colored covers provide worry-free seating
and can be removed to reveal pink upholstery underneath.
In this way, McDonald created a home that feels like a
getaway—as romantic as it is relaxed. Casual has never
looked more glamorous. “This house has a warm and cuddly
energy that lets us take a pause and be social,” Blandino
says. “We even hosted a birthday party for our friend
Madonna in the greenhouse!” ◾
For a pair of high-octane clients,
designer Michelle R. Smith
fashions a Manhattan oasis
that’s as luxurious as it is cool.
By Max Berlinger Photographs by William Jess Laird Styled by Bebe Howorth
In the living room of Simon
Huck and Phil Riportella’s
West Village duplex
apartment, which was
designed by Michelle R.
Smith, the mohair sofa is
by Bellini and the chrome
and mirrored glass
cocktail table is by John
Mascheroni. Stool by
Andrianna Shamaris;
custom rug by Patterson
Flynn. For details, see
Resources.

ELLE DECOR 99
 uring that strange and surreal
pandemic spring of 2020, Simon
Huck and Phil Riportella needed to
move. The reason will be familiar
to many couples who suddenly
fou nd t hem selves work i ng at
home during that time: Zoom. “We
moved because of his Zoom voice,”
says Huck, a quippy public relations
and marketing guru who famously
works with the Kardashians and is
a familiar presence on their TV show and social media feeds.
From across the room, Riportella, cofounder of the fra-
grance and candle line Snif, issues a protest and then
laughs. “I am loud,” he admits. The gregarious couple met
seven years ago on Tinder and were married last November
at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles in front of a guest list
filled with names like Chrissy Teigen, Hailey Bieber, and
Kim and Kourtney. But on a recent summer’s day they were
at home in New York, showing off their renovation.
When they started their hunt for a new place, Ripor-
tella scoured Zillow, leaving no stone unturned. SoHo,
TriBeCa, the Upper East Side, Chelsea—you name the
Manhattan neighborhood, they looked. For Huck, having
room to spread out (and rooms with doors) was key. When
Riportella finally found the solution, it was where they least
expected it: right in their own backyard, in the same Green-
wich Village building where they already lived.
Simon Huck (left) and
Phil Riportella in their
living room. The
artwork is by Paul B.
The ground-floor duplex had everything they were look-
ing for—an ample 2,500 square feet, three bedrooms, and a
wraparound terrace. The prewar building had all its charm
intact but had received a thorough refresh a decade earlier
by COOKFOX Architects and won awards for its sustain-
able design. The apartment delivered the best of both worlds:
the private and spacious feel of a townhouse with the ameni-
ties of a luxury apartment building (gym, pool, doorman).
It was not a surprise, then, that designer Michelle R.
Smith was brought in to turn the house into a home. The
ELLE DECOR A-List talent worked on the couple’s last apart-
ment, their two homes in Montauk on New York’s Long
Island, Huck’s office, and his brother’s house in Toronto.
“Michelle’s our boss—we work for her,” Huck jokes. “And
she came in and said, ‘I see what we’re going to do.’ ”
Smith’s vision was to transform the West Village duplex
with touches that are minimal but warm, streamlined yet
sensual. While she retained the existing floor plan, Smith
suggested practical and stylish tweaks throughout. For exam-
ple, she leaned heavily on blond oak wood as a means of cre-
ating visual cohesion, using it not just for flooring but for
millwork ranging from the office’s open shelving to the den’s
wall of hidden storage where it conceals a TV. Meanwhile, a
new walk-in closet recalls a Madison Avenue boutique in
miniature. “I wanted this house to feel like an exquisitely tai-
lored Loro Piana coat,” she says. “We used all these cashmere
colors, like cream and white, along with the oak.”
Furniture adds a layer of texture to play off the surfeit
of wood. In the living room, a sofa in plump oatmeal mohair
is paired with a mirrored cocktail table. A green velvet set-
tee and marble plinth side table in a corner of the dining
room is where Huck takes his morning coffee.
W hile neutral tones largely dominate, there are
moments of drama to befit a pair of Real Housewives devo-
tees. Take the Yves Klein–blue rug that runs up the stairs
and anchors both Huck’s office and the primary bedroom.
Huck had seen a runner in that color at a friend’s house and
suggested it to Smith, who then (pun intended) ran with it.
Art adds yet another dimension and was handpicked by the
couple with an eye to works that are colorful and abstract.
The kitchen, too, is a showstopper, with bold black-and-
white-veined marble used not only on the countertops but
also for the open shelves, which serve as the room’s focal
point. Subway tiles creep up the walls and onto the ceiling,
while a vintage stove is another showpiece. All this for a
couple who admit they rarely—okay, fine, never!—cook.
Huck and Riportella love to entertain, and their wrap-
around terrace creates the perfect setting. At their parties,
the brass table in the adjoining dining room overflows with
catered delights. That relaxed attitude “is a Michelle thing,
which I love,” Huck says. “Put your glass down, spill on it, stain
it, let it be lived in. The more wear and tear, the better.” ◾
In the dining room, a
Brian Thoreen table is
surrounded by Giancarlo
Valle chairs. Vintage
Swedish chandelier from
Galerie André Hayat;
custom rug by Patterson
Flynn; artworks by
Ammon Rost (left) and
Michael Angel.

ELLE DECOR 101

102 E L L E D E C O R
“I wanted this house to feel like an
exquisitely tailored Loro Piana coat.”
–Michelle R. Smith

Huck prefers to sit on a

custom daybed while
working in his home office.
Vintage glass side table;
custom millwork by the
Hoti Group; painting by
Jonathan Todryk.

OPPOSITE: In the kitchen,

Calacatta marble was
used for everything from
the shelving to the sink
and floor. Vintage stool
re-covered in wide-wale
corduroy; ceiling light by
Lumfardo.
BELOW: A bright blue OPPOSITE, TOP: In the OPPOSITE, BOTTOM:
custom Patterson Flynn stairwell, the artwork is by The dressing room’s
wool rug edged in leather Joe Henry Baker. Pendant green plywood chair
grounds the primary by Coil & Drift; sheer is by M.A.H. Custom
bedroom in color. Bed Roman shades in a millwork and sconces
by Cassina; bedding by Rogers & Goffigon fabric. by Studio MRS.
Garnet Hill; vintage
Holophane sconces.

104 E L L E D E C O R
 Wherever hostess extraordinaire
Rebecca Gardner goes, good
times follow. Her New York City
pied-à-terre is no different.
By Kate Bolick Photographs by Annie Schlechter Styled by Bebe Howorth

106 E L L E D E C O R
The bedroom of Rebecca
Gardner’s apartment in a
1926 converted hotel in
Greenwich Village origi-
nally designed by Emery
Roth. Custom bed canopy
in a Busatti linen with
Samuel & Sons fringe;
antique Swedish chande-
lier from John Derian;
walls painted in Churlish
Green by Farrow & Ball.
For details, see Resources.

he day is Thursday, maybe Friday, in Manhattan, and it’s
early evening. Late summer, sultry. The week before, your
phone had pinged with a text invite to a cocktail party at
Rebecca Gardner’s Greenwich Village apartment. You’d
only met her once, on an airplane. But the way she’d made
that chance encounter sparkle inspired you to cut off work
early and be here now, pulling open an ornate gold door on
Fifth Avenue. That the 15-story prewar building began life
as a hotel is fitting. Gardner is hospitality incarnate.
This welcoming spirit is why, just over a decade ago, at
the age of barely 30, Gardner founded Houses & Parties, an
events and interior design collective dedicated to her two
greatest passions. Indeed, she so missed hosting during the
pandemic that she added an e-commerce arm to her web-
site, stocking it with anything “devotees of the elegant and
unusual” might need for entertaining (and then some—as
Rebecca Gardner
in her living room,
in a Carolina
Herrera dress.
she likes to say, “I specialize in nonessentials”). When
Gardner isn’t overseeing her 10-person firm and warehouse
from her spacious home base in Savannah, Georgia, she’s
here at her “teeny” pied-à-terre near Washington Square
Park, staging parties for clients, or just for herself.
Getting off the elevator, you hear the sexy, nostalgic
strains of the band Pink Martini wafting down the hallway.
The door is unlocked. Gardner greets you, smiling and
cracking a joke, takes your bag, and sets it by the refrigera-
tor. The word teeny has more letters than there are rooms
in this apartment—just one little bedroom, a modest sitting
area, and a kitchen so small you could blink and miss it.
There is also a closet reimagined as a full bar, from which
the bartender hands you a vintage crystal tumbler filled
with the house drink, Earl Grey Bourbon Punch, icy cold.
When asked to describe the place, Gardner says with-
out skipping a beat, “turn-of-the-last-century brothel with a
really fabulous madam,” then adds, laughing, “it is, after all,
the size of a nipple.” The sitting room is painted “dirty lav-
ender,” the two windows dressed in “egg-yolky” silk faille,
and the f loor covered in paprika carpet. At sunset, “the
room looks like it’s on fire, and you feel like a great-looking
leg might kick out from the curtains at any moment,” she
says. Gardner hung the somber oil portraits of distant
Eggleston ancestors (the photographer William Eggleston
is a cousin) because “the South Texas gilt frames are so
serious that they’re hysterical.” On a night like this one,
40 guests happily mingle, elbow to elbow. For more formal
seated dinners she unfolds a table for eight in the bedroom.
Gardner has staged events for as long as she can
remember. Growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, she
planned her birthday parties all year long, piling on ideas
until each year’s theme was more extravagant than the
last, from “Pink Pigs, Green Frogs, BBQ Picnic Parade” to
“Fashion Show Wedding,” which featured a local TV news
broadcaster as M.C., friends stalking the catwalk (her par-
ents’ driveway), and the birthday girl herself appearing at
the end, a vision in white polyester.
Once a maximalist, always a maximalist, though over
time Gardner has arrived at a few rules for her private fetes.
Strong drinks, low lighting (“I avoid overhead lights like the
plague”), simple and delicious foods (“never canapés—too
fussy—just bar snacks and cheese puffs”), no paper napkins
ever, and—above all—comfort. Also, per the late, great
writer Julia Reed, an element of danger: pitchers of martinis
for empty stomachs, or adding attractive single guests for
a competitive game of “pass the orange.” Guest list? Come
one, come all (she keeps a running list of potential invitees
on her phone). And how does she take a measure of a party’s
success? “When someone calls in the morning and tells me,
‘I had a screaming blast, I feel like hell,’” she says. Which
happens every morning after, like clockwork. ◾
“I make sure to have enough booze and music,
and a sense of humor in case something goes
wrong. A wad of cash helps too.”
–Rebecca Gardner

In a corner of the living

room, a Room & Board
table morphs from a desk
by day to a drinks table by
night. Lamps, John Rosselli
Antiques with shades
by Carolina Irving &
Daughters; rug, Stark.

E L L E D E C O R 109
REBECCA
GARDNER’S
PARTY 101
Text your invite
“Instead of a printed
invitation, I usually send
invites by text. I use
Hi-Note to send them, a
stylish messaging app. I’m
always meeting people
I want to invite. Come one,
come all—that embodies
New York City to me.”

Choose your evening

“I always host my parties
on a Thursday or a Friday.
People are more likely
to let loose at the end of
a workweek.”

Host with finesse

“The real key to a party is
to make sure guests are
comfortable. That takes
work. You need to make
thoughtful introductions
and help guests feel
special, with drinks in
their hands.”

Be prepared
“Parties are live theater.
I make sure to have
enough booze and music,
and a sense of humor in
case something goes
wrong. A wad of cash
helps too.”

Nibbles to noshes
“I don’t like canapés
(too messy). I have all
these French baskets,
and I fill them with bar
snacks, cheese, things
like that. If guests linger,
order pizza.”

110 E L L E D E C O R
OPPOSITE: An entry closet
is now a bar. Slipcover in
a Brunschwig & Fils fabric;
tray, lamp, ice bucket,
and glassware, Houses &
Parties; Albertus Seba
snake prints, Peridot
Antiques.

ABOVE: Lavender walls

contrast with saffron silk
faille curtains in the living
room. Louis XV daybed in
a Manuel Canovas fabric;
custom cocktail table by
Corbin Cruise; antique
tole pendant; rug, Stark;
1830s portraits of
Gardner’s ancestors;
wall paint, Benjamin
Moore’s Honey Hut.

RIGHT: The antique

Imari plates, glassware,
and flatware are from
Gardner’s Houses &
Parties.
 In the foyer of a fire-
resistant residence in
Montecito, California,
designed by Jamie Bush with
help from architecture firm
Shubin Donaldson, the stair-
well is painted a custom
yellow, and the artwork is
by Wang Guangle.

OPPOSITE: In the main living

area, the custom sofa is by
Brambila’s Drapery. Cocktail
table by Stahl + Band;
armchair by Orior; jute rug
by Armadillo; artwork by
Zhang Huan. For details,
see Resources.

112 E L L E D E C O R
After a catastrophic blaze, an art
collector couple taps Jamie Bush
to design a home that is built to last.
By Camille Okhio Photographs by Yoshihiro Makino Styled by Tessa Watson
n a ruggedly picturesque hilltop abutting the Los Padres
National Forest in Montecito, California, stands a home
that’s a monument to self-sufficiency. But it wasn’t always
that way. The owners, a worldly husband and wife with a
passion for collecting art, had made peace with their mid-
dling Spanish Mediterranean–style house when the devas-
tating Thomas Fire of 2017 tore through the property and
forced a new beginning.
The couple had intended to rebuild their previous home
as it was when designer and architect Jamie Bush came on
board, pushing them to consider a different direction entirely.
To accommodate building laws, Bush suggested a house
with the exact same footprint but pared back, with hyper-
functional interior architecture. It would be constructed,
with the help of architecture firm Shubin Donaldson, from
hard-wearing materials, most notably fire-resistant standing
seam metal cladding on the exterior. “We wanted to heed
the lessons of nature by collaborating with the environment
and our immediate surroundings,” the wife says.
“The idea for a fire-resistant home came out of the con-
cept of The Machine in the Garden,” Bush says, referring to
Leo Marx’s 1964 book about industrialization’s mark on the
natural world—a favorite in architecture programs. “We
thought about the romanticized aesthetic of the man-made
within a bucolic setting.” The designer looked at outbuildings
and sheds as references, structures that often go unnoticed
but prove to be most useful. “I love the idea of industrial,
modest materials that recede into the landscape,” he says.
The cladding speaks to this idea perfectly, though the
interiors are just as thoroughly considered. In the primary
suite, the wide-plank white American oak used on the floors
proved too delicious to stay underfoot; Bush specified it for
the walls in the same dimensions as the flooring planks,
creating an interior that disappears once you’re in it.
The color palette for the home was decided on equally
rational-yet-inventive terms. “The couple are educated
aesthetes, with an extensive art collection,” Bush says.
“When we talked about infusing color into the house, we
looked at the early modernism of the Bauhaus. That led us
to primary colors.” An Alexander Calder piece (now the
focal point of a blue powder room) served as a springboard
114 E L L E D E C O R
for color testing. “We were inspired by how Charlotte
Perriand embraced the transformative potential of primary
colors and found expression in their abstraction,” the wife
adds. Large swaths of yellow, red, and blue appear on
walls and in furnishings on every floor of the house. Tan-
gerine explodes in tiny doses throughout, while a faded
peach stone was chosen for the primary bathroom to match
the white oak.
Calder isn’t the only iconic artist represented in the
couple’s collection. A white lounge chair by Dutch Bauhaus
architect Gerrit Rietveld sits in the primary suite beside
German lighting designer Ingo Maurer’s scrunched paper
Lampampe. Mexican designer Pedro Friedeberg’s hand chair
waves at them from across the room; Japanese artist Hiroshi
Sugimoto’s photographs hang above the headboard.
In the living room, a sofa by Polish-Brazilian mid-
century designer Jorge Zalszupin separates the space from
the dining area, with works by Louise Nevelson nestled
around it. A painting by Wang Guangle welcomes guests
into the foyer, while a work by Nathalie Du Pasquier draws
the eye down the ground floor hallway leading from the
kitchen to the children’s rooms.
The centerpiece of the home is the perforated metal
staircase that punctuates all three floors, powder-coated in
a bright raincoat yellow. When the low ceiling at the top-
floor landing proved structurally unsound for a skylight,
Bush looked to artist Olafur Eliasson’s 2003 installation at
the Tate Modern, The Weather Project, for inspiration, com-
missioning a half-dome light fixture that looks like the sun
when reflected off the mirrored ceiling.
And while fire may be well represented in the design of
the home, it doesn’t define the property. Earth is ever-
present in local plantings like manzanita, native buckwheat,
and sage, grown alongside California lilac to emphasize
Marx’s machine-in-the-garden concept. Air circulates easily
throughout the house, and with the windows open, more
than just the California breeze comes in. “You hear croak-
ing frogs and birds at all times of the day,” says Bush.
The sea, just steps away, completes the circle, making
the home self-contained in more ways than one. “It is a part
of the landscape,” the wife says. ◾
The dining area opens
onto the terrace through
floor-to-ceiling sliding
doors. Bleached Balinese
hardwood table; vintage
swivel chairs; pendant
by Ingo Maurer.
116 E L L E D E C O R
“I love the idea of industrial,
modest materials that recede into
the landscape.” —Jamie Bush

On the pool terrace,

the dining table is by
Bkon Millwork, and the
chairs are by Robina
Benson. Sculpture by
Yasuhide Kobashi; land-
scape architecture by
Franz Design Studio.
 The media room’s B&B OPPOSITE, BOTTOM:
Italia sectional is in a A custom limestone center
Sidro fabric. Gae Aulenti table by DenHolm grounds
cocktail table; Gaetano the primary bedroom
Pesce armchair; rug lounge. Dan John
by Armadillo; curtains Anderson stools; Vico
of a Fabricut fabric; Magistretti chandelier;
photographs by rug by Marc Phillips;
Ron Church. artwork by Hai Bo.

118 E L L E D E C O R
LEFT: Sydney Harbour ABOVE: A Nathalie
paint in Blue Bottle Du Pasquier painting
covers the powder hangs at the end of
room walls. Pendant a hallway leading to
by Massimo Vignelli; the children’s rooms.
Hermès basket.
ABOVE: White oak floor-
ing is applied as paneling
in the primary bedroom.
Custom bed by Brambila’s
Drapery; nightstand by
Disc Interiors; photo-
graphs by Hiroshi
Sugimoto; sculpture
by René Letourneur.

LEFT: The primary bath-

room is treated in lime-
stone, oak, and plaster.
Sconces by Apparatus;
vanity by D&J Custom
Benchworks; chair by
Nickey Kehoe; stool (left)
by Bzippy; artwork by
Prabhavathi Meppayil.

OPPOSITE: In the primary

bathroom, a ceramic and
glass side table by Ben &
Aja Blanc stands in front
of an oak barrel tub by
Wood & Water. Room
divider, Hostler Burrows;
ceramic planter by
Timothy Doyle.
ELLE DECOR 121
RESOURCES
Items pictured but not listed are
from private collections.
COVER
Top: Bode, bode.com. Pants: Lemaire,
us.lemaire.fr. Shoes: Nike x Comme
des Garçons, nike.com.
Top: Harago, @harago_. Pants:
Balenciaga, balenciaga.com.
Shoes: Maison Margiela, maison
margiela.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE 24: Wallcovering: De Gournay,
degournay.com.
PAGE 28: Fixture: Spark Lighting,
sparklights.com.
GAME CHANGER
Interior design: Mark Grattan,
@markgrattan.
PAGE 74: Wallcovering: Élitis, elitis.fr.
Artwork: Xavier Kelley, xray-visions
.com. PAGE 75: Sofa fabric: Dedar,
dedar.com. Sofa leather: Milton
Sokol, miltonsokol.com. Rug:
Hechizoo Textiles, hechizoo.com.
PAGE 77: Barstools: Cassina, cassina
.com. Tiles: Mutina, mutina.it. Fittings:
Kohler, kohler.com. PAGE 78: Sofa
fabric: Dedar. Rug: R & Company,
r-and-company.com. Vessel: Nur
Ceramics, nurceramics.com. PAGE 79:
Wallcovering: Élitis. Fittings: Studio
Piet Boon, pietboon.com. Mirror:
Fenestella, fenestellany.com. Paint:
Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore
.com. Artwork: Xavier Kelley.
Rug: R & Company. PAGE 80:
Rug: Fabrica, fabrica.com.
Armchair: R & Company.
122 E L L E D E C O R
The entrance
hall of a Paris
apartment
designed by
Pierre Gonalons
(page 82).
Paint: Benjamin Moore. PAGE 81:
Tiles: Sicis, sicis.com. Showerheads:
Studio Piet Boon.
GILTY PLEASURE
Interior design: Pierre Gonalons,
pierregonalons.com.
PAGES 82–83: Armchair fabric:
Métaphores, metaphores.com. Paint:
Little Greene, littlegreene.eu. PAGE 84:
Wallcovering: De Gournay, de
gournay.com. PAGE 86: Fittings: MSG
Taps, msgtaps.com. PAGES 88–89:
Bed fabric: Métaphores. Bedding:
Hermès, hermes.com. Rug: Pinton,
pinton1867.com. Paint: Little Greene.
THE BELLE OF BEL-AIR
Interior design: Mary McDonald,
marymcdonald.com. Architecture:
Mike Holz, mikeholzarchitect.com.
Landscape architecture: Patricia
Benner, benner-design.com.
PAGES 90–91: Sofa fabric:
Schumacher, schumacher.com.
Cocktail table and stools: Chaddock,
chaddockhome.com. Curtain fabric:
Pierre Frey, pierrefrey.com.
PAGES 92–93: Wallpaper: Iksel, iksel
.com. Chairs: Dennis & Leen, dennis
andleen.com. Chair fabric: Casa
Branca, casabranca.com. Armchair
fabric: Jasper, michaelsmithinc.com.
Side tables: KRB NYC, krbnyc.com.
Paint: Benjamin Moore, benjamin
moore.com. Chairs: Minton-Spidell,
minton-spidell.com. Chandelier:
Z. Sierra Antiques and Decorative,
zsierra.com. Sconces: Ralph Pucci,
ralphpucci.com. Curtain linen:
Holland & Sherry, hollandandsherry
.com. PAGES 94–95: Armchair: & Fils, brunschwigfils.com. Tray,
Baker, bakerfurniture.com. Slipcovers: lamp, ice bucket, glassware, plates,
Schumacher. Rug: Patterson Flynn, flatware: Houses & Parties, houses
pattersonflynn.com. Paint: Benjamin andparties.com. Daybed fabric:
Moore. Curtains: Schumacher. Manuel Canovas, manuelcanovas
PAGES 96–97: Photographs: Bert .com. Cocktail table:
Stern, bertstern.com. Pendants: Corbin Cruise, corbincruise.com.
Formations, formationsusa.com. Rug: Stark. Paint: Benjamin Moore,
Wallcovering: De Gournay, benjaminmoore.com.
degournay.com. Runner: Codimat,
codimatcollection.com. Tiles: Walker THROUGH THE FIRE
Zanger, walkerzanger.com. Pendant: Interior design: Jamie Bush + Co.,
Paul Marra, paulmarradesign.com. jamiebush.com. Architecture:
Sconces: Jonathan Browning Studios, Shubin Donaldson, shubindonaldson
jonathanbrowninginc.com. Lamp: .com. Landscape architecture:
Visual Comfort & Co., visualcomfort Franz Design Studio, franzdesign
.com. Wallcovering: Gracie, studio.com.
graciestudio.com. PAGES 112–113: Sofa: Brambila’s
Drapery, brambilas.com.
NEUTRAL PARTY Cocktail table: Stahl + Band, stahl
Interior design: Michelle R. Smith, andband.com. Armchair: Orior, orior
studiomrs.com. furniture.com. Rug: Armadillo, armadillo-
PAGES 98–99: Stool: Andrianna co.com. PAGE 115: Pendant: Ingo
Shamaris, andriannashamarisinc.com. Maurer, ingo-maurer.com.
Rug: Patterson Flynn, pattersonflynn PAGES 116–117: Dining table: Bkon
.com. PAGE 101: Table: Brian Thoreen, Millwork, bkonmillwork.com. Chairs:
brianthoreen.com. Chairs: Studio Robina Benson, robinabenson.com.
Giancarlo Valle, giancarlovalle.com. PAGE 118: Sofa: B&B Italia, bebitalia
Chandelier: Galerie André Hayat, .com. Armchair: Gaetano Pesce,
galerieandrehayat.com. PAGE 102: gaetanopesce.com. Curtains:
Millwork: Hoti Group, hotigroup Fabricut, fabricut.com. Rug:
.com. Artwork: Jonathan Todryk, Armadillo. PAGE 119: Limestone
jonathantodryk.com. PAGE 103: table: DenHolm, den-holm.com.
Ceiling light: Lumfardo, lumfardo.com. Stools: Dan John Anderson, danjohn
PAGES 105–106: Rug: Patterson Flynn. anderson.com. Rug: Marc Phillips,
Bed: Cassina, cassina.com. Bedding: marcphillipsrugs.com. Paint:
Garnet Hill, garnethill.com. Sconces: Sydney Harbour Paint Company,
Holophane, holophane.acuitybrands shpcompany.com. Basket: Hermès,
.com. Artwork: Joe Henry Baker, hermes.com. PAGE 120: Bed:
joehenrybaker.com. Pendant: Brambila’s Drapery. Nightstand: Disc
Coil + Drift, coilanddrift.com. Interiors, discinteriors.com. Sconces:
Shade fabric: Rogers & Goffigon, Apparatus, apparatusstudio.com.
rogersandgoffigon.com. Vanity: D&J Custom Benchworks,
djcustombenchworks.com. Chair:
SLEEP, EAT, PARTY, REPEAT Nickey Kehoe, nickeykehoe.com.
Interior design: Rebecca Gardner,
Stool: Bzippy & Co., bzippyand
housesandparties.com.
company.com. PAGE 121: Side table:
PAGE 107: Bed linen: Busatti,
Ben & Aja Blanc, benandajablanc
busatti.com. Fringe: Samuel & Sons,
.com. Tub: Wood + Water, woodand
samuelandsons.com. Chandelier:
water.com.au. Room divider: Hostler
John Derian, johnderian.com. Paint:
Burrows, hostlerburrows.com.
Farrow & Ball, farrow-ball.com.
PAGE 108: Dress: Carolina Herrera,
carolinaherrera.com. PAGE 109: CORRECTION
Table: Room & Board, roomandboard In our Summer issue, the feature
.com. Lamps: John Rosselli Antiques, “Calculated Risk” (page 122)
johnrosselli.com. Shades: Carolina misidentified a Richard Neutra house
Irving and Daughters, ci-daughters in Los Angeles that was bought by
.com. Rug: Stark, starkcarpet.com. designer David Netto. It is the
PAGES 110–111: Slipcover: Brunschwig Ohara House.
ELLE DECOR (ISSN 1046-1957) Volume 34, Number 6, September 2023, is published monthly
except for combined issues in December/January/February and June/July/August, by Hearst,
300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 U.S.A. Steven R. Swartz, President & Chief Executive
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×
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MY K I N D O F RO OM

ON CLOSER
INSPECTION
Gio Ponti’s use of pattern at
Villa Planchart sparks joy for
interior designer Delia Kenza.

Gio Ponti’s
Villa Planchart
in Caracas,
Venezuela.
villaplanchart.net

“I discovered Villa Planchart, the house that Italian architect Gio Ponti built for the car dealer Armando Planchart and
his wife, Anala, while I was researching Italian midcentury design. The house in Caracas, Venezuela, is now owned and
maintained by a foundation in the homeowners’ names and has been kept in its original condition since 1956. As I grew
MAT THIEU SALVAING

increasingly familiar with Ponti, his work became more than just beautiful. His buildings are testaments to how a well-
designed space should feel and function. I love his use of marble to make patterns on the floor, fusing the interior and
exterior spaces to create a home that suited its owners but also reflected his vision. That and his use of color and stripes
on the ceiling allow for depth, texture, and playfulness without forsaking elegance.” —As told to Camille Okhio

124 E L L E D E C O R