Showing posts with label Interiors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interiors. Show all posts
While in LA, I hightailed it to the Getty to see the exhibit 'Paris: Life and Luxury'
The exhibit focuses on the home life of Parisians of the 18th century -a spectacular time and the objects on display will make your mouth water.
While photographs weren't allowed in the exhibit, I was able to take a few pictures of this French Rococo Parisian room (1730-1755) from the permanent collection (much like the period rooms at the Met). Light was so important so the boiseries were painted light colors to reflect candlelight and costly mirrors were integrated wherever possible.
I'm happy to report to those naysayers, that the Getty burns the wicks of all the candles in their exhibits! If it's good enough for the Getty, it's enough reason for me!
Sorry for the lack of posts lately; I was vacationing in LA and wasn't online as much as I would have liked. Before I bring you the highlights from that trip, I wanted to share with you the interiors of the McCormick Apartments that I talked about last week.
The building has 4 massive full floor units at 11,000 SF each and 2 smaller apartments on the first floor along with accomodations for dozens of servants.
Seen above is the typical floor plan for the 4 main units and the first two photographs show the elegant oval entry foyer.
I mentioned earlier that the building luckily contains many of the original details from when it was finished in 1915; basically everything except the bathrooms. This may be in part due to the National Trust for Historic Preservation which has taken such great care of the building since buying it from the Brookings Institute in 1977 and using it as their headquarters.
The top floor apartment, famously occupied by Andrew Mellon, features numerous skylights which flood the unit with light. Above is the laylight into the foyer and one of numerous fireplace mantels.
The original butler's pantries (bigger than most studio apartments) retain the original silver safes.
Many of the interior mahogany doors still have their elegant original hardware.
The long bedroom hall still has a row of 11 beautiful cedar closets with mahogany doors, useful for storage of winter clothes while the residents would leave for the summer, abandoning sweltering DC.
I loved the hidden drapery pockets in the living room.
Light is a theme throughout the apartments. The public spaces have glass french doors and transom windows allowing light to pass room to room.
The 25'x45' living room is still as elegant as ever, in this case used as the main conference room on the 2nd floor.
Here is a photograph of Andrew Mellon taken in his living room in the McCormick in 1929.
His living room was not very comfortably furnished perhaps, but I'm sure the art collection in it was amazing; his collection formed the base for the National Gallery of Art afterall, put together while living in this very apartment!
The dining room is nearly as large as the living room at 25' x 35' and opens directly into it. I love the pedimented overdoors.
Another famous tenant was Lord Duveen, the famous art dealer, who rented the apartment below the busy and aging Mellon so that he could preview different works of art in the privacy of his own apartment building. 
Mellon returned the favor to Duveen by purchasing every work of art he had brought: 24 paintings and 18 sculptures at the cost of $21 million (1930s dollars!).
In 1941, the state department requisitioned the apartment building (due to a lack of office space in the city) from the McCormick estate and leased it to the British Embassy. Later in 1950 the building finally left the McCormick hands and was sold to the American Council on Education. Above - plasterwork in the library.
The servants quarters are open to the main apartments but split the high 14' tall ceilings into 2 levels with an upper and lower floor with tiny bedrooms opening off a miniscule corridor.
The 2 smaller apartments on the first floor have recently been renovated and are offered to rent as the National Trust doesn't require the entire building.
I love how they have respected the historic mouldings while adding more efficient modern lighting.
Living in the McCormick wasn't cheap, as one would expect. The main apartments contained 6 bedrooms and 4 baths as well as the public spaces and would set back the renters $15,000 a year (later dropping to $12,000 a year during the great depression).
I mentioned earlier that the building luckily contains many of the original details from when it was finished in 1915; basically everything except the bathrooms. This may be in part due to the National Trust for Historic Preservation which has taken such great care of the building since buying it from the Brookings Institute in 1977 and using it as their headquarters.The top floor apartment, famously occupied by Andrew Mellon, features numerous skylights which flood the unit with light. Above is the laylight into the foyer and one of numerous fireplace mantels.
The original butler's pantries (bigger than most studio apartments) retain the original silver safes.
Many of the interior mahogany doors still have their elegant original hardware.
The long bedroom hall still has a row of 11 beautiful cedar closets with mahogany doors, useful for storage of winter clothes while the residents would leave for the summer, abandoning sweltering DC.
I loved the hidden drapery pockets in the living room.
Light is a theme throughout the apartments. The public spaces have glass french doors and transom windows allowing light to pass room to room.
The 25'x45' living room is still as elegant as ever, in this case used as the main conference room on the 2nd floor.
Here is a photograph of Andrew Mellon taken in his living room in the McCormick in 1929.
His living room was not very comfortably furnished perhaps, but I'm sure the art collection in it was amazing; his collection formed the base for the National Gallery of Art afterall, put together while living in this very apartment!
The dining room is nearly as large as the living room at 25' x 35' and opens directly into it. I love the pedimented overdoors.
Another famous tenant was Lord Duveen, the famous art dealer, who rented the apartment below the busy and aging Mellon so that he could preview different works of art in the privacy of his own apartment building. Mellon returned the favor to Duveen by purchasing every work of art he had brought: 24 paintings and 18 sculptures at the cost of $21 million (1930s dollars!).
In 1941, the state department requisitioned the apartment building (due to a lack of office space in the city) from the McCormick estate and leased it to the British Embassy. Later in 1950 the building finally left the McCormick hands and was sold to the American Council on Education. Above - plasterwork in the library.
The servants quarters are open to the main apartments but split the high 14' tall ceilings into 2 levels with an upper and lower floor with tiny bedrooms opening off a miniscule corridor.
The 2 smaller apartments on the first floor have recently been renovated and are offered to rent as the National Trust doesn't require the entire building.
I love how they have respected the historic mouldings while adding more efficient modern lighting.
Living in the McCormick wasn't cheap, as one would expect. The main apartments contained 6 bedrooms and 4 baths as well as the public spaces and would set back the renters $15,000 a year (later dropping to $12,000 a year during the great depression). Historic photographs of the Mellon apartment from the book 'Best Addresses' by James M Goode
Do we bloggers always need a reason to post pretty pictures? I for one don't think so. Sometimes we (or at least I) go to a museum simply to see something pretty and not neccesarily to learn anything. Is that too honest? 
If you need another reason, it's my birthday; A little pretty is required. Shown here are some period rooms and furnishings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
A bust of Louis XV at the age of 47 by Lemoyne and presented to his mistress, Madame de Pompadour (beat that portrait to your mistress, Congressman Weiner)
I show a lot of pictures of chandeliers on my blog I'm starting to realize. Would you believe I don't even own one myself?
Gilded lit a la duchesse (or flying tester bed) by Georges Jacob. Enjoy!
A bust of Louis XV at the age of 47 by Lemoyne and presented to his mistress, Madame de Pompadour (beat that portrait to your mistress, Congressman Weiner)
I show a lot of pictures of chandeliers on my blog I'm starting to realize. Would you believe I don't even own one myself?
Gilded lit a la duchesse (or flying tester bed) by Georges Jacob. Enjoy!
The evolution of a building is natural, much bemoaned by strict preservationist but it is the nature of time, particularly in cities; another topic for another day. A building which started out as the most luxurious apartment building here in Washington, DC now finds itself a distinguished office building holding none other than the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
I was lucky enough to have a tour of the building a few months ago and while many changes have been made to the interiors to accomodate offices, it's extraordinary how many of the original details have been retained. 
Construction began in late 1915 when a mansion previously occupying the site, the Belden Noble residence, was torn down (seen below). The sturdy looking 3 story mansion was built in 1880, meaning it was only 36 years old when torn down. I was just talking to a friend just recently about how some things never change; so many of us still regard many buildings as temporary, even fine specimens such as this (yet again a subject for another post).
The neighborhood, Dupont Circle, was the heart of the cultural center of the city at the time (and some may argue still is) and the new building was designed to fit into this city beautiful movement stretching across the country.
The owner of the property, Stanley McCormick, hired local architect Jules Henri de Sibour (designer of many of the most beautiful mansions in the Dupont area now housing embassies) to design a large Beaux-Art Louis XVI styled building which would house 6 luxury apartments with servant quarters for up to 40 employees.
The apartments are palatial and were rented out at prices that seem high, even today. Because of this, the tenant list reads as a veritable 'Who's Who' of the DC social scene from the era. Most famously, Andrew Mellon lived in the penthouse apartment while Secretary of the Treasury and later while building his art collection which would eventually become the foundation of the National Gallery of Art (an interesting story for my next post related to the building).
In 1941, the building was leant to the British Army for use during the war for purchasing and since has had many commercial tenants including NCARB (National Architectural Accrediting Board, Inc) , the national AIA, the American Council on Education and has been home for years now to the National Trust for historic preservation (who recently tried to unsuccessfully sell the building).
Despite having lived longer as an office building than as an apartment house, the building fortunately retains much of its early detail. One enters a rounded corner at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and 18th Street NW into a small round lobby seen here.
Unlike luxury apartment buildings in the city today, there were no shared amenities per say. Rather, the public spaces, while beautiful, are small and efficient. No swimming pool , roof deck or gym were offered to the tenants!
From the entry lobby, one stepped up into a marble lined vestibule which contained doorways into two smaller apartments, 3 seperate elevators (one for service staff) and the main staircase (which wraps around the primary elevator).
The plaster work in the lobby is astounding and even more amazing is that it has survived intact for so many years.
The marble floors are an added bonus in Washington as it gets rather hot here in the summer and this was built pre-air conditioning. However, most of the tenants were here only during the winter 'season' and would not have had to worry about this inconvienence.
The marble main staircase, while wide and gracious, is rather utilitarian with simple moldings but originally had windows opening onto an air shaft for natural light and ventilation which has since been enclosed.
The landings outside of each apartment continue the simple moldings and 12" square black & white marble floors.
Join me next week as I show details from these original apartments, a typical floor plan is below to whet your appetite!
Color photographs are my own but the historical images come from the book "Massachusetts Avenue Architecture, Volume 1" produced by the Commission of Fine Arts in 1973.
You may remember a few years ago I purchased an antique set of caned chairs and table made by Baker -see the post HERE. While the caning looked great, it wasn't very comfortable or practical and I had decided to have cushions made.
I used Aku Merali at Marketplace Interiors in Alexandria, VA. He is a well respected upholsterer here in DC used by everyone, including the White House. He recommended attaching a pad on a wooden base to the chair instead of seperate cushions and I followed the experts advice! I am so pleased with the result and couldn't be happier. The fabric I chose is Ralph Lauren Home's English Riding Velvet in Lovat -a beautiful muted turquoise.
After picking up the chairs on Saturday morning (thanks Mark!), I decided to host an inaugural launch and had some friends over for some fresh strawberry shortcake and champagne. I bought the Paisley Table Throw from Potterybarn which coordinates beautifully with the chair fabric. To go with the dessert theme, I used my Strawberries and Cream china by Royal Doulton and some Adam styled antique silver from Ms. Pixies.
I am so happy with how it all turned out and even more pleased to share my small changes with you all.
