Displaying posts from April, 2024

It’s like I say week in week out. If you have to drag yourself into work on a weekend it helps if it’s somewhere stylish. PBS Studio by Patricia Bustos Studio.

Dating back to 1871, Ellsworth rests serenely along a tranquil country road in northwestern Connecticut. Originally a sprawling 1,200-acre dairy farm, its current thirty-three-acre expanse of woodlands and fields preserves the narrative of its evolving past. Having admired the property for years, the renovation by Hendricks Churchill was carefully considered. Today, Heide Hendricks and Rafe Churchill call it home, honouring its history through ongoing enhancements, including maintaining hay fields and repurposing the dairy barn.

The apartment on Rue du Cirque in Paris’ chic 8th arrondissement by architectural designer Isabelle Stanislas is a marriage of style and substance, of bespoke and vintage. From its grand entrance hall to the sleek, modern kitchen its emphasis is on contemporary luxury living while celebrating the historical shell that contains it.

Folly Farm was originally a 17th century cottage transformed between 1906 and 1912 into an iconic Arts and Crafts era home and landscape by the additions of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. The garden was divided into a series of inward-looking ‘rooms’ separated by yew hedges, including a sunken pool garden, a flower parterre, entrance courtyard, barn courtyard and a Dutch canal. As part of an extensive restoration of house and gardens, we were asked to rethink the gardens and surrounding landscape, and develop a site-wide masterplan that would bring the outdoor environment into the 21st century. A new wind garden of ornamental grasses connects the historic gardens to the surrounding landscape, while the walled kitchen garden, previously unemployed, is now a fertile acre of food and flower-producing beds, borders and pergolas. A new entrance driveway brings guests past ancient oaks and a new wildlife lake set in newly instated wildflower meadows. The refurbished watercourse leads to a new sculpture lawn with access from the house provided by new ziggurat steps inspired by the Lutyens originals, all with the aim of integrating the gardens and grounds and establishing an authentically rural sense of place.
Once again I am floored with how absolutely stunning the gardens are of this home, created by Dan Pearson Studio. Seemingly effortless, wild and whimsical, yet so thoughtful and decisive. This is landscape design at its finest. Photos: Jason Ingram.

Here, the choice was made to open up all the windows to maximise the amount of light but also the number of views to the outside world. The kitchen is completely open to the living room and stands out for its colour, but is discreet in that it hides all its cupboards, offering a kind of extension to the living room, reinforced by the presence of a large mirror above the worktop, which plays with the volumes and has fun blocking the view with a play of reflections. The bedroom has been designed as a glazed hut set into the flat. Made entirely of rough-hewn planks, it provides just enough space for a double bed, a dressing area and a discreet passageway to the bathroom, which is dressed in pink and marble. Playing with perspectives and offering unobstructed views, while at the same time highlighting the uniqueness and specificity of each room, makes the small square metre definitely more lively and livable.
Marianne Evennou does it best, taking a tiny 35m2 apartment in Paris’ 1st arrondissement, and making it seem much larger. Bright, colourful and full of style. Photos: Grégory Timsit.