This master bath in Fairfield County, CT published in atHome Magazine could have been quite sedate even though beautiful materials were selected. However, the installation of flamingo wallpaper adds a bit of humor, texture, pattern and a little pop of color to a very muted palette.
Under the arcade on Worth Avenue.
|
|
|
|
|
Last week I was in Palm Beach and noticed some wonderful black and white art in the windows of empty storefronts. It turns out the sketches were created by my friend, Ray Gindroz, architect, artist, new urbanist and principal emeritus of Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh. A little further exploration, led me to a small folio Ray created for Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach in 2007. It was fun to look at the sketches and try to find the actual sites, a bit like a scavenger hunt.
A page from the French Empire style. A bathtub for Napoleon.
This bathtub falls in the category of “work of art”. It has a tin lining with a carved stone exterior. The base is a wood molding with great patina and the gold decoration Napoleonic. In fact, this tub was designed for Napoleon himself. He was a fanatic about his personal hygiene and was devoted to cleanliness at a time (1850’s) when the average Parisian bathed 2.25 times per year. History tells us that Napoleon had a passion for hot baths and often spent more than an hour in the steamy atmosphere.
Elegance, simplicity, classicism and modernism come together in this space. The light colored textured stone walls and floor, both of the same material, against the figured marble tub creates a sense of tension; rough against smooth, light and dark, modern and traditional, minimal and complex.
