3CAROLYNE ROEHM

A PASSION FORINTERIORS

Wrtten with Marc K ristalClarkson Potter / Publishers

New York

we want the gray to be as light as it can be, and dont want to adjust till we see the proof

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7

INTRODUCTIONpage 9

NEW YORK APARTMENT

page 14

WEATHERSTONEpage 74

WESTBURY

1-13 CR FOB16.indd 6-7 6/7/10 12:36:16 PM

7

INTRODUCTIONpage 9

NEW YORK APARTMENT

page 14

WEATHERSTONEpage 74

WESTBURY

1-13 CR FOB16.indd 6-7 6/7/10 12:36:16 PM

For centuries, connoisseurs have collected architectural drawings, and with good reason: If done well, they can be as beautiful and as moving as the designs they depict. This one, featuring the western elevation of my apartments double-height great room, elegantly articulates the spaces dimensions and details. It also helps one to understand the room by showing how its elements are organized: the wainscoting below the bookcases, the bas-reliefs above them, all framed by carefully spaced pilasters and anchored, at the center, by the replace. (By contrast, the watercolor I commissioned of the room is more interpretivethe elongated perspective makes it seem like an eighteenth-century palace.)

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 18-19 6/9/10 10:07:49 AM

For centuries, connoisseurs have collected architectural drawings, and with good reason: If done well, they can be as beautiful and as moving as the designs they depict. This one, featuring the western elevation of my apartments double-height great room, elegantly articulates the spaces dimensions and details. It also helps one to understand the room by showing how its elements are organized: the wainscoting below the bookcases, the bas-reliefs above them, all framed by carefully spaced pilasters and anchored, at the center, by the replace. (By contrast, the watercolor I commissioned of the room is more interpretivethe elongated perspective makes it seem like an eighteenth-century palace.)

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 18-19 6/9/10 10:07:49 AM

2 0 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1

factor thats no less important. I am as down-home a woman as

youre likely to meetIve cleaned up after more dogs, Ill bet, than

any human being in historybut I do love glamour. Attaching a

story to an environment is important to me, and if, at Weatherstone,

I could be Elizabeth Bennet or Scarlett OHara, in urbane New

York, with the city lights and skyline as a dazzling backdrop, the

mood should be more 1930s Myrna Loy. Sweeping down a thirty-

foot-high staircase, champagne in hand, as the jazz plays and heads

turnnow thats glamour.

In the mid-2000s, I thought it might be time for a change, and

decided to look for a place farther uptown, near Central Park

maybe Id get more exercise. After Id been searching for a bit,

an acquaintance in real estate said to me, Theres an apartment

youve got to seeits the city version of your country house. And

it wasto an extent that was really kind of freaky. In the two-story

living room, the owner had installed the same pilasters, capitals,

and classical details that made Weatherstone so indelible. The dcor

was different, of course. But the avor was virtually identical.

Who needs exercise when you can release your inner Myrna

Loy? I took the apartmentand moved a block and a half from

Sutton Place.

My furniture, by and large, traveled with me. Decoratively, the

great room is a mix of mostly eighteenth- and nineteenth-century

pieces from different parts of Europe, chosen primarily for their

forms, and enveloped by walls of dark brown velveteen. I never

do only one genre or countrythose kinds of rooms, in which

everything is correct, are too stiff and perfect for me. And though

the paintings, which are all of women, came with me from Sutton

Place, I think a man could live in the space as easily as a woman

the design is feminine but tailored, not gooey. Most of all, while

I love symmetry and order, sometimes to a faultI have a lot of

pairs of thingswhen you walk in, you feel like you can sit yourself

down and get comfortable. Maybe the best way to describe the style

is to compare it to Swedish furniture from the Gustavian period,

which I truly love. Its like good eighteenth-century Louis XVI, but

simplerless formal, less grand.

Which is important. While I do have a reverence for classical

dcor, I dont want to be a fossil in a museumone must live in ones

time and nd a way, as the saying goes, to make it new. The best way

to do it, I believe, is never to have a room that you dont actually use,

like the parlors in which our grandparents received guests, but that

otherwise sat empty. Modernity, whatever ones style, arrives with

the energy and life we bring to a space when we occupy it.

And then theres something supercial and cosmetic but also

wonderful and essential, and that is the elements: scented candles, a

crackling re, owers. I am not as happy in my glamorous great room

when theres not a bouquet of owers, because I feel that someones

not in residenceand since its my home, that someone is me.

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 20-21 6/9/10 10:08:09 AM

2 0 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1

factor thats no less important. I am as down-home a woman as

youre likely to meetIve cleaned up after more dogs, Ill bet, than

any human being in historybut I do love glamour. Attaching a

story to an environment is important to me, and if, at Weatherstone,

I could be Elizabeth Bennet or Scarlett OHara, in urbane New

York, with the city lights and skyline as a dazzling backdrop, the

mood should be more 1930s Myrna Loy. Sweeping down a thirty-

foot-high staircase, champagne in hand, as the jazz plays and heads

turnnow thats glamour.

In the mid-2000s, I thought it might be time for a change, and

decided to look for a place farther uptown, near Central Park

maybe Id get more exercise. After Id been searching for a bit,

an acquaintance in real estate said to me, Theres an apartment

youve got to seeits the city version of your country house. And

it wasto an extent that was really kind of freaky. In the two-story

living room, the owner had installed the same pilasters, capitals,

and classical details that made Weatherstone so indelible. The dcor

was different, of course. But the avor was virtually identical.

Who needs exercise when you can release your inner Myrna

Loy? I took the apartmentand moved a block and a half from

Sutton Place.

My furniture, by and large, traveled with me. Decoratively, the

great room is a mix of mostly eighteenth- and nineteenth-century

pieces from different parts of Europe, chosen primarily for their

forms, and enveloped by walls of dark brown velveteen. I never

do only one genre or countrythose kinds of rooms, in which

everything is correct, are too stiff and perfect for me. And though

the paintings, which are all of women, came with me from Sutton

Place, I think a man could live in the space as easily as a woman

the design is feminine but tailored, not gooey. Most of all, while

I love symmetry and order, sometimes to a faultI have a lot of

pairs of thingswhen you walk in, you feel like you can sit yourself

down and get comfortable. Maybe the best way to describe the style

is to compare it to Swedish furniture from the Gustavian period,

which I truly love. Its like good eighteenth-century Louis XVI, but

simplerless formal, less grand.

Which is important. While I do have a reverence for classical

dcor, I dont want to be a fossil in a museumone must live in ones

time and nd a way, as the saying goes, to make it new. The best way

to do it, I believe, is never to have a room that you dont actually use,

like the parlors in which our grandparents received guests, but that

otherwise sat empty. Modernity, whatever ones style, arrives with

the energy and life we bring to a space when we occupy it.

And then theres something supercial and cosmetic but also

wonderful and essential, and that is the elements: scented candles, a

crackling re, owers. I am not as happy in my glamorous great room

when theres not a bouquet of owers, because I feel that someones

not in residenceand since its my home, that someone is me.

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 20-21 6/9/10 10:08:09 AM

2 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 3

WWithin the classical setting formed by the architecture, there are decorative elements derived from antiquity.14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 22-23 6/9/10 10:08:10 AM

2 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 3

WWithin the classical setting formed by the architecture, there are decorative elements derived from antiquity.14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 22-23 6/9/10 10:08:10 AM

2 4 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 5

IVE LIVED IN EVERY COLOR OF ROOM ONE COULD POSSIBLY

imagine. But what makes this one succeed is a neutral

backgroundwalls of brown velveteen, set off by

architectural details nished in a very bright matte

whitethat works with every color.

While the rooms three primary fabricsdamask

on the pair of facing settees, a stripe enveloping the

sofa on the mirrored wall, and a second stripe on the eighteenth-

century Swedish side chairsseem at rst to be quite different,

the group is unied by a shared pair of tones: golden yellow, and a

taupe that has the avor of burnished silver. For me, its a bit like

designing a grouping of clothesa wardrobe for the room. Although

the various elements wear different garments, theyre all related.

The classical quality of the architecture is restated, at a more

intimate scale, in the decorative elements, especially the many

busts and sculptures. I have great affection for the white marble

gure of Diana, reputedly modeled on Madame de Pompadour,

watching over the piano, and the miniatures of historic elements,

like the handsome pair of bronze Roman columns anking the

equestrian gurenone other than Marcus Aureliusatop his

marble plinth.

The artworks, by Winterhalter, Vige-Lebrun, Van Dyck, and

others, may not be specically classical. But the women in them seem

comfortablewhich is how I like everyone to feel when theyre here.

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 24-25 6/9/10 10:08:10 AM

2 4 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 5

IVE LIVED IN EVERY COLOR OF ROOM ONE COULD POSSIBLY

imagine. But what makes this one succeed is a neutral

backgroundwalls of brown velveteen, set off by

architectural details nished in a very bright matte

whitethat works with every color.

While the rooms three primary fabricsdamask

on the pair of facing settees, a stripe enveloping the

sofa on the mirrored wall, and a second stripe on the eighteenth-

century Swedish side chairsseem at rst to be quite different,

the group is unied by a shared pair of tones: golden yellow, and a

taupe that has the avor of burnished silver. For me, its a bit like

designing a grouping of clothesa wardrobe for the room. Although

the various elements wear different garments, theyre all related.

The classical quality of the architecture is restated, at a more

intimate scale, in the decorative elements, especially the many

busts and sculptures. I have great affection for the white marble

gure of Diana, reputedly modeled on Madame de Pompadour,

watching over the piano, and the miniatures of historic elements,

like the handsome pair of bronze Roman columns anking the

equestrian gurenone other than Marcus Aureliusatop his

marble plinth.

The artworks, by Winterhalter, Vige-Lebrun, Van Dyck, and

others, may not be specically classical. But the women in them seem

comfortablewhich is how I like everyone to feel when theyre here.

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 24-25 6/9/10 10:08:10 AM

2 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 7

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 26-27 6/9/10 10:08:11 AM

2 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 7

14-73 CR NYC apt23.indd 26-27 6/9/10 10:08:11 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 8 3

This elevation, presently the back of the house but formerly one of the sides, served as the staging area for reconstruction after the re. Once the cranes withdrew, there was nothing left but compacted mud, and so we turned over the soil and put in a garden. The big trees that had been lost were replaced with a row of standard viburnum and stately silver lindens. The covered porch was initially questioned by the local historic preservation overseers, who felt that it was without legitimate precedent. But we found a dark line running along the stone suggesting that something of a porch-like nature had existed previously, so we were allowed to proceed.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 82-83 6/9/10 9:42:04 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 8 3

This elevation, presently the back of the house but formerly one of the sides, served as the staging area for reconstruction after the re. Once the cranes withdrew, there was nothing left but compacted mud, and so we turned over the soil and put in a garden. The big trees that had been lost were replaced with a row of standard viburnum and stately silver lindens. The covered porch was initially questioned by the local historic preservation overseers, who felt that it was without legitimate precedent. But we found a dark line running along the stone suggesting that something of a porch-like nature had existed previously, so we were allowed to proceed.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 82-83 6/9/10 9:42:04 AM

9 4 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 9 5

MMore than a means of circulation,

a stairway can be a habitable space and a work of sculpture.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 94-95 6/9/10 9:42:20 AM

9 4 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 9 5

MMore than a means of circulation,

a stairway can be a habitable space and a work of sculpture.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 94-95 6/9/10 9:42:20 AM

9 8 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 9 9WWeatherstones pristine double-height great room, impeccably realized by the architect, is my neoclassical fantasy brought to life.74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 98-99 6/9/10 9:42:34 AM

9 8 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 9 9WWeatherstones pristine double-height great room, impeccably realized by the architect, is my neoclassical fantasy brought to life.74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 98-99 6/9/10 9:42:34 AM

1 1 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 1 3

Id planned to have bookshelves on the main oor as well as in the gallery, but I fell in love with the antique mirror to the left of the replace, and had it copied so that I could hang one on the other side, too. Im proud of the twin chandeliers. I found a picture of one in silver, designed by William Kent for Kensington Palace, and had copies made in mahogany by a master carver. Then I bought some paint from Home Depot and went to work, adding a layer of crackling medium to create Instant Age.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 112-113 6/9/10 9:43:20 AM

1 1 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 1 3

Id planned to have bookshelves on the main oor as well as in the gallery, but I fell in love with the antique mirror to the left of the replace, and had it copied so that I could hang one on the other side, too. Im proud of the twin chandeliers. I found a picture of one in silver, designed by William Kent for Kensington Palace, and had copies made in mahogany by a master carver. Then I bought some paint from Home Depot and went to work, adding a layer of crackling medium to create Instant Age.

74-133 CR Weatherstone 20.indd 112-113 6/9/10 9:43:20 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 4 3

134-145 CR WEA_Library9.indd 142-143 6/9/10 9:46:40 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 4 3

134-145 CR WEA_Library9.indd 142-143 6/9/10 9:46:40 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 51

II have always loved painted furniture, which looks especially delightful in a bright room such as this. The English embroidery pattern on the sofa

and chairs suits what is a distinctly

Anglophilic space.

146-169 CR WEA_Morning14.indd 150-151 6/9/10 9:48:29 AM

A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 51

II have always loved painted furniture, which looks especially delightful in a bright room such as this. The English embroidery pattern on the sofa

and chairs suits what is a distinctly

Anglophilic space.

146-169 CR WEA_Morning14.indd 150-151 6/9/10 9:48:29 AM

2 7 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 7 7

The bed in one of Westburys two guest rooms, which I had crafted in New York, is upholstered in a French fabric thatlike many things in the housewas selected for its Scandinavian avor. This light-lled room is delightful to inhabit, and the writing desk and upholstered chair and ottoman help to personalize the space. After all, every guest needs to escape from his or her host now and then, and this room provides a variety of ways to do so.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 276-277 6/9/10 9:56:05 AM

2 7 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 7 7

The bed in one of Westburys two guest rooms, which I had crafted in New York, is upholstered in a French fabric thatlike many things in the housewas selected for its Scandinavian avor. This light-lled room is delightful to inhabit, and the writing desk and upholstered chair and ottoman help to personalize the space. After all, every guest needs to escape from his or her host now and then, and this room provides a variety of ways to do so.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 276-277 6/9/10 9:56:05 AM

1 5 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 5 7

146-169 CR WEA_Morning14.indd 156-157 6/9/10 9:48:42 AM

1 5 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 1 5 7

146-169 CR WEA_Morning14.indd 156-157 6/9/10 9:48:42 AM

2 1 0 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 1

W hat brought my friend to Aspen was the skiing but what kept him coming back

was its incomparable beauty. And when he decided to build a house,

I suggested that he surround himself with it: mountains, rivers,

snowand aspen trees.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 210-211 6/9/10 9:53:30 AM

2 1 0 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 1

W hat brought my friend to Aspen was the skiing but what kept him coming back

was its incomparable beauty. And when he decided to build a house,

I suggested that he surround himself with it: mountains, rivers,

snowand aspen trees.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 210-211 6/9/10 9:53:30 AM

2 1 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 3

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 212-213 6/9/10 9:53:37 AM

2 1 2 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 3

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 212-213 6/9/10 9:53:37 AM

2 1 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 7

TThe view outward is exciting andpanoramic. The view inward: cozy, warm, and inviting.210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 216-217 6/9/10 9:53:43 AM

2 1 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 1 7

TThe view outward is exciting andpanoramic. The view inward: cozy, warm, and inviting.210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 216-217 6/9/10 9:53:43 AM

2 3 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 3 7

II love the rhythmic layering of thestairs, balustrades, and spindles simple, elegant, and soothing.210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 236-237 6/9/10 9:54:25 AM

2 3 6 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 3 7

II love the rhythmic layering of thestairs, balustrades, and spindles simple, elegant, and soothing.210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 236-237 6/9/10 9:54:25 AM

2 4 8 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 4 9

WESTBURY ALSO ENJOYS TWO SMALLER

public rooms. Theyre quite different

in character, and somewhat divergent

in use. What they share is an embrace

of the landscapefold back the shut-

ters, swing open the windows, and its

almost like being in a tree house.

The room at right I jokingly refer to as Westburys business center.

Its got that cheerful desk and a computer that Simons guests use to

check e-mail. In actual fact, its a small study and occasional guest room,

and the style, I admit, remains a hodgepodge. Two things about the

little space, however, are certain. Its always gloriously light-lled. And

its really, really red. For the latter reason, even the beige-and-off-white-

loving crowd is enamored of itits a happy place to be.

The other public room, conversely, which serves as both the library

and Simons private study, feels like the kind of masculine chamber in

which a head of state would sign a declaration of wara mood reinforced

by the bust of a determined-looking John Paul Jones. Yet the library

serves as the houses cozy room, to which everyone escapes to envelop

themselves in the autumnal colorsolive green, ochre, brown.

Still, the librarys windows are just as bigand as complete

in their embrace of natureas those of the study. Its nice to feel

sheltered from the unpredictable world. But at Westbury, the allure

of the Rockies is irresistible.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 248-249 6/9/10 9:54:54 AM

2 4 8 A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S A PA S S I O N F O R I N T E R I O R S 2 4 9

WESTBURY ALSO ENJOYS TWO SMALLER

public rooms. Theyre quite different

in character, and somewhat divergent

in use. What they share is an embrace

of the landscapefold back the shut-

ters, swing open the windows, and its

almost like being in a tree house.

The room at right I jokingly refer to as Westburys business center.

Its got that cheerful desk and a computer that Simons guests use to

check e-mail. In actual fact, its a small study and occasional guest room,

and the style, I admit, remains a hodgepodge. Two things about the

little space, however, are certain. Its always gloriously light-lled. And

its really, really red. For the latter reason, even the beige-and-off-white-

loving crowd is enamored of itits a happy place to be.

The other public room, conversely, which serves as both the library

and Simons private study, feels like the kind of masculine chamber in

which a head of state would sign a declaration of wara mood reinforced

by the bust of a determined-looking John Paul Jones. Yet the library

serves as the houses cozy room, to which everyone escapes to envelop

themselves in the autumnal colorsolive green, ochre, brown.

Still, the librarys windows are just as bigand as complete

in their embrace of natureas those of the study. Its nice to feel

sheltered from the unpredictable world. But at Westbury, the allure

of the Rockies is irresistible.

210-288 CR Aspen 20.indd 248-249 6/9/10 9:54:54 AM

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CR_PASS1_06-09 139CR_Passion_Int1-13 CR FOB1614-73 CR NYC apt2374-133 CR Weatherstone 20134-145 CR WEA_Library9146-169 CR WEA_Morning14170-209 CR WEA_Bedrooms12210-285