Architectural Digest's latest featured pairing of high-profile architecture firm and high-end interior designer is quite the doozy. As if there weren't already enough debate to be hashed and rehashed about the work of Robert A.M. Stern Architects—whose founder has been credited with bringing "classicism into the public realm and the mainstream of the profession, reinvigorating it for generations to come," and derided for the same, earning such titles as the "suede-loafered sultan of suburban retrotecture"—this Shingle-Style "cottage" in East Quogue has interiors by Steven Gambrel, whose "bold color sense and invigorating yet well-tailored eclecticism" have brightened a long list of ritzy residences, including NYC's once-priciest rental and penthouse later ruined by Courtney Love. Arch Digest calls it an "inspired pairing," but are we dealing with a Chandler and Joey kind of thing, or a Rachel and Monica type-deal?
The often as "affected as it is inaccurate" nature of calling extravagant East Coast summer homes "cottages" isn't lost on AD's Dan Shaw, but he thinks the term applies with the Hamptons getaway that Gary Brewer of Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed for his Manhattan-based clients, given the "surprisingly low profile and snug ambience" of the 9,500-square-foot abode. Brewer tapped into this association by keeping the insides as "bright as possible while maintaining privacy." When Brewer brought in a Dutch front door "situated beneath a barrel-vaulted portico and flanked with custom-made sidelights incorporating sprightly stained-glass roundels," Gambrel painted it three shades of blue, and applied a light-blue to the "spun, seeded, and colored glass" set around it, that he repeated in the upstairs sitting room and the windows of the library to give them "a late-19th-century appearance."
With the furnishings, this kind of traditionalism was buoyed with pieces like Charles Edwards lanterns and vintage chandeliers from Blackman Cruz, plus club chairs, a dining room set, a sofa, and a platform bed by Gambrel's own firm. Head to Arch Digest for more on how this complementary effort played out.
· A Stunning Hamptons House with Modern-Meets-Victorian Interiors [Architectural Digest]
· All Robert A.M. Stern coverage [Curbed National]
· All Steven Gambrel coverage [Curbed National]
Loading comments...