November 26th, 2007
Westport, CT - This November, HB Home of Westport is branching out. Expanding on its commitment to grant entrée to the world of high-end interior design, HB Home will open a 2,000-square-foot store in Greenwich.
HB Home was built on the wildly successful and innovative retail concept that everyone should be able to achieve luxe, individualized looks for the home. The design studio and boutique offer insider access to the world of home décor, bringing clients to-the-trade products and professional design services. Viewed through a setting of distinct vignettes, its products range from exclusive fabrics, furniture, upholstery, rugs, lighting and draperies to hand-picked home accessories and one-of-a-kind objects d’art. HB Home acts as a personal shopper and style analyst, with sales staff doubling as interior decorators qualified to guide any project to the extent each client desires. Whether starting over or refining an existing interior, customers discover their own personal style through the store’s designer products and a la carte services
HB Home is the brainchild of Pat Healing and Dan Barsanti, leading interior designers who have built a stellar reputation in their 20-year history together. Much of their interior design work features fine art, unique found pieces and custom-designed furniture, as well as their signature rugs and fabrics. All of these elements can be found and purchased through HB Home, drawing back the curtain that used to exist between decorator and customer.
According to Pat Healing, “Our store is all about design without compromise. It inspires the creative spirit in every customer, making it possible for them to live with the luxury they love, in any style, from classic to modern.”
Dan Barsanti adds, “Business in our Westport store has more than doubled in the past year. We found that many of our clients were traveling from Greenwich, and we wanted to bring our ‘prêt-a-habitat’ concept to this discerning clientele.”
The new HB Home will be located at 28 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich.
Store hours: Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, and Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
Phone number: 203-629-4999.
Posted in Hidden Treasure |
November 26th, 2007
When you consider purchasing a beautiful vacation home in the mountains, your first thoughts might be of locations out west, in scenic places like Colorado or Montana. Yet it is not necessary to travel so far. There are many grand vacation spots closer to home.
One great place to look is in Stratton, Vermont. This is a vibrant, year-round resort area that has long been one of the premier ski destinations in the east. In the last five years, there has been a tremendous amount of high-end condominium development taking place right at the mountain. Of course, not everyone enjoys the noise and congestion of living in the thick of things, in condos that are on top of each other. In fact, some people are not willing to put up with this at all. And that is what one prominent homebuilder in the Stratton area is counting on.
Vermont Premier Home Builders, Inc. specializes in creating magnificent estates in beautiful, natural settings. Partners Mike Douglas and Ken Sheppard pride themselves on offering new homes with unsurpassed quality craftsmanship and state-of-the-art energy efficiency and technology. They do this in private settings that provide serenity and spectacular views.
Two such projects that Vermont Premier Home Builders, Inc. are currently involved in are located on the back side of Stratton Mountain, towards the Mt. Snow Ski area. Just a short 15-minute drive from the Stratton Sun Bowl, you find yourself on Stratton Arlington Road. About a mile west of the Stratton Town Hall is a private paved road on the left. Here you realize that there are very few homes around you, and that you are surrounded by some beautiful forest lands. In fact, the Appalachian/Long Trail crosses the Stratton Arlington Road only a few miles further up the road. Also located just up the way are Grout Pond and the VAST network of snowmobile trails.
As you journey up the private road and a fairly steep ridge line, you have no idea what to expect. Soon though, an impressive three-level home appears above you. It sits on 14 wooded acres that are bordered on one side by Vermont Conservation land and on the other by thousands of acres of National Forest lands. As you reach the top of the road, you circle around to the front of the home, which is built with multi-colored Vermont stone. To the right of the three-car attached garage is a rich mahogany-floored entranceway. Coming inside through the mud room and front foyer, you are immediately captivated by the large open great room, beautiful stone fireplace, stunning oak hardwood floors, soaring cathedral ceilings and walls of windows that allow you to take in the remarkable vistas. As you look to the left, you see the undeveloped side of Stratton Mountain; and as you gaze to the right, you see the long-distance views of faraway mountains and valleys. You are, indeed, part of nature here.
Now that you know the setting is ideal, let’s take a closer look at the rest of the home. On the main level, besides the front foyer, half bath and great room, you will find an inviting kitchen with cherry custom cabinets and elegant granite counter tops, a separate breakfast nook, a comfortable dining room, and a guest bedroom suite with its own private bathroom. A large wraparound deck spans the entire back of the home.
Heading upstairs off the front foyer is a finely crafted oak stairwell. On the second level, there is a large master bedroom suite with cathedral ceiling, a remote-controlled gas fireplace and a private porch. Inside the master bathroom, there is a two-person whirlpool tub and a separate multi-body spray shower. Two additional bedrooms, another full bath and a den overlooking the great room round out the second level.
Off the foyer on the main level, there is another stairwell that goes to the lower level. Here you will find a large walkout playroom, with a wet bar and a 40″ Sony LCD TV above the stone fireplace. Off to one side is another bedroom and full bath, and off to the other side is an inviting pine-walled, mahogany-floored spa room with a six-person hot tub. Finishing off the downstairs is a well-designed utility room and a large laundry room.
What really stands out is how finely finished this home is. There are solid oak wood doors and intricate oak trim throughout. Solid brass handles adorn all the doors. There is luxurious Karastan carpeting in all the bedrooms, Italian ceramic tile and marble in the bathrooms, and exquisite lighting fixtures throughout.
In addition, this is a “smart” home. There is an automated central control system that offers either on-site or remote access to monitor and control lighting, temperature settings, security and audio /video. There is structured wiring in the walls that allows every room to have video, stereo, telephone and computer hook-up. There is an installed 12-zone, six-source distributed audio and video system, which includes speakers and controls in 12 rooms, and a full array of electronic equipment. There is even a three-receiver, high-definition satellite dish system.
Douglas and Sheppard tried to provide the future homeowner with almost every feature and amenity one can think of. There is radiant floor heat in all rooms, central A/C, a hepa filter air purifier system with UV light, a whole-house central vacuum system, a home security system with indoor and outdoor video cameras, an eight-station telephone system that can be used as an intercom, and a whole-house back-up generator.
Most importantly, this home was built with quality in mind every step of the way. From the R46 and R52 ceiling insulation to the R19 soundproof insulation between the floors, no shortcuts were taken. In fact, this energy-efficient home was awarded the highest five-star energy rating by an independently certified agency. This assures that the home exceeds all national building code specifications and standards established by the EPA Energy Star program and the Vermont residential energy code for quality and construction.
Actually, the only thing missing from this remarkable home is a new owner to enjoy it.
Halfway up the private paved road, there is a left turn that brings you to Vermont Premier Home Builders, Inc.’s other building project. At the top of the ridge is an 8,800-square-foot home that is currently under construction. Sitting on 18 acres with a small pond, this stunning home offers amazing long-distance views, including those of Somerset Reservoir and the trails of Mt. Snow’s North Face.
With five bedroom suites, six-and-a-half baths, 25’ high cathedral ceilings, four stone fireplaces, a sun room, billiards room, hot tub room, sauna room, home theater room and wine cellar, this home will be one of the most exceptional in all of southern Vermont when it is completed next year. Brought on board to coordinate the entire design process of this masterpiece is Barbara Becker of Nesting Interiors in Fairfield, Connecticut. She states, “This is an exciting opportunity to be involved with Working on a home with such presence and in such an amazing setting allows my creative imagination to thrive.”
In a future issue, we will revisit this home and update you on the progress as it nears completion.
So, as you can see, you really don’t need to go out west to find the vacation home of your dreams. It can be found right here in Stratton, Vermont!
For more information, contact Mike Douglas at 802-896-9706 or Ken Sheppard at 203-265-6274 of Vermont Premier Home Builders, Inc., or visit www.vermontpremierhome.com.
Posted in Real Estate |
November 26th, 2007
Come away with us for the holidays! We’ll take you to two stunning apartments overlooking the famed opera house in Sydney, Australia, whisk you back to the shores of South Carolina and then on to Taos, New Mexico. The fabulous homes you see in this issue showcase the wide-reaching talents of three well-known Fairfield County architects.
Our New Year is definitely starting out in a big way. As you might imagine, building a magazine is much like raising a baby. It must be nurtured, its potential developed. Our two co-founders Matt Kolk and Shelly McCormick have put countless hours into making this magazine the beautiful, well-respected publication it is today. And thanks to these dedicated parents, this baby is growing in leaps and bounds. We’re happy to announce that starting with our January/February issue the size of the magazine will expand to give all of our advertisers and contributors an even more dramatic showcase. (The new trim size will be 8.375″ x 10.875″. Please contact your advertising sales representative—or me personally—if you would like our new media kit.)
For those of you who made it to our Shop Greenwich event on October 18th, we hope you enjoyed your afternoon of special in-store promotions and shopping. Stay tuned for more events next year. We want you to “shop ’til you drop” in 2008!
On the staffing front, we are delighted to welcome Jill Mulligan Porter to the Fairfield County Home sales team. She is no stranger to this marketplace, having worked both at Moffly Publications and at Wilton Magazine as Associate Publisher. A local resident, Jill previously held New York-based sales positions at Hearst (Country Living and Popular Mechanics), New York Times/Golf Digest/Tennis, Time Warner/Fortune Small Business and Disney Publishing. She began her career as Media Supervisor at Grey Advertising.
Happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year to you all!
Susannah Pask
Publisher, Fairfield County Home
203-249-2715
Posted in From The Publisher |
November 26th, 2007
Dining Rooms Foster Celebration and Conversation
BY MEG McAULEY KAICHER
As the whirl of the holiday season begins, one is reminded of a dining room’s importance. A center of celebration in most households, the dining space fosters heart and soul.
The best events, whether to honor a holiday or to commemorate a singular life milestone, often revolve around a special meal held in one’s dining room. Ensuring that the levels of graciousness and comfort equate to the significance of the occassion is essential.
Diana Sawicki understands the value of this. Based in Westport for the past 16 years, this native Argentinean has shared her interior design flair with Fairfield County clients by solving design problems while achieving balanced, timeless settings. She clearly embraces her clients’ sensibilities as she brings into being their projects.
With the dining room so much a part of family living as well as sophisticated entertaining, Sawicki manages to produce a sumptuous setting while refraining from grandiosity. Functional elegance incorporates superb antiques alongside exquisite fabrics. By adding a stunning chandelier complemented by glorious floral arrangements, Sawicki stylishly emboldens the room without pretension.
The warmth of a classic fireplace presents an old-world feel often found in European dining chambers. Adding a chic twist with tailored tufted chairs invites lengthy conversation among guests.
Interesting European touches segue into the classic designs, incorporating that timeless sense of elegance and refinement so apparent in the best European houses.
The natural world plays a strong part in Sawicki’s dining room design as well, whether through the incorporation of natural lighting elements or through the use of botanical materials as deliberate complements.
No matter how formal, tailored or transitional one’s style, a welcoming dining room must engage all its guests and provide comfortable ease and gracious function. The best dining rooms engage all parties. Even the littlest group member may be included with elegance, as Greenwich interior designer Linda Ruderman realized some time ago when proffering one of her most clever inceptions. Ruderman designed a custom high chair to accompany the traditional dining room seating arrangement. It is a brilliant addition to any well-considered dining space.
Ruderman’s passion emerges through her work. All her design projects reflect the refined respect and extraordinary eye she uses to realize a client’s vision. Fortunate to have spent 12 years working closely with an exceptional top architect, her ability to subtly yet correctly apply concepts of scale and proportion are notable. This solid foundation of integrating architectural elements adds a sophistication and stature to the design she engenders. With a staff of eight now full time, Linda Ruderman Interiors (LRI) can tackle any project, regardless of size or complication. Two designers work under Linda, with two additional junior designers; a full-time CAD (computer-aided design) operator designs in house, rounded out by the financial department and support staff.
Whether for new construction or modest renovation, engaging LRI at a project’s inception enables a better result, as guidance can be integrated with other project professionals. The LRI team interfaces with modern technology in a forward-thinking way, enabling seamless project management, incorporating architectural and construction professionals in a communication flow that heightens their stellar reputations. It is this strong communication network that fosters exceptional projects throughout the United States. Projects in Palm Beach, Boston, Vail and Pacific Heights are realized as professionally and on target as local projects.
Symmetry provides an underlying grid upon which LRI builds beautiful layers of foundations, fabrics and furnishings. All the custom fabrics and trims she uses enhance the extraordinary pieces she sources from private furniture makers in England, Italy and France, alongside exceptional antiques.
Recognizing that varied multi-generational groups of friends or extended families often use dining environments for special gatherings, LRI understands the crucial characteristics enmeshed in these distinctive spaces.
Reproductions combined with antique pieces enhance an elegant dining space. Linda Ruderman designs many of her own furniture pieces.
Westport interior designer Suzanne Novik believes that dining rooms should “hug you” as they enhance the dining experience.
She has a penchant for round dining tables, as they encourage conversation and equanimity. Comfortably bringing guests together without a “head of table” often suits a dinner party best, providing a level of togetherness and amiability amongst dinner companions.
On a wonderful project called Lyons Plains, Novik was able to accommodate the client’s request for “no rug due to pets.”Novik’s solution was to design a diamond pattern with a faux classic inlay border that was translated by a fine artisan she contracted to produce the marvelous textural stain covering on hardwood flooring.
In this particular room, the client chose not to have a hanging chandelier. Rather, Suzanne found them a glorious antique flush mount, suiting their taste beautifully while adding subtle drama to the room.
Novik visually lowered the ceiling height of the grand room by drawing the eye down to a spectacular exotic hydrangea floral arrangement placed on the buffet, balancing the composition with elegant antique lamps on either side.
Antique fruit prints were chosen to complete the space, as they are said to stimulate appetite.
“After all, food nourishes the soul as well as the body,” says Novik. “Soothing elements like a warm fire or a softly lit atmosphere relax and pamper you while you eat.”
Complementing the dining room with artwork can intensify ambience while reflecting a comforting theme.
Zorya Fine Arts in Greenwich is dedicated to exhibiting and placing fine art. Often with the assistance of such gallery services, designers are able to bring forth a unique statement within a dining space, truly expressing a client’s philosophy while exhibiting part of a collection.
Whether contemporary global pieces such as those discovered at Zorya, or more traditional fine art pieces such as those in which Cavalier Galleries specialize, fine art showcased in a dining room makes sense, as it is often the key place where groups ruminate and converse.
The Curtain Exchange (TCE) concentrates on ready-made, but not mass-produced, window treatments. This fabulous shop provides myriad choices to the discerning client who wishes to streamline decision-making while customizing specifications. This Westport boutique provides luxurious, ready-to-hang custom curtains that are made to exacting standards. As the company mission states, TCE “boutique owners, designer and seamstresses all place an overwhelming emphasis on tradition and history, consistency and style” while providing a client immediate gratification. Amazing custom curtains are available to take home and try for 48 hours.
With the aggregate purchasing power of 32 stores nationwide, TCE can manage good pricing from its vendors along with frequent exclusivity. Often fabrics are sourced directly from the mill; they may be silks from India, Thailand or Italy; crewel fabric from Kashmir; fine linens from Holland and Turkey; soft cotton prints from the United Kingdom; or sheer material from Germany.
A fabric such as an extraordinary Indian silk that could be purchased by Scalamandre or Fortuny will be bought by TCE and taken to a specialty weaver where it is embroidered with a unique pattern overlay, thereby engendering exclusivity and customization. Along with the supple majestic textile foundation, clever options for headings and trims enhance the window treatment development. The three basic types of headings (pleated, rod pocket and grommet) are further broken down into subcategories. Rather than relying only on arbitrary labels like “ball gown” and “jester,” the available choice sequence is simply numbered for clients’ easy decision-making.
Recently, award-winning Greens Farms designer Lisa Krieger completed the dining room at The Chimneys, a grand space in the Georgian Revival Mansion on the hill above St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea in Black Rock, Connecticut.
Working closely with her associate Suzanne Branch Martin—owner of Willingham Antiques and Interiors in Cos Cob, Connecticut,—and decorative artist Topher Carnes—owner of Finishing Impressions based in Black Rock, Connecticut—Krieger applied her historic design expertise to re-interpret a classic English country house “eating chamber.”
With broad experience in both interior and landscape design, Krieger realized a fantastic restoration of a traditional early dining room. Invited to re-invigorate this key space as part of “Autumn at The Chimneys” Show House (produced by Franco Grimaldi’s The Room of Choice, which was open to the public September 30 – October 28, 2007, benefitting four charities: Dress for Success, Green Demolitions, Music & Arts Center for Humanity and UNESCO ) was a natural fit for Krieger, who has received much recognition for her work, including a Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation award.
To accentuate the many outstanding architectural features of the room, the background for the Chimneys’ dining room is a multi-hued palette based on antique pigments from the English company Farrow & Ball. The furnishings are fine 18th and 19th century English and American antiques provided by Thomas Schwenke, Inc. of Woodbury, Connecticut.
Sparkling china, silver and glassware combine for a breathtaking table arrangement; the mix of heirloom-quality antiques and modern pieces of classical design came from Greenwich antique dealer S. Wyler and Son, and Lux, Bond & Green of Westport.
“I’m very pleased with the result,” said Krieger of the room. “It was a joy to work on a house of such rare quality. Producing an authentic vision in tune with the house’s neo-classical elements was important to me and my team.”
Wisely, Krieger points out that “…many of the room’s elements are easily translated to a less elaborate home.”
The best dining room designs inspire comfort and conversation. Celebrate well within them.
Meg McAuley Kaicher, Capital Consulting Group, 201 Shore Road, Greenwich, CT 06830, 203-625-3375/cell 203-554-5300, megmk@optonline.net
Posted in Distinctive Spaces |
