When Your Mother Is Jan Showers!

For many years I have admired the gorgeous work of designer Jan Showers. Now that I am sitting here in the midst of a 'Winter Storm Warning' that so far has just produced a lot of cold rain where I live I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest issue of Elle Decor magazine.  

Take a look at the Houston home of her daughter, Susanna Showers Moldawer. 

The very first page shows us a glimpse of the beautiful library in the distance as well as the living room that hosts this pair of sunburst mirrors from the Jan Shower's Collection. My eyes immediately were drawn to the pair of Dutch Marquetry chairs and rightfully so! They were passed down from Susanna's mother in law. I think they are stunning!

It's hard to imagine that when Susanna first walked into the home when it for sale she didn't like it at all! It just goes go to show you what two wonderful design minds can do! Especially when one of them is Jan Showers! For years I have admired her work and just recently began wanting to carry a few of her pieces in my shop. I will most definitely have to look into it! I love that she chose the sunny or "fun" yellow as she puts it because it reminded her of her daughter's personality!

Being in the antiques business I am always glad to hear that someone held on to a piece passed down to them from someone special and worked into a more contemporary setting. 

And I have learned to appreciate contemporary pieces of art thanks to our wonderful artists in my shop!  It mixes in so well here!

Here is Susanna with her daughter Eliza.

Isn't this table beautiful? It is also from the Jan Showers Collection. As pretty as it is the article states that it is truly "used" everyday by her family...even for doing homework much to her mother's dismay! But...if you've got a growing family a house truly needs to be livable and not untouchable in my opinion.

I love that color is used in here as well as throughout the house. It looks so inviting! The lamps and glass ware are such a wonderful touch on the table (another piece from the Jan Showers Collection).

I'm not sure why we've never carried a bar cart in my shop but this one sure makes me want to!

We are currently trying to decide what to do to re-vamp our own pool area. My husband loves this concept with the grass going up to the pool surround. I haven't decided yet but this is certainly gorgeous!

And my favorite room might just be this bedroom! Just look at that Hermes blanket! The entire house is inviting, welcoming, charming and decorated to a 'T'. I loved it and I'm glad for this gloomy day to sit at home and finally catch up on some of what's going on in the design world right now!
I must say that there might just be ulterior motives in my search of Houston designs…will keep you posted on that! 
 Take care and I hope you are enjoying some better weather wherever you are! 

There's Just Something About A Barn...

Little did I know that my love for barns, covered bridges and all things forgotten would lead to my loving and searching out houses that have been transformed from barns! Or should I say….barns that have been lovingly transformed into homes and havens! 

I fell in love with this beautiful barn/home when I saw it on Rachael Halverson's blog which you can see here. To my delight…I found out that it is right here in my own home town!
 Designed by one of my favorites, Dungan-Nequette ,just makes me want to find it all the more! Wonder if it will ever have a "FOR SALE" sign in the yard? 

Wishful thinking I'm sure!!! 

Oh well, while searching Pinterest and other design sources my heart stopped at the article I read in Elle Decor magazine! What an amazing transformation this couple performed on such a lovely piece of property in New Jersey…..

Just take a look…..

Ode to the Past

A couple transform four derelict barns in the middle of New Jersey into a lush and romantic haven richly layered with artifacts and artistry…

Four ramshackle barns in the middle of New Jersey horse country.That's all Andrea Filippone and William Welch could see on the windswept, 35-acre plot when they first drove up in 1993. But instead of desolation row, the husband and wife saw the ideal canvas. "The place was pretty much abandoned, but we saw what could be," says Filippone. "In a way, it made it easier that only the bones were there."

The couple, who met as students at Harvard University's School of Design, have spent the past 18 years turning the property into a grand, sprawling estate. By linking the barns, they have created an 11,000-square-foot live-and-work space that serves as the base for their company, Tendenze Design, and as a showcase for their style, which revolves around ambitious architectural salvage. In 2000, after five years of construction, they finally moved in. But things are never done. "We tend to keep changing every year," says Filippone

So imposing are the couple's own home and gardens that magazines and luxury brands looking for a historic setting with aristocratic undertones (Ralph Lauren, Vogue) often book photo shoots there. In June, Filippone will host "Earthly Delights," an event for rare-plant enthusiasts and garden-antiques dealers that will be open to the public.

It isn't hard to imagine what editors and stylists see: In addition to the vast formal greenery, the couple have strenuously preserved the charm of the original structures. Despite the mammoth chore of joining the barns into a graceful home, Welch and Filippone kept as many of the beams and structural elements as possible. In their effort to make the place habitable year-round, for example, they resisted the usual barn renovation tactic of covering up the beams with insulation and slapping drywall over everything; instead, they lifted the roof and put the insulation between the existing beams and the new shingles. "It was a big job, but it leaves the most beautiful part intact and gives an enduring sense of history," says Filippone.

In fact, far from seeming like four barns jerry-rigged into a single dwelling, the home looks as though it could be a manor house handed down through the generations. The main barn stands as an illustration of their approach: As big as a banquet hall, it is dominated by a huge plaster-cast mantel that was once in a Manhattan brownstone designed by McKim, Mead & White. Filippone and her father, a surgeon who shares her love for beautiful old things, spent a year chipping the paint by hand from the plaster. "Everything flowed from that mantel," says Filippone, "the furnishings, the layout, the feeling."

When it comes to furnishings, Filippone and Welch aren't much for color or pattern, for themselves or for clients. "Our projects tend to be more about structure, shape, and craftsmanship," she explains. In their own home, the walls are shades of taupe and green and the upholstery is mainly mohair, linen, and leather. "To make the architectural elements really stand out, the background has to be muted," she says.

The property is also the perfect expression of Filippone's boundless landscape-design ambitions. "William mostly concentrates on the architecture part of the practice these days, while I've found myself more and more involved with things outside," she explains

(If this doesn't make your heart long for a barn…or barns…that you could transform then I don't know what will!)

(In my very humble opinion….there's a design quality found on the East Coast that we just don't see down in the South…I'm not saying that we don't have beautiful, gorgeous designs ourselves because we do! But my heart has always had a special place for the East Coast!)

(In fact, when I opened my shop in 2000 my husband and I took a trip up the East Coast to buy for the grand opening! I'm longing to go back!!!)

In the end, says Filippone, the biggest compliment "is that people say this place looks like it's been here forever. That's what makes me smile. That's what we're going for."

( she is a woman after my own heart!)

I hope you will make the time to read this entire article for yourself…it is definitely worth it! You can find it here.

I know I enjoyed seeing this "More Than Fabulous Article" on the barns restored by such a talented duo and their business called Tendenze Design and I intend to find even more treasures that have been transformed at one time or another!

And just in case this didn't convince you that barns ARE ALL THAT!! Take a look at some more of their wonderful work!

Thanks for stopping by!