don freeman photo

When designer Anne Hepfer built her dream getaway right on the water in Ontario's cottage country, she combined luxe minimalism with woodsy touches — plus eye-catching finds from her far-flung travels — to create a year-round vacation haven for family and friends.

Hepfer designed her family's cottage in the Muskoka Lakes region north of Toronto. Elevated on a 60-foot setback, the L-shaped cottage has black siding to help it disappear into the trees. "If you're on the water, the house vanishes against the darkness," Hepfer says.

In the living room, a 20-foot-high wall of windows provides sweeping vistas of Lake Joseph. The console is from Hepfer's Ah Ha! collection, and the room's bespoke upholstery includes a wing chair in a Calvin Fabrics linen.

Equal parts mystic, pragmatic urban dweller and restless artist who, when not creating her highly personal ‘wearable art” for A-list celebrity clients, Aurora roves the world in search of inspiration and enlightenment. She is a sharp-eyed furniture collector who has infused her two downtown New York lofts with a treasure-trove of 20th-century design. Much of it will be catnip for aficionados of Danish Modernism.

Sandra Weingort’s downtown New York City pied-à-terre stands as a restrained, Japanese-inspired interior – an ideal soothing antidote to the business of city life. The light-filled apartment became the perfect blank canvas for Weingort to transform into an intimate retreat injected with warmth and soul. The success of the project can be traced back to the strong relationship between client and designer. Joaquín Mollá, an Argentinian advertising executive fell in love with Weingort’s work before he decided to engage her for his own New York City home. Their shared passion for art, design, and all things beautiful launched a collaborative relationship that produced such a striking outcome. The design brief was to create a private, calming atmosphere for a Buddhist student.

Creating a dream house from scratch would be an intimidating prospect for anyone. And yet, for some, it brings with it a high dose of excitement. “We spent a year and a half living in the old house during the design and permit phase,” José Mollá and Maria Cersosimo recall. “Then we had an unforgettable demolition party, with DJs and drummers playing while all of our friends painted graffiti everywhere and helped demolish the old house. It was the ultimate act of self-expression.”

Indeed. But what made the Argentina-born couple decide to build an entirely new structure in the first place had nothing to do with their clear love of fun. Instead, it was the soothing nature of the nearby ocean view, and the promise of direct access to the beach on Di Lido, one of Miami’s Venetian Islands.

Combining international styles and modern influences with Japanese craft traditions, George Nakashima's work was a significant force in the American craft movement of the mid-twentieth century. His Arts Building, Cloister, Pool House, and Reception House were built between 1960 and 1975 in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and demonstrate the skill, ingenuity, and artful genius of this master craftsman, furniture designer, and architect. The Arts Building was constructed as an art gallery and museum, and now displays George Nakashima artifacts. The Pool House, with a unique vaulted shape and cantilevered platform pool, was constructed of plywood and crowned with copper pipes for solar water heating. The Cloister, connected to the Arts Building, has a plywood shed roof covered with asphalt—both experimental materials at the time. Its walls are made of unadorned, but carefully laid up concrete block. The Reception House served as a guesthouse, and its interior is constructed using more luxurious materials, including handmade rice paper screens, exposed wood beam ceilings, Japanese plaster walls, and traditional tatami. Featuring a tea room and Japanese-style sunken bath, it is still used for guests and meetings.

The Fisher House, also known as the Norman Fisher House, was designed by the architect Louis Kahn and built for Dr. Norman Fisher and his wife, Doris in 1967 in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Characterized by its dual cubic volumes, stone foundation and detailed cypress cladding, the Fisher house stands as a clear statement of how Kahn was working at the time, and how his work differed from that of his contemporaries. In the Fisher House, Kahn eschews the linearity of the modern plan and focuses on a simple geometry, allowing the cubes to provide a separation of public and private space.

Known widely for monumental works like the Salk Institute and the Richards Medical Center, the Fisher house stands as a testament to Kahn’s ability to work with the details of small residential architecture. The Fisher House stands as the clearest example of Kahn's unique architectural style at the time, his use of the two almost perfect cubes differing greatly from much of what was being done at the time and setting him apart in his own field of design. It is one of nine houses that Kahn designed and constructed.

Merging Contemporary and Traditional at a Family Compound in the Rocky Mountains. A diminutive structure on the ranch dates back to the 1800s. New York designer William Sofield named it “the relic” and says it would have been easy to tear it down.

“Every room in a house should be distinctive,” Sofield says. “The master bedroom is the most modern, and its ceilings are higher than those in the other bedrooms. Its roof isn’t peaked and shingled, it’s low pitched sod. Wildflowers grow on the roof. What a glorious sight it is in the spring.”

S. B. Long Interiors is a full-service design firm in located in Dallas, TX offering interior design and decoration & renovation and new construction services worldwide. The firm balances modern and classic elements to create sophisticated, timeless spaces. Each interior is a unique mix tailored to the client’s aesthetic and architecture. With award-winning projects across the US and abroad, S. B. Long Interiors is widely known for its Modern Traditional signature style. Working closely with clients, the firm executes comprehensive project management, and turnkey service – carefully overseeing projects from design concept through every detail of the final installation.

S. B. Long Interiors' project portfolio is as diverse as its client base. Recent projects include an extensive renovation of a French country estate in Provence, France, a classic Spanish home in Highland Park, Texas & the detailed expansion and renovation of a historic Tudor Estate in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Juxtapositions between objects and environments make his spaces memorable. In a Park Slope home, Isbell enveloped a traditional room in Gracie’s Wave Wallpaper, a contemporary interpretation of an iconic Japanese seascape. Rather than using the pattern rather predictably in a beach house, he made it the highlight of a neoclassical parlor. “[The home] is in the middle of New York City,” Isbell says. “That’s what makes it so interesting and unexpected. You walk in, turn the corner, and it takes your breath away.”

“The world is a very fast-moving place, and I would like to slow the process down a tick,” reflects the decorator and shopkeeper, whose idiosyncratic, unpretentious approach has earned him devoted clients on the order of Ryan Murphy, Adam Moss, and Chloë Sevigny. Self-taught, David Cafiero honed his aesthetic studying gardens and country houses in his native Hudson Valley, New York, later working at his family’s lumberyard and on commercial fishing boats before opening up a catering company and eventually an antiques shop in Manhattan’s East Village. At its current location, a former Pontiac dealership, he proudly champions bygone styles (Biedermeier, early American, William and Mary) unfairly overlooked in favor of today’s rapid-fire fads. His residential projects mix such finds to timeless effect, yielding spaces equally fit, as he puts it, “for a cocktail party and a quiet winter afternoon with a book.”

Frank began his firm in 1998 after a career in fine men’s specialty store retailing. The principles of design he learned in menswear helped give him the basis for formulating and conceptualizing his design schemes. He is inspired by all periods and styles of interiors. He believes in creating original environments that are ‘couture’.To achieve this it is essential that the ingredients that go into his projects are unique; almost all of the furniture and furnishings he uses are either antique or of his own exclusive design. He travels extensively within the U.S. and overseas to find antique and vintage furnishings specifically for his clients. It is very important to him that his client’s home reflects their personality and how they want to live while being sophisticated in taste.

When Manhattan resident Ferebee Taube, who grew up in relatively rural Rocky Mount, North Carolina, went looking for a vacation home for her husband and young children, she set her sights on a nostalgically bucolic setting. “We felt strongly we wanted our kids to be removed from the chaos of New York for a period of time in the summer,” says the stylist and consultant. Along with her spouse, Taube built a sleek, Brazilian-midcentury-infused bastion of summertime bliss on Figure Eight Island, in her home state, so they might offer their sons and daughter—and large extended families—just that. “[The kids] can hop on their bikes and ride to their friends’ homes, or go to a surf lesson or tennis lesson. It’s just very different from our life during the school year,” she says of the 10,000-square-foot second home that replaced a falling-apart beach shack on their peninsula plot. Though that previous habitation likely wouldn’t have stood up much longer, Hurricane Florence arrived right after their their cedar- and stone-clad, BKSK Architects–designed dwelling was finished, and it suffered no damage.

“I get all my inspiration from the street and observation. When I did work with Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta and more—I think I hold a record in terms of the number of retail stores or luxury retail stores I did within seven years; it was up to 1,400—I was in a different city almost everyday. I was in Tokyo twice a week for a few years, so I really gained my inspiration from different cultures. I’d just walk the streets, see what people were wearing and what music they listened to. I draw more from the outside world than I do from the design community.”

Tear the walls down! An early 18th century stone house, with a later clapboard addition, located in Catskill side of New York’s Hudson Valley, is home and studio to the designer Deborah Ehrlich and her daughter. Deborah told me, “I’m interested in light coming in from all four sides.” Gutting the ground floor of all existing walls shortly after acquiring the derelict property in 1998, she had the floors sanded and soaked, and soaked, with Danish soap. “I love the smell.” Deborah likens the rediscovery of the house’s primary structure as an archeological dig. Murray Moss, an early champion of her glassware, described the house’s interior as “bare bones”--which Deborah took as a supreme compliment.

The minimally decorated “sturdy and raw” environment becomes a showcase for Deborah’s refined, reductionist designs, which have become her trademark. Featured are her paper thin, crystal glassware pieces that are hand blown by master craftsmen in Sweden, as well as her mid-century inspired furniture pieces that are fabricated in Providence, Rhode Island. The property also includes a Dutch barn and sits on 11 acres of wooded land.

Frederic Church (1826-1900), a seminal figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, built his Persian-inspired home, working closely with architect Calvert Vaux, on a 250-acre hilltop just outside of the City of Hudson in the town of Greenport. Work on the house and grounds began in 1870 and continued through 1891. The house offers majestic views of the Hudson River and the Catskill mountains, which were often the subject of Church’s paintings. Olana was given National Historic Landmark status in 1965. An exhaustive restoration took place in 2006.

In addition to his international practice, Thomas Jayne is a noted author, writing on historical themes in architecture and decoration. Three books published with Monacelli Press, The Finest Rooms in America (2010), American Decoration (2012) and Classical Principles for Modern Design: Lessons from Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman’s The Decoration of Houses (2018) have been highly acclaimed.

Jayne Design Studio has been featured on Architectural Digest’s current AD100 list of leading American decorators and architects and Elle Decor’s A-List of top American decorators. In 2013, Thomas Jayne received the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art’s Arthur Ross Award for Interior Decoration, the first interior designer to be honored in this category by the ICAA; in 2014, he received the ICAA’s Stanford White Award for his interior decoration of Drumlin Hall in Dutchess County, New York and again in 2016 for the historical preservation of the interiors of Crichel House in Dorset, England.

he four hedge fund capitals of the world are London, New York, Chicago, and Greenwich, Connecticut. Greenwich, you ask? Yes, indeed. This gorgeous 17th-century New England town on the Long Island Sound, less than an hour’s commute from New York’s Grand Central station, is home to some of the wealthiest financiers and industrialists in the world, with the homes, views, and lifestyle to match.

Founded in 1640 – the town celebrated its 375th anniversary last year – it started as a bucolic farming community, the lush, forested land cooled by ocean winds off the Sound. In the 1880s the train arrived and it became a summer community for affluent New Yorkers escaping the city heat. But it was in the 1900s, when William Rockefeller, brother and business partner of John D. of Standard Oil fame, moved to town and began buying up property that Greenwich really was put on the map. It soon became a commuter town for wealthy bankers and industrialists, and they built grand estates on the shore and in the hills. Titans of finance and industry have been moving here ever since. Hedge-fund kings have made Steamboat Road – dubbed Hedge Row – their headquarters, and grand homes, parks, polo grounds, boutiques, and restaurants have sprung up all over, from Round Hill Road and Conyers Farm to Old Greenwich. With residents also able to enjoy the beautiful New England coastline at stunning beaches such as Greenwich Point, Island Beach one mile offshore, and Byram Beach, it is little wonder the likes of Tommy Hilfiger also now call Greenwich home.

Artists' Handmade Houses is a collection of 13 homes handcrafted by the finest artists and craftsmen in America, including George Nakashima, Henry Varnum Poor, Sam Maloof, Wharton Esherick, and Russel Wright. Built over the course of 75 years, from the late-19th century to the mid-20th century, these homes were each designed and built by the artists as an expression of their aesthetic sentiments, and in many cases, as extensions of their artwork. As such, these private domains are utterly unique and deeply imbued with each artist's singular vision and talent. A few of the homes have been awarded National Historic Landmark status, and several are open to the public, while still others have sadly fallen into disrepair or are now in the hands of new owners. In a few cases, the photographs in this book represent the last record of the house as created by its artist resident.

"The house histories by Michael Gotkin are concise and illuminating; the new photography by Don Freeman, stunning." -The Wall Street Journal

“This gorgeous collection of houses handcrafted by some of America’s finest artists is not only a must-read but a must-examine-closely.” —The Chicago Tribune

"There's ample opportunity for both looking and learning with Artists' Handmade Houses."

-ARTnews

"Freeman's ability to capture details . . . coupled with a good eye for scale, gives the reader a true sense of place; Gotkin's insightful text is an added delight, deepening readers' appreciation of the design that makes each home so unique."

-Publishers Weekly.com

Chesterwood was the summer estate and studio of American sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) located at 4 Williamsville Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Most of French's originally 150-acre (61 ha) estate is now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which operates the property as a museum and sculpture garden. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 in recognition of French's importance in American sculpture.

What do artist Hunt Slonem, designer John Derian, restaurateur Taavo Somer, and interior decorators Brad Ford and James Huniford have in common? The answer is: they’re all customers of Ron Sharkey. Looking for some serious heritage chic while visiting New York’s Hudson Valley? You could do no better than to track down this soft-spoken man who’s spent the past decades amassing an eclectic array of antiques, pottery, architectural salvage, ironstone ware, and whatnot. John Derian describes Ron as “funny, smart, and accessible; he really knows his Americana.”

To understand the world of James Donald Didier you should pay attention to his silence. This is a man who sees history; too much talk and too many questions will only extinguish what the eye should behold and the spirit feel. The Grigson-Didier house of 1835 in New Orleans, the first house built after the subdivision of the Jacques Livaudais plantation, is the setting for a good part of what matters to Don Didier-in history and in life. Like its owner, the charm is obvious; but the deeper meaning here, the way in which the house has become one American’s dialogue with America-North and South, past and present, black and white-unfolds much more quietly.

As spring came and the garden bloomed unobstructed by Hoover Hall, Armstrong realized he had a rare opportunity to reverse the typical order of garden construction: He could design a house to complement an existing garden. In doing so, he could balance the relationship between structure and garden and protect the ample panoramas the fire produced. He would do it, in effect, by preserving the absence of the old house.

A transparent glass box now stands on the spot once occupied by the old colonial. Fishers Island Sound is visible from either side, and the house’s steel frame melds into its silvery maritime blues and grays. “We didn’t want the house to be the prominent feature,” says its architect, Tom Phifer. “That’s where the transparency comes from.”

Making the guesthouse exuberant required the practical efforts of Thomas Jayne and William Cullum, of Jayne Design Studio in New York. The firm is known for deftly mixing the classical and the contemporary and for layering custom details — while remaining open to quirk.

“To me, it’s enchanted,” said Ms. Lawrence, a psychologist and artist who serves as president of the New York School of the Arts. Mr. Lawrence is an investor.

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America's foremost sculptors. This was his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his permanent home from 1900 until his death in 1907, and the center of the Cornish Art Colony.

Les Martins, an ancient Hamlet in the community of Gordes dating back to the 1600s, when it was founded for agricultural purpose. Only a few minutes away the famous town of Gordes is perched on top of a cliff overlooking the Luberon Valley. Its dramatic setting is not only attracting tourists from all over the world, but has also earned it the classification as one of 100 most beautiful French villages.

Domaine Les Martins offers you the attractions of Gordes in a peaceful and tranquil setting off the beaten tourist path. Located in the heart of the “golden triangle” between Gordes, Menerbes and Lacoste you are in the best spot to start your journey and explore the famous Provence, with its infinite rolling hills, lavender fields, wineries, medieval towns and cultural centers like Aix, Avignon, Orange, Nimes, and Arles. Whether you come during theater and music festival season in summer or in the low seasons there is always an endless array of cultural events, markets, outdoor and sports activities to everyone’s interests.

Briarcliff Manor was historically known for its wealthy estate-owning families, including the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Rockefellers. It still remains primarily residential and its population is still considered affluent by U.S. standards. It has about 180 acres (70 ha) of recreational facilities and parks, all accessible to the public. The village has seven Christian churches for various denominations and two synagogues. The oldest church is Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, built in 1851. Briarcliff Manor has an elected local government, with departments including police, fire, recreation, and public works. It has a low crime rate: a 2012 study found it had the second-lowest in the state. In the New York State Legislature it is split between the New York State Assembly's 95th and 92nd districts, and the New York Senate's 38th and 40th districts. In Congress the village is in New York's 17th District.

A well suited home is a portrait of those who live within. The palette colored by life’s experiences, a graceful segue from solitude to public life. It is a place where one feels effortless alone or in the company of friends. Such a home is our aim. Its creation begins with inquiry into the patterns of daily living, understanding what is nurturing, stimulating, calming—what feels like home. It requires inspection of cherished objects, and introspection into cherished experiences. We observe and absorb what is abundant and appropriate, and attend to what is lacking. We expand upon the authentic and delete the superfluous. Modernist sensibilities form the foundation while antiquities inform and balance, providing a delicate tension and subtle energy. The result is a home that genuinely reflects one’s true nature. A home that feels like home.

Victoria Hagan is the award-winning designer whose iconic sensibility is so uniquely American that Architectural Digest has dubbed her “the environmental equivalent of Katharine Hepburn.”

Since founding her eponymous firm over 25 years ago, Victoria has been celebrated for an intelligent integration of architecture and interior design. Based in New York City, the 26-person firm works on a wide range of residences throughout the county, providing a complete range of design services that reflect her signature style.Victoria has been awarded many of the country’s top design honors, including Architectural Digest’s AD100. She has been inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame.

A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, she serves on the school’s Board of Governors. Each year she endows a scholarship in its MFA program for Interior Design with the goal of providing education for students from underserved backgrounds.

The Ogram Interior Design strategy focuses on defining the character of a space and guiding the vision of the client. Our planning process solves functional requirements while incorporating a quality design backed by many years of experience. Effective communication with every aspect of the job from start to finish ensures that the project is completed in harmony with the design and planning process. The revelation of the new space results in a unique discovery.

Robert Kuo's own story presents a life that partakes of the best of Chinese and 20th century traditions. Born in Beijing, he moved with his family to Taiwan in 1947. Kuo grew up in an artistic environment. His father, an art professor and Chinese watercolor painter, started a cloisonne atelier where Robert became an apprentice at age fifteen. Although he never engaged in formal art studies, Kuo gained technical expertise and learned about decorative tradition from "hands on" training. As he mastered each of the steps involved in cloisonne from preparing copper bases to enameling and firing the kilns, Kuo absorbed all the basics that were to serve him throughout his artistic career.

World of Interiors described the second home of Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch as "…something quite remarkable: a weekend getaway so filled with the curious that it's more Kunsthammer than beach cabana." The designers took a relatively unremarkable 1950’s “contractor special” with a 1980s addition, and without undertaking a wholesale renovation, were able to completely change the feeling and spirit of the place. They removed drywall, added new wood windows, doors, and tambour walls, and undertook extensive interior decoration and exterior landscape efforts.

The house itself serves as both a weekend retreat and a design laboratory. The exposed-frame ceilings found their way to the Facebook mess hall. The tambour walls have been used in the Standard and Royalton hotels.

The furnishings are equal part indulgent luxury and laidback surfer cool. The Danish buffalo leather sofa, draped in angora and indigo, invites post-surf snoozes. The rosewood Sergio Rodrigues table, outfitted with Ted Muehling candlesticks, encourages all manner of dinner party revelry. Robin’s Banque de Franc desk holds a hippopotamus skull purchased from a bone dealer in Paris, while Stephen's hand painted surfboards can be found around the property. Dragging sand in the house is welcomed, and evenings are candlelit and filled with friends, sparks from the backyard fire pit floating up against a summer moon.

Her fascination with purchasing and restoring mirrors started as a hobby, always buying the things she found as the best around. But being so talented in it, a great request arose first amongst her friends and then with a wider audience.

These days, she travels at least a week a month to France or Belgium in her huge American pick-up truck, to find more treasures. Her main criterions for buying are: "picking only high quality mirrors of the 18th and 19th century, that are either in gold or silver gilded leaves.

From the Napa Valley to the Hudson Valley, from the Wild West to the South, from the mountains of New Mexico to the coast of Maine: a journey across the USA will take you to legendary landscapes with all kinds of wonderful accommodations. Angelika Taschen presents her favorite destinations: beach houses and desert camps, motels and ranches, mobile homes and tents, resorts and inns.

For generations, Jonas has artfully made handcrafted custom upholstery and curtains that are the definition of exquisite quality, classic beauty and originality. Jonas is considered by many trade professionals to be the benchmark for the best upholstery and curtains. Jonas is committed to maintaining traditional old world manufacturing standards and methods of the 19th century, producing fine objects of style and comfort that clients cherish for a lifetime.

Architectural Digest described the Umbrella House as “One of the five most remarkable houses of the mid-twentieth century”. In 1953, developer Philip Hiss hired renowned architect Paul Rudolph to create one of the 20th century's most iconic houses. The dominant feature of the house, the aptly named "umbrella," was originally built of wood and used to shade the house from the intense Florida sun was lost in a storm in the 1960's. The full umbrella over the pool was restored in 2015, receiving the 2016 Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Outstanding Achievement Award, 2016 Florida AIA Honor Award of Excellence for Historic Preservation/Restoration and the 2016 Florida Gulf Coast Chapter AIA Honor Award for Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation.

When most people hear the term ART DECO, their thoughts turn to France (and the glamorous creations of such designers as ÉMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN, JEAN DUNAND and ARMAND-ALBERT RATEAU) or even the early skyscrapers of New York. But a new exhibition curated by dealer Markus Winter, of the New York gallery LAMPEDO, and held at the BRIAN KISH gallery in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, makes the case that furniture and decorative accessories designed by German architects in the same period are worthy of just as much attention. Working in a style that had many parallels with French Art Deco, the Germans pulled from a deep pool of inspiration to design works that were uniquely their own.

“There are fantastic pieces that demonstrate many influences and styles coming together,” Winter says of the objects in the show. BAROQUE and Asian elements make frequent appearances, often blending with the simplified forms and angular geometries seen in German EXPRESSIONISM or the creations of Austria’s WIENER WERKSTÄTTE. “It’s a wide mix, but there was a great consciousness about what was put together and how it was presented.”

Marc Peter Keane is a landscape architect, artist and writer based in Ithaca, NY. Having lived for nearly 20 years in Kyoto, Japan, his work is deeply informed by Japanese aesthetics and design sense: simplicity, serendipity, off-balance balance, and naturally weathered patinas. Working in situations as divers as a 350-year-old house in Japan and a contemporary museum in the United States, he designs singular gardens that are both beautiful and contemplative.