Veranda May/June 2022

VERANDA IS WHERE exceptional taste lives. That’s as true today as it was 35 years ago, when we were founded by Lisa Newsom in Atlanta. Under her leadership, VERANDA distinguished itself with lush visual presentations of the most beautiful homes and gardens in the world—as well as by delivering substance behind the beauty. Thanks to her relentless pursuit of only the very best, Newsom quickly established the brand as the ultimate arbiter of good taste. But at VERANDA, good taste has always extended beyond how we look to how we live. By embracing the joy in design as well as gardening, entertaining, and traveling, VERANDA has celebrated the art of beautiful living from day one. And with an emphasis on individual style and a sense of graciousness not found in any…

STEELE THOMAS MARCOUX, BRIAN WOODCOCK; HAIR AND MAKEUP STYLING BY DARCY WILKS; PHOTOGRAPHED AT ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE, AN ANTIQUES AND FIXTURES SHOP IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.…

Rugs as Resilient Upholstery Prequels, perhaps, to today’s performance fabrics, hard-wearing flatwoven rugs were often draped over seating as shields for delicate textiles. Now, these arrangements go au courant in more tailored forms, like a vintage Turkish kilim bench cushion and Aubusson lumbar pillows, both from Paige Albright Orientals. Rugs as Privacy Shades & Curtains Lightweight kilims and dhurries have been used as decorative screens for centuries, with their inherent reversibility perfect for draping doorways. At far left, a Vintage Anatolian Gingham cicim (pronounced ji-jim) from Tamam is marked by small motifs woven into the pattern to look like embroidery. Rugs as Decorative Paneling Like a feat of flatweave trompe l’oeil, an Indian Soaf dhurrie runner (Odegard Carpets) creates the illusion of a dado or skirting board—ideal for adding a sense of architecture to small rooms or corridors. Rugs…

For additional credits, see The Sourcebook, page 196. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN two very different men—American-born interior designer Eric Egan and Italian software executive Roberto Strada—meet in their early 30s while both pursuing an MBA and discover a shared passion for classic luxury watches? The answer is a stroke of collaborative genius: They elect to pool their timepieces and share the joint collection across both time and place. With lives and careers that overlap in Milan but then spread far from each other to Africa, Asia, South America, and the U.S. and holiday tastes that vary profoundly (winter finds Egan escaping to Uruguay, while Strada heads to the Alps), the longtime friends plan hand-offs with diplomatic and logistical finesse. And the arrangement is greater than the sum of its parts. “Of course, we…

Lucrezia Buccellati Wildenstein “The pearl is my favorite,” confides Lucrezia Buccellati Wildenstein. She’s speaking of the Ombelicali, Buccellati’s gemstone-and-gold necklaces designed by her great-grandfather Mario. Known as the Prince of Goldsmiths, the Milan maison founder created the piece (named for its navel-brushing plunge) in the 1930s for poet Gabriele d’Annunzio to grace his numerous lovers’ decolletages. Now, to accompany a lush Assouline volume commemorating Buccellati’s centenary, the Ombelicali returns, updated by Wildenstein’s co-creative director and father, Andrea. “The necklaces dive into the past to create present-day jewels true to Buccellati’s DNA,” she says. “Each is a piece of art.” And a rich reminder of a great-granddaughter’s romantic heritage. Ombelicali necklaces, from $300,000; buccellati.com. Cindy Chao “The magnolia symbolizes purity, elegance, and sincerity,” says high jewelry artist Cindy Chao. “It’s a favorite flower in…

THE 18TH-CENTURY BOTANIST CARL VON LINNÉ dreamed of a floral clock—his Horologium Florae—with blooms opening on the hour to mark the time. Now, 270 years later, Van Cleef & Arpels delivers a breathtaking iteration of Linnaeus’s imagination, the latest in its nature-inspired virtuoso timepieces. The springlike Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier and summery Heures Florales each contain miniature three-dimensional gardens of painted petals, white and yellow diamonds, sculpted gold branches, and mother-of-pearl clouds (plus signature butterflies in the Florales Cerisier). But the true magic is in the mechanism: Each timepiece’s dozen tiny blooms open or close at the turn of the hour—up to 166 elements move to create this effect—and no day’s patterns are the same. Although the actual time is displayed quietly on the case’s side, the ever-refreshing floral…