Architectural Digest March 2021
Architectural Digest is the world's foremost design authority, showcasing the work of top architects and interior decorators. It continues to set new benchmarks for how to live well—what to buy, what to see and do, where to travel, and who to watch on the fast-paced, multifaceted global design scene.
in this issue
making an entrance
For her own home in Bellport, New York (page 21), interior designer Michelle R. Smith set the mood by lining the stair hall in Hamilton Weston’s Charlecote Trellis—a pretty, pared-back wallpaper that’s equal parts charm and sophistication. Looking to make a similarly polished statement? Here are some favorite patterns that sing just so…. STROKES OF GENIUS PAINTERLY AND PASTEL, WONDER WALLPAPER FROM CALICO’S REVERIE COLLECTION LEAVES US IN AWE. CALICOWALLPAPER.COM ISLAND BREEZE STYLIZED FRONDS LEND LOVELY RHYTHM TO SERENA & LILY’S GRANADA MOTIF IN BURNT ORANGE/SAND. SERENAANDLILY.COM SPRING FORWARD THE FLORAL SPRAYS OF RIFLE PAPER CO.’S HAWTHORNE PATTERN IN ROSE FEEL TIMELESS YET FRESH. RIFLEPAPERCO.COM IN FULL BLOOM VOUTSA’S ANTOINETTE WALLPAPER IN METALLIC WHITE IS PLAYFUL BUT POLISHED, ENLIVENING ANY ROOM. VOUTSA.COM FOR MORE SMART IDEAS VISIT @GETCLEVER ON INSTAGRAM OR ARCHDIGEST.COM/CLEVER INTERIOR: NGOC MINH NGO. ALL OTHERS COURTESY OF…
editor’s letter
SUPERSTAR SWAGGER. Serena Williams has it, and so does her house. Working with her sister Venus—and her design firm V Starr—the pair spent three years gut-renovating a sprawling waterfront Florida property, transforming it into Serena’s specific vision of nirvana, which includes a hidden karaoke bar, a private trophy room, and an unexpected, airy modern-art gallery where the living room used to be. “Serena is not formal,” Venus tells writer Elaine Welteroth. “She is fun-loving, she’s very free.” That independent spirit sets the tone for an issue brimming with confident owners living large and on their own terms. Describing the wishes of his Russian client, the new owner of an opulent, historic hôtel particulier in Paris, AD100 Hall of Fame design legend Jacques Grange says simply, “He wanted a palace, not…
open and shut
In the midst of building her own chalet in the French Alps, in the early 1960s, the endlessly innovative designer Charlotte Perriand needed a small lamp for reading in bed that wouldn’t irritate her husband. She placed a wall-mounted bulb behind a simple aluminum shutter that could swivel to send light up or down, varying in brightness. The so-called applique à volet pivotant, or wall lamp with swivel shutter, is a perfect example of what Perriand’s daughter, Pernette Perriand-Barsac, calls “architect’s lighting, which plays with volumes and proportions as an architectural element to make space sing,” a common theme in Perriand’s projects. It did, indeed, make the room sing. And not just her own. In the 1970s the appliques were installed in the living quarters of the Perriand-designed ski resort Les…
leaving her mark
Covering up a window, forgoing proper kitchen cabinetry, painting shutters to match the clapboard façades.… Such notions are, to the pearl-clutching decorati, anathema. But designer Michelle R. Smith has never been one to abide by convention. Case in point: the 1857 house that she recently transformed in Bellport, New York, a charm-filled village on the south shore of Long Island. Over a matter of weeks, this rising star updated the Greek Revival residence into an eclectic nest for her young family, cleverly challenging the rules of good taste along the way. The four-bedroom property, though historic, had languished on the market on account of its formal interiors and outdated systems. “There was no air-conditioning, no laundry room,” she recalls. “It seemed overwhelming to a lot of people, but I was like,…
you spin me round
“The circle is a powerful symbol of unity, a line that never ends, so we decided going forward that it would become our messenger, carrying our vision of inclusivity, wholeness, and hope,” says jewelry designer, sculptor, and philanthropist David Yurman, recalling a creative process that took place during a highly tumultuous 2020. What resulted is the new Elements collection, conceived with his painter wife, Sybil, cofounder and co-CEO of the eponymous Manhattan-based company that they established as newlyweds 41 years ago. (Son Evan is chief creative officer.) Expanding on the brand’s hallmark cable motif, Elements’ unisex gold or silver hoop necklace can be left unadorned or hung with reversible pendants fashioned of malachite, mother-of-pearl, tigereye, and other semiprecious stones, as well as pavé diamonds. The effect is transportingly classical—one can…
fair and square
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