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Restoration Blog: The Library
Adjacent to the front entry hall and opposite the soon-to-be new kitchen, with a welcoming fireplace and a huge computer on the partners’ desk, the Library is the House’s epicenter. The Family—two Alpha professionals and two smart kids at academically challenging schools— use the room constantly.
It is a perfect example of a room that has evolved over the decades. Paneled in a handsome dark walnut, circa 19th-century, there are four glass-fronted bookcases that were added around the room pre World War I. They almost match the paneling, but stylistically and finish-wise they are just enough “off” to betray their true age.
Given the dark walls and the northern/eastern exposure, light in this room is key (as it is in all rooms).* The plaster ceiling was restored years ago and is beautifully painted in multi-colors. Since there isn’t power up there, and I wasn’t going to propose undoing what had been done so well, no central chandelier could be added. This works for me—I pretty much don’t like ‘pendant’ lights in rooms other than dining rooms. Some clients/cultures think a room isn’t finished without a chandelier (our Mexican clients come to mind. And Saddam Hussein…)—but not me.
We flanked the fireplace with standing lamps for ambiance and reading. On the opposite side of the room, we added two tall torcheres to throw light up and out. The desk has two lamps with solid shades to give light that doesn’t interfere with the computer monitor.
In addition, to avoid ending up with a dark-brown, light-sucking environment, we had the walls waxed and polished, so the glossy finish reflects light. On wood paneling, we try to hang art that has glass over it. Wood-paneled rooms are also great foils for black-and-white photographs, and works-on-paper mounted behind glass. More reflectivity.
Given the wood paneling, the decorating decisions were fewer (no wall color!). So first came the rug, a room-sized Persian with lots of blues and golds and minute details and pattern. This plethora of pattern led me to a solid fabric for the sofa and curtains—they both got a pale tobacco-colored linen velvet. We love linen velvets. Soft, casual, and imperfect from the get go, the irregular weave looks better with age and use. When we did Sotheby’s New York boardroom, we were aiming for Instant Ancestry, so we covered the walls with linen velvet. The more the porters change the art and touch the walls, the better they look. We use a lot of linen velvets, silk velvets, and wool mohairs, but never cotton velvets: linen, I’ve already explained why; silk is very glamorous and very fragile and @$250 and up per yard, it’s more citified. Mohair we love (it’s in the living room of The House). But cotton velvets don’t fly with me—they are fragile and cheap. You’re spending way too much on the labor to waste your Upholstery Dollar on lame fabrics.
The armchairs are ebonized Napoleon III fauteuils, Victoria’s French counterpart. (Fauteuils are open armchairs, bergeres have closed sides—I know you needed that information.) FYI, we love Napoleon Trois. The apartment at the Louvre is amazing—this couple redefined opulent. Here’s one image; better yet, take a virtual tour on the Louvre’s website.
Eugenie (the Empress) was Spanish and young (nee Doña Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick) and Louis Napoleon was considered parvenu by the Almanach de Gotha [a respected directory of Europe’s highest nobility and royalty] set. Hence wildly indulgent taste??! I love the royal lore that when the Bonapartes visited the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha’s (aka Vicky and Albert) in 1855, Victoria confirmed her superiority when she simply entered and sat down in her chair in her box at the opera, while the Empress Eugenie entered and turned to make sure her chair was in place. Moral of story: A real empress assumes her chair is always in place.
Anyway, Napoleon III furniture is by definition comfy. Wide and deep and well pitched. We covered these in a subtle, woven Etro paisley from Clarence House. And the ottoman/cocktail table is covered in blue Ultrasuede.
The porcelain is in a favorite turquoise color and the pieces are French, Chinese, English, Japanese, and Persian. The tie-dyed panel above the fireplace is late 19th-century Indonesian (we’ve since framed it—textiles always under glass—so it’s a bit glittery on that wall now…better). We love the faience trunk sidetable. And every room needs a handsome canine as an accessory. (They also serve the invaluable purpose of aging a new room—maybe not as well as a 7-year-old boy, but close!) In this case, the pooch is ours—Pancho—visiting/scavenging/sullying, as he is wont to do.
Some Other Libraries We’ve Done
All this brings us to the primary use of a library—book storage, a topic on which I can opine ad nauseum. HM and I are book-ophiles. We buy ‘em, we hoard ’em, and we use ‘em. The Library has bookcases with glass doors—great for conservation. This grey dining room/ library we recently completed in New York sports curved glass doors—and sterling cabinet hardware—LOVE that client!
We’ve done a few places with free-floating shelves with sides (the sides are key to retaining your sanity). The first was this lower Fifth Avenue penthouse (above). The front hall had the most wall space for books but also had lots of different sized windows , and a few angles. The lacquered floating shelves give the room continuity. And at my apartment (left) I went with the same design but in limed oak. (FYI – the key to these shelves is the extensive metalwork installed into the plaster to allow them to hang straight and safe!)
This double-height library in Manhattan is one of HM”s triumphs (one of many!). The balcony wrapping the space features a fantastic Louis XVI desk with a Napoleon III light above it. Double height spaces are tricky; the ceiling has to be well-proportioned from the ground floor and from the second floor. Too often the ceiling gets scaled for the lower vantage and becomes overscaled for the upper vantage. HM knocked this one out of the park—it looks great from all levels.
We love pine libraries. Besides being handsome, this one’s claim to fame is that it was designed and installed in under 6 weeks. Ouch. The Mapplethorp flower really sings against the pine.
The Manhattan library at left was designed for an Art Deco aficionado (using his own store of vintage Cuban mahogany. We got to go to their wood warehouse and choose…Not the norm…). HM mixed it up by designing freestanding macassar ebony and old ivory bookcases (after Ruhlmann) for two walls and built-in ‘original’ bookcases flanking the fireplace. The card table, chairs, and desk are Ruhlmann, the lamps Tiffany, and the rug a vast oushak.
Finally, one of the most bookish rooms we’ve ever done is the President’s Office at The New York Public Library. And hey—linen velvet curtains and wall upholstery! In the far right corner is our favorite reading lamp—the Reading Room lamp. What’s not to love??? Please check out HM’s and my current Library cause, the LGBT Committee. No matter your persuasion, The New York Public Library is the world’s greatest and most “public” public library—and it is privately funded. Support the NYPL as it fights to stay open seven days a week. As the economy sinks, Library usage increases.
Books
*Good news—Billy Baldwin Decorates, the great American decorator’s 1972 book, which is filled with the best advice, is being reissued, and B.B. agrees with me—the first person you hire after the decorator is the lighting designer.
Check out At Home with Books by Ellis/Seebohm/Sykes (Carol Southern Books) for a one-stop tour of bookcases. Lots of photos of lots of libraries—there is something in there for everyone. Focus on what works and what doesn’t. Shelves that sag from weight make me very anxious. Hate that.
Every Library should have a copy of The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping by Hermoine Sandwith and Sheila Stainton (think they ‘re Brits?). First published in 1984 (I have the first edition I now see—wish it had the dust cover. Bad housekeeping!) it was, happily, reissued in 2005. This isn’t housekeeping for your typical American bungalow; this is National Trust housekeeping. The “Taxidermy” chapter includes this warning: “Lions can have their manes brushed with a soft brush but be very careful of the ears, which can tear easily.” Who knew? The chapter on “Books and Documents” is particularly helpful for houses that have a Guttenberg bible on the shelf. This lofty advice serves us commoners well, too. It’s expensive but such a great book.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/03/09 at 09:25 AM • Permalink
