From classic to contemporary, a few of the most inviting and stylish living rooms Architectural Digest has shown.
Seeking to update their newly acquired 1981 Hamptons getaway, a Manhattan couple looked to Shelton, Mindel & Associates. Above: Pierre Paulin steel-and-leather chairs are among the Modern furnishings, new and vintage, in the living room. Cassina low tables. (July 2008)
Professional cyclist Lance Armstrong lives in a Spanish colonial-style house in Austin, Texas. “I’ll probably host a dozen dinners a year, and we’ll have appetizers or drinks in the living room,” says Armstrong, who hired Roy W. Materanek to give the interiors a smart, contemporary look. Over the mantel is a work by Andres Serrano. McGuire table lamps. A. Rudin sofas. Wood-frame chair chenille, Clarence House. Schumacher drapery silk. (July 2008)
With characteristic bold style, Peter Marino created rich, exotic interiors for a 1929 Tudor Revival house in Greenwich, Connecticut. “It takes so much sophistication to use a simple fabric, like cotton,” says Marino, who designed a radiant yellow print, bordered with silk, for the living room walls. On the mantelpiece is a painting by John Wooton. The 18th-century bureau plat is by Etienne Levasseur. (May 2008)
Interior designer Thomas Pheasant renovated a Las Vegas house for Rob and Sheryl Goldstein. “The living room’s windows were big, and the ceiling was too high,” says Pheasant, who used screens to “help balance the other elevations.” Sofa and lounge chair fabric, Rogers & Goffigon. (December 2007)
On Hawaii’s dramatic Kona Coast, architect Shay Zak created a Balinese-inspired residence for Cassandra and Paul Hazen. Comprising a main structure and a series of pavilions, “it has Southeast Asian or Pacific Rim references throughout,” says the interior designer, Douglas Durkin. Above: Open-trussed ceilings of western-ridge cedar in the living room, as throughout, contribute to the rustic feel. (March 2008)
Pierre Yovanovitch reimagined his Paris apartment—in shambles the first time he saw it—reconfiguring rooms and unifying the interior elements. Yovanovitch removed the fireplace that had divided the music room and living room. A new, see-through fireplace connects them. “The ebony structure also gives it the necessary height and verticality,” he points out. Yonel Lebovici chairs are placed near the Ado Chale low table. (February 2008)
Mario Buatta converted a “theatrical” Fifth Avenue maisonette—once the home of interior design legend Sister Parish—into a “soothing, romantic” residence for Patricia Altschul.In the living room, Buatta cooled and quieted the space with a silver-leaf wallcovering, from Donghia, but preserved the squares of antiqued mirrors that Parish had hung. The painting is by Maximilien Luce. Brunschwig & Fils white sofa fabric. Colefax and Fowler crystal lamps. Scalamandré green chair brocade. Clarence House velvet on open-arm chairs. Leopard print from Cowtan & Tout. (February 2008)
The living room of a Tribeca penthouse created by architect Sam Trimble for Kevin Roberts, CEO worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi. A 1961 Plexiglas, glass and steel Yves Klein table with cobalt pigment and a Klein globe, La Terre Bleue, are in the study, which opens onto a roof deck. The space was an elevator machine room in the 19th-century industrial building. Osborne & Little sofa velour. (January 2004)
On Nantucket, Massachusetts, a couple commissioned Botticelli & Pohl Architects and interior designer Elissa Cullman to create their seaside retreat. “Roy Lichtenstein’s Sunrise could not have found a more suitable setting,” Cullman says of the painting she placed above the living room sofa. The 19th-century turned-wood container is from H. M. Luther. Chair floral, John Rosselli. (November 2007)
Architect Sandy Walker conjured an art-filled, contemporary space out of a traditional San Francisco apartment, while designer Douglas Durkin used texture, overscale furniture and neutral hues to give the interiors depth. In the living room, Ellsworth Kelly’s White Curve, 1975, is above the living room fireplace. Ouray, a 1961 Frank Stella painting, hangs at rear. Stark carpet. (May 2007)
Illuminated at dusk is the dining room of a 4,800-square-foot La Jolla, California, residence designed by Wallace E. Cunningham for his client Barbara Saltman and her late husband, Paul Saltman. Above: Dark French limestone floors and recycled-redwood timbers accent the living room and the dining room beyond. The suspended, concave chimney acts as a counterpoint to the dramatically bowed ceiling. “It’s turned up to the sky,” Cunningham says. Jim Thompson pillow fabric. (January 2006)
A tranquil palette characterizes a Los Angeles living room designed by Mariette Himes Gomez. (February 2002).
Interior designer Jennifer Post maximized drama in a minimalist Tribeca penthouse by using strong contrasts, rich materials and abundant natural light. The limestone fireplace and ebonized-white-oak cabinetry establish the palette that prevails in the living/dining room, as throughout. (May 2007)
Architect Peter Bohlin, who designed Dennis and Vicki Farrar’s house in Park City, Utah, incorporated double steel columns and a low custom-designed credenza to provide a subtle separation between the airy dining room and the expansive living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows, which look out to the Wasatch Valley below and the Wasatch mountains in the distance, bring the outdoors in. The Toulouse-Lautrec lithograph, Aristide Bruant dans Son Cabaret, is from the original series, issued in 1893. (October 2006)
Wallace E. Cunningham, assisted by Guy West, created a residence near San Diego with “structural fin walls that provide a sculptural statement and act as a louvered privacy screen,” says the architect. A Tobi Kahn painting is in the living room. Pamela Smith designed the interiors throughout. (October 2003)
“It looks like something out of the Adirondacks and makes for another mood,” Mariette Himes Gomez says of the Southhampton family room she designed. The architect, John Mayfield, sourced the structure from a barn company, built it backwards and then inserted it into the already constructed house. (July 2006)
Shelton, Mindel & Associates conceived and arranged a Manhattan loft for Claude Arpels. “The gestures of the design are in keeping with the original industrial vernacular of the building,” explains Lee F. Mindel. Near a Poul Kjaerholm armchair and sofa in the living room is a Charlotte Perriand wood bench. “Most of the furnishings we chose are by architects who understood the technology of their time. Their design philosophies are present in the furniture,” Peter L. Shelton says. (November 2004)
