Thursday, January 24, 2013

VISITING VINTAGE DEALER LIZ O'BRIEN'S WORLD

By the way, have you seen the newly updated Architectural Digest website? I spent some time on it this past weekend, and I have to say, I really like the clean layout, the streamlined font, round-up lists, and in-depth European coverage. And thank you AD for adding Stylebeat to The Daily AD blog roll! While hunting, I came across this:


 Photos courtesy of Architectural Digest
And what a chic world it is. In her pastoral home that she shares with her husband, built in 1939 by Joseph H. Cassone in one of the prettiest areas of rural Pennsylvania, dealer Liz O'Brien escapes New York. The "Streamline Moderne" modernist architecture and interiors, as seen in the October issue of Architectural Digest are so fitting for O'Brien, author and long-time leading voice in vintage furnishings, decorative accessories and all-around chicness. She is the reason for the comeback, appreciation and devout following of some of the biggest 20th Century furniture designers across Europe and the US. Her laser-like vision picked diamonds in the rough twenty years ago, and her dedication to discovering the best has never wavered. Even her own line of furnishings, Editions is to die for. It is great to see what she chooses to surround herself with, and what styles she wants around. I know she loves color, because the seating area of her gallery is a vibrant display, with a purple on purple faux bois Madeline Castiang rug with deep purple felt walls punctuated by stark white bookcases. But her house is grounded in sweeping neutral schemes. What a spot to come home to.

 Modernist perfection with an orange door

 The floor length  gray drapes with caterpillar-like mole fringe around the softly curving window are out of a movie set. So is that view.

 A white living room, punctuated by touches of red and leopard.

A high drama bedroom with a painting depicting a sweeping Chinese mountain view.

The rich lacquer nighstands are just the thing to off-set the neutral backdrop.

The statuesque silhouettes of the minimal Albert Hadley etagere and John Dickinson plaster x-bench against this multi-paned window are magnified.

The fluting and lines of her kitchen remind me of the older, pre-renovation areas of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Every piece speaks for itself. The Queen Anne chair she designed for her Editions collections sits tucked behind her glass-topped leggy desk.

The view from the pool shot during magic hour.

Photo by Kevin Sharkey, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
In the back of her gallery space where the work gets done, she has created a chic cocoon of color.









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