Schwetzingen bathhouse -a private Italian Villa

The Schloss Schwetzingen which I mentioned last week (the Temple of Apollo) was essentially a very public space, even in the 18th century before becoming the even more public museum it is today. The elector, in order to get away from 'court life' and from the general public which were allowed into the grounds, built the Badehaus (bathhouse) as a private refuge from what was essentially his 'work'.  Imagine having to live at your office!

Built in the style of an Italian Villa the bathhouse featured not only a small sauna area but also a bedroom & sitting room - a sort of Petit Trianon at Schwetzingen!

While strictly classical I love the sense of playfulness found throughout the details. The round entrance hall is stunning.

Directly off the entry hall is the bath -thats what the building is for afterall!  You may recognize the spaces as they were featured in the May 2009 issue of World of Interiors Magazine (one of my favorites).

You also will catch a rare glimpse of my Australian Penpal in the mirrored door who is kind enough to always share his travel pictures with us here on ArchitectDesign!

Rather than a large palatial room the bedroom is quite residential, even featuring a now out-dated twin sized bed. Seriously - when was the last time you slept in a twin bed? Even kids seem to have bigger beds these days!

Don't miss the chamber pot pulled out of its' little closet with a porthole window for ventilation. Also the Wedgwood vases are unusual to spot in Germany rather than Meissen or another German porcelain.

The room above features a more typical German porcelain chandelier (Dresden or Meissen perhaps?) along with a number of very German looking figurines on the mantelpiece. I hope you enjoyed this very private look at the Schwetzingen Badehaus!

BUtterfield 8 movie sets

This past weekend I watched the movie that won Elizabeth Taylor her first Oscar in 1960, BUtterfield 8. While Mrs Taylor's performance and the movie as a whole were excellent I have to say what stole the show for me was the NYC apartment of her society 'boyfriend' Weston Liggett played by Laurence Harvey.

The neutral tones of the apartment were predominantly gray with black doors and white trim. Sound very 2014 to you?  I also loved that the plaster casings around the door - seen above -and in the fireplace surround seen in the first photo were a very classical Greek key. Design inspiration is everywhere if you just look!
Apologies for the photo quality which I took of my tv screen!

A 'Duesy' of a Duesenberg

Recently while in Maine visiting friends I spent some time in the lovely, revitalized town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; definitely worth a visit let me tell you, charming town! While walking the streets I noticed this fantastic car and thought 'WHAT IS THAT?'. Clean lines like a greyhound and obviously much beloved by its owner in pristine condition.

Duesenberg was an American luxury car company in operation from 1913 until 1937 when it succumbed to the depression. Each car was a limited production and entirely built by hand so they are obviously much valued by collectors today (such as Jay Leno and a fantastic looking car MUSEUM).

While I don't even own a car myself (believe it or not, Americans) and have never considered myself a 'car person' I definitely appreciate the design of many antique cars. Have you noticed any extraordinary cars lately?

Chinese wallpaper at the Baths at Badenburg, Nymphenburg Park.

Whilst on his travels my Australian penpal stopped at Nymphenburg where the park is full of fascinating follies. Built in 1722 by Joseph Effner the Baths (or sauana) was the focal point of the park.

I love that the building is set in a lawn of daisies. I hate the American preference for pristine green lawns; give me wildflowers!

 The main room right when you enter is the banqueting hall.

The ceiling frescoes were badly damaged by the bombing of Nymphenburg during WWII but have been recently restored.

 I love these mirrored niches mirroring the transoms over the french doors. Both transoms and niches hold a collection of busts.

 The baths are shockingly opulent. The balcony above was for people to observe those in the pool below.

The most amazing part of this pavilion though are the original but recently restored hand-painted Chinese wallpaper in the 4 rooms of the "Elector's apartment".

 This room featured beautiful pink tea-stained and emerald green birds and flowers.

Another room features a more scenic Chinese wallpaper.

 The details are fascinating.

 The colors also are amazingly vivid.

 The houses in this wallpaper are the main attraction.

The park is full of beautiful follies and looks like a great place to spend a day.  Thanks to my penpal for sharing his travels with us all!

Interesting lighting at Filoli

While in California I stopped by Filoli, a spectacular house museum that I have blogged about extensively in numerous posts HERE,  and noticed an unusual light fixture in the dining room.  The 'candles' of the sconces are torpedo shaped sleeves from which slits are hollowed out in the back to hide a much smaller bulb.

When one sees the fixture from afar they appear to be candle-lit sconces as no light bulb is visible but they still 'glow' providing ambient light.

Above you can even see how some of the sconces hold real candles while others hold the backlit torpedoes. I think I rather like this idea.  What about you, or is it trying too hard?

Those fine 'Fine Paints of Europe'

As an architect you constantly find yourself specifying interesting and beautiful products but how does one get to make an educated decision over which products to use? I decided to try one out myself - Fine Paints of Europe. Fine Paints of Europe, or FPE as I'll call it in this post, is an oil based paint renowned for its glossy, almost glass-like appearance. To achieve this shine a rather detailed process is involved and on a recent project I decided to try it myself rather than leave it to the painters so that I could really get to understand the process.

Lets start at the very beginning shall we?  The project was an old and rather, lets say, 'dated' townhouse in Georgetown.  Above you can see the 100 year old door forlornly hidden behind an ugly security gate and layers of pink paint.

The first step was to get the house right. Painters were brought in to banish the pink and white scheme and new landscaping was installed. Dated storm doors in the city? No thanks, rip that out! Much better already, no?  After the long missing shutters were re-installed the only thing remaining on the street front was how to make that front door a focal point. It had to be something really special I felt - a bold color - and a shiny finish would be the finishing touch. Rather than a traditional red or green accent door, purple was decided upon. Yes - PURPLE. If you're gonna go for it - GO FOR IT!

Picking up my paint brush I was careful to follow the FPE instructions. After removing all of the brass hardware (to be thoroughly polished) and sanding the door (a very important step as the high gloss would show any imperfection), a specialty primer by FPE was used. This primer was so thick and rigid, like super glue, that it created a smooth surface to work on; not an easy feat on a rough old Victorian door! This took about 3 HOURS!! The 3 day holiday weekend was a perfect time for this as it took an entire day for the door to be sanded, primed, and then dry. The 2nd day was the 1st coat of paint.  The paint was also thick, although not as rigid as the primer. It went on smoothly and after very careful brush strokes, miraculously produced a perfect glossy surface!

The first coat dried perfectly and I was tempted to leave well enough alone but the directions said to apply a second coat. So the 3rd day I woke up early and did as directed. The 2nd coat was somewhat difficult as the paint dries as glossy as it is while wet so making sure I was achieving even coverage was a bit of a chore (viewing the door sideways helped). After drying for 12 hours I was able to re-install the now gleaming brass hardware and voila!

I was so happy with the end result and think it puts the finishing touch on this lovely Georgetown townhouse. On future projects I'll now be able to instruct painters with assurance having tried the product myself.  Lesson learned: follow the directions, they're there for a reason!
I received no compensation for this post but rather I wanted to share my experience with a great product!

Nesting in my apartment

I've had a lot of changes in my apartment recently which is strange because aren't we meant to nest in preparation for winter and not spring? Regardless I thought I'd share some of these upgrades as they're really quite exciting for me!

A few months ago I purchased this antique armchair from an estate sale which had last been upholstered in the early 1960s.  While the fabric was nice in its own way (an embroidered silk) it was not quite to my taste and rather dirty.

Upon the recommendation of my friend Michele from the blog My Notting Hill I checked out Haute Fabrics in Ballston, Virginia (a DC suburb). There I found this lovely hand printed linen with a subtle paisley fabric that I just loved. I also found Urban Castle Interior Solutions who proved to be an excellent upholsterer after my last one had sadly retired. I worried it would perhaps be a little bland but I have such a random assortment of things that I love in this room that I thought the neutral tones would tie everything together.

At the same time I purchased this lovely Safavieh rug which really anchors the space. This is my living room in a 1 bedroom apartment so I really LIVE in here!

Now I have a comfy chair in which to read and relax which anchors this corner of the room- just what I always wanted! Now I just have to start looking for the perfect sofa to replace my underscaled loveseat (so no comments about that!).
I received no compensation for this post -just sharing some excellent resources! Picture quality is lacking because these were taken with my phone.

Arizona Biltmore Hotel

Sitting here in snow and ice it's hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago I was in paradise or at least the closest thing in winter: Phoenix, Arizona! One of the most well known sites in Phoenix is the Arizona Biltmore Hotel resort.

While many believe that Frank Lloyd Wright was the architect of the Biltmore Hotel it was actually Albert Chase McArthur, a mentee of Wrights and formerly in his employ. Frank Lloyd Wright consulted on the design for 4 months in 1928 which included his textile blocks. The hotel opened in 1929.

Wright developed these concrete textile blocks 6 years earlier for use in Los Angeles. Concrete blocks are formed with decorative patterns which give these buildings their distinctive appearance.

Oddly enough Wright did not get his way for once in design matters; the blocks here were designed as rectangles rather than Wright's squares by McArthur's insistence.

The grounds are exquisitely manicured as you can see in these pictures. The hotel sits in a desert but you'd never know it by the amount of surrounding green.

To take advantage of these grounds and the glorious winter weather all of the roofs function as patios for the rooms offering views of the grounds and in some cases the mountains beyond.

 The copper detailing mimics the textile block pattern.

Across the main entrance one can see the Wrigley mansion perched on a hill which is now owned by the resort and used as a private club.

 Some of these large roofs have nearly enough room to play a game of football!

The views are breathtaking. As you can see in some of the photos the resort has expanded from the main building over the years to include other wings and buildings - all designed in the same Wright-ian Prairie style.

Replicas of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Sprites" from his Midway Gardens project in Chicago (1915) dot the grounds as do many other Wrightian references.

 Can you imagine spending an entire winter here as people were wont to do in the 1930s & 40s?

 The textile blocks are a great backdrop to the vegetation.

 While visiting don't miss the fabulous swimming pool where Marilyn Monroe was often photographed.

 No detail is overlooked at the resort, not even the gate to the pool area!

In more recent history Senator John McCain conceded defeat for the Presidency of the United States on the hotel grounds in a newscast ( November 4, 2008) - yet another reason to enjoy the resort!

Inside the spaces are cool and dark. Other than the 2 story lobby spaces ceiling heights are low. Don't forget that although Phoenix can be delightful in the winter the hot summers are brutal and the building responds to that architecturally. Air conditioning was installed in the 1960s enabling the hotel to operate year round.

 These unusual columns surround the lobby, seen here from the second floor.

I loved the art deco mailbox still in use in the lobby.

The stairs throughout the hotel are open and airy. I wonder if the metal railings were added to the textile block guardrail later for code purposes (36" height) or were original?

Detail of the interesting stairs.

The textile blocks are used in many different ways. In some areas they are used as a sort of window with embedded glass (above), in other places they function as light fixtures, while on the exterior they make up the shell of the building.

I'll be bringing you more photos of the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore in future posts as well as my previously promised post on Taliesin West!