Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Chinoiserie Show House Gala

Tis the season for design show houses, with many bloggers featuring gorgeous rooms done by some of our top interior designers. I am going to the Washington, D.C. Design House today and will be attending Kip's Bay in NYC next week. I had saved these stunning photos from Veranda of the Beverly Hills Show House from last November at historic Greystone Estate. I adore anything Chinoiserie, and for the Gala, co-chairs Mary McDonald and Nathan Turner were inspired by one of my favorite books Chinoiseries by Bernd H. Dams and Andrew Zega. The real life version of this book that they called "Chinoiserie au Jardin" featured sixteen foot high pagodas, green and white striped poles, and twelve foot high banners of geisha silhouettes. Many of the recipes for the food they served are included in the Veranda article. Guests drank cocktails of lime, a ginger liquer Domaine de Canton (one of my favorites and a drop-dead gorgeous bottle), vodka, mint, and a garnish of fresh gardenia. Enjoy!







12 comments:

  1. These are FABULOUS! How did I miss this issue? I love Chinoiserie - what a fresh look. Maybe I need to try my hand at a lime and ginger cocktail too.

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  2. Oh my goodness. I found your blog while I was looking for photos of Philippe Starck Louis Ghosts and I am absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how stunning your blog is! Good work, fine work, do keep it up!

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  3. very nice. love chinoiserie inspirations.

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  4. You'll love the dc showhouse - well parts of it anyway. The whole pallette is beautiful -done in farrow & ball paints. I went on it last saturday while on the Georgetown House tour.

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  5. *Love* the cardboard cutout pagodas. What are the green barber poles all about? Not that it matters in this mad interpretation of chinoiserie. great post, thank you.

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  6. Rose C'est La Vie-It is a mad interpretation in a glorious way. I think the green and white striped poles were an effort to keep it a fresh, hip Hollywood Regency version of Chinoiserie. And Mary McDonald loves her stripes. Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Stefan-Love might be an overstatement, but I enjoyed the Show House-my entire house is done in Farrow & Ball, so that was my favorite part-and that wonderful laundry room. See you tomorrow!

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  8. Fancy for nyc-Thanks for stopping by-I will be n NYC next week-I can't wait!

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  9. Frances-Thank you so much for your very sweet comments-you made my day!

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  10. SF-It is such a fresh and modern take on Chinoiserie. You need to get a bottle of the liquer-the bottle alone is so elegant, but it really is wonderful.

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  11. This is a great post, Beth. Love the whole theme and the execution of it - beautiful.

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  12. Thanks Anne-I was just exchanging emails with Harrison Howard and of course your name came up. We are both huge fans of yours.

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