ByIain ReynoldsMérida(p. 130 )
Designer Jenne Maag fills a Mexican villa
withtreasures from around the world.
When Jenne Maag found her dream home
online, she just went ahead and bought it.
“My friends thought I was crazy.” After all,
she was in New York, the house was in
Mérida on the Yucatán peninsula, and she
hadn’t even seen it with her own eyes.
Maag, t hough, knew this Spanish colonial-
style villa, with its high ceilings, internal
arcade, andatriumpond, was something
special.Thankfully, the house wasn’t too
run-down, but its dark color scheme had
to go and has since been replaced by cool-
er, softer shades. It's the antique furniture,
however, that truly makes the interiors,
with each room seeming to open up a new
world. The “Opium Den” is thus full of
pieces from the Far East, the upstairs gal-
lery presents Greek and Italian busts, and
the “Castaing Ro om” features a Florentine
mirror and a Rose Tarlow table alongside
an Empire bed from the estate of famed
antiques dealer Madeleine Castaing.
London (p. 140 )
The seventies are Bella Freud’s era – as
her bold-hued abode clearly shows.
Developed together with Maria Speake of
design and salvage firm Retrouvius, Bella
Freud’s offbeat home takes its cue from
the fashion designer’s fondness for the
1970s, combining glam details such as
leopard-print l ampshades with carpets of
green, r ed, and deep marigold. Despite the
retro feel, this mostly single-story struc-
ture is, in fact, entirely new, having been
built to replace a clutch of ramshackle
lean-tos on an urban garden plot. Inside,
steel-framed internal windows, salvaged
from Battersea Power Station, lend fur-
ther character and allow daylight from the
top-lit main room to enter the surround-
ing spaces. Pictures of and by Bella’s fa-
ther Lucian Freud are another defining
feature, while one of his old trolleys, piled
with empty paint tubes, stands against a
wall like an artwork in its own right.Milan (p. 146 )
No ordinary workplace, Luca Pignatelli’s
studio is also a journey through his past.
Normally, the master plan c omes before
the details. When painter Luca Pignatelli
set about converting a former auto repair
shop into a studio, on the other hand, hetook the doors as his starting point, in-
stalling eight neo-Renaissance items he’d
purchased from a Marche antiques dealer.
“They reminded me of the old theaters full
of doors and passageways we used to visit
as kids,” says Pignatelli, who also put in
new walls to create corridors. Such nods
to the family biography are a recurring
theme: the tiles of the living room's chim-
ney breast are from a place passed through
en route to Lecce, his father’s hometown;
the chestnut wood for the flooring is from
Città di Castello, another stop on those
childhood travels; and the aforemention-
ed doors were discovered o n a trip to Pe-
saro to visit his grandmother.Milan (p. 152 )
Past meets present: Alessia Garibaldi’s
apartment is a microcosm of the city.
“My home has two souls,” declares Alessia
Garibaldi, “one old and one young.”When
the Milan-based architect purchased the
property, i ts street-facing spaces, previ-
ously used as offices, boasted period de-
tails such as elaborate plasterwork, while
other areas had no ornamentation at all.
Garibaldi decided to emphasize the exist-
ing dichotomy, restoring the front room's
historic features and imbuing the rest
with a more contemporary look. That the
resulting interiors nonetheless feel of a
piece is thanks to the harmonizing use of
gray, w ith the kitchen, bedroom and bath-
room's dark travertine echoing the mostly
gray-painted w alls. The furnishings, too,
juxtapose old and new, with vintage items
such as mid-century armchairs and a Mu-
rano glass floor lamp set against minimal-
ist designs by Garibaldi's Studio DC10.Chatoillenot(p. 160 )
Munich-born artistAnita Albus prepares
to say adieu to her Burgundy château.
“This place ismy work's wellspring,” says
Anita Albus o f her summer residence in
Chatoillenot. A late 18th-century hunting
lodge set in extensive gardens, it has been
her sanctuary since 1982, a place to write,
paint, and draw in seclusion. As an artist,
Albus has carved out a unique niche, craft-
ing masterful studies o f flora and fauna that
call to mind baroque still lifes – and often
accompanying them with insightful literary
essays. Lepidoptera are the subject of her
latest monograph; cases of them adorn her
upstairs studio, along with utensils, materi-als, and an array of books on traditional
pigment-making.Sa dly, age now compels
Albus to sell up, meaning this summer's so-
journ will be her last.“It was a decision
made with a heavy heart," she says,“but I’m
thankful I was able to be here for so long.”
Let’s hope this magical place at least passes
into sympathetic hands.Paris(p. 170 )
Eric Gizard converts an old bakery
into a color-filled, custom-lit home.
Comprising a trio of disparate structures,
this one-time commercial property in Pa-
ris's 1 1th arrondissement was something
of a h odgepodge. Thanks to architect Eric
Gizard, however, its diverse parts, which
date from between 1889 and the 1950s,
now add up to an enchanting open-plan
home whose spaces are structured primar-
ily v ia color. The vibrant palette, inspired
by the paintings of Nicolas de Staël, ranges
from Mercadier's “Star Fruit” yellow in
the office to the guest bedroom’s intense
blue, t hough the master b edroom boasts a
more subdued blend of sage green and
cloudy blue. The lighting, m eanwhile, was
developed i n conjunction with Astropol's
Laïna Gianferrari and Amélie Roux and
blends striking designs by the duo with
pieces by Isamu No guchi, Angelo Lelli,
and DCW Éditions.Kintyre (p. 178 )
Tom Helme andLisa Ephson revive a
Scottish estate with sensitivity and style.
“We have deep respect for this place and its
history,” says Lisa Ephson. Together with
her partner, Farrow & Ball f ounder Tom
Helme, she has restored and revivedthe
remote Kintyre estate of Carskiey, even
giving up her job in London (working for
Anya Hindmarch) to devote more energy
to the project. That respect is apparent all
through the main house, which dates back
to 1908 and retains period flooring, kitch-
ens, and tiles. Much of the original furni-
ture also remains; this the couple have
combined with contemporary pieces such
as Minotti s ide tables, B & B I talia seating,
and o wn-design r ugs, plus bespoke colors
based on classic Farrow & Ball h ues (the
aim was to create warm, inviting interiors
rather than a museum).To day, Helme and
Ephson split their time between Scotland
and London, renting out Carskiey House
when not in residence themselves.190AD
Summaries