Design Post Update

Today I bring you Oheka Castle through a music video by Taylor Swift.  Oheka Castle on Long Island was designed by Delano and Aldrich in 1914 for Otto Kahn. The structure happens to be the 2nd largest private house in the United States after the Biltmore estate. The house is gorgeous and the song is really fun; I'll admit to being a big Taylor Swift fan!  If you're not into the music I still encourage you to watch the video on mute for the images of Oheka Castle alone. Enjoy!

Do you decorate for Halloween? I've never been interested in the holiday other than the candy (and I don't even have much of a sweet tooth!) but I do enjoy seeing how people have fun decorating their houses. This house above in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington (recently renovated by BarnesVanze Architects) got into the spirit with this spooky ghost in the vestibule.
Georgetown is particularly spooky over Halloween with many houses decorating their front yards. Trick or treating in Georgetown is INSANE. I loved this corrugated plastic BOO! along O street in the East Village. Don't forget to brush your teeth!

I recently discovered that the Levi Morton house (1912) by John Russell Pope in my old neighborhood in Washington, DC, was for sale. For about a decade I lived a block away from this stunning mansion at 1500 Rhode Island Avenue, NW and always admired it.
For the past 75 years the National Coatings Association has been the (excellent) caretaker of this historic structure which has housed a former Vice President, a Russian ambassador, and even Alexander Graham Bell.
If you are familiar with a map of Washington, the regular grid of streets is broken by a number of Avenues which meet at traffic circles;  this creates some odd triangular building sites. The Morton house is within one of these odd shaped lots which explains the strange angles in the first floorplan above.
The gracious porte cochere sits on the north side of the property on Rhode Island Avenue. Pope cleverly used the irregular slanted front facade for service spaces, situating larger and more important rooms around the more regular square facades. In 1912 these rooms faced gardens which are now (partially) parking lots.
The odd service wing in the floorplan which included storage and servant apartments either was never built or was torn down at one point for more parking. I always wondered if the stucco part of the building which you see to the left of the photo above was original and apparently it was. It looks different than the elevation drawing earlier in this post and rather like an after thought. It houses the original dining room and butler's pantry.
The  (west) side facade above is the most prominent as it faces Scott Circle and affords beautiful views.
As with many parts of the city the area has changed significantly since 1912 and this mansion is surrounded mostly by large apartment buildings and hotels which you get a sense of in the above photograph or on google streetviews.
This existing house was an extensive renovation to an older red brick Victorian structure dating from 1879 designed by John Fraser, a well-known Philadelphian architect. The interior was completely redone by Pope in a Classical style which included this stunning staircase which includes Levi Morton's monogram.
The original fixtures are all extant and included with the sale offered by Lucia Wadeson of Cresa Corporate Real Estate. I can imagine this becoming rather grand condo's with a significant addition or ideally an embassy (Cuba?).
 Images are not my own: B&W Photographs and drawings from the book "Mastering Tradition" by author James Garrison and color images from this article in the Washington Business Journal.

Above is the courtyard of the Hotel Guenegaud, designed and built by Francois Mansart (father of the Mansard roof) between 1651 and 1655 in the heart of the ancient Marais district.
Much of the Hotel Guenegaud is sadly closed to the public however. The neighboring Hotel de Mongelas, which was extensively renovated and restored during the 2007 addition of the space to the museum, more than makes up for this closure.
The entrance into the museum is through the courtyard of the Mongelas which mixes the best of the old (built in the early 17th century although largely altered, possibly also by Mansart) with the best of the modern -much like the collection itself.
Like in much restrained Neoclassicim, the only ornament lies in the pediment which is highly sculptural.
 I love this shade of blue which contrasts so nicely with the limestone.
 The entry to the street features this pleasant face in the keystone.
Each room fronts onto the courtyard, much like a donut, with the primary rooms also facing the street with windows on 2 sides.
 The old if not original bronze window hardware is lovely, but more on that later.
 The collections are all over the map; dealing with animals and nature however loosely.
One could wander through these lovely rooms all day. Unlike many other museums in this city there are no crowds.
The rooms in the Hotel Guenegaud which are open to the public, on the 2nd level, were among the prettiest in the museum.
 I love these marble floors and these chairs, featuring embroidered hunting scenes, are fabulous.
I've been looking for LED picture lights just like this, I should have asked where they were from!
 No detail was overlooked -notice the trim on these curtains and those tiebacks!
Different contemporary artists exhibit works throughout the museum, mixed in with the collections. This artist had beautifully detailed works made of animal feathers scattered throughout the museum. Sadly I never caught their name.
This lacquered chinoiserie desk, the envy of most people reading this blog I'm sure (myself included), features a hunting scene as well as hoofed legs.
 Naturally (pun intended) there was plenty of taxidermy and other grisly animal carcasses to explore.
 This witty artist had made cans that featured endangered species, ala Warhol.
I loved this portrait of the Princess Beatriz de Borbon y Torlonia on her horse -one of many equestrian portraits.
One thing missing from the museum, which you could add to your own collection, is this amazing Porcelain Doll Head Cup with saucer at thestore.com. I like the black color best.
Notice anything about this electrified silver candelabra? The base is of a stag hunt, with grisly dogs.
 One of many contemporary exhibits was this bird car by Vincent Dubourg from 2006.
However the main 'exhibit' which impressed me the most was actually built into the building in the 2007 renovation. The artist Saint Clair Cemin produced all of the metal hardware (railings, door knobs, light fixtures, etc) which are to be found throughout the Hotel de Mongelas.
These wonderful bronze fittings were incredibly detailed -featuring textures such as bone or feathers which connect the building to the base of the collection.
Notice how the bronze door handles have a living finish and change (are polished) where handled daily by visitors.
 There must have been 100 of these lovely sconces lining the stairhall, each a work of art.
Notice again the living finish of the bronze -the way the detail gets polished over time as people rub against the railing .
 The end of the handrail is most striking.
 These panels at the top of the main stair double as guardrails.
This museum more than any other I've noticed goes to show that details matter: not just in the collection but in the building as a whole! On your next trip to Paris be sure to check out this gem, the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in the heart of the historic Marais.

Nestled against the Parc Monceau in the chic 8th arrondissement is one of the most famous house museums of Paris, the Musee Nissim de Camondo managed by the musee des arts decoratifs (see my posts on that wonderful museum adjacent to the Louvre at the link). I had always wanted to visit this storied house but never had a chance until my last visit -I shouldn't have waited!
The story of this most elegant house however is a very sad one.The count's son died during WWI and he donated the house and his collections to the Decorative Arts museum in his son's honor which opened to the public in 1935. A few years later the remainder of his family were murdered at Auschwitz.  This is therefore not a happy family home but rather has survived as a testament to the endurance of this generous public donation, securing the Camondo legacy.

 Above you are standing at the front door of the house looking through the offices to the street.
I love the continuity of Parisian architecture: the same warm 'french grays' and blue-gray trim prevail throughout the city lending a cohesion to the disparate building styles.
 Notice the interesting Greek key base on the lanterns which light the courtyard above.
The backyard is rather formal, but who needs a backyard when you have private access to the Park Monceau!
The parterre were still beautiful despite their autumnal lack of color. Imagine being the gardener responsible for keeping all of this gravel raked and weed-free!
One gets a sense of the level of detail to the limestone facade when looking out the windows on the 2nd, or private, floor.
 Notice the netting to keep birds from nesting on the statuary.  I am normally against any sort of graffiti but I can't help but admire what some 'artist' had done to the building's mailbox on the street facade!
Next I will post some of my highlights on the much-published interiors. You may also want to check out the fantastic book, "The Camondo Legacy" by Jean-Marie del Moral if you can find a copy.
 As always, images in this post are my own.