Frances Merrill likes a challenge. So when her clients, a couple with four children, purchased a three-bedroom, 1929 Tudor-style home in the Silicon Valley enclave of Woodside, California, that sorely needed an overhaul, she couldn't resist. For Merrill-the Los Angeles-based founder of Reath Design who is known for her predilection for vibrant colors and for mixing patterns-it helped that her clients' purchase had charming, redwood-beamed ceilings and an enchanting cedar shake roof, among other details, and wasn't one of the soulless, newly built McMansions endemic to the area.
"I love the idea that they bought something impractical that had an innate history because they found it more interesting," says Merrill. The family wanted a house with authentic character and quirks that reflected the joyful chaos of their family life. Merrill compares her work to cooking, and for a project that required lots of reconfigurations, she went about gathering the ingredients for a family-friendly recipe with an elegant, muted palette inspired by the lovingly tended garden left behind by the previous owners. Merrill set out to bring that magic inside: "The blues, watery greens, and pale purples of the garden felt fresh, especially with all the browns of the wood in the house."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von Elle Decor US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von Elle Decor US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
The Empire Strikes Back - A 19th-century gem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gets a tour-de-force restoration thanks to Frances Merrill of Reath Design.
Is it possible to simultaneously go back in time and leap forward? This was the challenge a couple set for themselves upon purchasing a salmon-pink 1869 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Longfellow House, the National Historic Site that served as George Washington's headquarters during the revolution. We loved all the beautiful old details of this house, the homeowner says.
Just Like That, But Cheaper. -One writer tried to replicate a classic ELLE DECOR interior in his apartment. Could he do it for $500?
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And How! - Decorator Nick Olsen transforms a Sag Harbor home into a Hamptons retreat with an irreverent humor.
If you must go to the Hamptons, however-because it is devilishly good fun, after all-you may notice an apparently modest, low-slung cottage on Sag Harbor's Main Street and think, with a comfortable sort of feeling, Now that is how a house should look. Nestled amid the Botox bars, helipads, and club-staurants, it could almost set the sordid world aright both a rebuke and a solution to the chaos that surrounds it. A real home.
You Stay Here
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WHAT'S IN THE MIX?
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Now You See It
A modernist beach house's discreet profile hides killer views and knockout interiors by Rafael de Cárdenas.
CIRCLE D'AMOUR
For an object lesson on how to design a Paris love nest, look to Pierre Yovanovitch.
PARK AND RECREATIONS
With the rise of electric vehicles and a fresh focus on design, the once overlooked garage is becoming a future-forward source of joy and energy at home.
But This is My Home - One writer discovers that living in an architectural icon can be a blessing and a curse.
One writer discovers that living in an architectural icon can be a blessing and a curse. My husband and I moved into the Kallis House in Los Angeles six years ago. It was designed in 1946 by the modernist architect Rudolph Schindler, and it's believed by many, including Frank Gehry, to be among Schindler's best. The house is eccentric, perched on the lip of a hill, with a butterfly roof and a shaggy exterior made of grape stakes. The interior is an unfolding series of surprising angles, with a wonderful wide view of the San Fernando Valley.
A SISTER STORY
Jewelry designer Brent Neale Winston and her decorator sibling, Ramsey Lyons, recast a historic Long Island home.
