MAKING MISCHIEF

At her rural Pennsylvania getaway, designer Ghislaine Viñas has created the ultimate fun house.

- ANNA FIXSEN

In the dining room of Ghislaine and Jaime Viñas's country home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, red Tom Dixon chairs add a zip of color to a largely black-and-white scheme. The artworks include Joe Doucet's resin water bottle sculptures and a pair of paintings by Karen Jo Combs. For details, see Resources.

When people talk about the work of Ghislaine Viñas, words like exuberant and fun tend to roll off the tongue. The New York-based designer has the dexterity to create interiors that feel modern and grand, while filling them with lighthearted gestures. Dress up a banquette with a lobster print? Why not? For Viñas, design and play go hand in hand.

It might not come as a surprise, then, that when the weekend rolls around, the designer can be found at the controls of an 850-pound commercial lawn mower, enthusiastically giving her three-acre property in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a buzz cut, one stripe at a time. “There is something so satisfying about it," she insists.