For architect and designer Elliott Barnes, a minimalist approach to design can contain multitudes. Take, for instance, the Paris home he designed for veteran art collector and tech innovator Hélène Nguyen-Ban. "There was only one constraint," Barnes says. "She wanted to use one single material throughout the whole home." That material was the grayhued, porous, hard-wearing Vals quartzite that's been used in some of the world's most luxurious buildings, including Peter Zumthor's thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland. It covers two of the three floors in Nguyen-Ban's 8,000-square-foot home.
Here, the stone serves as the protagonist in a space designed to disappear. "My whole job was to provide Hélène the absence of presence," says Barnes, an ELLE DECOR A-List designer. "When a friend walks into a client's house, it's important to me that they feel it's a representation of that person. If they say, 'This is an Elliott Barnes space,' then I didn't get it right." Barnes's use of the stone served an overarching requirement: to afford the best environment for Nguyen-Ban's art collection, which includes contemporary pieces by Danh Vo, Thao Phan Nguyen, and Thu Van Tran.
"My art is part of my family," she says. "I wanted a space that would not only showcase my collection but enhance it.
This story is from the Summer 2023 edition of Elle Decor US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Summer 2023 edition of Elle Decor US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE, PLEASE
Eric Hughes joins forces with Standard Architecture to transform two neighboring homes into a sprawling family compound.
SIZED TO FIT
Designer Nannette Brown reimagines a new-build apartment with unexpected depth, character, and texture.
Play It Cool
In balmy Texas, Ashe Leandro brings urbane style and a chill vibe to a home in a historic district.
Mic Drop
For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.
EYE IN THE SKY
How do you cozy up a Manhattan high-rise? Call designers Hendricks Churchill.
THE JOY OF KØKKEN
In Brooklyn, a writer transforms her kitchen into a space of warmth and connection, blending personal memories with Scandinavian design.
CURTAIN RAISER
ELLE DECOR partners with designers Christine and John Gachot to refresh an iconic lounge at a New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera House.
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?
It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a ninemonth fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn't let the city break me a third time.
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.
