Dissection of a Home: Mainbocher

I don't have just one dream home, I have many. The same thing with dream rooms- I have copious files on dream bathrooms, dream kitchens, dream libraries... and the list goes on and on. I have found my latest dream home in, of all places, a 1948 issue of House & Garden. It's the very glam, supremely elegant New York apartment of fashion designer Mainbocher.

Take for example the living room at top- currently ranking in my top 20 favorite rooms. It's dark, chic, and quite urbane (perhaps like the owner himself?)- the perfect nighttime room. Each element in the room- the black marble mantle, the rococo mirrored panels, the brass chenets, the shiny metal lampshade-has enough stylish presence to stand on its own, but together they help to create a really rather sublime room. While I'm not crazy about the leopard skins on the floor, they do create a rather graphic anchor for the plain but elegant furniture. I'd probably use a Stark leopard print rug. And what about the emerald green tableskirt? You don't see that color used as often today, but it works next to the black sofa and that yellow silk pillow.


Now here is the other end of the living room, which was unfortunately photographed in black & white. Mainbocher played piano, and did so quite often while entertaining guests. I don't play piano, nor do I have any family members/friends who do, so I would probably forgo the piano. But what about that glorious chair with the leopard print? I even think the Chrysanthemums look good here, and I'm not usually a fan of them.


And finally the bedroom. Let's get what I don't like out of the way first- once again it's the skins on the floor, and I'm not crazy how they create that "hole" in the middle of the floor. I also wouldn't hang a cherub against the mirror over the fireplace. But what about all of the wonderful chairs in the room (I wonder if Mainbocher did any formal entertaining in this room??!!). And the charming little desk in the corner under the framed bird prints. Yes, the bedroom may be somewhat formal, but it still seems cozy to me.

So you see, while this home was decorated sixty years ago, you could tweak a few things and still have rooms that would like just as stylish in 2008. I know I'd be happy in them!


Mainbocher is best known for this wedding dress that he designed for Wallis Simpson