Monday, July 4, 2011

Amazing European-style House

I just finished a kitchen island in this amazing house. It looks like it came straight out of some European countryside. Here is the back of the house as you drive up the hill after being buzzed in through the gate. (I think she said they have 8 acres.)


This is the front.
 What you don't see are all the porticos, terraces, and other beautiful architectural features, not to mention a HUGE pond and all the container plantings and gardens around the other side.

Here's the el that connects to the garages.

 And here are the garages, all four - with gables (not sure what's up there).
  And this is the 'shop end' of the garages.
 Truly a lovely home in a gorgeous bucolic setting.

The interior is just as amazing. But it was built in the 90s when all the cabinetry was made to look alike. There's tons of millwork and cabinets in the kitchen 'area' (about the size of my first house) and it all looks the same, so it all fades into itself. The designer wanted the island to be a distressed black to set it apart and give some depth to the kitchen. So here's before:
This island really goes on forever.
 There's a raised bar area on the back part which has 2 doors to either side and 5 doors under it. A prep sink, a stove area, the dishwasher area and the bookcase end. When I had all the doors and drawers in my studio it looked like an entire kitchen.

Here's after.  The hardware wasn't on yet, but it's clean and simple in a rubbed bronze.
The bookcase and bar.
 The bookcase heading toward the prep sink area.
 The stove side.
Detail of the bookcase. There's another grape detail on the other end of the bar.
 Drawer close-up.

To give you a little taste of the rest of the house, here are some pictures of the sunroom. The homewoner did this ceiling herself! There are two of these fixtures.Very cool, rusted patina with prisms and candles in them.
 A bureau/buffet in the sunroom.
 The vignette on the top of the bureau/buffet.
I get to work in some of the most gorgeous homes!

4 comments:

  1. I love the backyard. Beautiful!

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  2. Oh, and the island looks SO much better - love it!!
    Stacy

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  3. MERCI for your comment on my blog! I'm going to try to update regularly about once or twice a week.. I hope it will give you a great idea of what you might want to see when you're planning your trip to Paris :)

    The house is absolutely gorgeous, I really love it!

    http://unbonjourdefrance.blogspot.com/

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