Stacey Bewkes

Designer Jeffrey Bilhuber‘s greatest talent may be informing the past with a bold confidence that feels just right for today. And nowhere is this more palpably personal than in his own country house in Locust Valley, New York

While designer Timothy Whealon may have begun his career on Wall Street, his love of the fine and decorative arts soon led him to a yearlong arts course at Sotheby’s in London. Following another training program at the auction house in New York, an art related conversation at a charity event dinner serendipitously led to his first design job. Inspired by his well-traveled and educated eye, he has created rugs with the same sense of modern classicism, impeccable craftsmanship and timeless style that informs all his design. From his Magic Carpet, his spin on a Bessarabian kilim, below, to La Foce, below, a hand knotted design inspired by the stunning and storied gardens of the famous Tuscan estate, each design is worldly yet approachable.

Thank goodness it has been designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and placed on the National Register of Historic Places so that it won’t suffer the same fate as such masterpieces as the McKim, Mead and White Penn Station! After the famous 1925 earthquake, Santa Barbara went to great pains to ensure its architectural heritage was maintained while they rebuilt and a Historic Landmarks Commission continues that mission. The interiors are filled with incredible tilework but the centerpiece is the magnificent Mural Room with walls painted by artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck, who went on to work for Cecil B. DeMille with art featured in over 20 films including Gone with the Wind. We were delighted to visit Madeline’s charming Santa Barbara home, Casa Caserio, which after an extensive renovation is now the perfect weekend retreat.

While Lulu Lytle originally dreamed of becoming an Egyptologist, her current role as cofounder and creative director of Soane Britain indulges her passions for travel, antiquities, textiles and the exotic, all brought to fruition through the best of handmade British craftsmanship. As a longtime admirer of Lulu’s elegant designs and worldly point of view, it was a thrill to finally see her brilliant aesthetic in both Soane‘s London showroom and Lulu’s Bayswater flat when Susanna Salk Take for example her London den where Soane’s Lotus Palmette, based on a 15th c. Safavid silk velvet document, envelops the room against an antique dhurrie from dealer Peter Hinwood and Soane baby chairs upholstered in their exuberant Damascus Stripe! On The Rattan Leighton Table, Soane’s upscaled version of an original design from the Dryad Cane archive, sit the weekly flower delivery from The Land Gardeners, whose home Susanna and I had recently shot, a pair of Soane’s Verandah Lights and several of Lulu