Southern Style in North Carolina:
THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF HOME
by Diane Lea
Southern culture is multi-layered and complex, rooted in a deep sense of history and heritage and a passionate attachment to places and landscapes. We Southerners have always felt our lives were different. We love our homes, and we lavish time and attention on refining their design and tending to the domestic details that ensure good living and gracious entertaining. In North Carolina, our favorite architecture spans the spectrum from elegant antebellum mansions to cozy mill houses and in-town bungalows, from charming period revivals to restrained modernist statements and stunning glass-walled contemporaries. Adventurous owners often incorporate elements from many styles and periods into their homes, blending detailed architectural and design elements. Enthusiastic gardeners, we North Carolinians strive to make our landscapes as beautiful as our homes and to take advantage of our gentle climate to live and entertain outdoors as much as possible.
With that in mind, let’s visit three homes that reflect the diversity of North Carolina’s Southern style. In each case, the owners and their architects and designers worked hard to analyze how the house would function to suit the family’s life and to incorporate personal histories and beloved objects. We immediately recognize these houses as uniquely ours.
Beach Living
For many North Carolinians, a house at the beach is an extension of our lives. Since the 1960s, Figure Eight Island, near Wilmington, has provided an exclusive retreat. Only a short two-hour drive from the Triangle, Figure Eight, is accessed by a drawbridge and features an uncluttered swath of shoreline reminiscent of a Caribbean island. Today, the pristine island—no commercial development is permitted— hosts an array of architect-designed homes that cater to the needs of grandparents, as well as to their busy offspring and grandchildren. In the case of Charlie and Flo Winston’s Figure Eight house, entertaining and grandchildren were major issues to discuss with Raleigh Residential Designer Carter Skinner, builder Nick Garrett and interior designer Stewart Woodard. “We had been lucky to own a beach house on Figure Eight for several years,” says Flo Winston. “When our children began to marry and have children of their own, Charlie and I decided it was time to build a house more suited to our lifestyle—where we could cook in a big kitchen and entertain our friends and family without worrying about not having enough room for everyone.”
The couple was inspired by the large, airy great houses they saw in Jamaica, Barbados and other islands in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Often the architecture of these houses reflected the island’s British Colonial past and drew upon the designs of Palladio and the Adam brothers. Though derived from classical precedents, the Caribbean houses are infused with Island style, including a profusion of porches to catch the sea breezes, and tall windows with interior shutters that can be closed against the tropical sun. French doors and multiple stairways leading to the porches provide easy access to surrounding gardens. And did I mention the views of the sea and sky from those porches? It’s all here in the Winston beach house.
Guests enter the main living area of the Winston home via a wide staircase leading to the upper-level wrap-around porch. If you can resist sitting in one of the porch rockers facing the sea, enter the great room with its flat-beamed tray ceiling rising above the walls from wide bands of narrow oak bead board. An elaborate latticed ceiling fan decorated with woven reed elephant heads is suspended above the great room, and the cool dark wood and subtle dcor give the effect of a 1930s Humphrey Bogart movie.
Senior members of a family entrenched in the hospitality business and former owners of the Angus Barn, Flo and Charlie Winston have developed the quintessential cook’s kitchen for their island home. Beyond the oval dining room table (used every day but expandable on a mechanism of pulleys for special occasions), the kitchen gleams with the warmth of pecky cypress cabinetry that also supports the granite-topped dining bar. The kitchen’s angled work island is set with a series of knife blocks, crocks of cooking utensils and chopping blocks. Overhead, a wrought-iron rack is hung with shiny copper pans, enamel stock pots and restaurant grade saucepans. With two Bosch dishwashers, two Thermador ovens, two warming trays, two commercial steamers and a Sub-Zero refrigerator-freezer, the Winstons are prepared to cook for a crowd.
In addition to sitting on one of the home’s world-class porches, the fortunate Winston guest can choose a walk by the sea, a romp in the infinity edge pool, any one of several boats for a run-about on the sound or ocean, croquet on the manicured lawn or that Humphrey Bogart movie in the lower-level media room. Charlie Winston, the perfect host, says of the house, “We wanted it to be comfortable.”
Cultural Cross Currents
Historically in touch and at ease with European culture, and well-traveled for business and pleasure as the Research Triangle and surrounding areas exude a global identity, Southerners find themselves in the enviable position of being citizens of the world, not just of their home states. That is the case with Susan Gravely and husband Bill Ross, who lead busy lives in both Italy and North Carolina. Susan is the CEO of VIETRI, her family’s company, which designs and imports fine ceramics and home accessories. Bill is Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “When Bill and I married in 1995,” remembers Susan, “we lived in Greensboro but held on to my house in Chapel Hill. I commuted from Greensboro to VIETRI in Hillsborough for six years while Bill continued to rear his two young daughters and practice law. When Bill accepted a position in Governor Easley’s cabinet in 2001, we had the opportunity to return to Chapel Hill and remodel my house to make it our home. The girls loved the idea.”
The house, in one of Chapel Hill’s most charming older neighborhoods, began life as a 1950’s contemporary ranch built for UNC-Chapel Hill professor George Welsh and his wife Alice, a political activist and town council member. The modestly scaled house, designed by California architect Cliff May in association with Jim Webb, Chapel Hill’s early modernist architect, featured a low roof line with wide overhangs and cedar siding. The interior had beamed ceilings, fieldstone and brick floors and two fireplaces, which gave it a distinctly mountain chalet feel. Perhaps the home’s most compelling feature is its incomparable setting overlooking a sloping site that rises to a wooded ridge with myriad blooming plants and mature trees. (Gravely and Ross are placing a conservation easement on their woods and joining their neighbors in creating a natural greenway.)
This spectacular landscape has been ingeniously brought into the heart of the house by friend and architect Jon Condoret, who worked with Gravely and Ross—and their contractor Stan Stutts of Additions Plus, to expand and remodel the home. Large windows and double window doors run along the central rear wall of the house, connecting both bedroom wings and framing views of the hillside and outdoor living areas. A stone terrace, finished with a vine-like wrought iron balustrade, parallels the window wall and makes the outdoor space a seamless extension of the home’s interior. A stairway and waterfall terrace, designed by Greensboro landscape architect Chip Callaway and associate Merwyn Varnado, descends to a lower level patio and bocce court. With its antique iron table, low stone walls and wooded hillside beyond, the patio reflects the Tuscan gardens that inspired it. “Gary Mason, of Additions Plus, is responsible for so much of the creative work that adds to the character of this house, “says Gravely. “He is truly a master craftsman and problem solver. For example, Gary created much of our home’s colonnaded and trellised entrance that has such a European feel.”
The Gravely-Ross home’s serene old-world charm is most perfectly realized in the new master bedroom addition. The hall leading to the bedroom has a coffered ceiling, inspired by an elegant hotel in the medieval hilltown of Cagne, in the south of France. “We had a great time creating images significant to our lives and our love of North Carolina and Italy,” says Gravely. The bedroom, featuring hand-rubbed walls and ceiling beams separated by bands of earthen hues—pale terra cotta, a faint tint of blue and a touch of blush—painted by artist Cricket Taylor, is suffused in soft light and sensuous textures. The room contains some of Susan’s favorite pieces. A religious triptych, a protective talisman for the occupants, hangs over the linen and raw silk-covered oak and metal bed. “I found that triptych 20 years ago in the basement of an old factory,” says Gravely. “It was covered in dirt and grime but I loved it. I’ve collected religious objects for each bedroom.” A French cupboard used as a dresser retains its faded green paint, and a latticed garden gate, now used as a mirror, hangs above. The room’s fireplace may be Gravely’s favorite. “My mother Lee worked with us and our friend and interior designer Hal Peck from Rocky Mount on our remodeling. She saw the mantel in an Italian hotel and encouraged us to persevere until we found a stonework company in the US that carried a similar design. We had it cut down and made narrow to fit the room.
Gravely and Ross have created a home that is a work of art, a testament to their mutual love of beautiful objects and of nature. Together they have a life filled with memories from the places they love and a new-old house on a wooded hillside in North Carolina.
The House that Gigi and Tony Built
There may be nothing more joyous than a first, real home for a young family. Gigi and Tony Edwards engaged in a year-long effort to design an affordable 2,300-square-foot home in Raleigh’s Coley Forest neighborhood where Gigi grew up. It is a primer on what everyone should do before building a first home. “When we knew we wanted to build a house that would fulfill our family’s needs, Tony went to a seminar given by Raleigh architect Frank Harmon on ‘Designing Your Own House,’” says Gigi, an NCSU-trained electrical engineer. “I had combed the Coley Forest neighborhood for years before finding the right lot,” she says. “We owned it for seven years before we felt we were ready to build on it.”
Tony took the seminar and he and Gigi began a year-long planning session with Harmon, whom they chose after interviewing several other architects. “It was like therapy,” says Gigi. “Tony and I had to analyze how we really lived and to confront the differences in our ideas of home.”
Whatever the process, the product is worth the telling. The house that Gigi and Tony built suits the needs of their growing family that includes two musical daughters 6 and 10. Later, they transformed the home’s former garage space into a gracious apartment for Gigi’s widowed mother. “My parents emigrated from Egypt in 1968 when I was 6 years old,” says Gigi. “My mother took a post-doctoral position at North Carolina State University and my father joined the department of Mechanical Engineering.” As a former student secretary of the NCSU Egyptian club, Gigi has lots of friends and colleagues from her college days, as well as new friends from her professional and social life. “I love to cook,” says Gigi, “so the kitchen needed to be efficient and open to the rest of the house so I could talk to friends and family while preparing meals.”
The answer is a kitchen revolving around a kidney-shaped island of Brazilian tuba granite. It is a functional work surface set on furniture-quality, custom maple-veneer cabinetry that also serves as a dining counter. The kitchen area flows uninterrupted into the home’s great room where a Count Rumford-style slate fireplace comfortably heats the public and entertaining areas. A dining alcove and a niche for listening to music complete the great room, which is open to the family office situated in a loft. Gigi insisted that the home have a garden courtyard where her lush tropical plants flourish in summer. “We love to entertain in the courtyard,” says Gigi. “We invite all our international friends, and it is not unusual for us to dance the salsa, even do a belly dance out there.”
A Caribbean great house on the North Carolina coast designed for comfort and fun; a re-designed and re-energized 1950s modern in Chapel Hill that reflects the wide world outside, as well as the very personal sensibilities of the owners; a Raleigh dream home built by a family of the world: These three different expressions of the distinctiveness of Southern style in North Carolina represent the blend of traditional and global design with the personal touch uniquely Southern.
NEW SOUTHERN RULES: WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
Molly Heintz talks with stylist Steven Ward
When I told my sister, an expert on Southern literature, that I was thinking about how styles have changed in the South, she referred me to Harper Lee’s enchanting description of summertime rituals in a small Alabama town: “Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” It was his grandmother’s summer gloves that fascinated Vogue editor and Durham native Andre Leon Talley: “She washed the warm months’ white gloves each week in Woolite, and she stored them in layers of tissue in a special drawer. There was another such drawer for scarves, which were equally well folded and cared for, and a third still for handkerchiefs. I suppose all correct glove-wearing ladies at the time had special compartments for such accessories.”
Most sunscreen-wearing, water-bottle-toting ladies of today have the advantage of climate-controlled environments, and a pair of clean white gloves is no longer de rigeur. But women pay no less attention to their appearance than they did in 1930s in To Kill a Mockingbird or in 1950s Durham. What have changed are the rules. Women no longer have to conform to a certain look, says Steven Ward, the celebrity hair stylist who recently moved from New York to open a salon in Wilmington (and has people driving all the way from Raleigh to pay $125 for a cut).
Says Ward: “It used to be that one look dictated how everybody wore their hair. Think of Elizabeth Taylor’s bouffant from the ’60s, then Love Child hair—straight, long and parted in the middle, then the shag. The perm was huge in the ’80s, and then came short-cropped hair in the ’90s. Women will never return to that way of styling. Now they do what works for them in terms of both hair and fashion. It’s more about the whole package, including going to the gym and being healthy.”
Ward, a Southerner himself, points out that a more diverse ethnic group has moved into the South. “Twenty-five years ago it was only black and white. Now I see a wide variety of hair textures, which is exciting to a stylist,” notes Ward, who believes that Southern women are less isolated than in times past, traveling more and becoming more cosmopolitan all the time. Citing modern television as a big influence, as well as the celebrity looks featured in magazines like InStyle, Ward says that many of his customers have begun to seek out high-end designer pieces. “It’s more common for someone to come in carrying a Kooba, Prada or Gucci handbag. They’re comfortable wearing jeans with heels and a little designer top.”
Based on the number of designer boutiques flourishing across North Carolina alone, the Southern woman of today seems less concerned with looking “correct” than with finding her own stylish best… and maybe breaking a rule or two in the process.
Steven Ward Salon
www.stevenwardhair.com
3402 Wilshire Blvd., Wilmington
910-791-1200
MAKEUP ARTISAN RECOGNIZES SOUTHERN STYLE
by Molly Fulghum Heintz
As a young makeup artist working in New York, Trish McEvoy realized there was plenty of good makeup available, just not the right tools for applying it. McEvoy decided to take matters into her own hands. She bought paint brushes at the art supply store and began experimenting with snipping them into different shapes for various applications. These brushes became the foundation of a beauty empire that now includes makeup, fragrance and skincare and a kind of filofax for makeup known as “The Planner.” Having spent a good bit of time down South herself, she offered Metro her perspective on Southern style.
Molly Heintz: Southern women once had a reputation for always being “done”: never leaving the house without makeup, fluffing their hair into high-volume coifs. In your opinion, how does the Southern woman of today approach beauty?
Trish McEvoy: There is nothing wrong with wanting to leave your home looking your best. I think the Southern woman of today still respects what beauty routines and maintenance can offer, but she now approaches this routine with a modern sensibility.
MH: Women today travel and move for their jobs much more frequently than did their mother’s generation. Has this affected regional beauty habits and looks? Does a Southern “look” exist?
TM: There is much more of a melding of beauty habits across the United States as travel has become so much more affordable and part of an everyday routine for so many—for business and for pleasure. With such exposure to people and places, looks have become less fixed to a particular region. However, I think a remaining distinction is that Southern women are more apt to experiment with color through clothing or makeup. If I see someone wearing beautiful shades of pink or colors that remind me of the beach or vacation, I do think, “Now this could be a woman from the South…”
MH: You spent your childhood in Europe as well as in Atlanta. What did you learn about beauty regimes that had an impact on your career choice and the direction you’ve taken your line of products?
TM: The first five years of my life were spent in Europe where my grandmother owned a perfumery. My earliest memories were of women coming into the store and leaving with a look of such enjoyment. This was such an influence in my life; I loved being around all things that contribute to beauty and the empowerment and confidence a routine brings to women. When I develop products, I always think to myself, “How will this change a women’s life. Will it make her life easier? Is it something that can be mastered in application by someone other than a makeup artist?”
MH: Which of your products are most popular with women in the South?
TM: There are many products that sell well in the South. My “Planner” is very popular in all sizes and colors. All of the makeup brushes are popular, especially those for bronzing, highlighting and eye lining. In skincare, The Protective Shield tinted moisturizer—with SPF 15, a beauty necessity—is a favorite, as well as the new Beauty Booster Cream. Even Skin Beta Hydroxy Pads and Even Skin Vitamin C Cream are all extremely popular. In makeup, the Even Skin Concealer, Shimmer Powder in Bronze, Pink Rose Lip Color, Glowing and Tangerine Glow Blush have become classic Southern favorites.
MH: What advice do you have for Southern women about their beauty regime?
TM: Keep doing what you are doing… you look great! And always remember: Wear sunscreen and exfoliate—both make a huge difference.
STYLE NOTES
Bright Lights, Big City
Kendall Smith likes her models to use household cleaning wipes on the runway. It’s not that she especially enjoys a clean catwalk, but her clothing designs are made out of the same material as the cleaning products. That’s right, at the fifth annual “Art to Wear” fashion show produced by students in NC State’s College of Design and College of Textiles, the models flaunted Smith’s fashion line as they sashayed down the runway. She dubbed her line “Wired” because she incorporated wire within the designs for structure.
The area known as The Pit behind the College of Design transformed into a New York City runway on April 7 as students, faculty, proud parents and aspiring fashionistas came to see the annual fashion show. This year’s show used jurors for the first time to select the featured 14 designers from the College of Design and the College of Textiles.
The annual experience allows students in both fields of study to apply the skills they’ve learned in class to the real world of fashion. Students design, produce and model the entire show. “This show was an affirmation that this is what I want and will do in my future,” Smith said. “Also, since we didn’t have the many resources typical apparel companies have, it was a great learning experience to see all that this entails.”
—Rebecca Heslin
Harmon’s Hand-Fabricated Steel Screens
Raleigh architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, has received a Merit Award in Residential Architect magazine’s seventh annual Design Awards competition for a series of 10 800-pound, hand-fabricated steel screens he designed for a house overlooking Shem Creek in Charleston, South Carolina.
This is the third award Harmon has received for the screens, which capitalize on the view of the creek and allow cooling breezes to enter the house, yet protect the creek-side elevation from excessive summer heat and extreme weather conditions, including hurricane-force winds and debris. In March 2005, he received the first design award for the screens from Inform, an architectural journal in Virginia. In May, Harmon’s low-country screens received top honors in the 2005 AIA Triangle Design Awards competition (a division of the NC chapter of the American Institute of Architects).
Harmon calls the screens, fabricated by Christian Karkow of Raleigh, a “21st-century solution to a 400-year-old problem.” Designed so that a single person can balance and maneuver them, they are hinged above a porch that fronts the contemporary house’s large, southwest-facing glass wall, and are constructed of metal frames that encase perforated-metal panels commonly used in industrial flooring. Made of hot-dip galvanized steel, they resist the region’s wind-borne, corrosive salt. In their horizontal (or open) position, the screens shade the house in spring and fall. In the vertical position, they protect the glass wall from threatening weather and provide a shaded porch under the fierce summer sun while allowing cooling breezes to enter the house.
Winning projects appear in the May 2006 issue of Residential Architect, which will also be distributed at the 2006 AIA National Convention in June during which Harmon will present a seminar entitled “Architects Discuss America’s New Regionalism.” Harmon’s firm, Frank Harmon Architect, was Residential Architect’s 2005 “Top Firm of the Year.”
— Kim Weiss
PERSONAL STYLIST TELLS ALL
by Alison Lukes
Alison Lukes, formerly with Michael Kors, is a personal stylist and shopper in Washington, DC. She is relocating to Raleigh this summer.
When I was 3 years old my mother refused to buy me a bikini. I took matters and the scissors in my own hands and “altered” a brand-new Florence Eisman bathing suit. The bottoms, without an elastic waist, didn’t stay up very well, but I was determined to get the look I desired.
My first job out of college was working for fashion designer Michael Kors as assistant to the CEO—John Orchulli, Michael’s business partner. I was the 22nd employee and my desk was in the sample closet. Later, as Michael Kors hit his stride, winning the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and selling a third of his business to LVMH (owners of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs), I became the Creative Image Manager. During my tenure, we launched eyewear, footwear, handbags, fragrances and a men’s wear line and I upgraded out of the sample closet to a new windowed space.
After living in New York for four years and Paris for another, I was ready to move home to Washington, DC. A friend suggested creating a business using one of my best skills—shopping. And Alison Lukes et Cie was launched. I immediately printed business cards and marketing materials and hoped for the best.
Almost three years later, I have consulted with socialite ladies who like designer clothing, corporate men and women and new mothers looking to me to help them look and feel their best. The consulting process is different for every client. For some, it’s a special occasion, for others a seasonal or even monthly appointment. Each client has different frustrations and fashion tribulations. Together we work to dispel their fashion difficulties.
Walking into someone’s closet is meeting his or her fashion ghosts, insecurities, aspirations and dreams. I try to help people to like how they look, spend less on their wardrobes and feel more comfortable and confident. I don’t believe in making people over, but in making the most of what they have, as in the case of “Courtney.”
Courtney is 46 years old. She has three children and her husband is a partner in a law firm. She takes great care of herself and her family and enjoys her part-time interior design business. Courtney has wonderful taste and likes to look chic while driving carpool, polished for clients and looking appropriate for evenings with her husband and his business associates.
She has an amazing ability to decorate a room, but dressing herself is much more difficult. Our relationship, as it does with every client, started in her closet. We went through each item; she told me what pieces she loved to wear, what pieces she was frustrated with and what pieces she doesn’t wear—and why. Perhaps she would wear the blouse she spent too much money on if only she had the perfect skirt to pair it with. She has a few great suits, but the perfect shoe eluded her.
I created a list of pieces to add, pieces to replace and occasions to shop for. We consigned items of value, donated the rest and pinned pieces to be altered. Courtney was left with a perfectly organized closet, well edited with room for the missing pieces. Now it was time to go shopping, either together or I went on my own and brought pieces to her house, adding that there was no pressure for her to buy anything. And every piece I brought was returnable. If a piece wasn’t absolutely perfect, I wouldn’t let her buy it.
With the wardrobe complete, I created a look book for Courtney with pictures of outfits we’ve put together often using pieces already in her wardrobe—in new ways for a fresh look. I indicated what sort of an event each outfit is appropriate for so that when I am not around she can easily be perfectly dressed.
The process worked well for Courtney. What about you?
For more about personal stylist Alison Lukes and her work, go to www.alisonlukes.com.
MAY FLOWERS: A BOUQUET OF MUST-HAVE ACCESSORIES
by Molly Fulghum Heintz
This crop of spring accessories gets back to nature, featuring wood, cork, floral motifs and a variety of looks inspired by swampland fauna. And when it’s not directly from the great outdoors, it’s certainly trying hard to blend in, as in Michael Kors’ camouflage pumps.
On the Wedge
Be it a classic espadrille or a chunky platform, shoes of the season definitely have a whole lot of sole. Check out Prada’s woven wicker version or the staggering altitude of Chloe’s white cut-out leather wedge heel T-straps.
Prints Charming
Sandals and scarves must have found a cozy spot together in the closet last winter, because this season there are several shoes that are the perfect combination of both. Pucci thongs feature the house’s signature print, while Zac Posen’s silk-covered sandals with rosettes at the ankle seem perfect for dancing al fresco.
The Belt-way
Whenever I start to wonder what trends will stick, I just have to walk outside and see what the street vendors in SoHo are pushing. Right now, big belts are dangling at every fashionable corner. Stretchy, studded and the wider, the better. In Anthrolpogie’s leather Champion belt, warrior goddess meets featherweight fighter.
In Cold Blood
Crocodile vs. alligator. What’s the difference? One distinguishing feature is that each crocodile scale has a small dimple due to the presence of ISOs (integumentary sense organs) that sense water pressure. Crocs, gators, iguanas and snakes should take cover: Reptiles are a hot commodity this season. But if one has to go, he should only hope to be reincarnated in the form of Fendi’s silver and gold python “Bagit.”
See Turtle
The trade in tortoise shell is illegal, but who needs the real thing when faux tortoise is so chic yet so inexpensive? Buy your Goody hairclips at the drugstore and save your pennies for Sergio Rossi’s open-toe pumps in tortoise-ized leather or Yves Saint Laurent’s tiny tortoise shell bag. Or check out Gucci’s sleek attach with distressed bamboo handles that could pass for tough turtle.
Think Small, but carry
a Big Chain
Trendy, yes. Practical … not so much. But who cares when the handbag has that certain charm? The look de jour is a bag that will fit a wallet—and sunglasses if you’re lucky—hanging from a disproportionately large strap, preferably a chain. Burberry does it well as does Kooba with its vintage-y gold bag, available at Uniquities.
Tassel Tails
The Kooba bag also nods to another trend, tassels. In the name of good clean fun, tassels are showing up on all types of accessories, particularly shoes. Christian Louboutin’s satin pumps have a tassel hanging seductively on the heel while Armani’s slides feature a preppy version.
A Hunk of a Necklace
Your collarbone has been waiting all winter for some airtime. Make it the center of attention with Gerard Yosca’s flower-chain necklace, the perfect companion for a simple dress or a set of Stephen Dweck’s triple-strand beads, both available at Saks Fifth Avenue.
The Weave
Texture—always more intriguing than sleek and shiny. Woven leather bags from Mulberry are hot commodities this spring, as are woven straw bags with leather straps, like the one from Ralph Lauren, a perfect match with his queenly gold woven espadrilles.
Go with the Grain
Who knew that bark could be so chic? Ferragamo’s cork heels are retro and shapely, Oscar de la Renta’s cork platforms look light and airy, as if they just might float if you toss one over the bow. Certain to sink are Hermes platform sandals with solid wood soles, but such style may be worth the extra ballast.
A Personal Journey
SOARING ON THE WINGS OF STYLE
by Louis St. Lewis
I was subjected to style early on. My mother would tear pages from Vogue magazine and take them to a local seamstress who would copy them to Momma’s unique specifications. I clearly remember mini-dresses with matching capes done up in rich brown leather with bold golden buttons. One summer, a beautifully embroidered antique linen tablecloth that had suffered a cigarette burn came back miraculously transformed as a smashingly chic pantsuit.
Though we lived in what I refer to as genteel impoverishment, we were rich in imagination. Furniture, passed down for generations, was polished to a high sheen and arranged with finesse. Fresh flowers and moss-covered sticks were turned into colorful arrangements. I definitely got into trouble for pulling a set of toile curtains down one day to create a draped lit de Polonaise for my old pine-paneled bedroom upstairs.
Style, either you have it or you don’t. I’m sorry to put it so bluntly, but that’s just the way it goes. The good news is that style can be acquired through study, dedication and enthusiasm. Do you remember back in high school when certain students sailed through the calculus exam with nary a moment of study, while most of the pupils had to slave over books for weeks to achieve a passing grade? Style is very much like that. Some lucky folks are born with a seemingly instinctive knowledge of how to live life with unique personal vision and some have to work hard to come close.
Good taste not Enough
I will say up front that good taste often has very little to do with style. As Doug Haan of the hip design store Details in Chapel Hill’s University Mall (I love their new Fatboy furniture that just came in and the great vases by Jonathan Adler) reminded me the other day, “There are many homes decorated in good taste, which are completely void of any style or interest.” I wholeheartedly agree. Good taste is often the greatest foe of style. Good taste is safe, boring, but accepted as a standard. Great style is adventurous and independent—it refuses to be hidebound by tired concepts of respectability. As a result, style is free to soar on wings of its own.
Odyssey of Style
When the powers that be here at Metro Magazine asked me to write about style, I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when I slipped into the back seat of a stunning new Rolls-Royce Phantom graciously provided by Leith Rolls-Royce (www.Rolls-Roycemotorcarsraleigh.com). If you have never had the pleasure of breathing in the smell of freshly tanned Connelly hides that surround you in a Rolls Royce motorcar, I can testify that the aroma is nothing less than intoxicating. Guess where my lottery winnings are going?
I immediately had our driver glide over to see the fine folks at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center here in Raleigh (www.dermatologypros.com). Nothing, and I mean nothing, says style like healthy glowing skin, and the folks here seem to know it and treat you like royalty. I opted for a “Photofacial,” a painless light treatment that focuses laser light just below the surface of the skin to generate collagen growth and clear up skin damage and fine lines. It only takes about 30 minutes or so and feels like someone snapping small rubber bands against your skin during the treatment. If you are not ready for a face-lift and want skin rejuvenation, this is the way to go.
Bling-Bling
My next stop was to see one of my favorite style mavens, Elaine Miller of the Elaine Miller Collection at the New North Hills (www.elainemillercollection.com). Even though it was an overcast day, after being buzzed into the elegant sanctuary I felt like I needed to put on sunglasses to protect my eyes from the bling of the megawatt gems on display. What to look at first? Carved tourmalines? Rubies and diamonds set in white gold? Huge gemstone cabochons that could choke a horse? Miller has a fantastic eye, the quality of the gems is superb, and I would rather have some rubies to play with than a stack of stock any day.
Not surprisingly Miller has a great personal collection, as well. If you are very, very good she might bring out the oh so recherch gold and enamel Cartier cigarette case owned by one of history’s great style icons, Jackie Onassis. I swooned with envy gazing at the restrained design, with the residue of the former First Lady’s tobacco still drifting like confetti in the glimmering interior. Think of the parties that case has been to, the conversations and the glamour!
Miller is the perfect tour guide through the land of Bling. I have always had a weakness for gorgeous estate jewelry, and without a doubt, anyone who wants to learn about beautiful craftsmanship should make a beeline to visit Miller and her gracious staff. She can wax eloquently about the quality of a 19th-century diamond choker, and just as easily possess great enthusiasm when sharing the newest modern designs. Lucky for me, there was also a large collection of fine men’s jewelry to choose from. Some of my friends are always saying that they have jewelry, but never wear it—that it just sits in a safe or bank box somewhere. How sad! Jewelry is to be enjoyed. If any of you out there are truly not walking your jewels as often as you should, give them to me. I assure you I will exercise them daily.
While I was in the jewelry mood, I had the driver pull the Phantom to the front door of Bailey’s Jewelers (www.baileysfinejewelry.com) so I could run in and look at the latest Tag Heuer watches. Bailey’s is an old family business with a history of offering some amazing diamonds for deserving ladies, as well as fine china, watches, rings, you name it. I was even lucky enough to be there when some great vintage silver serving pieces had come in the door, so it’s good to pop in once in a while to see what’s new. I left the store excited and needed an immediate conversation with of one of my favorite ladies, Veuve Cliquot.
Eclectic Villa
I arrived in Chapel Hill, the champagne calming my nerves somewhat. The Rolls pulled into the parking lot of Whitehall at the Villa Antiques (www.whitehallantiques.com) just off Franklin Street. I was ready for round two. The beautiful pink stucco villa is a destination unto itself. Built during the early ’60s by artist Gerard Tempest from the architectural plunder of one of the old Duke mansions in Durham, the villa is a stunning architectural folly, replete with finely carved columns, architraves, paneled rooms and twisting staircases.
When I first moved to town, I had many a decadent Sunday brunch there when it was Villa Teo, one of the restaurants owned by the Danziger family, then owners of The Rathskeller and the Old World Shop on Franklin Street. In its last incarnation it was B.B. Danziger’s home. In her later years, she surrounded herself with psychics, mediums and cats. I remember wandering the halls after her death and thinking how much like the House of Usher it seemed, filled with antiques, broken musical instruments, stacks of paintings, clothes piled in corners.
The eclectic villa is now the home of one of the finest antique galleries in the South, owned by David Lindquist, a nationally recognized antique expert and author. Inside the villa, I am reminded there is something about the patina of a well-cared-for antique that no reproduction can achieve. The years of touching, polishing and living give each piece a definite character. And fine objects couldn’t find a better setting than this fairy-tale villa. Lindquist makes several trips to Europe each year and brings back the best of the best. From Neo-classical chandeliers to a gilded chaise longue, the rooms bristle with the energy of beauty, reminders of how one lovely antique can set the tone of a room. Each visit to an antique shop should be a learning experience, and Lindquist and his savvy daughter Elizabeth are gracious, erudite and well-informed instructors.
One for the Road
Since this seemed to be a day of vintage jewels, fine champagne and great furnishings, I decided it was suitable to drop in on my friend Jim Grosslight at Peak Automotive in Apex (919-363-7077) just off Highway 64. The first time I met Grosslight, I was dining on a delicious salad of fois gras and sauted pears with a bottle of syrupy sauterne when I saw the most amazing black 1953 Jaguar XK120 coupe slither down the street. Being both intoxicated and exuberant, I shouted my approval as the car slid past. To our surprise, the Jag made a U-turn and parked directly in front of me.
Grosslight smiled as he stepped out of the car and introduced himself (people with great style are rarely shy). I quickly found out that Grosslight has a true passion for cars. His hobby of restoring dozens of fine automobiles from his private collection grew, as did the idea of offering restoration services to other auto enthusiasts. Thus was born Peak Automotive Restoration. All of the craftsmen who work for Grosslight are artisans in their own right, and each one takes pride in bringing these rolling works of art back to life. The restoration is of such a high level that many of Grosslight’s cars have won national and global awards, including the Euro Auto Festival trophy.
Grosslight is stylish as well, often sporting driving goggles and vintage furs as he cruises through the countryside with a convoy of friends to yet another auto show. After seeing how beautifully the cars can be restored, I immediately regretted giving away my 1968 Mercedes 250SE years ago!
From what I can tell, this is the only life we are guaranteed. Why not live it with a sense of fun, a sense of adventure and a sense of style? The individuals I visited each possess great style, great enthusiasm and a great desire to live life on their own terms ... shouldn’t we all?