VIE Magazine August 2019

W H E N YO U H I R E T H E B E S T, YO U G E T T H E B E S T !

With over 20 years of experience selling Scenic Highway 30-A, as well as extensive knowledge of the local market, Linda Miller has been the number one agent in sales since 2015. Miller brokered the largest sale on 30-A of $12,500,000 in Rosemary and has generated over $525 million in career sales with an average sale of $2,660,000.

When you own property on 30A, you’ll be smiling too!

LindaMillerLuxury.com Linda@TheSmileOf30A.com | (850) 974-8885 5417 E County Hwy 30-A, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

Who's Who In Luxury Real Estate

53 SEA VENTURE ALLEY Alys Beach – $5,695,000 Close to the beach and move-in ready! Beautifully finished 3,850-square-foot fortified home has five bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths and is steps away from the soon-to-open beach club and fitness center. This home has it all including a two-car garage, elevator, courtyard with private pool, summer kitchen off the huge living/dining area, outdoor fireplace with Gulf views from covered porch, master suite on main living area, and guest suite with den on the first floor.

Who's Who In Luxury Real Estate

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1 4 5 PA R A D I S E B Y T H E S E A B LV D .

Paradise by the Sea – $12,750,000 This is the only Gulf-front home available to buy in this gated community adjacent to Alys Beach and in easy walking distance to Rosemary Beach! Invest in your legacy home on the synergistic east end of Scenic Highway 30-A and enjoy incredible Gulf views, private pool, three garages, and so much more in this seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bath coastal masterpiece. More highlights include gourmet kitchen, custom cabinetry, media room with bar, and full third-floor master suite.

Architect: Geoff Chick & Associates | Photography: courtesy of Geoff Chick & Associates

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In this issue On the Cover

It all started with an office concept using multiple shipping containers to create a unique bloom-like shape.

London-based architect James Whitaker of Whitaker Studio never got to see that concept realized, but it did inspire a Hollywood filmmaker who later commissioned a similar design for a private residence to be located just outside Joshua Tree National Park in California. This hyperrealistic rendering of the Joshua Tree Residence made waves for Whitaker when it was released in 2017, and this year, the architect hopes to make some of his shipping container home concepts a reality.

Read more in our feature story!

Rendering by Whitaker Studio

60

A HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED RESIDENTIAL WORK OF ART, IL PARADISO LIES IN THE SERENE GATED COMMUNITY OF PARADISE BY THE SEA ALONG SCENIC HIGHWAY 30-A IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA. VENTURE INSIDE TO SEE MORE AND READ THE STORY BEHIND ITS CONCEPTION.

Photo courtesy of Linda Miller Real Estate

FEATURE 30 Desert Flower: A Container House Blooms in Joshua Tree

107 L’intermission: The Eternal Rainbow 108 Raising a Phoenix from the Ashes

LA MAISON 29

L’AMOUR

38 Coastal Chic Never Looked So Good

116 Wedding on the Green: Mr. and

45 L’intermission: Aqua Is All Around

Mrs. von Schmid

46 Above and Beyond: A Boheme Design

122 L’intermission: We Love Dallas!

54 Bold. Rich. Luxurious.

LA SCÈNE

59 L’intermission: A Feast for the Eyes 60 Il Paradiso: A Treasure on the Gulf Coast 66 The Architecture of a Dinner Party 70 A Legacy Continues: From Trial to Triumph 77 L’intermission: Think Pink 78 A Storied Past and Brighter Future

PUBLISHED BY

100 High Society: The Carlyle Hotel

C’EST LA VIE CURATED COLLECTION: FINE DESIGN 86

124 2019 CMT Music Awards 126 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards 128 VIE Stories with Heart and Soul Tour: Dallas

THE LAST WORD: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN 133 AU REVOIR! 137

VOYAGER 91 92 From Oil to Art Deco: Tulsa’s TheIdeaBoutique.com info@theideaboutique.com

Architectural Legacy

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 15

DISCOVER THE TRIBE VIBE Husband-and-wife duo Brian and Brittney Kelley founded their clothing and lifestyle brand, Tribe Kelley, with a mission to create a movement for camaraderie through ethically made fashion. Their shops in Nashville and Florida include clothing goods and accessories made in the USA, all-natural skin care and beauty products, beach supplies, and more. With green spaces designed for families and friends to enjoy music, yoga, and other events, both locations are great places to shop, hang out, and find your tribe!

TRIBE KELLEY TRADING POST 1912 21st Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37212

TRIBE KELLEY SURF POST 99 Hotz Avenue, Grayton Beach, Florida 32459

T R I B E K E L L E Y. C O M

CREATIVE TEAM FOUNDER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com

FOUNDER / PUBLISHER GERALD BURWELL Gerald@VIEmagazine.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR JORDAN STAGGS Jordan@VIEmagazine.com

CHIEF COPY EDITOR MARGARET STEVENSON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS SALLIE W. BOYLES, REBECCA HALL, STEVE L ARESE, SALLIE LEWIS LONGORIA, MYLES MELLOR, KELSEY OGLETREE, TORI PHELPS, SUZANNE POLL AK

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY ART DIRECTOR TRACEY THOMAS Tracey@VIEmagazine.com

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS OLIVIA PIERCE HANNAH VERMILLION

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS ABHISHEKLEGIT, CHRISTOPHER BARRETT, JACK GARDNER, BRITTANY GODBEE, JENNIFER HARR, L AUREN KINSEY, STEVE L ARESE, DANILO LEWIS, CHRIS LUKER, NICK MCGINN, FÉLIX MICHAUD, ANDREW MOORE, NEIRF Y, ANDERS RIISHEDE, ROMONA ROBBINS, TRABANTOS, OLENA TUR, VIXIT, BILL WECKEL, FRAMEWORK CREATIVE, GETT Y IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK, WHITAKER STUDIO

ADVERTISING, SALES, AND MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR MEGHN HILL ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ABIGAIL RYAN BRAND AMBASSADOR LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com MARTA RATA Marta@VIEmagazine.com

AD MANAGER OLIVIA PIERCE Olivia@VIEmagazine.com

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER TIM DUTROW DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR SHANNON QUINL AN BRIGHT STAR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM HATTEN HUFF – AUBURN UNIVERSIT Y, FINANCE AND MARKETING OLIVIA MANTHEY – TROY UNIVERSIT Y, MARKETING

VIE is a registered trademark. All contents herein are Copyright © 2008–2019 Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Incorporated (Publisher). All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. VIE is a lifestyle magazine and is published twelve times annually on a monthly schedule. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher. The Publisher and its advertisers will not be held responsible for any errors found in this publication. The Publisher is not liable for the accuracy of statements made by its advertisers. Ads that appear in this publication are not intended as offers where prohibited by state law. The Publisher is not responsible for photography or artwork submitted by freelance or outside contributors. The Publisher reserves the right to publish any letter addressed to the editor or the Publisher. VIE is a paid publication. Subscription rates: Printed magazine – One-year $29.95; Two-year $49.95. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.VIEmagazine.com.

18 | AUGU S T 2019

A NEW RESIDENTIAL

Enclave

C o m i n g s o o n t o D o w n t o w n F r a n k l i n , Te n n e s s e e

For more information, contact realtor Laura Stroud, French King Fine Properties: Laura@FrenchKing.com | S P L E N D O R R I D G E . C O M

Editor’s Note

The Makers of

SPACES & PLACES

T

he idea of leaving my mark on the world in the hope of making it a better place than before has long been an aspiration of mine. We all have a role to play in this life and to do it with gusto, passion, and purpose truly can make the world a better place as we forge our respective legacies.

People who have an aesthetic sensibility and the desire to create something out of nothing have always amazed me. The artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, architects, and designers of this world create because they see and feel what can be, rather than what is.

The New Urbanism movement took hold nearly thirty-five years ago when Seaside, Florida, developer Robert Davis and urban planner extraordinaire Andrés Duany envisioned a new way of living on Scenic Highway 30-A. It was reminiscent of a European lifestyle: a self-contained town that, for the first time, did not rely on the need for the automobile. With live/work units and a local grocery store and boutique retail shops, it was an approach to town planning that would be the antithesis of suburban sprawl. They got it right—except for excluding the automobile, as the twenty-first-century American culture still relies on it as the primary mode of transportation. However, like everything, this too will change over time when our dependence on owning a car becomes a thing of the past due to rideshares like Uber. But that story is for another day.

From the coveted Scenic 30-A corridor communities of Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, and Paradise by the Sea to the art deco skyline of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the NYC landmark Carlyle hotel, this issue is a feast for the eyes. Works of art meet architecture and design in the residence of Nossi and Hope Taheri located on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Read and marvel at their home in “Il Paradiso” by Jordan Staggs. It is not your average beach house and, for that matter, not your average home—period. The precision and attention to detail that went into its creation make it worthy of being called a masterpiece.

VIE founder/editor-in-chief Lisa Burwell Photo by Bill Weckel

and photographer—who shared this exciting concept that could give rise to enthusiasm in utilizing these metal containers for homes and office buildings. Concepts like Whitaker’s just might be the next big idea. Space is running out, and to combat this, an economy of scale is needed to resolve what is quickly becoming a global humanitarian problem.

With this Architecture & Design Issue, I am happy to introduce the VIE Beach House – A Show Home with the husband-and-wife visionary team of Jim and Suzy Accola of Coastal Elements Construction and Q Tile respectively. VIE Beach House will be located in the authentic and established beach community of Seagrove, Florida, just steps from the glorious emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico; the grand opening is estimated for the summer of 2020. A portion of the net proceeds from the home’s sale will be donated to Hurricane Michael relief efforts through the VIE Foundation. Artisanal craftsmanship and creativity will be on display throughout the VIE Beach House, and we will film the building of the home from start to finish, so stay tuned for more details. Visit VIEmagazine. com/BeachShowHome for updates.

Life is beautiful, and we need to celebrate this profound and straightforward mantra in all we do.

To Life!

While exploring for new stories, we stumbled upon our cover feature, the Joshua Tree Residence located in the Mojave Desert, and we just had to learn more. Since the world’s population and homelessness continue to grow at exponential rates, the housing crisis is more than ready for novel solutions. New ideas, planning, and innovation are essential, such as homes and other buildings that are being realized through “cargotecture”—the design of habitable buildings made from repurposed shipping containers. Enter James Whitaker—a London-based architect, filmmaker,

—Lisa Marie Founder/Editor-In-Chief

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 21

PROJECT: VIE Magazine Headquarters, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida ARCHITECT: Gerald Burwell FURNISHINGS: Modern Interiors, Miramar Beach, Florida

A MODERN WORK SPACE

114 Logan Lane, Suite 4, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 BurwellAssociates.com | (850) 231-6377 Florida LIC AA0003613

La conversation

Let’s Get Together!

WE LOVE TO COMMUNICATE AND INTERACT WITH OUR READERS! AND WE LOVE IT EVEN MORE WHEN THEY PROUDLY SHARE THEIR STORIES AND POSE WITH VIE FOR A CLOSE-UP! THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT: SHARING, LOVING, AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. WE THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND WE APPRECIATE YOU!

@csiriano A room filled with some of our favorite tulle confections! #tbt to our cover shoot with @viemagazine #christiansiriano @thejewelgrandblvd #waybackwednesday! #repost from @viemagazine of this stunning cover shot from their Culinary & Couture Issue, featuring some incredible baroque turquoise and pearl jewelry by @mazzacompany.

Photo by @carlopieroni @ibumovement @viemagazine just arrived!

Honored by the “Thread of Hope” write-up. Textile traditions and the women behind them keep us passionately working. A copy is going straight into the beach bag!

@calizarestaurant Chef Dzejak shared his summertime favorites with @viemagazine, including a recipe to delicious Seared Georges Banks Scallops. Check out the full article via their blog, La Muse, at viemagazine.com!

LET’S TALK!

@leah_korte VIE cool party. #viemagazine @canvasdallas

@rollands_beautybar Beach necessities! Latest from @viemagazine with @hairbykaitlynbrown on the front cover. Balmain beach towel, Balmain beach bag, Balmain Sun Protection Spray, Oribe Bright Blonde Shampoo, Obagi Soothing Complex Tint, Balmain gold comb, Balmain Texturizing Spray

Send VIE your comments and photos on our social media channels or by emailing us at info@viemagazine.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts. They could end up in the next La conversation!

VIEmagazine.com

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 25

La maison

To shop the latest collection, visit Bevolo.com.

Photo courtesy of Bevolo

La maison WHERE THE HEART IS

Since 1945, Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights has created hand-crafted, high-quality light fixtures that are designed to last a lifetime. The New Orleans–based brand made gas lanterns that have been hanging in the city’s French Quarter for over seventy years.

Today, they also create electric lighting and decorative fixtures that can be filled with candles or other portable lights, such as the Governor Pool House Lantern. Slender and stately, it stands watch with the romantic glow of a pillar candle or filled with seasonal colors and is available in antique copper or stainless steel. These portable lanterns will find a home on the hearth, on the table, or along a garden path.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 29

The Joshua Tree Residence, a shipping container home design created by Whitaker Studio, was first conceptualized in 2017.

30 | AUGU S T 2019

A CON TAINE R H O U S E B LO O M S IN JOSHUA TR E E

By Gerald Burwell and Jordan Staggs

T

Renderings courtesy of Whitaker Studio

he metal shipping container: dimensionally constant, strong, and watertight. These features were the catalyst behind Malcolm McLean’s drive in 1956 to perfect and patent a standardized container that could be employed by all three major freight methods—shipping, rail, and trucking—which ultimately revolutionized manufacturing on a global scale. Within a matter of years, the very same characteristics of the metal container that made it ideal for shipping were equally appealing to the designers of habitable structures. An array of designs has been suggested ranging from mobile exhibition booths and offices to permanent homes, apartments, and even swimming pools.

In recent decades, the subject of sustainability has become an ever-growing concern with populations worldwide. With a global housing shortage on the rise, the building industry has been working toward solutions for the reduction of waste in terms of construction methodologies, materials, labor, and energy usage. As the need for sustainability escalates, the humble shipping container has become a source of inspiration for many. A couple of years ago, London architect James Whitaker took that one step further when designing what he calls the Joshua Tree Residence. Its fourteen stark white shipping containers are connected and arranged in what looks like a lotus blossom emerging from the scrub-covered Mojave Desert just three hours outside of Los Angeles.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 31

Architect James Whitaker’s photorealistic renderings have made waves in the design world.

They even include finishes and furnishings, like seating from the Misfits line by Ron Arad.

Whitaker’s client is a film producer “with a background in nurturing creative projects into fruition— so, [he is,] in many ways, the dream collaborator,” the architect says.

In the spring of 2017, that client and some friends took a road trip to visit a plot of land he owned near Joshua Tree National Park. “Whilst there, among the arid landscape and jutting rocks,” Whitaker continues, “one 32 | AUGU S T 2019

of the friends said, ‘You know what would look great here?’ before opening her laptop to show everyone a picture she’d seen on the internet.” It was a picture of an office that Whitaker had designed several years before but was never built. Similar in design, the container office was originally proposed for an advertising agency in Hechingen, Germany, but the business closed before the space was ever realized. Still, the Hollywood producer was intrigued. “And so,” Whitaker says, “it came

to pass that next time the client was in London, he got in touch and asked to meet up.”

Thus, the concept for Joshua Tree Residence was born. As seen in Whitaker’s artistic renderings, the home is just over 2,150 square feet, with three en suite bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a private outdoor deck. “Each container is orientated to maximize views across the landscape or to use the topography

THE HOME IS JUST OVER 2,150 SQUARE FEET, WITH THREE EN SUITE BEDROOMS, A KITCHEN, A LIVING ROOM, AND A PRIVATE OUTDOOR DECK. “EACH CONTAINER IS ORIENTATED TO MAXIMIZE VIEWS ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE.”

The home’s fourteen shipping containers meld to create a flowerlike shape amid the desert landscape.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 33

“THIS LOVE OF THE ECLECTIC HAS BROADENED THE WAY I VIEW THE WORLD AND PROVIDED ME WITH A CONSTANTLY GROWING SET OF TOOLS FOR APPROACHING NEW PROJECTS.” to provide privacy,” says Whitaker. His design also includes a nearby carport with solar panels atop the roof that provide power for the house. Thanks to the architect’s background in animation and multimedia, Whitaker’s skillful and hyperrealistic renderings, first released in 2017, received rave reviews worldwide.

“The path that has led me here has often diverged from straight architectural practice, and I’ve worked with photography, digital artistry, and filmmaking,” Whitaker says on his website. “This love of the eclectic has broadened the way I view the world and 34 | AUGU S T 2019

The angles of the containers and the large windows are designed to maximize light exposure and keep the home cooler during the day while also providing spectacular views.

Above right: A private deck area is designed for the “backyard” and includes a hot tub.

provided me with a constantly growing set of tools for approaching new projects. Where the Whitaker Studio path goes next, I do not know, but I do know that we will continue working to make tomorrow’s work even greater than yesterday’s and enjoy every minute of the process.”

Following the release of the Joshua Tree Residence concept, Whitaker responded to requests for an ideal container house that could be reproduced for almost any setting. The resulting design was a new living concept, the Anywhere House—not made of shipping containers, but of prefabricated modular pieces with multiple configuration options.

Whitaker Studio hopes to build the first of these homes in Canada later this year.

VISIT WHITAKERSTUDIO.CO.UK TO LEARN MORE OR SEE MORE PROJECTS.

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A BOHEME DESIGN

Architecture designed around You and the things You love...

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COAST The interior of this bright and sunny home in Rosemary Beach, Florida, was redesigned from scratch by Betsey Mosby in 2018. The kitchen remodel included replacing the upper cabinets with shelving and creating a cleaner layout. A custom bar in the dining room makes entertaining a breeze!

Mosby also replaced the home’s iron light fixtures with bright, beaded pieces.

38 | AUGU S T 2019

AL CHIC N E V E R

L O O K E D

S O

La maison

G O O D

Photography by B R I T TA N Y G O D B E E , F R A M E W O R K C R E AT I V E

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 39

hen the owners of this beachfront residence on idyllic Rosemary Avenue purchased the home over a decade ago, their young children took priority over home decor. Last year, with the kids off at college, the Jackson, Mississippi, couple began to spend more time here and decided they were in need of an upgrade. They called interior designer Betsey Mosby to give the place a chic and modern yet timeless face-lift.

Now they’re over the moon about this classic beauty with nothing but the Western Green between it and the shimmering Gulf of Mexico.

V I S I T B E T S E Y M O S B Y. C O M T O S E E M O R E D E S I G N P R O J E C T S .

40 | AUGU S T 2019

La maison

Elegance and comfort mix in this vacation home, where days at the beach are followed by relaxing on chaise lounges, deep swivel chairs, velvet sofas, and soft beds.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 41

La maison

Mosby had the flooring refinished throughout the home, which was a deep honey color and is now a whitewashed gray that mirrors the neutral coastal vibe the homeowners love. Pieces by artists including Lynn Sanders, Alexis Walter, and Sarah Otts bring in pops of color.

42 | AUGU S T 2019

Ivories, blues, and greens in the decor, art, and fabrics mirror the Gulf of Mexico and the sandy beach just steps from the home.

The couple’s grown children have rooms on the first floor with their own personalities— bright teal and fun abstract art for their daughter and a more masculine feel with natural washed wood and a gray-blue bed for their son’s room across the hall.

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B L A N K E N S H I P_ G R O U P

L’intermission

In the Rif mountain range of northern Morocco, Chefchaouen beckons visitors with its Instagram-worthy streets and walls, many of which have been painted in various shades of blue. Explore markets and restaurants, or maybe even dip into one of the local bathhouses. Just don’t forget your camera!

Aqua Is All Around

Main photo by Vixit / Shutterstock Inset photo by Olena Tur / Shutterstock

Feel in

g the

cco. o r o blues is all good in M

oL ve, VIE xo

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 45

46 | AUGU S T 2019

La maison

above and Beyond

BY KELSE Y OGLETREE P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F A B O H E M E D E S I G N

YO U C O U L D S AY D E S I G N I S G O I N G TO T H E D O G S .

Darrell Russell isn’t a canine owner, but he’s come to love and understand them in ways most never do.

When he says he likes to go above and beyond to deliver precisely what a client wants, he’s not kidding.

Left: With a very limited palette of interior finishes, this home by A Boheme Design is in many ways like a museum.

Photo by Christopher Barrett Right: Olive trees line the entry sequence into the Cape Dutch– influenced Finley residence in Inlet Beach, Florida.

Photo by Jack Gardner

As a principal architect with A Boheme Design, a full-service architecture and design firm based in Inlet Beach, Florida, Russell had the privilege of working with a client who wanted a multistory home in which her dogs, two Lhasa apsos, never had to use the stairs.

(Dogs of this breed, which can live into their twenties, often have hip and back problems later in life.)

Russell and his business partner, Jonathan Hampel, rose to the occasion and created a system of gently sloping ramps—with client-requested inclines no greater than 13 percent—to allow these furry family members to roam the house pain-free.

“We took that design request and turned it into a beautiful design element, rather than taking a utilitarian approach, which would have been an eyesore,” says Hampel.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 47

La maison

W

hile this feat may sound silly to some, it embodies this dynamic duo’s mission as a design firm: do whatever it takes to create functional, aesthetically pleasing spaces that perfectly suit the needs of the homeowners.

This has been their ethos for the past decade and certainly shows as A Boheme celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

Originally from northwest Tennessee, Russell never imagined he’d become one of the most sought after residential architects in the Florida Panhandle. When he was only a third grader, he decided he wanted to draw houses when he grew up. A few years later, he wrote a research paper on Frank Lloyd Wright, and the idea of working in luxury residential architecture became his dream.

He launched his career in the 1980s at Memphisbased Looney Ricks Kiss (LRK), where he worked his way up to number three partner. The firm had a major Florida client by the name of The St. Joe Company, which frequently brought Russell’s attention to the Sunshine State. He opened an office there in the early aughts, but business in the area sank into a recession—both in work and in home values—following media coverage of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (even though it was unrelated to the Florida Panhandle). Once the Great Recession hit, he and Hampel were on the verge of closing. Instead, they struck a deal with LRK, buying

48 | AUGU S T 2019

out the Florida office to start a boutique firm with a complete emphasis on luxury houses.

Launching a high-end design firm in 2009 sounds a little obtuse—a fact not lost on Russell. “August 2009 might have been the worst time in the universe to start a business, not to mention an architecture firm,” he says. Against the odds, they did well. As the recession hit the country hard, the area around Inlet Beach found itself on the upswing a little sooner than most areas, around 2010. Russell says that, unexpectedly, much of the firm’s client base at the time was from Texas and kept them busy in the meantime.

T H E L I G H T- C O L O R E D WA L L S A N D S TO N E F LO O R I N G THROUGHOUT GIVE THE HOME A LIVED-IN MUSEUM Q U A L I T Y, S E R V I N G A S A N IDE AL BACKDROP FOR B R E AT H TA K I N G A R T.

Since the inception of A Boheme Design, its founders have been fortunate not to have further natural disasters majorly impact their work. Russell has become an expert on fortified construction—a skill he would never have dreamed of having back when he lived in Tennessee. “During a storm, I would stay in almost any of the homes we’ve designed,” he notes.

One thing that sets Russell and Hampel apart from other architects and designers is the intricacy with

which they get involved with a project. They both genuinely want to be a part of the design process, not strictly to manage it. For example, it’s not just about creating a doorframe: it’s also about making custom casings for the door. They’re not just selecting hardware: they’re designing the little pieces that go into them. It’s all within reason, of course, depending on what the client is after.

“Every client has different criteria of what’s important to them,” says Russell. “Some want every single thing in a project to be unique, while others just want it to look good and be functional.”

The “doghouse” project, which Russell calls Sadie’s Hideaway, is his favorite project of his career. He’d always admired the movie-set house that appears in the

1991 thriller film Sleeping with the Enemy, so when the client contacted him and said they wanted a home that looked something like that, he knew it was kismet.

Equal attention to detail went into planning the exteriors (the house sits on 120 feet of water frontage, warranting hurricane- and impact-rated windows with the thinnest frames they could find to maximize views) and interiors. “The house appears extremely simple,” says Russell. “The simplicity is misleading for what is truly a complex and sophisticated residential structure.”

Sadie’s Hideaway is a post-tension concrete structure, which was a first for Russell in residential design. The light-colored walls and stone flooring throughout give the home a lived-in museum quality, serving as an ideal backdrop for breathtaking art.

Above: This contemporary house was designed by A Boheme to take full advantage of the water view.

Photo by Christopher Barrett Opposite: The main entry of a beautiful home near Palmera Park in Alys Beach, Florida Left: The courtyard of this residence incorporates a helical stair from the Italian manufacturer Rizzi, which leads to a rooftop terrace.

Photos by Jack Gardner

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n stark contrast to this design, another project, which Russell refers to as the Hannah Home, is representative of his love for everything Italian. Designed as a luxury speculative house to be sold to an unknown buyer, the home allowed him the chance to design around parameters that were a complete departure from the firm’s usual work (i.e., customized for specific owners). As such, Russell drove home the Tuscan theme by doing some “expensive research” (visiting factories and design trade shows in Italy) and incorporating heavy timber, custom interior doors, and rustic flooring influenced by Italian farms.

“Thankfully—and unknown to me—an interested buyer who is an avid lover of Italian villas was watching the entire progression,” says Russell. “She purchased the house shortly after it was completed and immediately contracted with us to assist her in furnishing it.” Together, they incorporated carefully selected Italian antiques and worked with Peck & Company in Houston to fabricate a dining room chandelier modeled after an old Italian candelabra.

Regardless of the style and interior choices on each project, one significant challenge that A Boheme Design faces with many homes along the beach is small lot size because of the skyrocketing price of real estate there. Russell describes it as trying to put ten pounds of something in a five-pound bag: “We’re always trying to fit what our clients want within the limitations of the site,” he says.

50 | AUGU S T 2019

The firm has also had to address unique situations, such as raising the elevation on a Gulf-front property to meet the hundred-year storm elevation requirements of both the Florida Building Code and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection—while dealing with the issue of how to safely get a Lamborghini up the steep driveway grade.

Opposite bottom right: The use of stonework and terra-cotta tile reflects influences from Italian farm villas.

Going above and beyond is second nature for Russell and Hampel. It’s not uncommon for them to help the client move into the new home—even to the point of helping arrange art on the walls. “We really like to go through the entire process with a client,” says Russell. “We believe architecture, interior design, and landscape design should all fit together like a glove on a hand.”

Opposite bottom left: The owners’ repurposed 1850s pharmacy cupboard from Parma, Italy, is highlighted in the den.

VISIT ABOHEME .COM TO LE ARN MORE .

Kelsey Ogletree is a Chicago-based writer covering travel, wellness, and design for publications that include Robb Report, Shape, Architectural Digest, and more. Always on the hunt for stories and forever a notetaker, she never leaves home without her mini Moleskine and at least two pens.

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Opposite top: An exquisite view of the Gulf of Mexico from the Hannah residence’s south terrace Left: Gregorius Pineo’s custom seventeenthcentury Italian iron bed is the focal piece of the master bedroom.

Photos by Chris Luker

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When surrounded by luxe fabrics and finishes, one immediately feels a sense of satisfaction that one has achieved elite status. A well-appointed room can evoke not only comfort but also an affirmation that you are somebody—you matter, and you deserve to have beautiful things. It’s not necessary to book a stay at a five-star hotel or visit a lavish club to feel this way; you can achieve it at home—and share the wealth with your guests—with the right decor. High-end brand LUXXU takes the game up a notch with its collection of furnishings inspired by travel, nature, architecture, history, and a world of luxury.

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LUXXU’s McQueen chandelier was inspired by the opulent and intricate detailing that fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known for. The piece is gold-plated hammered brass with handmade butterflies and flowers accented

by Swarovski crystals.

Opposite: The Tycho wall sconce is made to emulate the way images reflect off the surface of water on a calm day.

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Above: The LUXXU Empire collection of tables and lighting exudes sophistication and is made from highquality brass and Nero Marquina marble.

Right: Also inspired by the fashion designer’s signature gold accents, the McQueen globe is a beautiful explosion of luminous branches that end in sculpted leaves and Swarovski crystals. Down below, the Charla two-seater and Prisma stool make a perfect pair.

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Above: Clean lines overlap to add dimension in the Apotheosis console table. It’s no coincidence that its name means “the perfect form.” The table is flanked by Tycho wall sconces.

Left: LUXXU often works with luxury hotels and other hospitality industry leaders. This lobby oozes class as it features the Gala chandelier, the Anguis sofa center, and more.

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Payton Residence: New Orleans Saints Head Coach, Sean Payton, entrusted the design of this stunning Bermudan-style courtyard home to 30-A’s preeminent architecture firm Christ & Associates.

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L’intermission

A Feast for the Eyes Just off the coast of Naples lies Procida, an island of just over one and half square miles. Its colorful historic district now boasts tourism as its main draw, though fishing, shipbuilding, and agriculture have played important roles throughout the centuries.

Main photo by Trabantos / Shutterstock Inset photo by Neirfy / Shutterstock

Stroll through the streets of Procida, Italy.

Love, VIE xo

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Il Paradiso, a Moroccanstyle mansion near the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida, lies in the exclusive Paradise by the Sea neighborhood between the communities of Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach.

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Gulf Coast A TREASURE ON THE

I L PA R A D I S O

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF L I N D A M I L L E R R E A L E S TAT E

slice of Moroccan paradise isn’t something you would expect to find in the American South, and yet here lies Il Paradiso, an immaculately designed residence majestically overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida.

Homeowner Nossi Taheri, a petrochemical engineer who loves architecture, envisioned the design with the help of his architect. Nossi’s wife, Hope Vaziri, had a hand in many of the custom elements as well.

The six-bedroom property is perched in the exclusive Paradise by the Sea neighborhood, strategically located adjacent to Alys Beach and within walking distance of Rosemary Beach Town Center via Scenic Highway 30-A or the white-sand beach. From the moment you enter the custom gates, it is clear this place is one of a

kind. Il Paradiso was inspired by world travel; its simple but thoughtful lines were first drawn by Nossi on an InterContinental Bangkok notepad at thirty-three thousand feet in the air. The aerial layout, depicted in a painting by talented local artist Allison Wickey, now hangs just inside the front door.

Thanks to its curves and many custom elements, building the residence was no easy feat and took over three years—from 2012 to 2015—to complete. Nossi and Hope worked with builders at Arkon Group of Seacrest, Florida, to achieve their vision. “We had interviewed several builders previously and didn’t find anyone who had the ability for this complicated design until Arkon Group—we needed someone with a background in that type of concrete building,” Nossi recalls.

Throughout the build, the owners came down from their home in Atlanta every couple of weeks to make sure things were on track, and they even rented a condo in nearby Inlet Beach to use as a meeting place for contractors and other partners.

Although it was a process they were used to after building their home in Atlanta and renovating a high-rise condo there, they admit it was a laborious (yet pleasurable) experience. In the end, it paid off in spades.

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e put a lot of energy into this place,” Nossi says, touting that the location was the first thing that drew them to Paradise by the Sea. “Every day, we look out the windows at the scenery— we always wanted to be near the water but not right on it, because we also wanted to see Alys Beach at night, which was otherwise not possible. Here, we have a view of the Gulf in the daytime, but at night, we can go up to the terrace and see beautiful Alys Beach, the lights, the environment. We are in touch with the world.”

Custom-made gates adorn the entry and the garden, whose old-world wooden doors were drafted by Nossi and crafted locally by E. F. San Juan, Inc. The front door is crafted from rare central African wenge wood and adorned with Soss hinges and custom cylindrical tube windows that give the feeling of portholes looking onto the pool deck and beach.

At 6,900 square feet, Il Paradiso was designed for entertaining. The open gourmet kitchen design is by Bulthaup, a leading kitchen manufacturer in Germany.

The couple loved it so much in the showroom, they bought it before the home was completed and kept it in storage until time for installation. The kitchen also features a custom rolling bar made from antique wood—a design created by Hope. The bar is lined with seating and made to pull away from the kitchen island to create a stand-alone table. “I always wanted a long, narrow table,” Hope says. An outdoor grilling area is adjacent to the private pool, and the attached twobedroom guesthouse is equipped with a full kitchen (also by Bulthaup), so visitors will never go hungry!

62 | AUGU S T 2019

The remaining antique wood from the bar was used as a media table in the living room, which also has expansive seating with adjustable custom furniture by Roche Bobois.

More good news for guests: the home’s large, circular wine cellar is always stocked. (Just peek through the porthole window in the floor of Nossi’s office and see for yourself.) An antique bar is proudly displayed in the cellar; the beautiful piece was inherited from Nossi’s father, a former Iranian representative ambassador to the United Nations in Switzerland.

The home’s elegant white walls and custom lighting throughout accentuate the owners’ collection of art and artifacts from around the world. A gallery hallway on the main level is set apart by sapele wood flooring and illuminated by custom elliptical fiberglass lighting from Italy. Upstairs, Nossi likes to relax in the cool third-floor theater room: “When I want to listen to louder music and not bother Hope, I come up here,” he says with a grin. Other custom features throughout the house include a colorful recycled glass countertop in the master bath, designed by Hope and made in Toronto; curved panels on the spiral staircase that are infused with sea glass; and a screen-printed sliding door to a guest bedroom that was made to look like an antique door Nossi found on his travels and which is now on display in the home’s lower level.

At 6,900 square feet, Il Paradiso was designed for entertaining. The open gourmet kitchen design is by Bulthaup, a leading kitchen manufacturer in Germany.

Just off the basement level is Nossi’s favorite spot—a roomy garage that features a black-and-white checkerboard wall, a door that bears a stylized yet unmistakable silhouette of his prized Porsche 911, and even a built-in car wash, which helps relieve his four-wheeled babies of the salt and sand from the coastal environment.

The home features two gourmet kitchens by leading German manufacturer Bulthaup.

Above right: The cantilevered three-story spiral staircase has custom sea glass– infused panels and wraps around unique Moroccan hanging lanterns.

Opposite: The master bedroom includes an elevated niche perfect for yoga or just relaxing.

Perhaps one of the home’s most unique elements is just off the entry: an elevated, Moroccan-inspired conversation pit that looks out over the pool and features curved banquettes and a custom chandelier similar to one at Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot resort in the Atlas Mountains. Nossi recalls a visit to the resort with Hope and how he became so enamored with the chandelier in the lobby that he was too distracted to check in with the front desk. Although the resort staff were tight-lipped about the design because they didn’t want it to be replicated, Nossi was persistent. He tipped a local to tell him who the designer was, and the next thing they knew, Nossi and Hope were bumping through the desert in a pickup truck on their way to visit the artist in a nearby village. After much ado, tea, and polite chitchat, the artist agreed to create a similar chandelier for the home, with Nossi changing some design elements to make it different from the one owned by Branson. It took a year to complete, and although some friends insisted that Nossi had been a fool to pay half the cost up front, the artist came through and sent the V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 63

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Above: The luxurious master bath includes a beautiful tiled walk-in shower.

Top right: Nossi and Hope’s art collection shines in the first-floor gallery hallway, which is accented by custom Italian lighting made from shaped fiberglass.

Bottom: The Roche Bobois seating in the living areas are custom pieces that adjust as needed for guests to sit or lounge in style.

The media console is made from the same piece of antique wood as the rolling bar in the main kitchen.

Opposite: The home’s unique parallelogram design was first conceived of and sketched on a napkin

by Nossi during an international flight, and it took three and a half years to build.

64 | AUGU S T 2019

The home’s elegant white walls and custom lighting throughout accentuate the owners’ collection of art and artifacts from around the world. finished product in pieces to be assembled at the home. The dome ceiling in the front of the house was designed specifically to fit the chandelier.

Nossi and Hope admit that although they have considered selling the home, they are reminded at every turn that its highly customized features were created by them, for their unique lifestyle. No other place will ever be the same. “This home was built for living and loving,” Nossi says. “I believe that some things are meant to be.”

With an expansive garden yard on its west side and plans for a swimming pool in the works, Il Paradiso is nothing short of awe-inspiring—almost as breathtaking as its endless panoramic views.

Photography for this story was provided by Linda Miller Real Estate, a luxury real estate brokerage based on Scenic Highway 30-A in Northwest Florida. Linda Miller Real Estate is proud to have worked with homeowners Nossi and Hope on this project and to represent many out-of-this-world luxury residences in the area. Visit LindaMillerLuxury.com to learn more or see listings!

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The A R C H I T E C T U R E of a

DINNER PARTY B y S u z a n n e Pol l ak 66 | AUGU S T 2019

P

lanning a dinner party is like building a house. Both are designed to meet people’s needs for comfort, pleasure, and connection. An architect drafts a series of rooms within a formal structure, while a host or hostess imagines a sequence of moments. There is an art to throwing a great dinner party, yes, but there are architectural details to consider as well.

Step one for a building is site work; for a party, it is choosing your guests. These might be people with whom you are excited to reconnect or simply those you would like to get to know better. The right mix injects the host with a boost of energy—a prerequisite for planning and executing a successful soiree.

The foundation of a dinner party is the main course: the crux of the meal. A host must decide on a dish that will please the majority. Cooking for a dinner party is not about showing off your culinary skills! It’s about

picking a menu that most people can enjoy. Today, the most significant challenges are real medical issues and self-imposed food restrictions. You must consider your guests’ dietary needs so people can eat dinner without you having to sacrifice any essential details.

People with severe allergies will let the host know in advance. However, if you ask guests their preferences during your planning stages, you are likely to step into a minefield. Beware! I recently asked guests coming for a Friday-night dinner party to let me know if they had any food issues. I got five responses: pescatarian, no raw shellfish or fish, no seafood high in mercury (mostly tuna, mackerel, and swordfish), avoid anything unpasteurized (raw eggs and cheeses made with unpasteurized milk), and no cod. Because hosts are not nutritionists, doctors, or physiologists, you should probably avoid this question altogether.

Instead, plan a meal with choices: a meat, two or three veggies, and two desserts.

If you are asking yourself, Why bother? Let’s just go to a restaurant, wait! The delights of a private dinner party cannot be replicated in the public arena. No waiting, no crowds, no loud party next to you. No feeling that you have to give up your table before you’re finished talking or eating dessert. At home, you can linger as long as you want under flickering candlelight. You can set your own pace, free from any pressure to give up your seats to those waiting.

You can and should move your guests wherever you please. Summer is for drinks on the balcony and dinner in the garden. Winter means cozy cocktails by the fire and dinner in the candlelit dining room. Spaces help set up moments that soothe, excite, and seduce, creating an atmosphere for meaningful connection.

Decide on your main course—go for what is not usually served in a restaurant. It’s a pity to cook your guests a steak because no matter how good it is, they

CITRUS CHICKEN INGREDIENTS 1 chicken, around 3 1/2 pounds, well rinsed 1 orange, halved 1 whole head garlic, halved crosswise 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature Coarse salt Freshly ground black pepper 1–2 tablespoons water or Grand Marnier

PREPARATION Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pat the chicken dry. Season the chicken with salt and pepper inside and out. Slice one half of the orange as thinly as possible. Slip the orange slices in a single layer under the chicken skin, covering the

breast and thighs. Place the other half of the orange in the cavity of the chicken along with the garlic.

Heat a roasting pan or an ovenproof sauté pan over high heat on the stove. When the pan is hot, place the chicken in the pan, breast side up, and put the pan into the oven.

Roast the chicken until crisp, about sixty-five minutes. Test for doneness by piercing the chicken leg—the juices should run clear, and the legs should move loosely in their sockets. (A meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh—and not touching bone—should read 165 degrees.)

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Remove the orange half from the chicken’s cavity and set aside. Carve or cut the chicken into four or eight pieces.

Squeeze the orange half into the pan with one or two tablespoons of water or Grand Marnier and simmer on low heat for two minutes while whisking the butter into the sauce. Pour the orange sauce over the carved chicken.

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will have their preferences based on countless times of ordering it out at their favorite spot. The ideal main course for at-home entertaining is something made in advance; it allows the host to remain calm and focused, concentrating on guests. Examples are roast chicken, lamb, pork, or a whole side of salmon, all of which you can enjoy at room temperature.

These can be brought to the table on large serving platters and do double duty as a centerpiece or sideboard decoration.

Roast chicken is my go-to because almost everyone loves it. A chicken roasted in the afternoon can be sliced and slipped into a low-temperature oven during predinner cocktails. For the “no meat” guests, a gigantic salad will do. Two choices will make everyone happy (and delight you, because you can prepare them both ahead of time).

Once you establish the foundation with entrées, customize the structure of your dinner with interesting sides. You only need to master a handful of dishes; these will become your signatures. Repetition is chic!

There is nothing wrong with serving the same main course at each dinner party. Family and friends look forward to your signature dish, plus you will always be comfortable cooking it and can make adjustments according to the season or even your mood.

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“

The right mix injects the host with a boost of energy—a prerequisite for planning and executing a successful soiree.

”

In August, roast chicken with a plain green salad, juicy tomatoes, and fresh corn is delightful. During the colder months, swap the salad with cooked greens (spinach, mustard, or collards), and serve roasted potatoes or butternut squash in the fall and ramps or peas in the spring. If you are feeling adventurous, insert thinly sliced oranges under the chicken skin and carry the citrus theme to dessert with a Grand Marnier soufflé. Add a cocktail hour with old-fashioneds—garnish with a sliver of orange to really drive home the motif.

Finally, there is the roof: dessert to top the whole experience off and cap the evening. The roof has to cover everything done before, encompass everything

you have served. Following a roast chicken, dessert should be equally homey because the roof has to be in the same element as what is underneath it. If you serve a chicken pot pie, then baked Alaska is not the right finish. Apple pie is apt, and so are cookies. No one asks for demitasse anymore, so pull out your coffee cups and make soufflés. That elegance would be most unexpected!

For an unforgettable dinner party, all you need is a plan and the right materials—just as any great architect does.

Suzanne Pollak, a mentor and lecturer in the fields of home, hearth, and hospitality, is the founder and dean of the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits. She is the coauthor of Entertaining for Dummies, The Pat Conroy Cookbook, and The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits: A Handbook of Etiquette with Recipes. Born into a diplomatic family, Pollak was raised in Africa, where her parents hosted multiple parties every week. Her South Carolina homes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal “Mansion” section and Town & Country magazine.

BESTIN DESTIN VIP DESTIN MAGAZINE READER CHOICE AWARD

2019

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A

From T R I A L

L E G AC Y

to T R I U M P H

BY TORI PHELPS

TH ER E AR E A LOT O F TH I N G S YO U M I G HT E XPEC T SO M EO N E WH OS E FAM I LY B US I N E S S WA S ALL B UT D E S TROY ED BY H U R R I C AN E M I C HAEL TO SAY. “ I WO U LD N ’ T C HAN G E IT ” IS N ’ T O N E O F TH EM .

When the Category 5 storm blew through the Florida Panhandle last October, it decimated thousands of homes and businesses, including E. F. San Juan, the thirdgeneration custom millwork company where Edward San Juan serves as president.

More than a job or even a career, E. F. San Juan is the axis around which Edward’s life revolves. It’s where he and his father took a leap of faith, where his family and friends work, and where his late grandfather labored to construct company buildings.

It encompasses both his family’s history and its future.

And yet “I wouldn’t change it.”

Considering the blood, sweat, and tears he and the E. F. San Juan team have poured into restoring the Youngstown, Florida–based company in the last nine months— not to mention the mourning they’ve done over things that can never be restored— the statement is bewildering. It becomes easier to understand, though, as he shares stories of the friends, business associates, and even competitors who showed him that life’s worst often brings out humanity’s best. The storm, as it turns out, wasn’t nearly as powerful as the rainbow that followed.

Photo by Romona Robbins

Living in Florida means contending with hurricanes, but Bay County had largely been spared over the years. So when Hurricane Michael gathered steam, many seasoned locals figured it would turn or weaken significantly before it hit. Edward was among them. Five hours before landfall, however, the predictions worried him enough to pack up his family and evacuate to north Georgia.

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Previous page and below: The exterior trim and other custom millwork on this beautiful home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, was produced

by E. F. San Juan. The firm worked closely with Paul Geary of T.S. Adams Studio Architects and builder John Brown at Gulfview Construction on this project.

Photo by Romona Robbins

t was the first time Edward had left for a hurricane. After all, he had a business to run. Founded by his father, Ed, in the 1970s, E. F. San Juan celebrates a family woodworking tradition handed down from his grandfather, Eddie, a master craftsman.

The two older San Juans had launched and then sold a successful furniture company in south Georgia, where Edward was raised, but Ed was far too young to retire. Instead, he embarked on a consulting career focused on boosting profitability for sawmills and furniture companies.

wire traps. By then, Edward, who had been working at E. F. San Juan every summer for years, was in his final year of graduate school at the University of Florida. His father gave him that year to create a business plan, offering him a partnership in something they would, essentially, start from scratch.

He missed the manufacturing part, though, so Ed bought a piece of property and opened E. F. San Juan as a small sawmill in the 1970s. In addition to cutting cypress logs into lumber, he brokered lumber to furniture manufacturing plants and supplied beautifully milled cypress traps to lobster and stone crab fishermen. But that highly niched enterprise evaporated in the 1980s, as the use of cypress for traps became an environmental concern and they were replaced by

Opportunity, meet compulsion for quality.

Edward, who says he’s had sawdust in his veins from a young age, knew he was all in. He also knew one other important thing about himself and his father: they had what he calls a “compulsion” for extreme quality. When they milled something, it was perfect. They homed in on the renewed interest in finishings like crown mouldings that was sweeping the country—and the fact that the New Urbanist community of Seaside was being built on Scenic Highway 30-A, practically in E. F. San Juan’s backyard.

It becomes easier to understand, though, as he shares stories of the friends, business associates, and even competitors who showed him that life’s worst often brings out humanity’s best. The storm, as it turns out, wasn’t nearly as powerful as the rainbow that followed.

As E. F. San Juan has expanded into products like interior doors, windows, impact-resistant exterior doors, and cabinetry, father and son have remained intimately involved with every aspect of the company. Edward knows how to operate every machine in the business, and both San Juans could write a doctoral thesis on different wood species. “My dad and I love wood,” Edward laughs. “People see how many hours we put into the business and think we’re slaves to it, but they don’t realize we lucked out. We picked something we love doing.”

At eighty-one, Ed still shows up every day, exuding the kind of energy and work ethic that would exhaust a person one-third his age. (“It’s like having Superman for a role model,” Edward confides.) Far from looking toward retirement, Ed supervised a beta project combining woodworking knowledge and computer mastery to help create a new generation of millworkers. Recognizing that college students today have grown up with computers rather than shop class, E. F. San Juan has taken the skill set of hand woodworking and adapted it to computer-controlled processes, resulting in a precision that surpasses conventional techniques.

The company’s custom production hasn’t lost any of the artistry or quality since its hand-hewn days, though, as both are integral pieces of the E. F. San Juan formula. Those elements are found in the San Juans’ depth of knowledge about how 72 | AUGU S T 2019

E. F. San Juan is truly a family business, with multiple generations, in-laws, and family of many team members joining the ranks over the years. Back row, left to right: Bryan Kline, Buddy Czubaj, and Treyson Peirce; Front row, left to right: Eddie San Juan, Mary Kathryn San Juan, Edward F. San Juan, and Edward A. San Juan Photo by Gerald F. Burwell

different woods function, applying that expertise in helping clients choose the right species for their designs, and then engineering every piece and product to last.

They’re working with legacy homes, Edward says, and they make legacy products whose beauty runs far deeper than just surface aesthetics. Instead of nails that will eventually rust, for example, they build with traditional tenon joints and add secondary and even tertiary features to ensure longevity.

This emphasis on excellence is a family tradition embraced by Edward’s wife, Mary Kathryn, who’s been the company’s comptroller for twenty years, and their brother-in-law, Buddy Czubaj, a former Air Force officer who serves as the general manager. It’s also been passed down to the third generation of San Juans. Edward and Mary Kathryn’s oldest child, Eddie, who earned a construction management

degree, has worked on the construction floor with his grandfather for two years as a manager trainee. Their daughter, Lydia, graduates from Florida State soon and will work with the sales team in the new cabinet division. The youngest, Mario, just turned thirteen—the age at which generations of San Juan youngsters have started working summers in the family business.

Edward is thrilled that his two oldest children are interested in the business, but even if they weren’t, he would still be surrounded by loved ones. Many of his employees have been with E. F. San Juan for ten or even twenty years, and it’s not unusual for husbands and wives or parents and children to work alongside each other at the facilities. “They’re our family,” he states simply but firmly. “As many hours as my dad and I are here, we see them more than we see our blood family.”

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La maison It was these folks that the San Juans couldn’t stop thinking about as they hunkered down in Georgia for five long days. Edward and his father were the first to leave the family’s evacuation site and face the inevitable. The night before, Edward tried to prepare himself emotionally by looking at videos and aerial photographs of the community’s damage, but when he was about fifty miles from home, he realized that no pictures could adequately capture the scene. He called his wife and told her to magnify the horror of the images they’d seen by at least tenfold.

As he pulled onto the E. F. San Juan property for the first time, Edward was struck as much by what wasn’t there—virtually any of their physical facilities—as by what was. Though their own homes and families had been just as devastated, about a dozen of his employees were already on-site working to cover machines and protect what little was left from further damage. At that point, Edward and his father didn’t break down over what had been lost; they simply got to work.

Assuming a mantle of leadership was what employees needed from them, and it occurred to the duo that it was what the community needed too. Millions of people pass their location on the way into Panama City, and Edward says he felt an obligation to show that E. F. San Juan wasn’t quitting. Instead, they would be part of a rebuilding movement.

It was a decision that had been made already anyway. During a family meeting while they were evacuated, every option—including one that involved closing the doors forever—was on the table. “It wasn’t something anyone felt good about,” Edward recalls. “When we voted on it, it got zero votes.”

Others voted “no” on that option as well. In the days following the hurricane, the family was inundated with encouragement from friends, customers, and even strangers.

Edward points to an email from a colleague turned pal that, even months later, he still can’t read without tearing up. The missive, which he saved under the subject 74 | AUGU S T 2019

Photo by Romona Robbins Below: The team at E. F. San Juan—even those not related by blood or marriage— are family. They all persevered through the devastation of Hurricane Michael and are proud to have the business running again at full capacity a mere eight months later.

Photo by Gerald F. Burwell

line “Words to remember when the going gets tough,” assured him that everyone in the building industry was behind E. F. San Juan and praised the company’s work ethic, its people, and its contributions to the top-notch construction for which communities along 30-A have become known. It ended with “I’m a customer of yours for life. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Those elements are found in the San Juans’ depth of knowledge about how different woods function, applying that expertise in helping clients choose the right species for their designs, and then engineering ever y piece and product to last.

For Thought, fed E. F. San Juan employees and the volunteer crews. Even competitors reached out, offering their warehouses as unloading and storage facilities. There were so many offers, in fact, that they couldn’t take advantage of them all.

Less than nine months after Hurricane Michael rocked the business to its core, E. F. San Juan has reclaimed nearly all of the square footage it lost. What the company has undertaken, though, is more of a metamorphosis than a restoration.

Thanks to greater efficiency woven into the business and a resilience that’s taken root in stakeholders and employees, Edward predicts that the one-year anniversary of the storm will find them operating—and living—at greater capacity than ever before. “We’ll look back at this thing and see it as a positive stimulus for us versus a catastrophe that ended something good,” he says. “We’ve bonded through adversity as a community and a team, and it’s made us better.”

VISIT EFSANJ UAN .COM TO LE ARN MORE .

That offer, and the many like it, served as a balm for their many wounds and left no doubt in the San Juans’ minds that they mattered to the community and the industry.

Words were soon followed by actions, as builder friends took employees off their own job sites to help the San Juan team get its facilities in order. A volunteer group of seventyfive people brought heavy machinery to clear the entire factory. A local nonprofit, Food

Tori Phelps has been a writer and editor for nearly twenty years. A publishing industry veteran and longtime VIE collaborator, Phelps lives with three kids, two cats, and one husband in Charleston, South Carolina.

Kitty Taylor, Broker, GRI, CRS, CIPS Catherine Ryland, Broker Associate “Grayton Girl Team” Selling Grayton and Beach Properties along 30-A Realtor of the Year 2017 for the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors 850.231.2886 | 850.585.5334 133 Defuniak Street, Grayton Beach, FL GraytonCoastProperties.com

L’intermission

Think Pink Hawa Mahal—the Palace of Winds—lies on the edge of Jaipur’s City Palace. Its many-windowed facade was originally designed not only to allow air to flow more freely into the rooms, but also to enable the ladies of the palace to look out upon the streets and activities below without being seen. Red and pink sandstone give the rosy hue to the area’s buildings, earning Jaipur its modern nickname, the Pink City.

Photo by Abhisheklegit / Shutterstock

Explore a palace of pink in Jaipur, India.

Love, VIE xo

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Brighter Future A STO R I ED PA ST A N D

B y S A L L I E W. B OY L E S

P h o t o g r a p h y c o u r t e s y o f T H E N AT I O N A L M O N U M E N T S F O U N D AT I O N

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.

— W in s ton C hu rc hil l

From early civilization to modern times, countless ideologies and practicalities have given rise to the world’s most impressive buildings and monuments.

Subsequent generations have applied the same principles when choosing to demolish structures that were once integral to a way of life. Forever mindful of the legacy he’ll leave through the architectural projects he designs and advances, Rodney Mims Cook Jr. encourages a greater understanding of architecture’s historical significance and its impact on humanity before people decide what goes up and what comes down.

Answering his calling early in life, he remembers creating paper models of buildings from the time he was three. “I now make them in stone,” Rodney jokes, revealing that the elaborate “urban centers” he assembled were “two to three times larger than I.” For a child drawn to architecture, he grew up in an ideal environment.

His first mentor was renowned architect Philip Trammel Shutze (1890–1982), who designed many of Atlanta, Georgia’s buildings that appear on the National Register of Historic Places. Among them is the Swan House, now home to the 78 | AUGU S T 2019

Atlanta History Center. “Mr. Shutze had designed houses of various family members,” Rodney explains, “so I got to be close with him.” In fact, he adds, “My mother [who ran the History Center’s Tullie Smith House restoration for years] would send me to the Swan House with a key to do my homework.”

Acknowledging that such opportunities were extraordinary, Rodney says, “It was evident from an early age that I was in an unusual family because I would see Dad on the evening news.” Accordingly, “cookouts on Sundays from spring into fall” with civic leaders like Mayor William Hartsfield, Martin Luther King Jr., and “Daddy King” (MLK’s father) were just part of growing up, yet he knew his parents’ friends weren’t everyday people. “I was told by numbers of folks, including my father, how important their work was, sticking their heads above the crowd in ways that were honorable but dangerous,” says Rodney.

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The Millennium Gate Museum, located on Seventeenth Street in Atlanta’s Midtown district, was designed

by Rodney Mims Cook Jr. and Hugh Petter and completed in 2008.

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ike his courageous friends, Rodney Mims Cook Sr., who passed away in 2013, championed the civil rights movement. Serving Atlanta for over twenty years as an alderman and a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, he was one of the first Republicans elected to a public office in Georgia since the post–Civil War era.

(The Democrats stood against civil rights.) Rodney mentions how his father took a stand alongside Mayor Hartsfield, Atlanta’s longest-serving mayor, in speaking out against the Peyton Road Wall built to keep black citizens from moving into a traditionally white area. “Dad said, ‘Americans do not wall themselves off from fellow Americans.’ It was a tumultuous period, and Dad was key in keeping the peace.”

Inevitably, Cook Sr.’s opposition would act upon their verbal threats. While Rodney’s parents were away for the weekend, he and his two siblings were home with a babysitter when the KKK arrived in the dark of night to burn a cross on the lawn. Seeing the blaze and fearing their home would catch fire, Rodney says he was “faced with having to get my little sister down a rope ladder, three stories.” He was only five. “It wasn’t an epiphany,” he asserts, “but it was certainly a milestone.” The event traumatized Rodney. “I didn’t speak for a year,” he confides.

Top: Cook’s home, Alexandra Park, is in Atlanta and was built in 1990. The design is modeled after Highgrove, the country home of Charles, Prince of Wales.

Bottom: Atlanta’s World Athletes Monument, also known as the Prince of Wales’s Olympics Monument, was a gift from Charles, Prince of Wales, in honor of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. It was designed by Cook and Anton Gilkin and completed in 1996 for the event.

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At fifteen, Rodney found his voice could make a difference when he not only corralled a group of friends to join him in a protest against imploding the Fox Theatre, but he also spoke out when the media gave him a microphone.

Earmarked for demolition, the ornately adorned, Moorish-inspired landmark had made its debut in 1929 as a movie palace. “My mother,” Rodney says, “was on a commission that oversaw historic buildings that were being torn down. She came home in a terror, saying, ‘They are going to blow up the Fox, and you have to do something about it.’” When he responded, “Mom, I can’t even drive,” she reminded him that his older sister had a license. “So,” he says, “we surrounded the building.” Mayor Maynard

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Jackson took note and withdrew the demolition permit, paving the way for Rodney and his friends to spearhead the Save the Fox campaign, initiating a full-fledged restoration project. Today, the venerable theater is Atlanta’s pride and joy.

Like his mother, Rodney valued traditional and classical architecture. Therefore, when choosing a college, he says, “Mr. Shutze advised that I should go to Washington and Lee University,” where professors would encourage his passion. As Rodney explains, “Traditionalism was dead in America, so he thought if I went to some of the other schools that interested me, I’d be flunked.”

A student of architecture, history, and business, Rodney says, “I think modernism has helped to ruin American cities. We designed in the last century with the automobile in mind. It had nothing to do with the human being.” To note, Rodney is a charter signer for the Congress for the New Urbanism, a movement that promotes green spaces and walkability throughout neighborhoods in which residents find all they need to thrive.

After launching his first design firm in 1982, Rodney admits that he was called out for merely “designing pretty houses for rich people.” A professional challenge by his friend Robert A. M. Stern to consider community enrichment projects like museums and parks prompted him to “pivot to more civic-realm construction.” Consequently, he established PolitesCook Architects, which got under way by designing the Newington-Cropsey Museum in New York, home to the largest American collection of Hudson River School paintings.

A personal friendship with the Prince of Wales has also influenced Rodney’s undertakings. Referring to Prince Charles as “the general” in leading a “renaissance of traditionalism in architecture around the world,” Rodney says, “he put words to the anxiety of those who hated modernism.”

With Atlanta’s hosting of the 1996 Olympic Games, the two agreed that a commemorative structure would have a positive, cultural impact in what was then an underutilized area in Midtown Atlanta.

Rodney organized the design and construction of

the Prince of Wales’s Olympics Monument, also known as the World Athletes Monument, as a founding trustee of the Prince of Wales’s Foundation for Architecture.

Rodney recalls Prince Charles writing him, “As long as you live in Atlanta, please care for my monument.”

In 2003, Rodney established the National Monuments Foundation to promote “the cause of classical and inspirational urban design,” guided by the philosophy that “great and meaningful moments in history are majestically marked by the construction of permanent structures meant to inspire citizens of a city, region, or nation.” The foundation then conceived of and built the Millennium Gate Museum.

Celebrating the second millennium, the Millennium Gate resembles a classical Roman triumphal arch. “We had initially intended it to be a Washington museum,” Rodney says, adding that September 11 “destabilized everything.” Instead, he brought the project home to grace the heart of Midtown Atlanta. The grand feature symbolizes a gateway to the South as well as a passage through which knowledge and friendship flow from the past to the present and into the future.

Open to the public, the museum functions “to preserve and interpret Georgia history, art, culture, and philanthropic heritage as well as highlight Georgia’s historical and aesthetic relevance to the United States and to the world.”

“I was told by numbers of folks, including my father, how important their work was, sticking their heads above the crowd in ways that were honorable but dangerous.”

Rodney’s own family’s imprint on Georgia’s history dates back to John Mims (1815–1856) and Livingston Mims (1833–1906). Beyond serving as Atlanta’s sixth and thirty-seventh mayors, the Mims mayors generously donated land to the city for the original city hall (burned by Sherman and now the site of the Georgia State Capitol), and a public park—but not just any park.

Livingston Mims commissioned the Olmsted Brothers company (a landscape architectural firm owned by the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds) to accentuate the landscape with meadows, walking paths, statuary, and stately trees. The aptly named Mims Park also contained the first integrated playground in the city’s history. Fittingly, the immediate neighborhood, known as Vine City, would later be home to Atlanta’s renowned civil rights leaders and their families, such as the Kings.

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The Newington-Cropsey Foundation Gallery of Art in Hastingson-Hudson, New York, was designed by Cook and Peter J. Polites and completed in 1994. Its Palladian-style structure includes a grand rotunda (above), gallery hall (opposite top), and wrought iron exterior doors and canopy (opposite bottom).

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n the 1950s, Mims Park land was used to build an elementary school, and over the years, the area declined, becoming one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

Rodney, through the National Monuments Foundation, reached an agreement with the City of Atlanta to establish a new park on sixteen acres as a tribute to his ancestor and to honor a deathbed wish of his father. Offered in a spirit of peace and friendship, the ambitious endeavor would revitalize the depressed section of Atlanta and spawn positive initiatives for generations to come.

the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office, and the community, and required tens of millions of dollars in private and public funding. As stakeholders were getting the project off the ground, “outside activists” grabbed onto the morsel that Livingston Mims was a major in the Confederate Army, so they protested the name.

Resurrecting Mims Park involved numerous entities, including the National Monuments Foundation, the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, the Trust for Public Land,

As the development continues, the project showcases “smart urban planning and building monuments about history,” according to Rodney. While many narrow in on slavery and Native American injustices, Georgia’s history, Rodney points out, is rooted in peace. “Tomochichi, [chief of the indigenous Yamacraw Indians], and James Oglethorpe, [founder of the original Georgia colony], became the

Despite Livingston having built Atlanta’s first integrated park, “History went out the window,” says Rodney. “The community had already vetted the name and didn’t want to change it.” In the end, “multigenerational friendships” forged between his family and the local African American community triumphed. “They said, if we’re changing the name, then we’re changing it to someone in Rodney’s family.” The honor went to Rodney’s father, and work on the Rodney Mims Cook Sr. Park, also known as the Atlanta Peace Park, began in 2017.

“Winston Churchill is noted to have said that we will quite possibly be judged as much by the buildings we destroy as by those we erect.” closest of friends,” he informs. “Tomochichi gave his land to Oglethorpe to build the city of Savannah.

We don’t tell this story often enough.”

Consequently, the park’s focal point, a 120-foot-tall peace column, is dedicated to Chief Tomochichi, while eighteen statues throughout the park honor Cook Sr. and other notable peacemakers, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Maynard H. Jackson, and Andrew Young. “Dr. King’s house is facing the park,” says Rodney. The grounds will also contain the library of civil rights leader C. T. Vivian.

Not surprisingly, the project has garnered international attention. “The Nobel Peace Laureates found we were building a peace park and have asked if they could have a permanent Western Hemisphere headquarters in our park,” Rodney shares. “Prince Charles set it in motion with Mayor Kasim Reed, but they say we possess the narrative and believe we are ground zero for a global peace movement.”

The park, of course, is there to be enjoyed by the local community and visitors. Along with elements of the Olmsted design—including a lake, making it beautiful and inviting—second-phase plans call for a state-of-the-art urban farm and greenhouses. “Our gesture will make this a gentrified community,” Rodney says, “and the people accepted and assumed it. But, we will completely remake that community in the Atlanta Way, Mayor Reed having frozen the taxes of all the homeowners in the neighborhood.

They can stay with no increased taxes and enjoy the fruits of their efforts and assistance to us, or they can hold on and sell their homes for millions of dollars.”

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La maison Those who observe Rodney’s contributions to Atlanta might not realize the global impact of his efforts. In addition to exhibits shared through the National Monuments Foundation, for instance, he has launched a virtual reality business that gives museums the capability of granting public access to archives that are not on display.

“The vast collections that are on view represent only two percent of what they own,” he says. “The majority of the world’s treasures are in the basement. Our technology allows those collections to be brought out of the basement and onto the walls, virtually.”

Touch-screen and 3-D exploration, whether on a grand scale within a museum or on a personal device, enhance the user’s engagement. In 2017, Rodney and his colleagues gave a presentation on the topic at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr.

For another notable project under way that’s closer to home, Rodney is at work on a memorial library and museum to Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams in Washington, D.C.

Although there’s no shame in “designing pretty homes for rich people,” Rodney Mims Cook Jr. was clearly destined to do more. Building monuments, however, can be daunting in a time when many are striving to abolish the past. While undeterred, Rodney cautions, “Winston Churchill is noted to have said that we will quite possibly be judged as much by the buildings we destroy as by those we erect.”

For more information about Rodney Mims Cook Jr., readers can begin by visiting RodneyMimsCook. com, TheNMF.org, and TheGateMuseum.org.

Sallie W. Boyles works as a freelance journalist, ghostwriter, copywriter, and editor through Write Lady Inc., her Atlanta-based company. With an MBA in marketing, she marvels at the power of words, particularly in business and politics, but loves nothing more than relaying extraordinary personal stories that are believable only because they are true.

FORM & FUNCTION UNITE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION FOR $29.95 V IE M A G A ZINE .C OM / S UB S CR IBE

C’est la vie

FINE DESIGN

From what we wear on our bodies to what we place in our homes, design is all around us. Artistic tastes are different for everyone—and they can change and evolve as we do—but good design can appeal to all sorts. To celebrate the Architecture & Design Issue, we’ve put together a C’est la VIE Curated Collection that heralds our love of fine design in clothing, accessories, decor, and more. Enjoy!

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Malibu Daydreams

Tesalate Sand-Free Towel in Malibu $59 – tesalate.com 86 | AUGU S T 2019

Book It

2

The Finer Things: Timeless Furniture, Textiles, and Details Hardcover $32 – amazon.com

Stay Awhile

3

Frontgate Arlo Daybed $1,309 – frontgate.com

4

Nice Curves

Unitude Morandi Rectangle Handle Crossbody Bag $99 – unitude.com

5

Got the Blues

Regina Andrew Malibu Chandelier in Blue $2,097 – reginaandrew.com

Horsing 6 Around

Nichollette Yardley-Moore Equus Azul Throw Pillow $196 – vintagecushions.com

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Sunny-Side Up

PowerVision PowerEgg Aerial Drone $499 – powervision.me

Holy Moly

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Essential Home Monocles Sideboard essentialhome.eu V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 87

C’est la vie

Time After Time

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Qlocktwo 180 Creator’s Edition Silver & Gold Wall Clock qlocktwo.com

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10

Sweet as Honey

Brabbu Manuka Center Table covethouse.eu

Need Some Space

11

McClean Design: Creating the Contemporary House Hardcover $75 – rizzoliusa.com

12

Cross-Legged

Muranti Furniture Nukie Armchair muranti.com

Save the Coral

13

Sibilia Veneer Cuff in Coral $135 – sibilia-accs.com

14

Shop ’til You Drop

Lola & Mawu Bolga Shopping Basket $83 – lolaandmawu.com

The Wright Stuff

15

Circu Sky B Plane Bed circu.net

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SEE THE WORLD

Visit PastelRita.com to learn more or plan a visit.

Photo by Félix Michaud

“Come to chill, change the world, or both!” This is the motto of café and wine bar Pastel Rita in Montréal (well, they say it in French). The space, the brainchild of Gabriel Malenfant and Véronique Orban de Xivry, also houses an artist workshop and a boutique. Local architecture firm Appareil Architecture was hired for the project, and the resulting color-blocked walls and furnishings make for some serious eye candy. The custom lighting fixtures, by Montréal studio Botté, were all made from recycled parts. The café serves up coffee and drinks, sandwiches, creative entrées, and brunch amid this colorful decor.

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The Greek Titan Atlas is depicted holding up the earth on the top of Tulsa’s Atlas Life Building, built on Boston Avenue in 1922.

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Art Deco

T U L S A’ S

A R C H I T E C T U R A L

S T O RY A N D P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y

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tlas strained under the weight of a turquoise and gold globe as I leaned over the edge of the twelve-story building bearing his name, the Atlas Life Building. A kaleidoscope of tiny umbrellas dotted Boston Avenue below, and reflections from red and green traffic lights streaked across its rain-wet pavement like melting crayons. The street scene could have been in any number of big cities, but on this particular drizzly afternoon, I was exploring the surprising forest of architecture in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

From my perch, I saw the French neoclassical 320 South Boston Building (finished in 1929) across

L E G A C Y

STEVE LARESE

the street, which rises twenty-two stories with its temple-like cupola. The massive BOK Tower (completed in 1976) at the end of South Boston Avenue is a fifty-two-story, half-scale replica of the World Trade Center by architect Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the original. To my right, a trapezoid of green copper-top crowns the thirty-six-story Gothicstyle Mid-Continent Tower (begun in 1918), and to my left, a pyramid of green and sienna tiles tops the twenty-four-story Gothic Revival/art deco Philtower Building (1928).

The Atlas Life Building is capped by the terra-cotta Titan chosen to convey strength and support. The eponymous insurance company opened it in 1922.

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here is a Greek myth in which Atlas refuses Perseus shelter because he fears Perseus will steal his golden apples. In retribution, Perseus turns Atlas into stone. This struck me as ironic because, since 2010, the building bearing his name has been a very hospitable Courtyard by Marriott hotel in the heart of Tulsa’s downtown Deco District.

Below: Stunning art deco details abound in the lobby of the Tulsa Club, a 1925 building that was empty for many years. The former social club was renovated and reopened as a hotel in May 2019.

Photo courtesy of Tulsa Club

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Many people are surprised to learn that this prairie city of 413,000 people has some of the most diverse architecture in the nation. Turn-of-the-last-century art deco and midcentury modern masterpieces mingle with new award-winning structures such as the swirling BOK Center (2008), which draws upon Native American and art deco design elements. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a house here, named Westhope, for his cousin who was the publisher of the Tulsa Tribune (Wright’s only skyscraper, Price Tower, is in nearby Bartlesville). The aforementioned BOK Tower has taken on even more significance since the

loss of the World Trade Center. Tulsa’s skyline on the Arkansas River is a vibrant showcase of architectural design and has been for the past one hundred years.

But why?

“Oil,” Ted Reeds enthusiastically tells me on a tour of Tulsa’s downtown gems.

Reeds is an accomplished architect who helped found the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture in 1995 as a response to Tulsa’s older buildings being forgotten, neglected, or razed. “We had wealth bubbling up, and we had input at the same time from people who really looked at a city as something to support and to make for everyone. We were incredibly fortunate.”

The 1905 discovery of the immense Glenn Pool oil field outside of Tulsa would earn Tulsa the sobriquet the Oil Capital of the World. Wildcatters flowed into Tulsa. One of those hoping to strike it rich was twenty-three-year-old Waite Phillips. He left coal mining in Iowa for the oil fields of Oklahoma to join his brothers, Frank and L. E., who had named their new company Phillips Petroleum.

Waite would branch off and become a multimillionaire overnight with his oil production and supply company. With his wealth, he built many of Tulsa’s most iconic buildings, spending millions on growing Tulsa’s stature to compete with New York and Chicago. He would later gift many of his properties to the Boy Scouts of America and the city of Tulsa, stating, “The only things we keep permanently are those we give away.”

The Tulsa Foundation of Architecture leads tours of historic properties throughout downtown, and I followed Reeds into the zigzag art deco Philcade Building where he excitedly pointed out Egyptianstyle columns and other deco stylings. Lavish gold-leaf geometric designs on the arched ceilings of the lobby drip with crystal chandeliers that spread their warm light across terra-cotta trim decorated with flora and fauna. The lobby’s Sainte Genevieve marble (selected by Phillips as his wife’s name was Genevieve) was imported from Missouri.

“What makes Tulsa stand out architecturally is the quality of its diversity,” Reeds says. “Whether it’s art deco or midcentury modern or Sullivanesque classic, each one of these buildings stands tall here. Because of that, we have a legacy that we need to live up to.

Ugly architecture is just not acceptable in Tulsa.”

Many people are surprised to learn that this prairie city of 413,000 people has some of the most diverse architecture in the nation.

When oil prices slumped in the 1980s, many of the city’s classic buildings were all but abandoned.

In some cases, it was only the prohibitive cost of demolition that saved them. The 1925 Sullivanesque Mayo Hotel, which welcomed guests such as Charlie Chaplin and John F. Kennedy, narrowly escaped that fate and has reopened again as a luxury hotel. The Tulsa Club, an art deco masterpiece that was nearly rotting away, has been refurbished to the glory of its 1920s heyday and reopened to guests in May 2019.

“We forgot our legacy in the 1980s and ’90s, but that happened throughout the country,” Reeds says.

“No one cared about the ‘old stuff.’ Fortunately, we’re making up for that.”

The next hour was a whirlwind of walking through busy buildings that were once empty and run-down. The 1917 Exchange National Bank, nicknamed the Oil Bank and today officially the Bank of Oklahoma, impresses with its ornate Beaux-Arts design. The Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, completed in 1929 with its soaring details, is considered to be one of the best examples of art deco architecture in the United States. Reeds’s stories of the men and women like the Phillipses who built Tulsa’s skyline, knowing that it would long outlast them, filled my head. I jotted down the names of Bruce Goff, Leon Senter, Edward Delk, George Winkler, and other renowned architects for further study.

Above: Ornate ceiling details and a clock that once more depicts the Greek Titan Atlas inside the Atlas Life Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma

“Buildings are nothing without people,” Reeds says to me at the end of the tour.

“They can be the most beautiful buildings in the world, but they’re soulless without people.”

Office workers went about their workday as I craned my neck to take in the stone-relief-rosette ceiling of the Gothic Revival Philtower. Phillips had these huge rosettes carved in Italy and reassembled in Tulsa by the craftsmen who made them. We took the stairs to the basement level, where Reeds unlocked a vault-like door and flipped a switch to reveal an arched green tunnel. It felt like I was in a forgotten bunker. “I like to save this for last,” he says.

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The Philtower and the Philcade are connected by a semisecret eighty-foot tunnel that travels below Fifth Street. Phillips brought in miners to dig that tunnel. In 1927, he had a seventy-two-room Italian The Philtower and the Philcade Renaissance mansion, Villa Philbrook, built on are connected by a semisecret twenty-three acres south of downtown. It was the scene of quiet family strolls through the acres of eighty-foot tunnel that travels manicured gardens and glamorous parties complete below Fifth Street. Phillips brought with a glass dance floor underlit with color-changing in miners to dig that tunnel. lights. Threats of kidnapping often marred the idyllic lifestyles of wealthy businessmen in this era.

After the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in 1932 and other high-profile threats, Phillips decided to move his family to the more secure, 4,255-squarefoot fourteenth-floor penthouse of his Philcade. He surprised the city of Tulsa by donating Philbrook and its grounds to be used as a public art museum in 1939 before moving to California in 1942, where he died in 1964. He also donated the family ranch in New Mexico, Philmont, to the Boy Scouts of America. We walked through the tunnel underneath Boston Avenue and came out in the Philcade, tracing the route Phillips probably took hundreds of times.

Above: Modern decor and top-notch amenities meld seamlessly with the Tulsa Club’s historic architectural details.

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There’s enough significant architecture in Tulsa’s downtown to warrant a full day of exploring, but there’s much more to see in the city’s other districts.

Businesswoman Teresa Knox has purchased the Church Studio, built in 1915 as an Episcopal church and acquired in 1972 by Leon Russell as a recording

studio. Russell’s friends, including George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, JJ Cale, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt, all passed through its doors. Tom Petty signed his first recording contract here with his band Mudcrutch in 1974. Knox has been painstakingly remodeling the studio back to its 1970s roots, including sourcing analog recording equipment from that era. The National Register of Historic Places added the Church Studio in 2017, and Knox plans to open it to the public in March 2020.

“We’ll have a gallery, an event space, and a theater in the basement for music-related films and intimate performances for the general public, as well as the recording space for artists,” she says. “First and foremost, I’m a Leon Russell fan, and second, I love historic preservation. I’m just really proud of Tulsa and want to share our history.”

Knox has also refurbished Harwelden Mansion, the 1923 English Tudor/collegiate Gothic home of oilman Earl Harwell. She returned the fifteenthousand-square-foot mansion on three acres to its 1920s elegant styling and opened it as an event space and boutique hotel in May 2019.

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he oil that built Tulsa’s architectural masterpieces in the 1920s and ’30s also fueled the cars that made Route 66 an American icon. Tulsa has one of the best-preserved stretches of the Mother Road left in the nation, and Eleventh Street again glows with neon and a renewed sense of spirit. It’s seen the opening of the eclectic Mother Road Market with such merchants as Decopolis, which sells Tulsarelated art deco items, and Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66. Its towering space cowboy statue installed in May 2019 is already a must-stop photo op for Route 66 lovers.

And Tulsa’s new philanthropists, such as George Kaiser and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, have made it possible for the city to build new public spaces, including Guthrie Green and Gathering Place. These free spaces are filled with live music, playgrounds, trails, and open space. Through its Tulsa Remote program, the foundation recently offered $10,000 to work-from-home tech-industry professionals who would relocate to Tulsa for at least a year, thereby diversifying Tulsa’s economy further.

The response was overwhelming; applications flooded in from all over the country and the world.

Above: The marble interior of the Gothic Revival–style Mid-Continent Tower in Tulsa is just as stunning as when the building first opened in 1918.

Above left: A tunnel below the street connects Tulsa’s Philtower and Philcade Buildings. The tunnel was built for security purposes by oil baron Waite Phillips at the height of his career.

Left: Original zigzag art deco details on an elevator inside 624 South Boston Avenue— the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company Building, built in 1928—which now houses an event venue

Local museums, such as the Woody Guthrie Center that examines the life and times of the Oklahoma writer of “This Land Is Your Land,” are so impressive that Bob Dylan has chosen Tulsa as the recipient of his archives. OKPOP, a museum dedicated to V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 97

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Oklahoma’s contributions to popular culture—from Will Rogers and Route 66 to Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader and musicians such as the Flaming Lips and Vince Gill—is scheduled to open in 2020. It lies across from the historic Cain’s Ballroom, where everyone from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys to the Sex Pistols played.

Taking Reeds’s parting advice after our tour, I headed out to find the once-threatened art deco Tulsa Fire Alarm Building. It’s adorned with a terra-cotta frieze that includes dragons turning into fire hoses and firemen heroically holding axes. Designed by Frederick Kershner and built in 1931, its Mayan temple–inspired theme is just another almost-forgotten architectural gem awaiting rediscovery in Tulsa.

For more information about Tulsa’s architecture, visit the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture at TulsaArchitecture.org and the Tulsa Preservation Commission at TulsaPreservationCommission.org.

Intricate ceiling details inside the Philtower Building, which was completed in 1928

Tulsa native and frequent VIE contributor Steve Larese explored many of these historic buildings when they were empty and in disrepair. He’s thrilled to see them restored to their former architectural glory.

THE ZOO GALLERY since 1979

Grayton Beach Grand Boulevard T h e Z o o G a l l e r y. c o m s t a n d o u t f r o m t h e h e r d

HANDCR AF TED JEWELRY BY ARTISANS IN BUENOS A IRES

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High

SOCIETY

BY S A L L I E L E W I S LO N G O R I A P h o t o g r a p h y c o u r t e s y o f R O S E WO O D H OT E L S

O

n a dreary April day in New York City, I walked into The Carlyle at Seventy-Sixth Street and Madison Avenue. Inside, marigold-colored sofas and large pots filled with flowering branches reflected off the polished marble floors. Walking past the Gallery, where afternoon tea service was under way, I entered Bemelmans Bar and met the hotel’s Texasborn director of communications, Jennifer Cooke.

“I love this hotel,” she says. “It’s magical; you never know what’s going to happen.” Over the years, much has transpired in the world, but The Carlyle remains a paragon of old-world grace and timeless sophistication.

Its story began in 1930 when banker and real estate developer Moses Ginsberg opened a residential hotel in New York City. The property, designed by Bien and Prince, was named by Ginsberg’s daughter, Diana, for Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle. With the lingering impact of the stock market crash, Ginsberg sold the property to the Lyleson Corporation; over

the decades, the hotel changed hands a few more times before Rosewood Hotels and Resorts acquired it in 2001.

Within the thirty-five-story landmarked building, design legends such as Dorothy Draper, Thierry Despont, Mark Hampton, and Renzo Mongiardino have layered their lasting influences. With its ninetieth anniversary coming up in 2020, The Carlyle is getting a refresh, thanks to esteemed New York–based designer Tony Chi. Chi and his team are spearheading the renovation of 155 of the hotel’s 187 rooms, which are anticipated for completion next year.

Many artists have also contributed to The Carlyle’s hallowed fabric. Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of the beloved Madeline children’s book series, painted the famous, whimsical walls at Bemelmans Bar. Commissioned in 1947, the legendary murals—the artist’s only surviving commission open to the public—depict a playful snapshot of Central Park in all four seasons.

Opposite: The Carlyle, a timeless landmark hotel in New York City’s Upper East Side, celebrates its ninetieth anniversary in 2020.

Photo by Andrew Moore

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eighboring Bemelmans is Café Carlyle, a classic and cozy cabaret-style club with murals of its own. Painted by Oscar-winning French artist Marcel Vertès, the pale blue and canary backdrop is animated with dancing figures, musicians with stringed instruments, and painters en plein air.

In this room, Woody Allen has played the clarinet with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band nearly every Monday since 1996. Countless others, including Bobby Short, Alan Cumming, Isaac Mizrahi, and Judy Collins, have performed there since its inception in 1955.

While these famous places have wooed patrons for more than half a century, it’s the people behind them that make The Carlyle the favored hotel of high society.

Right: Inside the hotel’s sleek art deco lobby Below: Elegant furnishings and big city views await in the Empire Suite

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“We are like family,” says Cooke of the four-hundredperson staff. Together, The Carlyle family is committed to providing genuine, personalized service unmatched in today’s hospitality industry. So committed are The Carlyle’s staff members that they rarely leave.

Take, for example, Hector Ruiz, the hotel ambassador whose gracious manners and intuitive care have fostered many loyal relationships over his three-decade career. Then there’s the bellman, Danny Harnett, who at the age of eighteen began working in the package room back when President Kennedy stayed at the hotel; this year marks Harnett’s fifty-sixth anniversary at The Carlyle. Hector Patino, a fifteen-year veteran, is the painter on staff. Among his many jobs, he maintains Bemelmans’s murals. Patino, along with Cooke, Harnett, Ruiz, and the numerous elevator operators, receptionists, doormen, front-desk agents, cooks, bartenders, servers, housekeepers, and more, are the beating heart and living soul of The Carlyle.

“The hotel is really more like a private club,” says Cooke. “When you’re coming here as a guest, the staff gets to know you in a much more personal way.” Personalized touches appear in myriad forms, from guests’ favorite flowers arranged on arrival to customized linens. Couples married at the hotel and guests who have stayed more than twenty-five times receive monogrammed pillowcases, which the hotel holds on-site for future stays. The Carlyle’s housekeeping department embroiders golden initials on more than 1,200 pillowcases every year—a telling testament to the property’s high percentage of repeat clientele.

“

Together, The Carlyle family is committed to providing genuine, personalized service unmatched in today’s hospitality industry.

”

Today, The Carlyle continues to serve in part as a residential hotel, nearly nine decades after it opened as one. In addition to the 187 guest rooms, there are just under forty privately owned apartments here, making it one of the most coveted addresses in New York City. Discretion is a top priority here, and the owners of this prime real estate know that it is a precious commodity not easily come by.

“It’s all about privacy,” says Cooke, who also shares that confidentiality agreements are mandatory for the hotel staff. This steadfast commitment to protecting guests’ privacy has made The Carlyle a safe, secure home and hideaway for the rich and famous.

The late Hubert de Givenchy called Apartment 1706 his own, and the space is now part of the guest-room inventory. Princess Diana stayed in Room 2209— also known as the Royal Suite—a sprawling, regal room with grand double-height ceilings. Movie stars, musicians, royals, politicians, business tycoons, and every American president since Truman have come

The Carlyle Restaurant serves up American cuisine with a European edge in an intimate, country house setting.

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Voyager here, as depicted in Always at The Carlyle, the 2018 documentary film that Cooke helped produce. Every night, as the moon rises over the Upper East Side, stars shine down on The Carlyle Hotel while stars sleep soundly within it.

Back at Bemelmans, I bade adieu to Jennifer Cooke and ordered a glass of chilled French wine. The pianist, Robert Mosci, began his evening set as patrons clustered around lamp-lit, black-glass tables. Beneath the room’s twenty-four-karat gold leaf ceiling, the scene was aglow with shared conversations and secret histories. As I took in my muraled surroundings, I felt like a child again, biking in Central Park, jumping in the snow, skating on rinks of ice, and riding in horsedrawn carriages.

In my reverie, I traveled back through time, dreaming of the glamour of New York City in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, The Carlyle balances this soulful nostalgia with every comfort for the modern consumer.

Perhaps that’s why it draws such a wide-ranging

clientele, both local New Yorkers and tourists from far-flung places. While trends and fleeting popularity may flicker at other hotels, The Carlyle’s flame burns steady and bright, lighting the path for the ninety years to come.

Ro s ewo o d H ote l s .co m /C a r l y l e Sallie Lewis Longoria is a Texas-based freelance writer.

She has a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University and is currently at work on her first novel.

Left: Ludwig Bemelmans’s classic murals draw people worldwide to Bemelmans Bar inside the Carlyle.

L’intermission

The Eternal Rainbow While the microbial mats and chemicals that create the rainbow explosion of color in this natural phenomenon might be complicated to some, its intriguing beauty can be appreciated by all. The Grand Prismatic Spring in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park discharges about 560 gallons of hot water per minute.

Photo by Anders Riishede / Shutterstock

Discover the true colors of Yellowstone.

Love, VIE xo

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Phoenix Ashes RAISING a

from the

By REBECCA HALL Photography cour tesy of KOKKINI PORTA ROSSA

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mong the hundreds of Greek islands, Rhodes is a little bit extraspecial. It’s not thanks to her mixture of beaches and mountainous scenery (although this certainly helps); it’s the fact that Rhodes has a medieval Old Town. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the oldest living “Old Towns” in the world because people still live within its walls and stroll the ancient cobbled streets.

T H E M E D I E VA L O L D TOWN OF RHODES Enter Old Town through one of seven gates and you’ll find a population of roughly six thousand living and working in small houses, tavernas, tourist shops, museums, restored old houses, and—in contrast to the 2008 worldwide recession that hit Greece especially badly—a surge of boutique hotels that have sprung from these ancient knights’ houses.

With its maze of charming streets and markets, the whole place resembles a Turkish bazaar.

The island of Rhodes, Greece, is home not only to beautiful coastal tourism destinations on the Aegean Sea but also to the medieval Old Town of Rhodes, once controlled by a group of knights opposing the Ottoman Empire.

From the time Constantinople fell in 1453 until the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Ottoman Turks ruled the country and controlled the entire Middle East along with swaths of the Balkans. Rhodes is a mere 421 miles from the Turkish coast, and the Old Town of Rhodes was the last Christian territory to be protected from the Ottoman Empire by a group of Roman Catholic Knights. In 1480, the Ottomans tried, unsuccessfully, to expel the Knights of Rhodes, and they eventually succeeded during the Siege of Rhodes in 1522. A year later, the knights and five thousand of the Christian inhabitants left the island rather than live under Turkish rule. Today it’s possible to see elements of Ottoman culture in Rhodes, such as the Suleiman Mosque and the Turkish baths.

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he medieval city was divided into three parts: the Acropolis of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Masters in the north, the Hora (where the “commoners” resided) in the south, and the Jewish Quarter— this section is mostly residential today. Within the walls of this ancient city, boutique hotels have sprung up, allowing visitors to stay and experience a part of what life in the past must have been like.

Right: Although guests do enter the refurbished boutique hotel through beautiful red doors, the name Kokkini Porta Rossa originally was inspired by the “red gate,” a nickname for the nearby Gate of Saint John that is part of the medieval city’s walls.

Below: Guests can relax, sip wine, read, and dine in the hotel’s charming courtyard complete with orange and olive trees.

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One such place is Kokkini Porta Rossa, a lovingly restored ancient knight’s house by the Gate of Saint John.

KOKKINI PORTA ROSSA The hotel’s name derives from Italian and Greek phrases meaning “red door,” and guests enter it through a beautiful old red door; but its name was originally inspired by the nickname “red gate” given to the Gate of Saint John by locals that want to honor the memory of the knights who lost their lives defending this part

of the city. Kokkini Porta Rossa is the first property you come to upon entering the red gate.

The house was originally a residence for the knight in charge of the troops defending the gate. When the city fell in 1522, Turkish families lived there and, after the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Greek and Jewish families shared the property. What

makes the house so unique is that despite contrasting nationalities, religions, and somewhat bitter memories, these families lived side by side in harmony and raised their families together.

The building was later abandoned, as was the Church of Saint John situated opposite. It was desperately in need of a new lease on life that would honor its history.

Enter husband-and-wife team Nikos Voulgaridis and Angela Hagidimitriou.

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE Angela had been in the hospitality industry before becoming a full-time parent. Once her two sons had flown the nest, it was time to concentrate on a new challenge. Hailing from Rhodes and both deeply committed to giving back to the Old Town, Nikos and Angela saw their opportunity in “raising this phoenix from the ashes,” as Angela terms it. She laughs as she recalls Nikos taking off on his bicycle one Sunday morning in April 2013 and returning home very excited, telling her he thought he had found the perfect place for their hotel.

It had been their dream to open a place that would show visitors a locals’ view of Greece through culture and history—the real Greek experience beyond what any chain hotel could do. Not only this, but they were also keen to give back to the medieval Old Town by restoring What makes the house an old building, as there are many left in a state of disrepair. When discovering more about its cultural past and so unique is that despite inhabitants, it became even more apparent that this former contrasting nationalities, knight’s house suited their cause, and the work on what was to become Kokkini Porta Rossa began. religions, and somewhat

bitter memories, these

Angela confides that Nikos is an aficionado of designing families lived side by side furniture and knick-knacks—something that he excitedly confirms. This talent is evident throughout the hotel from the in harmony and raised various items on display in the living area and the individual their families together. suites. They hired an architect, soon decided he was not a good fit, and, remarkably, redesigned the place themselves.

From start to finish, the project took one year, with Angela and Nikos also assisting with the building process. By March of 2014, this phoenix had risen.

It was evident from the minute I stepped through the red doors of Kokkini Porta Rossa that my experience there would be exceptional. It wasn’t in the pure aesthetics and attention to detail in each of the suites (they started with five and have since added another), although the soft lighting, antiques, and beautiful original stone exposed throughout certainly helped. Nor was the specialness in

Above: The Michalis suite is beautifully appointed and includes amenities such as a fragrance bar, fridge, prosecco and spirits, and more.

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the sun-dappled courtyard, where guests could take an evening drink surrounded by orange and olive trees and the relaxing sounds of running water. No, it was something about the atmosphere of the house. It was almost as if Angela and Nikos recognized that there Take time to wander the had been harmony there in the past and they wanted streets and even allow to re-create this, with each suite named after a previyourself to get lost among the ous inhabitant. Their dream of giving back to the Old Town community had been realized.

maze of cobbles, deliberately designed as such to confuse invading pirates.

You’ll find each suite offers unique characteristics and old-world charm. For example, the Deniz Suite has the hayat—Turkish for “life”—a covered wooden balcony overlooking the castle walls and the restored Church of Saint John. It’s a place to sit and watch the world go by as past inhabitants would have done.

Above: Owners Nikos Voulgaridis and Angela Hagidimitriou discovered the building in 2013, and it was perfect for the hotel they had always wanted to open in the medieval Old Town of Rhodes. After extensive renovations, Kokkini Porta Rossa welcomed guests in March of 2014.

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Reserve the Michalis Suite—Angela and Nikos’s newest addition to the house, though it was initially built around 1350—and you’ll stay on the ground floor with access to a private garden and an outdoor deep-soaking bathtub, an olive tree, and a plethora of aromatic plants and herbs. Be sure to ask Angela and Nikos about the history of the Michalis suite, as it’s a whole story unto itself, rather like the entire house.

EXPLORING THE OLD TOWN Rhodes Old Town takes you beyond Greek island beach life and gives you a glimpse of this country’s storied past. Take time to wander the streets and even allow yourself to get lost among the maze of cobbles, deliberately designed as such to confuse

invading pirates. Buy a souvenir—maybe a painted stone or some handmade jewelry—from the many small gift shops on offer. Walk atop the castle walls, visit the magnificent Palace of the Grand Masters, and don’t forget to take in the Kahal Shalom Synagogue in the often-overlooked Jewish Quarter. Built in 1577, it’s Greece’s oldest.

And throughout your break, base yourself at Kokkini Porta Rossa. Angela and Nikos have become a second family to me and will to you. Allow them to not merely book your stay but also learn what it is you want to discover on your trip and help you with an itinerary, as brief or as packed as you wish. Experience the Kokkini Porta experience, as I have dubbed it, and leave knowing you’ll want to come back “home” again.

KOKKINIPORTA .COM Rebecca Hall is an English language teacher turned travel writer and novelist living in Greece. She writes for various online publications and maintains her travel blog, Life Beyond Borders. Her debut novel, Girl Gone Greek, was released in 2015.

Left: A stay in the Michalis suite at Kokkini Porta Rossa also includes access to a private garden with a lounge area and a soaking tub.

s h i rt s m a d e f r o m recycled plastic bottles! r o s e m a ry - s e ag r o v e - g u l f p l ac e - 3 0 ag e a r . c o m

L’amour

wedding green ON THE

M R . A N D M R S . VON S C H M I D BY

JORDAN

STAGGS

A Southern belle and a New Yorker walk into a bar . . .

“I moved to New York from Alabama in 2013, and we met a year later at a group dinner with ten mutual friends,” says Kelly Corr von Schmid.

It was full steam ahead as Kelly and Brian began planning a wedding; the date was set for just eight months later.

Her husband, Brian, is quick to chime in.

The beach plays an integral role in this love story, as the couple knew they wanted to head south for their nuptials—to the Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida. Kelly’s parents own a home in the stunning upscale community of Alys Beach on Scenic Highway 30-A, and it was a no-brainer to hold the ceremony on the town’s beautiful Gulf Green overlooking the white-sand beach and turquoise water. “I’ve been vacationing on 30-A basically all of my life,” Kelly shares. “It is such a gorgeous area, and having the wedding at what is now home was super meaningful. Brian and I both love the area and enjoy visiting several times a year.”

“We actually met twice before that, but Kelly doesn’t remember,” he says.

Despite the lapse in memory, it was that dinner that sealed the couple’s fate. They began dating, and last summer, Brian hatched his plan to pop the question during a beach trip to Westhampton. He waited for the perfect moment. “It had to be at sunset,” he says.

“I didn’t want an audience; just us.” Of course, Kelly said yes, and the pair celebrated with friends and family for the rest of their vacation.

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Kelly Corr and Brian von Schmid were married in beautiful Alys Beach, Florida, on March 23, 2019.

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lanning the wedding in less than a year wasn’t easy, Kelly admits, but she says that with the help of planners at It’s a Shore Thing based in Rosemary Beach, Florida, it was smooth sailing.

“We had the best planners!” she gushes. “It was both fun and stressful planning a wedding in just eight months— there wasn’t a ton of time to surf the web for the latest and greatest ideas, and I also don’t even know the names of most flowers, so we really had to start at the basics.”

Thankfully, with a setting like this, much of the work is already done.

“We had the most beautiful weather on our wedding day, which is a reflection of the way I felt,” Kelly recalls. “The clear skies really set a fantastic tone for the day.

I snuck off to the beach early in the morning with a cup of coffee and my notes to write for my parents, in-laws, and husband. This half hour was so special and really gave me a chance to reflect, be thankful, and shed a few tears with no one watching.”

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Just before sunset on March 23, 2019, Kelly and Brian said “I do” in front of two hundred guests, surrounded by the incredible coastal architecture of Alys Beach and with nature’s masterpiece in the background.

For the reception, the party moved to the town’s Kelly Green. Pink and white flowers, along with elegant white linens, kept the aesthetic of Alys Beach intact, while the magnificent cake by Confections by the Sea drew attention with its fondant flowers that matched the decorative arrangements.

“Our band, Perfect 10, brought so much fun energy to the reception. They were by far the most complimented part of the wedding weekend—other than my Oscar de la Renta gown!”

“Our band, Perfect 10, brought so much fun energy to the reception,” says Kelly. “They were by far the most complimented part of the wedding weekend— other than my Oscar de la Renta gown!”

The fun by the beach didn’t end with the wedding, either. Ten days later, Kelly and Brian jetted off for a romantic honeymoon on the island of Bali, Indonesia. “We were looking to go somewhere we would likely not travel to again,” says Kelly. “We spent two weeks relaxing in the sun, going to the spa, and exploring the island.”

Kelly and her mother, Tina Corr, share a sweet moment while getting ready for the ceremony.

Congratulations, Kelly and Brian—here’s to many more moments spent together by the beach!

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SPECIAL THANKS F L O W E R S A N D D E C O R : Myrtie Blue C A T E R I N G : Townsend Catering B A N D : Perfect 10 Band, Atlanta C E R E M O N Y M U S I C I A N S : Top Hat Live P A S T R Y C H E F: Confections by the Sea W E D D I N G P L A N N E R : Arden Sanders, It’s a Shore Thing P H O T O G R A P H E R : Lauren Kinsey V I D E O G R A P H E R : Momentus Films P A P E R P R O D U C T S : Fresh Ink

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We Love Dallas!

L’intermission

Florida Georgia Line performs at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on June 14, 2019 Photo by Danilo Lewis Opposite left, top to bottom: Deified installation

by Tramaine Townsend at Sweet Tooth Hotel; drinks from Reign, the Princethemed bar at Sweet Tooth Hotel; Abigail Ryan, Olivia Pierce, and Elizabeth Dell’Orco at VIE’s meet and greet; Jordan Staggs, Tracey Thomas, Marta Rata, and Lisa Burwell on the CANVAS Hotel rooftop Opposite right, top to bottom: VIE magazine at CANVAS Hotel; the VIE team and friends at Dos Equis Pavilion; Florida Georgia Line perform with Morgan Wallen; realtor Linda Miller at the Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour 122 | AUGU S T 2019

L’intermission

When the VIE team, some of our amazing brand alliance partners, and friends embarked on a trip to Dallas for a meet-and-greet event on June 13, we knew we would want to have even more big ol’ Texassized fun while we were in town.

So, a fantastic networking event at CANVAS Hotel Dallas was followed by a tour of the beautiful and exciting city—but our very favorite thing might have been attending Florida Georgia Line’s Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour at the Dos Equis Pavilion! Our former cover guys Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard of FGL were joined by Dan + Shay, Morgan Wallen, Canaan Smith, Hardy, and more.

Big thanks go to our June cover girl, Brittney Kelley, for the invite!

Another highlight was Sweet Tooth Hotel—and no, you can’t check in and stay there, but this pop-up art installation in Dallas’s Victory Park will have you wishing you could.

Rotating exhibits from local artists make up Discotech, the third chapter of Sweet Tooth’s installation series. It even includes a Prince themed bar and a silent disco, where guests can don headphones and enjoy music catering to three different rooms in the exhibit. Stop by to experience the sweet life.

Love, VIE xo

’Til next time, Dallas—we’ll miss you!

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2019 CMT MUSIC AWARDS It was a star-studded night in Nashville as CMT held its annual music awards ceremony on June 5. Highlights included performances by Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker, Zac Brown Band, Dan + Shay, Sheryl Crow, Kane Brown, Brett Young, Boyz II Men, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Toby Keith, Cole Swindell, Luke Bryan, and more. Carrie Underwood won big yet again, taking home her nineteenth and twentieth CMT belt buckles for Video of the Year (“Cry Pretty”) and Female Video of the Year (“Love Wins”). See the complete list of winners at CMT.com.

Photography courtesy of Getty Images for CMT

Carrie Underwood 124 | AUGU S T 2019

Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd

Morgan Wallen

Kimberly Schlapman and Thomas Rhett

Dan + Shay

Brett Young and Taylor Mills

Keith Urban

Luke Bryan

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La scène

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez

Brandon Maxwell

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Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen

Harold Koda and Lynn Yaeger

Gigi Hadid

2019 CFDA FASHION AWARDS On June 3, some of fashion’s biggest players gathered at the Brooklyn Museum in New York to celebrate the 2019 Fashion Awards hosted by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Jennifer Lopez was presented the year’s Fashion Icon award by Tom Ford. Hasan Minhaj, Jessica Williams, Yara Shahidi, Anna Wintour, and Bernadette Peters joined Ford as presenters for the evening. Other winners included Womenswear Designer of the Year Brandon Maxwell, Accessory Designer of the Year Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for their brand The Row, Emerging Designer of the Year Emily Adams Bode, and Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti International Award winner Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.

Ashley Graham

Bella Hadid

Photography courtesy of CFDA Ciara

Beena Patel and Hasan Minhaj

Tom Ford and Carine Roitfeld

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Leah Korte and Laura Korte

Nicole and Peter Russell with Leslie Bumpas

STORIES WITH HEART & SOUL TOUR – DALLAS As founder/editor-in-chief Lisa Burwell and the VIE team began the 2019 leg of the Stories with Heart & Soul Tour, Dallas was everything we hoped it would be and more! On June 13 in the Chef’s Palette dining room at the CANVAS Hotel Dallas, we enjoyed a lovely meet and greet with fifty guests that included VIP business leaders from the DallasFort Worth area and VIE’s brand alliance partners. What a great way to get to know people better and grow VIE’s footprint and distribution while on our national tour! Guests mixed and mingled as we celebrated VIE’s 2019 Dallas-Fort Worth travel guide and the new July Artist Issue. Special thanks go out to all who joined us that evening and to the CANVAS staff for their warm hospitality! We love Dallas!

Todd Reeves and Todd Crandall

Leslie Bumpas and Jennifer Stocker

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Photography by Jennifer Harr

Steve and Laura Norton

Marta Rata and Johanna Jack

Autumn Childs

David Martinez

Leah Korte and Linda Miller

Worth Williams

Laura and Steve Norton, Marta Rata, and Pat and Bob Walker

Jennifer and David Stocker

Scott Bumpas, Linda Miller, and Johnny Sisty

CANVAS Dallas

Fannie Lewis Thomas, Sallie Lewis Longoria, and Jordan Staggs

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The Last Word

Solution on next page

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

BY MYLES MELLOR

ACROSS

DOWN

1 4 9 10 11 12 14 15 18 19 22 25 26 28 31 33 34 35 36

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 11 13 16 17 18 20 21 23 24 27 29 30 32

Vault features Famous American architect who designed Fallingwater Needing to be modernized Place where lovers of the grape can indulge (two words) Email subject line intro Seattle observation tower, the Space ____ Govt. group responsible for protecting the environment Ancient civilization that built Machu Picchu Tranquil Wall-mounted candleholder A large sports stadium Half of a golf course South Pacific island Louvre pyramid architect Superior status Barely manage, with “out” Love message, when repeated Unspoiled Had dinner

Build a new wing, for example (two words) Notre Dame in Paris is one Finale House style Vertical triangular end of a building Outside dining area Wonder Influential young architect in Miami, ____ Gonzalez Basics in building design High exam scores Horizontal decorative molding that crowns a building Segment Surrounding environment that determines architectural style Polish Chilly hotel in Sweden Knight’s weapon Michigan or Tahoe Place More than, suffix Pool water tester

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The Last Word

“

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.

— Frank Gehry

”

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V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 137

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