I would live here: 46 Wentworth

I would move in tomorrow.

This unusual structure was originally part of a larger triple tenement building built in Ansonborough following a fire that devastated the neighborhood in 1838. The other part of the building was demolished in the 1950s leaving this slender classical temple. 

Historical information from Jonathan Poston's The Buildings of Charleston, photograph from HABS.

My Future Home: Gaineswood

After a long trip through rural Georgia, my love for antebellum Greek Revival homes is back at an all time high. Although not one we saw on the trip, Gaineswood in Demopolis, Alabama, is one of the most amazing Greek Revival homes ever built. All photos come from the HABS website and are available here.

 

Gaineswood, circa 1910.

 

Gaineswood, 1935.

 

The facades of the house are extraordinarily complex.

 

Niches dot the exterior of the home and contain classical statues.

 

Love this photograph of the roof that reveals stained glass windows and a skylight, slightly reminiscent of the view of the roof-line of Sir John Soane's house from the second floor in London.

 

The ballroom contains a spectacular plaster ceiling. The Colonial Revival furniture couldn't be more inappropriate for a room of this grandeur.

 

I'm not sure the chandelier could be more disappointing... that amazing ceiling requires an even more incredible fixture.

 

This would most definitely be my bedroom. Those Tower of the Winds columns are phenomenal... yet again the bizarre usage of Colonial Revival furniture and the lackluster lighting would have to go...

 

The summer house... I can just imagine the purple silk waistcoat I would wear in this faux Temple of Vesta while I watched my peacocks strut across the lawn...

Some rooms I love...

 Over the last few months I've been collecting some photographs of my favorite rooms while I've been looking through some of my favorite blogs. 

Take a look...

 

The MOST amazing dining room in Marcelo Lucini's apartment.

I'm obsessed with the color, and the gilt chairs are fantastic. 

via Habitually Chic

 

Ever since my best friend painted her bedroom black, I've become enamored with black walls... especially with a huge gilt mirror.

via here

 

Loving the black walls and the collection of portraits... 

via Bijou and Boheme

 

Completely in love. 

Wouldn't change a thing.

via Patricia Gray

 

Not only do I just love this as a photograph, but I love it as an actual bedroom. The draping of the fabric is a work of art in itself.

via Patricia Gray

 

A room by Jonathan Adler... 

the chandelier, the portrait, the bust, the orange chair, and the turquoise? 

Fantastic.

via Elle Decor

...and I just saw this apartment today on one of my favorite blogs, The Neo Lifestyle

I'm completely obsessed with it. I've never seen an entire apartment and thought, "ok, I could live here without changing a thing."

 via New York Social Diary

Sir John Soane's Museum

A few months ago while I was in London I visited Sir John Soane's Museum and found a new belief in reincarnation. There is no way I was not Sir John Soane in a previous existence. 

 

The exterior of the home reads more Art Deco than Georgian and doesn't quite prepare the visitor for the fantasy world that exists inside.

 

A period cross section of the rear of the home.

 

The front parlor... I love the Pompeian red walls and black accents along with the multitude of small chandeliers.

 

One of my favorite features was this wall in the dining room that was mirrored around the portrait... it feels so contemporary. 

 

The breakfast room's ceiling is amazing... I love the inset convex mirrors. In addition to this skylight, there are probably ten others in the house. The greatest view is from the second floor that looks out over these rooms and the ten to fifteen different skylights

 

These back rooms are the most amazing. They are literally covered in architectural fragments ranging from Roman urns, to Grecian statuary, to Gothic finials, to an Egyptian sarcophagus, and a tomb for Soane's dog Fanny.

This is one of the most unbelievable places I have ever been... I couldn't get enough of it and went back again the next day. There are no tour guides forcing you from one room to the next and there are no ropes preventing you from walking completely around the rooms. This will definitely be a place I will visit each time I'm in London.

Chairs

 

I've needed this Maison Jansen campaign chair for a few years now... I love everything about it. 

 

I love the simplicity and austerity of this 1830s klismos chair.

 

I'd love to see this covered in something a little more adventurous than red leather but I love the barrel back and the ram heads.

 

How could anyone go wrong with a Venetian gilt grotto shell chair?

 

I really thought I was out of love with Aesthetic Movement furniture, but this spider web chair is phenomenal. 

 

I'm not sure that I'm crazy about the cream leather upholstery, but the lines of these chairs are amazing- especially those arms. 

 

The total package- I love the ebonized wood, the gilt accents, and the vibrancy of the striped upholstery.

The I. Jenkins Mikell House

 

The Isaac Jenkins Mikell House is an iconic Charleston home located at the corner of Rutledge and Montagu in Harleston Village. It was built in 1853 by a wealthy planter and in 1935 became the Charleston Library. In 1960 it was returned to use as a private home. I love the over exposed quality of these 1940s HABS photographs. 

I was lucky enough to live next door to this incredible home for a year when I lived on Rutledge Avenue.  I watched the current owner alter some of the rooms with the help of designer Mario Buatta. I remember an incredible Moravian star light fixture in the entrance hall, a pair of incredible crystal candelabra on a pair of even more incredible gilded pedestals in the dining room, and an amazing animal head in the dining room of the kitchen house.

The Aiken-Rhett House

Built in 1818 with extensive subsequent renovations and additions through the 1830s and 1850s, the Aiken-Rhett house at 48 Elizabeth Street is the crown jewel of Historic Charleston Foundation's properties. It remains largely unaltered since the final renovation in 1858 following the Aiken's return from a two year Grand Tour throughout Europe. These haunting photos, 6 of 81, come from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).