Inspiring Rooms: Juan Pablo Molyneux's 12th-Century Castle

Three words:

Castle
Moat
Bevilacqua

Where some people dream of a farm in Africa, I dream of a castle, with a moat and a sofa upholstered in Bevilacqua fabric in Pouy-sur-Vannes, France.

The castle with the moat and Bevilacqua upholstered sofa belongs to the decorator Juan Pablo Molyneux and was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal magazine.  When Molyneux first saw the castle, it was a conference center and a "disaster".  Working with a team, Molyneux set about restoring the chateau, well, I doubt it was quite this glorious formerly, into a glorious home.  What I find particularly admirable about Mr. Molynneux is that he is like the Chanel of the decorator trade.  He is intent upon saving ancient métiers of the interior arts - much like Chanel has done for the petities mains of the haute couture.

'There were stone masons, carpenters, gilders, masters of wrought iron and masters of scagliola, a 17th century Tuscan technique that uses paint and plaster to mimic marble.'  

"I don't want to just keep these skills alive," says Molyneux.  "I want to push them forward."  (Mr. Molyneux is establishing in a former stable on the grounds of Pouy a space for an artisan academy where there will be a stipend, a place to live and to train.)

'In Pouy's library, the walls are lined in deep-red leather embossed with sky blue and gold.  "The technique was first done by the Sephardic community in Córdoba around the 15th century."  How much does this go for?  "It is not cheap." The bookshelves are by Pierre Garnier, who practiced his craft at Versailles.  And then there's the remarkable reading table - a massive wooden reproduction of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence.  The designer Renzo Mongiardino had it made in the 1960s for a New York penthouse apartment and Molyneux scooped it up at auction when the apartment was sold.'  (Oddly, the WSJ did not publish a photo of the library : (

The scagliola room:

The vestibule with an imposing 17th century Venetian painting from the school of Tintoretto:

Mr. Molyneux was inspired by his first visit to the chateau when a hot air balloon landed on the front lawn to have the painter, Frédéric Monpoint paint one of round rooms with a whimsical balloon fresco in the manner of Josep Maria Sert.

The Bevilacqua tiger silk velvet from Venice on the sofa:

The 'Gaine' bed in a deep blood red silk velvet is a design by Molyneux.  Dreamy and beautiful.

Another beautiful bedroom this time in hydrangea blues and greens with a small portrait of Madame de Sévigné (a famous letter writer known for her wit during the time of Louis XIV - I am ordering the book of her letters on Amazon and you can too here.)

An indoor pool in the former orangerie:

Juan Pablo Molyneux's chateau in France.  All photos and excerpts in quotations from the WSJ magazine.

love, kisses and I dream of a castle with a moat and a Bevilacqua upholstered sofa, Juliana

RARE vintage is in: My Dream House by the Sea

It's Sunday and today RARE vintage and I have left the grey ice encrusted streets and sidewalks of Manhattan for a villa with a view...

I would literally pack my bags tonight, leave all behind or, really more like it, take all with me, because obviously closet space would not be an issue, to live in this house - well, not just a house, more of a villa with a view (that reminds me so much of the Villa Ephrussi-Rothschild in St Jean Cap-Ferrat).

The Villa Leon was built in 1926 by Leon Kauffman as a promise to his wife, Clemence, that if they ever hit the big time, he would build his wife a dream house by the sea.  And Leon did in fact strike it rich during the First World War with a wool processing plant in California.  Nearly all 35 rooms (you see, enough closet space for even a husband : ) have ocean views and, if not an ocean view, then a view of the mountains.  It was cozily grand with 35 foot ceilings, a sweeping staircase and terraced gardens.  Poor Clemence only lived in her dream home for a few years, dying in 1933 and Leon following her shortly afterwards.  Villa Leon sat empty for 20 years with only a caretaker and his dog roaming its vast emptiness.

It sold at auction in the 1950s for $71,000 and has been maintained, remarkably, since then with its original craftsmanship intact.  Sadly, the terraced gardens have slid down from that great villa in the sky to the Pacific Coast Highway, but with that view, I could just plant some bougainvillea in a pot and be quite content.

Honey, I'm home...

 Oh, just pull up to the the front door... the seven car garage is around back...

Don't let the kids slide down the staircase...

Does it even need a pot of bougainvillea?

Carson, we will have drinks in the ballroom I think tonight...

Perfect for a rainy day, with a roaring fire and a good book...

Wishing you sweet dreams...

Villa Leon on the bluffs of Castellammare in the Pacific Palisades.  Photos from Randy Freeman Real Estate.

And Villa Leon back in the day...

love, kisses and vintage, Juliana

Sundays at Home with Horst

RARE vintage is in the house.  The house of  Horst.

Diana Vreeland, editor-in-chief of Vogue in 1968,  said in the introduction to Vogue's Book of Gardens, Houses, People "Few things are more fascinating than the opportunity to see how people live during their private hours - in the rooms they love, the gardens they have planted, among their personal possessions..."


I have been wanting to add a new feature to the RARE vintage blog about home and interior design for quite awhile now and when I saw Horst's house and read about his gardens I knew that this house, not far from my own Centre Island home, was the perfect place to start.


Horst found a piece of land on a part of the former Louis Comfort Tiffany property which had stretched from Cold Spring Harbor to Oyster Bay Cove.  He recalled the house "was in a state of premature decay.  The panes of his immense glass aviary were broken.  A New York art school held a summer course for its students among the cobwebs of his empty garages and stables."

Can you imagine?!  There are/were so many of these wonderful old homes on the North Shore of Long Island that were abandoned and left to ruin.

Laurelton Hall.  Built by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1902.

Horst built a low, white, one storied modern house on the North Shore of Long Island in Oyster Bay Cove.  It was smaller then he intended because as an European he planned the design of the house in meters as opposed to square feet.

I love the openness of Horst's house and its combination of periods and styles - it looks remarkably modern even though these photographs were taken nearly fifty years ago.  The living room has screens of Indonesian batik, a painting by the fashion illustrator Christian Bérard, a small Renoir, a wood refectory style table that Horst had made locally, an Italian baroque mirror and stools by Jean-Michel Frank.

Horst's living room with an Italian mirror - a gift from Chanel.  

For me, this is exactly as a house should be: a personal mix that you add to over time.  For Horst there were gifts from friends like Coco Chanel (who was famously very generous) and Valentina, who gave him two cedar trees, and from Mona Bismarck who gave him two copper beeches from her property in nearby Bayville.   Horst found a part of a marble statue on a walk in Oyster Bay and brought that home.

The interior of the house is very connected to the outdoors.  Horst planted five allées of clipped evergreens, a water garden, a cutting garden and park like grounds.  There were marble Napoleonic chairs beside a pond, a stone bench near a mossy stream which "added a touch of enchanting, timeless melancholy".  Now doesn't that sound beautiful?!  Enchanting, timeless, melancholia.  I can just imagine strolling the grounds in Vuitton's feathered guipere lace dress with a parasol feeling wistful :)

Horst said that when he lay in bed he felt that he was almost halfway outside in the courtyard surrounded by tulips, begonias, and dwarf dahlias.

Images from Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People.  1966

His study, with silk papered walls, an English nineteenth century portrait and black and white checked floor, opens onto a vine covered terrace which Horst used as a living room during the summer with carpets spread on the flagstone and cushions laid out.

Vogue wrote that in Horst's gardens "Noel Coward and Christopher Isherwood matched wits for hours, Edith Sitwell met Greta Garbo.  Christian Dior shivered in a long ecclesiastical overcoat on a splendid spring afternoon.  On a hot August weekend, Truman Capote and his bulldog swam in the stream and Jean Shrimpton walked barefoot under the willows and tulip trees."

A lovely history and house don't you think?  

photo from Christies

Photographed at Horst's Oyster Bay house.  "This is one of the first photographs that I took at my  house in Oyster Bay.  The house was not even finished but Alex Liberman thought that, even so, it was a good place for taking photographs.  The girls are modeling bathing suits and summer dresses.   I always loved sunlight and shadow and straw mats."  Horst

Winter fashion photographed in Oyster Bay by Horst.  1947

Photo from the book, Horst

Photo from the book, Horst

Summer fashion shot at Horst's Oyster Bay house in 1948.  "The background is no seam paper in the light of the sun.  Today they wouldn't let the face be dark; they would light it, which most of the time makes it dull." Horst

To my surprise and happiness the house has not been torn down and still exists today in Oyster Bay Cove.