April 11, 2013

Thomas Jayne: The Patron is a Lady

I attended a lecture by the charming Thomas Janye at Evergreen House and was very sorry that more people weren’t there to hear what he had to say, and see his delightful work but there was a distinct lack of PR about this event. imageThe title of the lecture was “The Patron is a Lady” and Thomas started off by telling the group something that both his and my mother said: Just because she’s a woman, doesn’t mean she’s a lady.”imageThomas’s lecture was about some of his female clients, all of whom are distinctly ladies! And because the owner of Evergreen was a distinguished lady, Alice Warder Garrett, it was a perfect focus for the lecture. imageThomas’s thought is that every room should have an object of focus, and there should be a lot of thought regarding what the focus is. He mused that perhaps women thought more about this because they were more used to paying attention to the details of their clothes.

He said that one of the best ways to modernize a room is to simplify the curtains, imageand in all but one of the slides he showed the group, the curtains were dead simple, with just the littlest bit of ornamentation on the edges. image

Thomas mentioned that a room should look like it belongs where it is, and that was certainly true of this cottage on the coast of Maine that was designed by architect Peter Pennoyer. image

The details in this room come from coastal influences – stencils from indigo prints, that might have been brought back from a sea captain’s voyage across the seas. The wallpaper is a copy of an 18th century print and the walls are painted grasscloth. image

The powder room has a mural of a seafaring scene, painted by Anne Harris based on paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane. image

The curved windows are reminiscent of the bow of a huge ship and look out over the water. image

There were several other houses shown during the lecture, and you can look through them on Thomas’s website, here and then click on Rooms.

9 comments:

  1. I wish I could have gone. I was so disappointed when I realized my children's music lessons would keep me away.

    I would love to know more about his presentation. Any chance you will share?

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  2. Very nice, I love the wall paper and I think I see a Van Dyke painting on one wall.

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  3. I would love to hear him speak. He is so deft at using antiques in a modern way.

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  4. So thrilled you were there. Sorry about the turnout. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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  5. What wonderful use of color and combination of
    classic and contemporary. Must have been a good
    lecture. Beautiful Maine "cottage".

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  6. Thomas Jayne is always a treat. Don't you love how the design is painted in the living room of the NYC apartment to coordinate with the mirror over the fireplace? And in the bedroom, too, where the painting deals with the structural girders and beams. Evergreen and its programs are a real asset to Baltimore.

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  7. I absolutely love the blue walls around that staircase.... whoa! Have been watching BBC's Sherlock lately, and there's this room in the "Hounds of Baskerville" episode, in a mansion... walls are retro aqua, with white trim... completely fetching.

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  8. So sorry to not have known about this with enough time to come up to Baltimore. Did he discuss Julia Reed's New Orleans Greek Revival? It's a beauty.

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  9. I lived in Maine for years and that's not a cottage. That would be known as a "summer house" or a home of a masshole.

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