Joseph Stone and Stanley Quaia, the pair chosen to assist them, proved to be particularly good choices. Joseph’s studio, Stone Design, is used to delivering turnkey projects many times larger than this, so he was unconcerned about getting his clients on board quickly. Meanwhile, Stanley had just launched Heavy Duty Services, an art and design consultancy that connects private clients with designers, artists, manufacturers and galleries, and is also the gallery and studio director of Baton Brut, a design gallery specializing in rare 20th-century pieces. The two have known each other for a long time and their individual styles overlap in their appreciation of ‘Japanese and European’. mid century With a leaning towards design, texture and patina,’ says Joseph. Their customers were sold.
Before they could begin sourcing, however, there was the building itself to consider. Over the years the house was added to in sections, and in the new sections some wooden beams were jarred against the original centuries-old oak framework, complete with carvings believed to ward off evil spirits. By staining the new wood a darker color, Joseph explains, ‘the whole space feels more cohesive.’
Against this ‘rough and rustic’ background, the task became to bring in enough texture and pattern to complement and soften it, while the ‘existing Architecture With some nice sharp lines,’ says Joseph. This balance is evident throughout the 400-year-old building, but especially in the houses dining roomWhere a bespoke blackened oak dining table matches the beam in colour, but is more precise in form. paired with Aphra and Tobia Scarpa monk chairs In walnut and black leather, and set against Brutalist French cabinets, the composition exemplifies what Joseph says was his aim to ‘find some kind of red thread in the architecture, in which everything we added was complementary to the space.’ In the same room, a heavily patinated Italian leather chair ‘has the character of something you might find in a hunting lodge’, yet its silhouette is unmistakable. mid century.
Ben Anders
