You can ‘put your feet up’
President Obama has barely settled in at the White House, and his family’s every action already seems to resonate with symbolism. The appointment of Santa Monica designer Michael S. Smith to decorate the White House living quarters triggered a 940-word analysis in the Washington Post last week and was the subject of discussion on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” Rumors over which chandeliers might be chosen for daughters Malia and Sasha spread as though they were matters of national security.
It’s clear: As the stage for the Obama presidency, the White House will be scrutinized for clues and cues on what the public at large might do on the home front. “Being multicultural, Obama is the first American president that everyone can pay attention to,” Chicago designer Alessandra Branca said. “It will be interesting to see in what ways he will be traditional and in what ways he will be modern.”
With the nation facing deep financial insecurity, the Obamas’ personal quarters likely will set the bar for what seems appropriate -- or indulgent -- in home decor. Will the first family usher in a period of recessionary restraint, a dialed-down, globally influenced and Earth-friendly form of decorating? The Home section asked Branca and two L.A. designers, Judith Lance and Suzan Fellman, to imagine what kind of statement the Obamas could make. Using historical photos for inspiration, Branca envisioned the Solarium as a kid-friendly space done up in furniture made in the United States. Lance pictured the more formal West Sitting Hall as a refined salon with modernist masterpieces from around the world. And Fellman turned the stodgy Lincoln Bedroom into hip but homey guest quarters that exemplified the youthful spirit of the new first family.
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About time for a change
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THE SOLARIUM
You can “put your feet up”
In the 1920s, President Coolidge built a third floor on the White House with a “sky parlor, which is a very traditional attic sitting room painted blue,” historian William Seale said. Offering a spectacular view of the Washington Monument, the light-filled room now known as the Solarium has been used as a tea parlor for first ladies and was transformed into a classroom for Caroline Kennedy. President Eisenhower barbecued on a grill on the flat roof outside; the Carter family was known to sunbathe there.
“Historically, it isn’t really a room that is decorated, so it tends to be hit or miss, furnished with odds and ends,” said Seale, author of “The President’s House: A History.” “It’s basically a kick-around basement rec room put up on the roof.”
Chicago interior designer Alessandra Branca’s vision, which features red lacquered side tables topped with Asian porcelain lamps in a brassy glaze, may appear glamorous but ultimately is driven by a desire to be functional. The tables have open shelving for photographs, books and magazines, and a center ottoman on casters has pullout drawers, “so you can put your drink down and put your feet up,” she said.
An ageless pedestal table can be used for homework or board games, and it can be extended with leaves for casual dinner parties. A wool rug with a concentric square pattern is durable and conceals stains better than the cheaper, more casual sisal.
“You have to be practical,” Branca said. “The key to a successful room is that you must focus on what is important, not just what looks right.”
Case in point: Many furnishings in Branca’s plan are American-made, including the Klismos dining chair; its origins can be traced to ancient Greece, but it was crafted in Chicago. Branca was inspired by a statue of Honest Abe in the Windy City’s Lincoln Park, where the 16th president is depicted in a similar chair.
“It was all the rage during his time,” Branca said. “And it is extremely comfortable, with a curved top rail that wraps itself around your back.”
The bobbin armchair, a revival of early 17th century Jacobean furniture, is fast becoming an interior-design staple.
“The idea is to celebrate Americana in a contemporary way,” Branca said, a concept she sees as part of the Obama sensibility. “You tip your hat to history, but you are not owned by it.”
Branca said she hopes that green design will factor into any White House redecorating too. Natural surface coverings, she said, are “democratic and inexpensive.” For the Solarium and rooms like it across the country, she imagines grass cloth wallpaper, bamboo roll-up shades and red ticking stripe cotton used to dress windows and conceal the TV.
The sofa is covered in plain brown linen with red velvet piping, and pillows have a more costly silk ikat by Madeline Weinrib and a 19th century cotton toile depicting the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general from the American Revolutionary War. Branca likens these touches to the way First Lady Michelle Obama might put an expensive brooch on a J. Crew sweater.
“She is a master of mixing high and low with great style, using a little bit of sophistication to make ordinary things look special,” Branca said. “And I think that concept is going to be very inspirational in home decor.”
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THE LINCOLN BEDROOM
A bit classic, a bit modern
Suzan Fellman had a hard time with Laura Bush’s redo of the famed guest quarters named for President Lincoln: “Looking at it, I thought I was in a Radisson lobby somewhere in the Midwest long ago. I could not imagine spending a night in that space.”
Done up with Victorian furnishings, the Lincoln Bedroom is one of the residence’s least-changed spaces, said Betty Monkman, formerly chief curator of the White House for nearly 40 years. “It’s a quasi-museum room,” she said, “with a lot of objects, such as the bed, that have symbolic importance.”
The elaborately carved bed bought for Lincoln is the centerpiece of the room.
According to historian William Seale, the president was furious that his wife, Mary, spent so much money redecorating the White House during a time of war. He never slept in the bed, and the ornate piece eventually was moved to a spare room.
Los Angeles designer Fellman saw parallels, calling the Obama era a period of “pulling back on extravagance.” It is a good time, she said, to revisit pieces in storage, to rearrange old furniture in a new fashion, and use paint and fabrics to bring life and fun into a room without spending a fortune.
In this re-imagining of the Lincoln Bedroom, Fellman would retain the legendary bed but paint the ceiling a sky blue (Farrow & Ball’s Parma Gray) and use a Cecil Beaton rose-print fabric for curtains.
“Lincoln loved roses,” Fellman said, “and this beige and ivory version keeps it from being too bold, modern or feminine.”
At a time when Americana is expected to stage a strong revival, Fellman said traditional styles such as Colonial and Federal can co-exist with European antiques if they are balanced in scale. Her color scheme -- New England azure, ivory and metallic colors -- is an update of the standard red, white and blue.
Mindful of the recession, the designer advocated selecting furniture with longevity in mind.
“If you are going to spend money, buy quality things that you never want to get rid of,” she said. “A couple of really good things can make all the difference in a room.”
Her splurges would include a camel-hair sofa, which Fellman said was long-lasting and timeless. As a Pop Art-influenced statement about thrift, a custom rug woven with a 6-foot-diameter medallion replicates the penny’s image of Lincoln in subtle shades of ivory and copper.
In bad times as in good, spare rooms don’t have to be grand to be effective, Fellman said. “A guest room should feel inviting and intimate,” she said. “It has to exude serenity.”
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THE WEST
SITTING HALL
Stately, worldly but not stuffy
Born in Japan and raised in the Philippines, American designer Judith Lance related to Barack Obama’s multicultural background and said that American interiors are enriched by exposure to different cultures and, more important, to our recent past.
“Design did not end in the 19th century,” she declares. “And yet the White House is locked into the continuum of antique Anglo and French design. Where is our national identity?”
In keeping with the Obama message of global consciousness and change, Lance envisions the West Sitting Hall as an inviting salon that celebrates American and international designers, many of them immigrants to the U.S., from the early 20th century to today.
“There is a whole body of modernist work that is historically relevant in terms of craftsmanship and design,” said Lance, whose clients have included Karyn and Joel Silver, the film producer; Chris and Pat Riley, the Miami Heat coach; and actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. “Modern doesn’t mean ‘The Jetsons,’ or minimalism. It can be classically elegant, steeped in the past but streamlined for the future.”
The West Sitting Hall is one of the White House’s more anomalous spaces, historian William Seale said. The room was created when Ulysses S. Grant moved a grand staircase, and it is accessed through an entryway with a fan-shaped glass transom that echoes an arched window.
“It was never meant to be a room,” Lance said. “It was just part of a hall. But it is a very important space, traditionally where the family often meets dignitaries.”
To unify the large area, her design uses bleached pear-wood paneling on the walls to diminish what she called “the wedding cake appearance” of the room and to create a sense of warmth. There is also sparkle: A nickel drapery rod wraps the room; at the windows it holds drapes, but elsewhere it could be used to suspend artwork. A large, rectangular matte silk rug anchors symmetrical conversation areas and reflects light.
The color scheme is a sophisticated take on patriotic hues, dominated by pale earth tones such as buff and terra cotta. They create a light and airy effect punctuated by bright citron and dashes of red and blue.
Other elements in Lance’s rendering include a 1930s industrial floor lamp by La Maison Desny and 1940s dining chairs by Andre Arbus, as well as pieces by a roll call of designers who were the early architects of the original Hollywood Regency style: T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings, Karl Springer, Samuel Marx and William Haines. A pair of large mirrors framed in clear glass with bronze trim, sculptural wing chairs and an update of the Chesterfield sofa are Lance’s custom designs. Artwork includes Thomas Hart Benton and Mark Rothko paintings and modernist sculpture by Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi.
For inspiration, the designer references the work of Chicago architect David Adler and his sister, interior designer Frances Elkins. In the first half of the 20th century, she integrated Art Deco and International Style furniture and avant-garde art into traditional American homes.
“Their work is timeless,” Lance said, “every bit as stately today as it was innovative then.”
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-- David A. Keeps
