Incollect Magazine - Issue 11

58 www.incollect.com facing page: While the 30-foot ceilings in this southern California “Rancho Grande” exude grandeur, they also posed a challenge: how to create a sense of warmth and intimacy, and bring the room to a comfortable human scale. When touring imposing historic properties such as Blenheim Castle, Marshall Watson observed that even in interiors with 50-foot ceilings, the rooms felt intimate, livable and warm. He further noted that, counter-intuitively, the rooms’ furnishing were of typical size, but felt more voluminous because of their plentiful texture and detail. Taking those lessons to heart, for this project Marshall developed his furniture plan by playing with proportion, bringing in a smattering of outsize pieces to dialogue with the room’s overscale dimensions, but using a larger number of human- scale furnishings, grounding the space with a soft color palette of unstructured upholstered seating. Octagonal Moorish side tables with mother of pearl inlay add an element of subtle shimmer. The wrought iron chandelier, substantial in size but open and airy in design — so as not to disrupt the view across to the arched windows — lowers the ceiling height visually and adds sculptural interest to the upper volume of the room. A grand antique walnut French “fire chest” in the formal dining area balances the bank of towering arched windows and the imposing fireplace. Fire chests were used to store valuables such as silver, fine linens and other objects of worth. They were constructed in multiple sections that were stacked one upon the other, with handles on the ends that allowed them to be transported to safety in case of a fire. Photo by Lisa Romerein left: Equal parts light and sculpture, a rock quartz crystal “wreath” chandelier illuminates the seating area. Patterns referencing famous artists who lived in the Hamptons animate the space; Jackson Pollock’s kinetic drip paintings are called to mind in the pillow fabric, and homage to Willem de Kooning’s fluid and lyrical lines can be seen in the rug. A custom cabinet in rare bookmatched veneers is by Charles Burnand Studio. Photo by Luke White