Mom blames Tori for Aaron Spelling's death

[alphanguy74]

Damn... Sylph, what is it with california mansions and this obsession with BEIGE? And these huge circular drives that totally DOMINATE and overpower the facade of the house?

[Sylph]

Perhaps it's a manifestation of the desire to be seen as in control, to be seen as important and relevant more than one is, to prove you can have the same mansion as someone higher up on the social ladder, a cure to your neuroses, the mistaken belief it's tasteful and eternal... What I find horrifying about this Bradbury mansion is how completely terrible the whole concept and the final outcome is: first of all, for this sort of "Mediterranean villa" thing it wants to have going, the house is too small (or at least seams so on this photos). It's as if I'm looking at a maquette. It also makes this kind of facade finish all wrong.

The stairway is a copy, which means it's immediately a fail.

And then... The furniture and wallpapers. Heavens! It's kind of a French-castle furniture meats porno diva choices with some Texan-tycoon moments thrown in.

Those chairs in the dining room... That personal movie theatre...

But I have a question... Based on your opinion of me and that comment about glitter ceilings (yes, I would hate them) – what kind of manor do you think would suit me and what kind of interior design choices to go with it?

[alphanguy74]

Let's see... what kind of house do I think you would like? I do see you in a contemporary, because you seem to have a love of simplicity and clean lines. You also seem to love the look and feel of "Old hollywood" so I also think art deco would suit you as well. I think you may need some nudging when it comes to use of color, because your taste in fashion certainly seems to be the "black dress, string of pearls" type thing. I myself need some bling... but there's the difference between us, your'e more Chanel... I'm more Bob Mackie. And BTW... glittered ceilings as they were commonly done in the 70's, I feel DOES look tacky, because the glitter they use was almost always GOLD, and it was far too large. Mine in done in a combination of iridescent and silver glitter, 4 times smaller than what is commonly sold as "Ceiling glitter", so it looks much more tasteful than what one is used to seeing. What kind of furnishings would you like? i'm not so sure on that... I do get a feeling that your taste could go to "classic grandeur", similar to what Jackie O did with her refurbishment of the white house:

[Sylph]

Thank you, aphanguy, that was a very nice post. You are right: I would really, really have to examine closely the colours a designer would suggest to me. I like polychromy, for example on the facades of some famous Beaux-Arts mansions or in certain salons of European royalty. But it depends, it's on a case-per-case basis.

The bordeaux Red Room of the White House is absolutely stunning, I love it, though I'm not sure if such a room would exist in my main residence. It's the American Empire masterpiece ("anthemion, dolphins, acanthus leaves, lion heads, and sphinxes" and various other "Egyptian motifs").

[alphanguy74]

I'm ok with a monochromatic color scheme, as long as it isn't beige, taupe, or gray. Things such as artwork, throw pillows, floral arrangements can bring an accent color into a room. But i'm never into using alot of different colors, either. My great room is cream/red oak stained wood/burnt orange with accents of dark forest green, and a tiny bit of violet (Muted violet in my kitchen floor and countertops, and violet on my Jeannie Bottle). But then, I went with storm cloud blue/gray in the bedroom and bright white trim and accents. And the bathroom is lavender with white trim and accents. I plant to go yellow in the bathroom next... I designed the bathroom so it would be my "changeable" room. Everything is white in there except the walls. so every time I paint the bathroom, I do a different color. It used to be cranberry, but I got sick of that REALLY fast. It looks stunning in a magazine, but feels claustrophobic in practice.

[Sylph]

Yes, yes, of course: grey, beige, taupe and certain depressing yellow shades are out of the question.

I'm trying to find a certain kind of pool I like, my preferred style. It's a sort of a greenish blue turqois, copper green, something like Linda's, only darker, richer. That's the colour I really like, together with the copper or emerald green. And of course blue, robin-egg blue, certain kinds of Greek blue/turqois and some others. I would like to use those to emphasize tiny details or 'light up' and energize certain parts of a room. Definitely not entire rooms fool of horror.

Beaux-Arts sometimes really knew how to choose colours for a polychromic facade – Duke–Semans mansion sports one of those:

Please register in order to view this content

Lavander is a nice choice too.

Many are, actually, it just depends on a room, house, personality and a plethora of other factors.

[SFK]

I like beige, taupe, grey, greige it's all about their usage. I like the color families concept where you have an eclectic blend of pieces of the same color in varying shades and textures, creating depth. Like grey, light grey, charcoal, silver, et cetera, in velvet, leather, mohair, silk/satin, fur, chrome. It can look very sleek and chic. You can punch it up with a little blood red or cobalt here and there, but not "necessary".

[Sylph]

Then Candy is your gal!

[SFK]

You mean Blandy. She's not exactly what I had in mind.

[Sylph]

LOL!

Here's the entrance to the estate:

Please register in order to view this content

[alphanguy74]

It's too bad the rest of the estate doesn't look as good as the entrance! It still needs more color, though.

[SFK]

Maybe she thought neutral was the best way to go given the size. Wouldn't want anything too ostentatious or tacky-looking, now would we Candy deah?

Still, the thought of a house that huge seems like such a waste and it would make me uneasy. Some maid could be building a booger wall in some obscure room in the east wing and no one would ever know it. I wonder if ol' Aaron had a Victor Lord room where he could sit and watch cameras on every room in the house.

[Sylph]

I think it's very nice too, though I think I would've picked a different colour from that pâte à crêpe yellow one.

SFK, isn't this tacky?

http://www.luxist.co...-manor/2243069/

Pictures 5 and 6.

Another megaestate with a horrid façade and WTF?! geometricized Mediterranean landscaping is Villa Leopolda:

http://www.luxist.co...-villa-leopold/

Though it doesn't look that bad – the villa itself in that link above and the leafy surroundings in this one:

http://www.luxist.co...donated-to-cha/

The UK too has a horrible example of a mansion which just doesn't fit in it's surroundings, designed by an American architect:

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Updown_Court

Another similar stairway:

http://www.dreamhome...m/interiors.htm

[SFK]

#5 isn't tacky so much as uninspired country club decor, but #6, oof. Those lavender walls, red chairs, floral sofa, and that ceramic floor... that room could have been breathtaking (in the good sense).

The grounds of Villa Leopolda look like a great place to have wild fun with a group of your friends, but agreed, not a fan of the main house's facade. I mean, look at the rest of the picture, why would they opt to go flat and boring there? But what a gorgeous view of the sea and yachts, without question a fantasy residence.

Despite its age, Updown Court is very reminiscent of the wave of McMansion architecture that swept through the nouveau posh suburban mid-Atlantic in the late '80s and early '90s.

Double staircases always remind me of the Beverly Hillbillies movie where they deduced that one side was for going up and the other side was for going down.

[alphanguy74]

I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the term "McMansion". I had a customer and good friend that lived in one of those before her unfortunate and DRAMATIC divorce, and the home had a balcony off the master bedroom. Her real estate agent referred to it as a "Martini deck"! We still laugh about that 7 years later. In Kansas City, when you go to the "Old Money" part of town (Mission Hills, Ks) you see true taste and beautiful homes. I've never done much in that area, unfortunately.