Designed by Hugh Newell Jacobsen, this estate in Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania, sits on a sloping hillside, nearly invisible from the road.
The main home is grand without being grandiose, a quiet elegance that offers multiple experiences. Features within include two entertainment patios, a two-story library, four bedrooms, three full and 1 half baths, and a private office in the master suite. There are many fine details throughout, including five wood-burning fireplaces, a circular staircase, a custom light tower in the foyer. granite countertops and a kitchen island.
As one turns down a pea-gravel drive past a series of perfectly placed pines and hemlocks, a sharp 120-degree turn to the west reveals a remarkable village-like cluster of five buildings on the left with the barn across the drive. From the moment you turn down the drive, there is a sense of calm discovery. “Good architecture doesn’t really over-power its surroundings, it makes the site look better,” said Jacobsen.
The property is listed by J. Scott Laughlin of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox and Roach for $1.295 million.
This editorial originally appeared in the Spring 2020 edition of
Unique Homes Magazine. Click here to see more.
Sisi Takaki, RB-21987
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Hawai’i Realty
46 Hoo’lai Street, #D, Kailua, HI 96734
Cell: 808.753.7151 | SisiT@bhhshawaii.com
Sisi Takaki, Realtor is nationally recognized in the Top 2% of Sales for 2015-2017. She is a seasoned Luxury Specialist with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and was awarded into the President’s Circle in 2017. Sisi understands every facet of home ownership, from the emotional aspect of buying or selling your primary residence to the complexity of a profitable investment property. Sisi understands and values knowing each client’s goals and aligns herself to the needs of each unique situation. Selling your home can be one of the hardest things to do, but Sisi Takaki and her Team will guide you through the process. From Skyline to Shoreline, let Sisi Takaki, R and the STR Team help you with all of your real estate needs.
Listings by Sisi Takaki
Honolulu, Hawaii
1837 KALAKAUA AVE #2608
Enjoy the Allure of Waikiki with this 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath unit with calming mountain and city views. The unit offers high-end finishes and a cutting-edge open kitchen. The building offers a modern design set in a tropical landscape with open green areas. Close to Waikiki businesses, Kakaako restaurants and shopping.
Offered at 1,158,880.
Sisi Takaki originally appeared as an Elite agent in the Unique Homes Spring ’19: Elite edition. See her page here.
Cuba’s capital, Havana, is celebrating its 500th year anniversary in November this year, a legacy that has led to a delightful cultural atmosphere, one that has drifted into the design sector. The style of Havana decor is a wonderful, bright and fun, as well as easy to replicate with a few simple touches. Here are some key trends that easily bring Cuban decor into your home.
Cuban decor is nostalgic and charming — a trend that is likely here to stay. With a few easy touches, a room can be transformed into a bright and fun haven to enjoy a mojito in as if you were in Havana!
No matter the lifestyle, wellness and the pursuit to live better has been a rising trend in today’s world. In 2018, Pinterest reported that searches for “self care” were up 140 percent year-over-year, with no mention of stopping. Recently surveyed by national paint brand Sherwin-Williams, homeowners and professional interior designers have also noticed this uptick in wellness and how it affects modern home design and décor. Looking to make your spaces “healthier”? Check out these recent trends to see how you can incorporate wellness into your home styling.
Self-Caring for Your Space
People are taking self-care beyond their body and into interiors. According to the survey, nearly 42 percent of designers say they have been asked to incorporate self-care into their designs. Twenty-nine percent of homeowners also take self-care into consideration when decorating their home.
The most popular way to bring wellness into a space also happens to be one of the easiest — natural light. Eighty-seven percent of designers use natural light to effortlessly reflect wellness.
Photo by Daria Shevtsova
Breathe It In
Improving indoor air quality is key for homeowners and designers looking to make changes. Over 54 percent of homeowners cite air quality as away they bring wellness into their homes, and 58 percent of designers use it as a tool to incorporate wellness.
Limiting volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that are released through building materials is one of the best ways to improve air quality. This is done by using lower-VOC paints and other home improvement products that are sustainably sourced and have a low-carbon footprint.
Photo by Anamul Rezwan.
Color
When it comes to color, designers and homeowners do not see eye to eye on their top color choice that represents or stimulates wellness. Nearly 41 percent of designers say that green associates the most with wellness, whereas 34 percent of homeowners believe this color to be blue. Another popular color is white/gray, which 11 percent of designers and 18 percent of homeowners associate with the trend.
The color least likely to be associated with wellness? Red. Not a single designer and only 1 percent of homeowners reported that they associate this hue with wellness.
Photo by Pixabay.
Total Zen
In regard to specific spaces that are designed to promote wellness, homeowners different on their choice of which space was the best to achieve “total zen.” The top choices included a gym/fitness room (41 percent), a reading room (41 percent), and a greenhouse (38 percent). These choices differed from designers, who say that the most popular wellness rooms they’ve been asked to design in the past year include a reading room, a sauna/spa, a gym/fitness room, or a meditation room.
No matter the space, these insights into the wellness trends of today may better help you to find the wellness you crave from the comfort of your own home.
Photo by KatjaFiona.
KB Home Design Studio is known for working with customers as they are building a new home to help them personalize the space for their individual needs.
“Because each customer is unique with different tastes, we must be able to include choices that reflect many design aesthetics,” says Gena Kirk, Vice President of Design at KB Home.
This method comes readily at hand with a market that is continually evolving, with millennials currently making up the largest share of homebuyers in today’s market. We spoke with Kirk to learn more about how designers and brands like KB Home are staying on the pulse of emerging design trends and what millennials are really desiring in their homes.
What tools outside of work help inspire you while you work?
These are some of the mediums that aid me in selecting the best choices for our KB Home Design Studio customer. In addition to the usual interior design outlets that inspire me, I am also inspired by our supplier partner’s innovative products and consumer research such as Moen’s Magnetix Handheld Shower and Shaw’s Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring.
We’re accommodating a wide variety of customers who are looking to personalize their home at an affordable price so the more information we have about the products being developed and available the better we can provide value products to our KB customer.
Gena Kirk, Vice President of Design
KB Home
Are there some that don’t inspire but help you get away from work?
I am personally inspired by such mediums as home design shows, decorating magazines, Houzz, Pinterest, Apartment Therapy, decorating blogs and following retail furniture trends.
What kind of styles/trends are most prevalent in millennial-bought homes today, and why?
In millennial-built homes, we’re seeing from the KB Home Design studio a few things. For example, they’re prioritizing things such as flexible spaces within the home, an eye towards health and wellness, an interest in technology and a minimalist design. KB Home tracks these interests to make sure we’re offering our millennial buyer what they’re expecting and what they want to make their homes their own.
Millennials are purchasing only the square footage they need verses the biggest home they can afford. This makes flexible spaces very important to these buyers and they want to make best use of that space.
Millennials also have an interest in the home as a source of health and wellness. They have an interest in things like door fixtures that are antibacterial, or no-touch have become popular, as well as Energy Star HVAC that helps not only cut down on utility costs, but also provides clean indoor air.
Lastly, millennials are looking to a minimalist design aesthetic. This also helps maximize their living space and provide a clean, modern look. They will use neutral paint colors, like greige, to warm the space.
What has been your favorite project to work on at KB Home?
My favorite and most rewarding project to work on was designing, creating and building the new KB Design Studio. KB Home was able to highlight our personalization options in beautiful design studios across the company. Our suppliers have their product on display and are uniquely merchandised to promote customer interaction and product sales. Additionally, our customers love the interactive displays and organized choice making the selection process easy and fun!
Was there anything that inspired you specifically?
Designing the KB Home Studio was more challenging than designing a room. I considered the warm and welcoming feeling that I wanted the space to convey, as well as the idea that the KB Home studio needed to inspire our customers and provide them with a creative space to fully personalize and envision their new home.
KB Home Studio. All photos courtesy KB Home.
Nancy Dolan & Lynn Dolan
William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty
251 Main Street, Southport, CT 06890
(203) 258-2303 | (818) 620-0554 | ndolan@williampitt.com | ldolan@williampitt.com
Nancy M. Dolan and Lynn Dolan are top producers in Connecticut’s Fairfield, Southport, and Westport markets. They are with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in the Southport Harbor Office. Nancy’s 30+ years of experience and membership in many professional real estate organizations, as well as her appearance in Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, contribute to her success. “Be considerate, flexible, honest, and genuinely caring at all times. I love what I do!” Experience is our best asset!
Listings by Nancy Dolan & Lynn Dolan
COTSWOLD COTTAGE
Gardens, terraces and panoramic views surround this English Cottage. Built in 1914 and completely renovated in 2016-17 incorporating exceptional top-of-the-line materials/mechanicals while maintaining its charm. Set high on Sasco Hill, it offers views of Southport Harbor, the golf course and Long Island Sound from all rooms.
$2,495,000.
Nancy Dolan & Lynn Dolan originally appeared as Elite agents in the Unique Homes Spring ’19: Elite edition. See their page here.
Engel & Völkers | Mallorca West
Archiduque Luis Salvador, 1, E-07179 Deià, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
+34.971.636.363 | deia@engelvoelkers.com | www.engelvoelkers.com/mallorca-westcoast
On Mallorca, the West Coast where the Sierra de Tramuntana is located has recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, remains one of the most authentic and sought after areas of the island. The Engel & Völkers real estate team will be pleased to present you with the best properties in this region, both those seeking a second home for the summer and those who have decided to reside here permanently.
Listings by Engel & Völkers | Mallorca West
A GEM ON THE WEST COAST OF THE TRAMUNTANA
IThe origins of this extraordinary estate date back to the 13th century. In 1983, the former winery was awakened from its slumber. The impressive entrance hall leads into the living room with its imposing archways — a spacious, luminous room was created. There is an open-plan studio area with a dining and a conference table, a gallery and a library. On the ground floor, there is also the Majorcan-style, fully fitted kitchen and on the same level as a charming covered terrace. On this floor, there is also a cozy guest wing with a private terrace with sea views. The entire 1st floor accommodates 5 bedrooms with private baths. There is so much to say about this extraordinary property — only a personal impression will convey the true atmosphere. This is a unique, premium home in the Sierra de Tramuntana, which must be viewed.
E&V ID W-02BEEL. €16,500,000.
Engel & Völkers | Mallorca West originally appeared as an Elite company in the Unique Homes Spring ’19: Elite edition. See their page here.
Photo courtesy Niio.
Smart technologies and artificial intelligence are changing the way we consume art.
While many treasured works of art are safely contained in notable museums or in the homes of experienced collectors, a new tide is cresting along the shores of the art curation field with the influx of digital art.
Digital art, more widely known as new media art, is an interesting sector of the art industry to define, even for Beryl Graham, who is a professor in New Media Art at the University of Sunderland. She notes that the roots of this art form have drawn inspiration from a range of movements, from conceptual artwork to video art, which also began in the 1960s.
“It’s broadly digital but [it’s also] the kind of art that works in different ways in different kinds of behaviors,” Graham notes. One fascinating example would be an exhibition of software art in which the software, sometimes even artificial intelligence-based artwork, can learn and grow on its own. Graham explains that an artist might start a piece of software and watch it evolve, perhaps give it a virus and watch, showing to the audience that the “end point isn’t quite under the control of the artist.”
Magdalena “Magda” Sawon, owner of the contemporary art gallery Postmasters Gallery in New York, says that the digital age has only heightened the senses of curators and artists, who are traditionally at the forefront of new developments in culture and technology.
“Technology is a tool,” she notes, “it is also a moving target and changing constantly. The question is to be aware of new developments and adapt it intelligently to one’s needs and benefit.” Fittingly, as artists have been harnessing the power of technology within the art industry, curators and galleries have had to “keep up with the times,” and embrace digital forms of artwork and the systems and methods in which they are displayed.
Donna Holford-Lovell, director of The North East of North festival (NEoN), notes how the incorporation of interaction and participation into art displays appeals to today’s technology-savvy audiences that have been gradually reinvigorating focus on the digital art world.
“The idea of ‘curation’ has become ubiquitous and our audience is seen to be curating many aspects of their own lives,” Holford-Lovell says. NEoN is an organized event that aims to advance the understanding and accessibility of digital and technology-driven art forms by having the artist and curator work together to translate “the spectacle of experience,” via digital platforms within physical spaces, like virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and even social media.
JONATHAN MONAGHAN (US)
The Phoenix and the Medusa (2018), Video, 7 min 69 sec, Edition of 30, Niio Commission Series.
With systems and platforms, from artificial intelligence to online-based forums, both artists and curators now are developing larger platforms and databases to contribute toward. As well as an educator, Graham is co-founder and editor of the Curatorial Resource for Upstart Media Bliss, or CRUMB, a resource for curators of new media art that aims to help overcome any challenges presented from this rise in digital art, from installations to networks of artists and individuals versed in these practices.
PERRY HOBERMAN
Suspensions (2018), VR and mixed reality installation, Postmasters April 2018.
QUAYOLA (UK)
Camouflage (2018), Moving Image, 6 min 4 sec, Edition of 30, Niio Commission Series
On the luxury spectrum of art curation, Niio is a brand integrating digital art and technology-driven forms of collection and distribution that surges past the limitations of traditional artwork. Niio is an art and tech company aimed to enable the exposure of digital artwork in a time that to the company feels like a fourth industrial revolution.
“Art has always reflected the world we live in,” says Rob Anders, CEO and co-founder of Niio, “and artists will create their art with any tool they can access.” In today’s world, that tool has come to be technology. Anders, who understands the eclectic background of digital art from conceptual and video art, wanted to help designers and architects best fit homes with the art of today, and after speaking with top galleries he found that what’s really needed are new models of both the business and technological side that reach a broader audience — even better: one with a subscription.
“We envision a world where in homes people will have more digital canvases with interactive or immersive works, all on a centralized connected system that can very easily change,” Anders says, with access to top artists in the world in this ecosystem of artists, galleries and collections all on the Niio platform. Luckily, the CEO notes, the technology is “already there,” from artificial intelligence in devices like Amazon’s Alexa devices to smart televisions, all devices that can easily work with the Niio platform to display digital artwork.
To those interested in having access to the “world’s finest art accessible on-demand,” Niio is open as a limited edition membership at about $5,000 a month, with access to curated exhibitions and collections, or art “playlists” of over 7,500 art pieces on the platform that can be easily changed and displayed on devices like smart TVs, projectors, screens, et cetera, which can be installed by Niio technicians as well.
“Art curation is telling a particular story,” he says. “In order to give people these digital works, it’s not about just finding the individual works, it’s about giving people the ability to learn about the works they are looking at,” he says.
The powder room used to be an afterthought, but for people who entertain this space has become an important design moment. In fact, when it comes to luxury condo buildings, developers are now going above and beyond to create distinct powder rooms that leave a lasting impression – with details like custom wall paneling, unique custom lighting and specially made marble vanities that highlight today’s style trends. To perfect your own powder room, we’ve come up with a few tips based on stylish New York residences.
Embrace the Selfie Lighting
Often small spaces, powder rooms can still offer a great place to capture that perfect Instagram photo, especially if there is good lighting. To create the perfect selfie space, lighting must be on point to not only adequately brighten up the space, as well as both capture the best pose and highlight the style and decor of the room.
350 West 71st Street
Photo by Alan Hill / Redundant Pixel.
There is some flexibility in this regard. For example, this chic powder room located in one of the residences at 350 West 71st Street offers flawless, bright lighting, making it the perfect spot to apply makeup.
Soft light, however, offers some of the best places to take photos. A great example is seen at 555 West End Avenue, where the mellow glow of the lit mirror highlight the powder room’s luxurious features, from the custom Calacatta gold countertops to the Lefroy Brooks fixtures.
With this lighting choice, you achieve a warm, inviting aesthetic that people will spend trying their best to capture.
555 West End Avenue
Photo by Hayes Davidson.
Keeping Fashion-Forward
Staying on trend can sometimes be difficult when it comes to home design, so the best way to do so is highlight classic, elegant finishes that remain stylish over time, while incorporating accents and decor that is on trend. Some classic finishes are beautiful marble counters and sinks, black and white tiles or wallpaper, and metallic detailing.
One Waterline Square
Photo by Noe & Associates with The Boundary.
Designed by celebrated architect, Robert A.M. Stern, 30 Park Place offers 157 residences, all managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Within the powder rooms of Penthouse 78B, marble vanities offer a minimalistic yet beautiful setting with its clean lines and silver accents, both elegant and modern.
The Champalimaud-designed powder rooms at One Waterline Square are jewel-box-like spaces fashioned in striking black and white marble.
Every bit as luxurious as the master baths, the sparkling powder rooms feature best-in-class materials and fixtures, including polished Bianco Dolomiti marble flooring, polished Nero Marquina marble vanities and feature walls, Dornbracht fittings, and more.
30 Park Place
Photo by 30 Park Place.
Customization is Key
No matter your style, custom finishes or accents are also a defining decor element that can make or break the style of your powder room. Detailed design elements and customized, select finishes make a strong modern statement, create warmth and elegance in every space. Not only will these be a unique focal point, but inspirational in design for those looking to spruce up their own spaces.
Greenwich West
Photo by Alan Tansey.
Located at 110 Charlton Street, Greenwich West’s interiors have been beautifully designed by star Parisian architect and interior designer Sebastien Segers, who is known for his work with clients such as Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior and more.
A standout within, the powder rooms at Greenwich West are outfitted in Zebrino marble with custom-designed curved vanities featuring Laufen toilets and Hansgrohe Axor Bouroullec collection fittings in polished nickel.
A contrast of black and white, Segers’ signature ogee edge shape makes this a statement room.
Custom designing everything in the 61 light filled residences at 40 Bleecker in NoHo, the powder rooms leave no detail unturned.
Within the powder rooms, hand-selected statuary marble envelops the area and a unique lighting design by Bill Schwinghammer.
40 Bleeker
Photo by Bjorn Wallender.