We weren’t sure what it was going to be when we first walked into the historic 1700’s De Le Pena estate in the historic east side of Santa Fe, but what we did know is that we had to pour ourselves into it and that it would be fun.
For designers, this is as good as it gets, those projects where you get to have complete creative license AND it’s for a great cause. Show House Santa Fe is a design-based fundraiser where a group of amazingly talented interior designers get together to transform a home which raises money for a great organization called Dollars 4 Schools. Rooms are assigned to each designer and a theme is set: Lux New Mex.
We were fortunate enough to be assigned an amazing space in the original part of the home that dates to the 1700s. Originally the home was a fort, 3 adobes thick, with a spectacular and completely enchanting history and cast of characters that partied and became inspired within the walls, and that spirit was contagious. The estate was purchased in the 1920s by Frank Applegate a preservationist, artist, and “father of folk art” in Santa Fe. Numerous artists, writers, and modernists of the day such as DH Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, and so on, stayed within the walls. In our room, we had a photo taken of the space in 1926 by Ansel Adams, when he stayed there. Not much has changed except the mud floors were replaced with wood, and the arch now became a door. Everything else was still intact.
Since the heyday of the house,
it went through a series of equally storied and interesting owners, but upon our arrival, the house had sat empty for many years and was tired and sad-feeling, just like any house sitting empty would eventually become. The traditional mud plaster was worn down, the house was un-maintained, and was in need of some love and attention. The process of bringing the house to life and honor it began!
When we first looked at the space, we decided to do a lounge; our initial instinct was to do a gentleman’s lounge. We came up with a fabric and furniture scheme, and for some reason, the creativity just wasn’t flowing. I hit a wall. We were incredibly inspired by the house and its story, but something wasn’t sitting right.
We went on an inspiration trip
to stay at the Mabel Dodge Luhan (a contemporary of Applegate) house in Taos and found that we were on the “right” track as far as the coloration and direction of our original plan. We thought it was good, and something that people would like and respond to, but something wasn’t right. It took a while to come to a major artistic realization for us, but we didn’t want to be good; we wanted to stand out because we were doing what we loved. We wanted to have a specific and tailored point of view. I ended up coming across a Pierre Frey fabric months before that I fell in love with, and that became our Key Stone fabric.
We love color, antique textiles, antique furniture, and cozy upholstery, all combined with modern art and bright patterned fabrics. So, I had to listen to my gut, and 5 weeks out, I pulled the plug on the old design and totally switched the entire scheme. We called in a ton of favors with the fabric houses and upholsterer that we work with. This was a lesson for us. Our craft isn’t always about what would be considered good, it’s not about being safe so you get a good reaction, it’s about being risky and knowing our style.
We had found our Key Stone fabric, which is always our starting point for a design scheme, and the entire plan developed from there.
We added a lot of color and texture and decided to ground the space with some black and off-white striped drapery as well as settee upholstery, so the eye had a moment to rest. We used ancient Acoma pottery and folk art style wall paintings, which Matt painted himself, as well as modern photographs by Andrea Bonfils to ground the space. We kept all of the textures very organic, by using basketry and a restricted addition of only silver for our metal element. Honestly, I could go on and on about our process, but in a nut shell, what this project did for us was give us the confidence in our own style to only go with what we love. We hope you enjoy and get inspired!
