Decorating Tips from a Showhouse
It’s been almost two weeks since the Mansion in May, a magnificent show house, opened its doors to the public in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey. And this year, the chosen model home is a 62,000-square-foot Louis XIV Chateau-style mansion known as Blairsden. Surrounded by breathtaking rolling hills, this majestic mansion is made of limestone and brick, and features a linear design that is classically made of tall columns, grand hallways, and elaborate carved mantles and moldings. This masterpiece was designed by the renowned architecture firm Carrere and Hastings, which by the way were also responsible for the construction of the New York Public Library, the Frick mansion on 5th Avenue, the U.S. Senate and House office buildings and several large mansions in Newport, Rhode Island.
This grande dame of beaux arts-style mansion was decorated by approximately 50 designers, one of whom I’m very familiar with his work, James Rixner. James designed the grand salon at Blairsden, a beautiful and bright room which was generously decorated with furniture from the Italian company Columbo Mobili. He used elegant design accents from the legendary glass and lighting company, Baccarat, and finished the room with heavenly textiles from Clarence House.
This season, Mansion in May is the show house that is not to be missed. Blairsden is managed by The Women Association, who are now in their 17th year of running this noteworthy charity that benefits the Goryeb Children’s Hosptial at Morristown Medical Center. During their last fund raising for Mansion in May, they’ve raised an impressive $1.2 Million which benefited the expansion of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and a new Pediatric Autism and Child Development Center. The Showhouse is open to the general public now until Saturday, May 31, 2014.
