sandr018

It seems shelves are inundated lately with Interior Designer monographs (the new calling card of many) and occasionally you'll come across one which is actually inspiring.  Or at least that's how I felt when I was sent a copy of ' Carrier and Company, Positively Chic Interiors '. The work of husband and wife duo Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller is inspirational because it is NOT a calling card of monotonous work like we see from so many decorators, but rather appears to reflect the tastes of the homeowner. No 2 projects look alike. Don't believe me? Check out their awesome website HERE . Jesse and Mara are setting the backdrop for their clients, spaces to grow into. The factor tying together all of their work are clean lines and good taste. Good taste may be a dirty word to some decorators and 'tastemakers' but is something that is actually valuable to clients; that's what they hire us for afterall: our taste! That's basically what we're selling the...

Everyone knows of St Paul's Cathedral in London even if they have not visited (like me). The huge domed structure was designed by one of England's great architects, Sir Christopher Wren,  in 1708 and still stands as the seat of the Bishop of London. The immense Baroque Cathedral stands tall at 365 feet over the city, seen in this image above from Wikipedia . Until 1965 it was the tallest building in all of London! Of course everyone associates the Cathedral with the 1964 movie (my favorite!) Mary Poppins .  It was a major tourist destination to Jane and Michael Banks and remains a hot spot in the city to this day. Oscar winning actress Jane Darwell at 84 years of age depicted the lovable Bird Woman who sold food for pigeons from the steps of St Paul's. Did you cry? I always do -love that song. Anyway -back on track here - we're here to discuss the details of St. Paul's. The writers may have been influenced to write the song based on said details! Among the many sc...

John Russell Pope was a master architect of the early 20th century whom many of you are probably familiar with. Here in Washington we are lucky to have many of his masterpieces and get to pass them and occasionally enjoy them in our daily lives. One of these that all of us are familiar with but few have been inside is the House of the Temple, headquarters of the Scottish Rite (Masons), located on 16th street in Dupont Circle. Our local chapter of the ICAA conducted a tour a few months ago and has another coming up next week (information on that tour  here ). Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the prior tour nor the upcoming one but my friend, Architect Erich Stanley, was good enough to share his pictures with me (and subsequently us!).  Pope based the design on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and it was completed in October of 1915. Before heading inside I thought I'd share some of the extraordinary details on the exterior.  The building is quite the attention grabber...