Details Create Success
"To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail." Giorgio Armani
Brown Design Group works closely with architects, builders, lighting designers and many craftspeople to ensure that your home will be a harmonious whole, a success.
What follows below is a piece in Corinne's own words, about a client's amazing home in Martis Camp (near Lake Tahoe in California), accompanied by its photos. It illustrates Corinne's passion for providing you with an exceptional home worthy of your imagination and desires. We hope you can take a moment to read about this amazing journey.
This home took five years from inception to completion for long-time clients.
He is a managing partner for a private equity firm in Southern California. He is drawn to the cooler environs of the mountains and his wife loves the seasons. Lake Tahoe is very easy to get to for them and their children who are scattered about the country
The house is big enough to have a lot of family and bunk rooms were created for lots of grandchildren, which, as yet, do not exist. The house is intended as a family sanctuary and a legacy. However, when we started working on the design, it became clear that we were missing a story or possibly an intentional direction. We did deliberately work with the architect to incorporate a Craftsman style into the large scale and emphatic architecture. The architect is from Pasadena and he was eager to blend a sense of tradition into the project. The scale, however, does not lend itself to the iconic Craftsman style found in Pasadena.
At our meetings, the husband would study the book Greene and Greene: Masterworks, while his wife and I worked through the furniture layouts. He became a fan and a bit of a detail junkie. We dug deeper and deeper into the aesthetic at each meeting.
Why couldn’t we use some of the amazing details developed for the Blacker house or the Thorsen house?
It was beautiful and special and the designs were amazing. Who does that anymore? I pointed out that that level of detail is rare today mainly because of the time involved and the level of skill required. Far from discouraging them, this challenge became the the story line. This gave us a foundation on which to build a home that would live in their family for generations.
As it turns out, I found there were a lot of craftspeople that were eager to dive into a long and detailed collaboration. T
rue craft can rarely be honed in the typical project scenario, so, this was an opportunity embraced by some wonderful people. After much study with David Kuznitz, a very fine woodworker, he and I designed all of the cabinetry and mill work. We met daily for three years. Authenticity is also reflected in the light fixtures, stained glass, hardware, fabrics and furnishings. The best Craftsmen doing work in this genre were sought out.
Ted Ellison created the stained glass and we collaborated with Sam Mossaedi for the much of the woodwork of the Dining Room Chandelier and sconces.
We studied the pieces produced for Greene and Greene homes and designed pieces that honored the tradition but fit the scale of this house. One furniture maker, Brian Kawal, was a breath of fresh air, adding his own touch to craftsman pieces while maintaining integrity and continuing the tradition of skill from another era. I was shocked at his abilities, as he is fairly young.
The builder, whom I recommended for his skill and high quality of work, was a steady partner. He was able to locate one incredible (also young) finish carpenter and various craftsmen, like Iggy, who spent a year lovingly crafting all of the copper gutters on the house. I could depend on the iron worker, Henry, to create whatever we designed. Everything is built to last with the highest quality. Items were redone and replaced if they were not right. The clients relentlessly communicated their desire for perfection. The client realistically approached the magnitude of the work attempted: he asked me how many decisions there were to create a home like this. 50,000? That is on the low side, I believe, but he ran with that number, explaining that there were bound to be at least 10% of mistakes over a whole project, so, he was braced for 5,000 mistakes.
In view of that, we did an amazing job, because there were not 5,000 mistakes – but, there were a few. It took us a lot of sampling to get to the right color for all of the mill work and paneling and there were some bumps along the way. It is all mahogany or walnut which we carefully bleached to keep the home lighter than the inspiration we were drawing from.
This was a little frightening, because once the decision was made, we could not turn back, although, we did keep the darker, natural mahogany color in one room, so that they can have the best of both worlds. The colors are brighter than might be found in history but the stained glass and natural mica keep the glow level where we wanted it. The house had to be fun to inspire future generations and draw them back to this place.
This project reflects a thoughtful study of an authentic style. It has all the comfortable and cozy attributes, but with a brighter and cleaner riff. I am beyond inspired by the army of considerate, careful and dedicated people that each gave their all for the highest form of their art. Craftsmanship is not dead and I hope that story can be told.
