New looks at Mill Neck Manor Show House
Don't let the age of the Tudor Revival-style Mill Neck Manor fool you. Inside the sprawling 1923 manse, Long Island's top decorators, artists, artisans and craftsmen participating in Designers' Showcase 2010 have brought almost every nook and cranny into this century with the most of-the-moment looks. Here are some of them:
BLUE AND WHITE. In the oversized music room, Locust Valley designer Susan Bloom uses blue and white porcelain to brighten up the dark wood walls and fireplace. "Blue and white porcelain is a forever thing now," says Arlene Travis, show house producer. "It's making more of a comeback." Throughout the show house, the color combination makes a strong showing, especially in Locust Valley-based Piazza di Cappa's bedroom and Huntington Bay designer Jackie Higgins' sitting room.
BRIGHT AND CURVY. Round light fixtures can be seen throughout the show house. The most dramatic hangs from the ceiling of Sea Cliff designer Margreet Cevasco's relaxing guest bedroom - a 24-inch aluminum sphere.
VERY BRIGHT. Among the vivid colors now making a splash in the design world is lime, which Port Washington-based Tarasoff Interiors uses in the whimsical "Book Club" room. "Everything in here is old, but it looks new," show house producer Arlene Travis says of the furniture, which includes two 1880s Oriental bookcases and four French chairs of the same period. "Why do they look new? Because of the color."
CLASSIC'S BACK. "Sometimes, people inherit things from the family and don't use them," says Locust Valley antiques dealer Roland Cotter-Kroboth. Now's the time to dust off those old pieces and find a place for them in your home, says Cotter-Kroboth, who furnished a corner of the dining room with an English tilt-top breakfast table set, American Newport side chairs, a Peruvian sterling bowl and Chinese porcelain Rose Mandarin dishes. "Tradition's coming back," he says.
NEUTRAL'S IN, TOO. "Gray, gold and cream is the new palette," says Manhasset Hills designer Karen Arpino, who credits fall menswear as inspiration. She uses the colors throughout the casual and elegant Breakfast Room, most notably in the Kravet fabric on the chairs around the table.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN. An old wooden scale becomes a cocktail table in Locust Valley designer Linda Rich's study, which also features an industrial cart as a bar and bins used for rolled-up architectural plans. "It is extremely current," she says, adding that people "want a clean look, but they don't want things that are priceless."
DETAILS
WHAT Designers' Showcase 2010
WHEN | WHERE Opens Tuesday; 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays (closed Nov. 24 and 25) and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, as well as Nov. 22, through Dec. 12, at Mill Neck Manor, 40 Frost Mill Rd., Mill Neck
INFO $30, $28 for seniors, $7 for children 12 and younger; no strollers; proceeds benefit the Mill Neck Manor Early Childhood Center; there will be four one-hour lectures: Nov. 9 (color), Nov. 11 (floral design), Nov. 16 (design) and Nov. 23 (historical styles); $45 each or three of them (except floral design) plus design certificate for $100; fees include show house admission; 516-628-4333; millneck.org.
