STYLE COMPASS: MADELINE STUART
By Kimberly Stevens

A RETURN TO THE TIMELESS CLASSICS

“Brand new” is not a term Los Angeles–based dealer Madeline Stuart particularly likes. She’s not a fan of trendy either — or anything prefaced by it. And, at all costs, she avoids clichés. “The best interiors and the fashion icons I most admire are understated, elegant and confident,” she says. “In essence — I am a fan of anything timeless.”

Integrating these points to her own designs for her heavy-hitting clients has made her a darling of the shelter magazine world —with a splashy feature in ELLE Décor, which followed on the heels of a spread in House Beautiful in the winter of 2009.

A visit to Madeline Stuart’s La Cienega suite of offices on a recent afternoon revealed the designer’s atelier in its usual high-buzz mode. Well-dressed,  high-heeled assistants and junior designers slip smoothly and quickly from office to office as Stuart’s quick and witty commentary can be heard above the chatter. The only thing in the office that seems to be at a standstill is the life-size, pure-white-plaster sculpture of her beloved Jack Russell terrier, Beatrice, which acts as the office front-door greeter.  It is the time of day when most people begin to wind down, but it is clear that Madeline Stuart is just revving up. Her indefatigable energy comes from her total passion for design – something that came to her a little late in life. “I’m practically the Grandma Moses of decorating,” she laughs, as we laugh along with her.  How can one not regale at the wit of the vivacious Madeline? 

Born in New York and raised in Beverly Hills — her parents a businessman father and interior designer mother, the latter in whose footsteps the young Madeline was compelled not to follow. “I was so committed to not becoming my mother (which probably is every young woman’s fear) that I tried on a myriad of professions, the way some people try on clothes in a dressing room.” She took a stab at the record business, considered advertising and contemplated going back to school to become a shrink. There was even a moment when she thought about working with animals. “Can you imagine me working at the LA Zoo wearing a Lanvin jacket and YSL dominatrix boots?” Thank goodness for the soles of those Saint Laurent shoes that the familial call to decorating triumphed over Stuart’s initial resistance.

Besides design, Stuart includes at the top of her list of great passions her dynamic husband, Steve Oney, the award-winning journalist and writer whom she met at a dinner party some 25 years ago whereupon, almost instantly, the two became what Stuart calls “partners on a 25-year-long romantic spree.” She refers to Oney as her “best friend and husband — a two-fer,” and admits to her luck in falling in love with Mr. Right.

Another passion of Stuart’s is her love of literature and books of all kinds but especially those about design — old, new, tattered, colorful, first editions, signed by the author, you name it. Her Melrose Avenue office sports an impressive library and collection of special books, not just visibly stunning (as they well are), but useful and relied upon by the designer in residence. As to how Stuart built her library, she replies, “You certainly don’t put together a library for a client because the spines match the décor. That’s vulgar; furthermore, it’s degrading to the books!” Stuart admits that she often gets asked by her clients to create a library but, while relishing the project, she concedes it being a job that takes skill and practice to do correctly.  She recently put together a library for a client where she hand-picked every book in the collection.  “It’s really sad how people no longer read the way we used to, that is, to have respect and love for the books themselves. She points to the massive collection of books behind her and smiles. “I wouldn’t have a business without this. I am constantly grabbing books off of these shelves for historical reference, inspiration or for just pure enjoyment. In many ways it’s the heart of my business.” Commenting on how some designers wrap books in white parchment or other backing to complement the walls, or even worse, install fake spines, Stuart says, “There’s nothing worse than a fake library. It is bogus if not completely absurd.”

Just like her library, Stuart has lots of opinions and stories to tell. She is open about her dislike of New England–style shingled homes that have sprung up in the Pacific Palisades. She is open about her hatred of dotted Swiss fabric and she is definitely not wild about clients who expect perfection: “Perfection is totally devoid of soul.” Above and beyond being proud of being a well-regarded interior designer and furniture designer, Stuart inherently values her sense of understanding people and relishes the trove of stories she has collected from working with her clients.  In her mind there is always a clever and well-crafted tale to be told. Impeccable details about period and provenance, attention to geography and locale and conversations with interesting characters are woven together gracefully to create vivid anecdotes that linger in the listener’s mind. That’s the perfume in a Madeline Stuart–told story.

Not every project Stuart tackles is grand with a dream budget. It is in some of the small jobs that she has garnered her greatest satisfaction. She tells us of a an assignment, a few years back, where she pooled her design resources with paint impresario Donald Kaufman on a little house in Lone Pine, California — a place where the old westerns were filmed. Kaufman, too, is no slouch in terms of the big and glorious project, in fact, while tackling the little house with Stuart, he was the color consultant for the Getty Museum. But scaling down — way down — for nice people without much cash proved to be a joyful experience for both designers. Stuart tells us of her and Kaufman transforming what was once a “tacky tract house” — a neglected 1940s home — into a charmer with balance and very good design. “We accomplished near-miracles on a miniscule budget using tricks and some common sense of scaling down costs, such as installing a used Frigidaire and Donald’s expertly color-chosen linoleum — not tile or stone — for the floors and counters.  The results were phenomenal and our sweet clients’ beaming faces are one of my favorite memories.”

And when it comes to larger projects, Stuart tells us of the construction of grand house in which her research, skill and dedication to authenticity to its design was validated by a gentleman who toured the completed project. “He looked me straight in the eye,” Stuart says, “and told me of being in the house when he was a child and assured me that everything was kept in its original detail and style. I didn’t have the heart to tell him of it being a de novo project.” For this same project, Stuart designed 17 bathrooms, each completely different and special in its own right, with her pièce de résistance being the powder room, which was painted to resemble the Islamic tile room in the Leighton House Museum. Stuart’s creation consists of dozens of trompe l’oeil tile patterns, complete with faux grout. “When the art installer went to hang the mirror over the 18th-century inlaid-marble sink, he told me he would have to come back another day with a drill bit that could make its way through the tile walls.”

With a constant lilt and an upbeat delivery, Stuart shares her stories throughout the day and into the darkness of nighttime. It is commonplace for Stuart to be the last one to leave the office — often not until nine or ten o’clock. She is well aware of the tenacity and time it takes to create the recherché and the one-of-a-kind. “I can’t bear the thought that too many people are complacent with the prospect of getting a home that looks like someone else’s,” she sighs. “I don’t want to compete with Williams-Sonoma Home, so I have to be assured of offering service to people who respect and appreciate our commitment to design and architecture. It takes time — and maybe a lifetime of commitment, but it’s my passion and what I was meant to do.”