Lake Pontchartrain

This 4,500 square foot house has been designed to contain a cutting-edge collection of contemporary paintings and photography. Other than a double height, north-facing glass curtain wall, the massing of the house is solid and planar, limiting the effect of natural light on the photography. The entry is signaled by the garage block’s pulling away from the main body of the house, a feature that also allows for a sitting terrace with views of the lake from the garage roof.

The Owner, an art collector, requested that the interiors be designed to highlight an extraordinary art collection while not feeling like a museum. A palette of neutral colors for fabrics, rugs, curtains and wood paneling was chosen to create a warm surrounding for the collection of several hundred photographs and paintings. Every attempt was made to combine contemporary furnishings with European antiques in each room, emphasizing that the backdrop for the art is a comfortable home.

Louis XVI armchairs and bergeres and Biedermeier side tables and benches are combined with both custom pieces and modern pieces by the likes of Warren Platner, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Paul Kjaerholm, Edith Norton, Karl Springer, Florence Knoll, T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings, and Christian Liagre.