Tag: San Francisco Fall Show

Alex Papachristidis on Design

Posted on by Ariane Trimuschat

“I love what I do, it’s a joy, I never tire of it, never get sick of looking for fabrics. I still go to the D&D BUILDING myself, I’m inspired by every trip I take. I love what I do because it’s so relevant to my life, I love my clients because we have fun. Decorating is a great luxury, and it should be fun–my job is FUN.”

It’s this kind of enthusiasm that makes Alex Papachristidis instantly likeable. He reminds me of the age-old saying ‘Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.’ I told him so, which made him laugh in agreement.

Alex Papachristidis

The New York City-based interior designer will create a Designer Vignette for the Grand Entry Hall of THE SAN FRANCISCO FALL SHOW next month, the fair’s 40th Anniversary ‘Ruby Jubilee’. Papachristidis started his eponymous design firm, ALEX PAPACHRISTIDIS INTERIORS in 1987 while studying at Parsons School of Design.

“I was trying to decide what to do with my life,” he explained. “I didn’t want to go into the family business–shipping, I thought about restaurants and fashion, then I called my best friend. She walked into my apartment and said ‘darling! You have such great taste, you should be a decorator!’ I never looked back.”

Kips Bay Decorator Show House, 2016, Designed by Alex Papachristidis. Photograph by Tria Giovan.
Chandeliers from Gerald bland with Eve Kaplan gilded ceramic accents, Frederick P. Victoria & Son coffee tables with custom tops by artist Nancy Lorenz, Ceramic gourd by Christopher Spitzmiller, Eighteenth-century Italian giltwood chairs from Dalva Brothers, Custom sofa and Turkish-style poufs designed by Alex Papachristidis, made by J Quintana Upholstery; window treatments made by New York Drapery, fabric Cowtan & Tout fabric and Samuel & Sons trims, Carpet made up of antique Turkish tent panels from Beauvais

Design is ever evolving, always changing, but for the last few years through the pandemic, it is more than taste and aesthetics that have changed. Most of us have changed how we live, and what we need from our homes. “It taught people how important our home is,” says Papachristidis, “that we need to be prepared for all circumstances, need to feel safe and comfortable. I was already from that school, so I spent the COVID years reorganizing. There is nothing more rewarding than feeling organized,” he says.

“People felt there were gaps, they learned that their kitchens didn’t work as well as they should. They didn’t have enough space to work. A house needs to have a level of practicality. Our home is super user-friendly; I am a kitchen tinkerer, not a cook. It’s kind of how I am a decorator—I don’t make the upholstery, I put it together, I oversee.” A man with a vision.

Study designed by Alex Papachristidis. Photograph by Richard Powers.
Warren Platner chair, Gabriella Crespi ‘Z Desk’ in bronze, John Currin (above desk) & Elizabeth Peyton (windowsill) paintings,
Jean-Michel Frank vintage desk lamp

“A room should be a reflection of how the client lives,” explains Papachristidis. “It’s important that the rooms in your home flatter you; that you love the colors of your rooms, that you feel comfortable, they need to suit you.” That, he says, is the single most important element in a room.

An avid traveler, he cites history and travel as inspiration, but does not follow trends. “Museums, auctions, great houses, I’m a Francophile; I spent much of this summer in the South of France,” he lists these as sources of creativity.

“I think what dates things is when they look too much like everything else. When there is a moment in time when everyone is doing something and you do that thing, it will be dated. I don’t do trends. I go through personal phases of things that inspire me,” (he names Gabriella Crespi furniture as a current favourite),  “if used in the right way it won’t be dated: a suite of 18th century furniture in satin – pale teal-bluey green – it will look timeless. Papachristidis is particularly inspired by an elegance of years past, citing Gloria Guiness, Marella Agnelli, Elsie de Wolfe, and ‘everything Rothschild’ as sources of inspiration.

Powder room inspired by The Grotto Hall in Potsdam’s New Palace in Germany, designed by Alex Papachristidis.
Photograph by William Abranowicz. Eve Kaplan shell motif gilded ceramic tiles, Custom shell faucet by P.E. Guerin

“I love contemporary, artisanal furniture, 20th century designs – the proportions are important—as with Maria Pergay furniture. I love walls upholstered in velvet, a mix of contemporary and classical. The modern needs to balance with the classical,” says Papachristidis.

Living Room Console, designed by Alex Papachristidis. Photograph by Tria Giovan. Porphyry urn and 18th Century German silver tankanrds, Stacked rock console in the manner of Emilio Terry from Glen Dooley Antiques, Tree-branch painting by Adam Ball from Kasmin Gallery

For his Designer Vignette at the Fall Show this year, Papachristidis looked to the show’s dealers. “I went to CARLTON HOBBS and found a big gilt console and a pair of mahogany chairs to which I added cherry red velvet on the poofs,” (in honor of the ruby jubilee). “I found a wonderful mirror from HYDE PARK ANTIQUES and a modern sculpture from GUY REGAL. I have a great love of Chinese wallpaper so with DE GOURNAY (hand painted wallpaper, the Designer Vignette sponsor), we did a collage of Chinese scenes. I added a silver and white chair rail, with a dash of yellow. And the floor will be stenciled by decorative painter JOSEPH STEIERT,” he added. Sounds fabulous, and we will all just have to wait until showtime to see the finished room.

‘Mood Board’ for 2022 San Francisco Fall Show Designer Vignette by Alex Papachristidis.
Chairs and console from Carlton Hobbs, Mirror from Hyde Park Antiques, ‘Ophelia’ Lamp by Christopher Spitzmiller

“Good rooms are made for people to use,” says Papachristidis. “They are not made to impress. First and foremost, they should be comfortable, friendly and usable.” I couldn’t agree more.

By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat

Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s Director-at-Large, living in Westport, Connecticut with her family.  Follow Ariane on her blog, SOJOURNEST, where she focuses on all things home and travel and on Instagram at @arianetrim

A Look Back…

Posted on by Ariane Trimuschat

The 2015 San Francisco Fall Show

We’re all looking forward to a return to normal; a time when visiting a restaurant, a concert or an art and antiques fair is not something to think twice about. In the meantime, we can always reminisce about the days of old (i.e. pre-2020) when we did not appreciate the little things quite as much as we do now. In that spirit, here is a trip back to 2015 when the show theme was fittingly, ‘Time After Time’.

The Show introduced a new element to the Grand Entry Hall in 2015: The Designer Vignettes. With the support of DE GOURNAY, we set out to create curated scenes that tied in with the show theme and showcased items from our illustrious exhibitors. For each vignette, de Gournay created custom, hand-painted wallpaper in collaboration with each of the designers.

The designers invited for the inaugural year of the vignettes were FISHER WEISMAN, ALLISON CACCOMA and GEOFFREY DE SOUSA, along with architecture firm IKE KLIGERMAN BARKLEY who was tapped to create the vignette structure, a black shingle-style that drew on the crisp geometry of origami to create a series of porches; folded planes of cedar shingle supported a timber pergola, creating shingle-framed stages for the vignettes.

The 2015 Grand Entry Hall Vignettes

Fisher Weisman’s ‘Midnight Tea in the Garden of Antiquity’ was a fantasy scene featuring Andrew Fisher’s 24k gilded tapestry floating against the custom de Gournay wallpaper, with pieces from exhibiting dealers.

‘Midnight Tea in the Garden of Antiquity’ by Fisher Weisman Photograph by Drew Altizer

Allison Caccoma created ‘Lounging in the Reflection of the 18th Century’ by wrapping the walls in a custom de Gournay paper–a bold version of an 18th century textile design documented at the V&A in London. She enlarged the scale of the pattern and paired it with a high-gloss, graphic painted floor, giving it a contemporary feel. Mid-century salon chairs paired with an 18th century cabinet and modern lamp work together in an endurance of the test of time.

‘Lounging in the Reflection of the 18th Century’ by Allison Caccoma. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Geoffrey De Sousa paid homage to his Portuguese heritage and the mid-century Brazilian furniture designer, Joaquim Tenreiro with ‘Passagem do Tempo’ (Passage of Time). The vignette was surrounded by the sculptural Araucaria Forest hand painted on silk by de Gournay.  The horizontal, spreading branches reference the space age forms iconic to the mid-century period. 

‘Passagem do Tempo’ by Geoffrey De Sousa. Photograph by Drew Altizer

The Loan Exhibit, curated by Philip M. Bewley presented a selection of some of the finest period clocks produced in the late 18th century from the private collection of Ann Getty. These extraordinary clocks have movements by the finest horologists of the day, with cases that express the highest aesthetic ideals of the period.

‘Time After Time’ Loan Exhibit, curated by Philip M. Bewley, Photograph by Drew Altizer

Our exhibitors that year brought the very best as always. And all was unveiled at the Opening Night Gala, an evening everyone looks forward to each Fall, and that we look forward to once again in the near future!

Michael Purdy, Jack Calhoun, Trent Norris, and Jay Jeffers. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Kaylee Whitworth. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Show Chair, Suzanne Tucker and Summer Tompkins Walker. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Pamela Babey and Kathleen Taylor. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Samantha DuVall Bechtel and Darren Bechtel. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Alison Gelb Pincus, Flynn Kuhnert, Hutton Wilkinson. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Trevor Traina and Alexis Traina. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Hilary Helfrich, Ally Fleming. Photograph by Drew Altizer

Happy Shoppers! Photograph by Drew Altizer

By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat

Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for seven years through 2019. She is now the show’s Director-at-Large, living in Westport, Connecticut with her family.  Follow Ariane on her blog, SOJOURNEST, where she focuses on all things home and travel and on Instagram at @arianetrim

A Chat with San Francisco Designer Geoffrey De Sousa

Posted on by Ariane Trimuschat

Known as one of the top interior designers in San Francisco and regularly featured in national design publications, Geoffrey De Sousa brings a mix of tradition, cosmopolitan flair and modernism to his projects. De Sousa Hughes, the 30,000 square foot showroom at the San Francisco Design Center that he co-owns with Erik Hughes, is known for its bespoke collection of furnishings, textiles, lighting and accessories by designers and artists across the United States and Europe. De Sousa served as Designers Circle Chair for the San Francisco Fall Show from 2016-2018 and hosted several fabulous parties in honor of the show’s designer patrons.

Geoffrey De Sousa working from his double parlour

He’s a busy man, but lately, De Sousa, like the rest of us, has been spending a lot more time at home. We chatted by phone, he from his 1874 San Francisco Victorian, with a black facade. “When I renovated it in 2013 it was just me and little dog,” he said. “Then Jose and I got married, he’s an interiors and architecture photographer and has his office downstairs. The pandemic has informed us as to how we are living here, how we use the space. I had been debating turning the second parlour into a dining room; it makes us think about what’s comfortable.” The double parlour is currently a living room and is where De Sousa gravitates to for work, and a moment of quiet and calm. His morning staff meetings happen there. “Because Jose is a photographer, he has lots of tripods. I set up right there and we have staff meetings every morning with the iPhone on tripods.” Right off the bat, I was thinking, how can we get people into our showroom? I called a friend who is a Realtor who recommended the company Matterport. They did a 3D tour of showroom to put on our website, it’s fantastic.

Diana the Warrior, prepared for the pandemic

The most interesting piece in the living room was bought from former San Francisco antiques dealer, Ed Hardy “a 19th century bust of Diana the warrior 3 ½ ft x 2 feet that sits on a pedestal in the bay window in the living room,” shares De Sousa. “I’ve had it forever. People stop in front of the house constantly to talk about it. It is one of the finest pieces I bought from Ed when I moved to San Francisco. About 2 weeks into the quarantine, I turned it around to face the street and put a black mask on her. It has become very instagrammable.”

De Sousa’s wall of family photographs

For De Sousa, home has to have a sense of history. “It has to be about you, your trips, your family, the things that bring memories, a small piece of glass, an amazing photograph, having those pieces interspaced within your interiors, that juxtaposition and the ability to combine those things in a house gives it soul.” He says. “I have a wall that is 60 photographs dating from the mid the 1800s of my family memories; all different sizes, I have my great, great grandfather and grandmother. I have an amazing photo of my great grandmother at a wedding when she first came to America in 1917. My mother’s side has been in Boston since 1632. Walking by the wall and seeing these people everyday makes my house a home.”

Communication was the biggest change De Sousa encountered from the new virtual workday. “At first everyone went into shock mode and then had to get the projects rolling. How we deliver to clients is different, but people are now used to it, they are adapting pretty well,” he says, “There are people spending a lot of time in their homes and looking at things a little differently. They want the spaces to be usable and comfortable. Each client is so individual. I am really fortunate to have a wide array of clients with very different aesthetics.” De Sousa is seeing a change in attitude and in how clients are using their homes. “I don’t see people asking for home offices right now,” he says, “but I do see people coming to me saying that they are using some rooms more often now than before–using rooms for the first time–using their outdoor spaces more now, not just on the weekends. I also see people who left the city and went to their second homes and they are now really looking at how they use those homes and how they can make them equally usable. People are thinking about nesting, comfort, and entertaining again.”

With no social engagements due to the lockdown, De Sousa anticipated having lots of free time, “I always wanted to learn to needlepoint; I opened the box and never touched it. I bought a Georgian dollhouse for my nieces, but have not started it. Once we started our meetings in the mornings, the day gets away. I’ve taken on three large projects during the pandemic!

‘Passagem do Tempo’ Designer Vignette by Geoffrey De Sousa Interior Design at the 2015 San Francisco Fall Show. Custom wallpaper by de Gournay.
Photo by Drew Altizer Photography

In 2015, De Sousa was among the three designers invited to participate in the inaugural return of the Designer Vignettes for the Grand Entry Hall of the Fall Show. Taking on the theme “Time After Time”, De Sousa called his vignette ‘Passagem do Tempo’ (Passage of Time), paying homage to the mid-20th century Brazilian furniture designer Joaquim Tenreiro and his language of organic simplicity. It was surrounded by the sculptural Araucaria forest hand painted on silk by de Gournay. I asked him about a favourite show memory. “Really and truly”, he confessed, “the Preview Gala is one of the ultimate parties of San Francisco every year. When you are all wrapped up in your business and life, to be able to stand with your contemporaries, talk about business, see clients, catch up. You know everyone is going to be there. It kicks off the holiday season. It’s always an upbeat feeling. That will be missed the most in this year.”

But with the isolation, there is an upside: “Jose and I are relative newlyweds so this time we have had and with my dog has been really lovely. We spend a lot of time together, watching a great movie–we watched Hamilton the other night–it’s been great. And we’ve been reaching out to friends on Zoom that I probably would not be talking to so much otherwise.”

Truly a silver lining.

By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat
Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family.  Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.

At Home with San Francisco Designer Jay Jeffers

Posted on by Margan

San Francisco designer Jay Jeffers knows a thing or two about beautiful objects. His retail showroom Jay Jeffers-The Store offers a collection of furniture and pieces discovered along his travels. When he agreed to create a vignette for the 2017 Fall Show, the theme that year was Flower Power and the vignettes focused on the Four Seasons. Jeffers’ boldly graphic, deep plum showcase beautifully conveyed the warmth of a cozy winter evening.

2017 San Francisco Fall Show Designer Vignette “Winter” by Jay Jeffers
Photography credit: Drew Altizer

I recently chatted with Jay about the many cozy days and nights we are all spending at home during quarantine, and how that has impacted his life, and his appreciation of his own collection of beautiful objects. “One of my favorite pieces is by New York artist Forrest Williams. It has a mysterious haunting quality that I love” says Jeffers.

Photography credit: Matthew Millman

In designing a house, there are certain things that make it a home. For Jeffers, it is the personal effects that create memories, “whether it is art you have collected, or family photos, books, some kooky object that you bought when traveling in Africa—those things that invoke memories of a time and place. This is what created soul in a home.”

Photography credit: Matthew Millman

Jeffers is spending quarantine in the Napa home he shares with his husband Michael Purdy. “I have commandeered one of the guest bedrooms as my office. The closet holds my papers and files. There is a small desk, though I admit most of my computer and zoom meetings have taken place on the guest bed with my laptop.”

The best part of spending so much time at home? “Well, my dog, Olive is by my side, basically all day long, which is so nice. We have been cooking, setting the table every night with candles and linen napkins, and just generally slowed down a little bit.” He shares. His favorite room is the living room, “A fire in the fireplace, with the fire going is a good spot for me. I’m an early bird and always the first one up. It is so nice to sit by the fire and have my coffee and slowly wake up.”

Photography credit: Matthew Millman

When it comes to the San Francisco Fall Show, Jay has discovered many treasures over the years. His favorite find? “A pair of art deco club chairs that were made in India out of rosewood. Their new home are clients of mine that are of Indian descent so these chairs fit perfectly with our design and reminded them of home at the same time.” Jay has been a longtime supporter of the Show “it is so great to see the entire design community out and supporting an amazing cause that I have been involved with for years” he says. “But also for me it’s a chance to see beautiful things from galleries all over the world that I may not have visited. The internet, 1stdibs and all of the other sights are a wonderful tool for sourcing, but nothing compares to seeing the beauty and the condition of a piece in person.”

Photography credit: Matthew Millman

With no social engagements, travel or commute, Jeffers is appreciating the extra free time, and using it well. “I’m finding more time to deep dive into inspiration—Pinterest, Instagram, etc. There are some crazy talented people out there I am just discovering. In the evenings, I’m taking the dog for a walk or going on an easy bike ride.”

With all that is going on in the world, I think we all get a pass to break a rule or two. What is Jeffers? “Cocktails every night!” Cheers to that!

by Ariane Trimuschat, Director at Large/Europe