DE S IGN CENTRE
Angeles when that administration came to end, they were keen to keep a home in the city. “I had a profound desire to express my love of Spain and Spanish culture and history,” Smith explains, “and I wanted to buy a floor in an historic Madrid house.” The floor they bought was the piano nobile of a 19th-century former palace on one of the city’s most elegant boulevards. From the outside, it was just what they were looking for, but inside, the apartment had been stripped and given what Smith calls a “universal dull modern” makeover. Undaunted, he began remaking history in the authentic but unreverential style he has made his own. “The apartment isn’t a pure take on the palaces of Madid,” he says, “but it’s very much influenced by them.” The faux marbled architecture in the principal bedroom is a meticulous recreation, while the Chinese panels in their gilded frames that line the dining room walls are pure Smith and have followed him from home to home: “You could say it’s the set of how I want to live in Spain.” In less skilful hands, such a cinematic approach to
home-making could feel false, but Smith’s storytelling instinct is underpinned by an encyclopaedic knowledge of period furnishings, art movements, architecture and design history. Having trained at Otis College of
Art and Design in Los Angeles, he moved to London in 1984 to study the history of architectural and decorative arts at the V&A Museum. After the course ended, he stayed on, working with antiques dealers and getting to know legendary design figures including Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler’s principal decorator, Imogen Taylor; and Geoffrey Bennison, the designer and founder of Bennison Fabrics famed for his theatrical, layered interiors. “My time in London was incredibly
“I DISLIKE ANY SURFACE THAT IS TOO PLAIN, AND THE DESIGN CENTRE OFFERS ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES”
impactful,” he says, “and being there made me realise I loved the history of furniture and the roots of English decorating.” Returning to the US, the young Smith continued
to feed his hunger for knowledge, taking jobs with the likes of renowned antiques dealer Gep Durenberger and
decorator John Saladino (another American with a distinctly European aesthetic), then moving on
when he had learned all he needed. “I don’t know if I was consciously working towards setting up my own company,” he says, “but I do know I was determined not to waste time.” Planned or not, the strategy worked. Michael Smith
Inc launched in Santa Monica in 1990 and success and accolades followed swiftly after. Smith has been listed seven times in the prestigious Architectural Digest’s AD 100, while his private client list is an index of the world’s starriest stars: Cindy Crawford, Harrison Ford, Jane Fonda and the Obamas (for whom he reconceived both the White House’s residential quarters and the Oval Office) are all fans. He has also brought his design magic to high-end restaurants and hotels, including Majorelle at The Lowell in Manhattan and Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica. Right now, there is also a boat project nearing completion in northern Spain too. (When I ask if he ever takes any time off, he shakes his head between bites of his breakfast avocado but does confess to unwinding in front of repeats of the first two series of The Crown.) The gongs and the press coverage applaud the
seamless blend of European classicism and American modernism, texture and pattern that define the Michael S Smith look. Much of that transatlantic texture and
ABOVE: At a Spanish Revival villa in Beverly Hills, the atmosphere is comfortable and welcoming. Soft pink walls envelop the living room, which features Pierre Frey fabric on the sofa and cushions, and Namay Samay’s ‘Aryan Chota’ fabric (available from Tissus d’Hélène) on the inner curtain OPPOSITE, ABOVE: Smith has a home in Madrid, a city he fell in love with after his husband James Costos became the US ambassador to Spain. The dining room incorporates his prized 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper panels. OPPOSITE, RIGHT: In the cosy panelled study of the Beverly Hills villa, a fabric upholstered sofa sits on an equally highly patterned Bessarabian rug
-18 -
© Michael Mundy
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
