D4 | Saturday/Sunday, January 13 - 14, 2018 * * * * THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

Decorating advice more than a century olddoesn’t seem fusty to designer Thomas Jayne

of Houses” with architect OgdenCodman, Jr. This treatise on resi-dential design remains of lastinginterest to contemporary design-ers, including Thomas Jayne,known for interiors that artfullyembrace and refresh historical tra-dition.

“‘The Decoration of Houses’ wasa remarkably practical book thatexplains not just how but why youdo something,” said the New York-based Mr. Jayne, also a chair forthat city’s Winter Antiques Showlater this month. “And then ofcourse there’s the whole literaryquality of it.”

He has revisited the book’s max-ims in a new guide of his own,“Classical Principles for ModernDesign” (Monacelli). In it, as here,he illustrates Wharton and Cod-man, Jr.’s dictums through the lensof his own designs—taking the oddliberty in modernizing their spirit.

IN THE EARLY 20th cen-tury, the American authorEdith Wharton wrote ofher stately home and gar-den in the Massachusetts

Berkshires, “…this place, every lineof which is my own work, far sur-passes ‘The House of Mirth.’”

Best known for prose that illu-minated the complexities andyearnings of the American eliteinto which she was born, Whartonwas also an authority on classicaldesign. An autodidact, she mod-eled her estate, the Mount, afteran English 17th-century Restora-tion-style house. Open to the pub-lic, it now draws thousands of visi-tors a year.

In 1897, five years before thepublication of her first novel,Wharton co-wrote “The Decoration

BY MIEKE TEN HAVE

“In decorating the walls of a room,the first point to be considered

is whether they are to form a back-ground for its contents, or to

be in themselves chief decoration.”

“It should be borne inmind of entrances...that,while the main purpose of

a door is to admit,its secondary purpose

is to exclude.”

“Since bedrooms are nolonger used as salons, there is

no reason for decoratingthem in an elaborate manner;

...in this part of thehouse simplicity is the

most fitting.”

UNBALANCING ACTIn this New York apartmentlibrary designed by Mr.Jayne, an Italian mosaicfireplace provides a focalpoint, which he flankedsymmetrically with mirrors,sconces and built-in oakbookcases. Further estab-lishing a strong architecturalbalance in the Wharton tra-dition: a grid-like cofferedceiling with a light fixturedead center. The asymmet-rical upholstered seating—apair of sofas might havebeen more predictable—de-liberately upsets the order,creating a pleasant tension.“I admire symmetry,” saidMr. Jayne, “but you can’tmaintain it absolutely with-out looking foolish. It isparticularly wonderful whenyou break it....The genius ishaving a symmetrical frameso it all looks at ease.”

STAR PLAYER The immersive landscape wallpaper by GracieStudio established the agenda for this Manhattan bedroom. White,cream and violet hues subjugate the textiles to the wallcovering’spalette. “You don’t see any one thing first when you walk in,” saidMr. Jayne. “We used curved forms for the upholstery and chairs totreat the room holistically.” This room, he added, adheres to Whar-ton and Codman’s rule, though in an unpredictable manner, thatrooms have a cornice and base for visual harmony. Mr. Jayneadded base molding, “but the way the paper’s painted, the skyacts as a cornice,” he said. “It was a kind of accidental genius.”

FOYER CONSIDERATION Ms. Whartonbelieved homes should have distinct publicand private spheres. “A vestibule signals youare entering into a private, protected space,”said Mr. Jayne, who created one in this Mon-tana lodge. After surrounding a fir and metalfront door with glass sidelights and a tran-som, he delineated a type of antechamber byerecting a second frame with its own glasssidelights and transom. “It lets in the lightbut doesn’t show too much to the outsideworld.” Mr. Jayne selected a slate floor thatalso marks the entrance space as separatefrom the home’s wood-floored main areas.

STRONG BONESWharton believed thatarchitecture, both interiorand exterior, was key tosuccessful decorating. In itsabsence, Mr. Jayne createsit. When he found a seriesof original 18th-centuryChinoiserie panels at Chris-tie’s Auction House in Lon-don, he turned to architectPeter Pennoyer to create aframework to showcasethem in this Manhattandining room. He also silver-leafed the cornice andmoldings to boost theroom’s architectural gravi-tas. The vertical pilastersand wall paneling serve theclassical imperative that thebase and cornice be visuallyconnected. Furthermore, thecornice moldings extendedpast the wall and onto theceiling. “It’s a good trick,”said Mr. Jayne. “It makes ashort room seem taller.”

A KIND OF HUSH When applying Wharton’s dictate to sim-plify bedrooms, said Mr. Jayne, “the trick is to make an inter-esting quiet room as opposed to a cop-out quiet room.” Inthis Pennsylvania space, he enlisted various textures—a cash-mere throw, silk curtains and wallcovering, striéd wool car-pet—in muted shades of gray, cream, white and pale blue.“What bolsters the seeming simplicity is many colors so closein value they all blend together,” he said. The moody paint-ings, by Gerhard Richter, play against the otherwise neutralroom but are still serene. “The bold colors of, say, Andy War-hol’s Soup Cans wouldn’t work,” said Mr. Jayne.

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EdithWharton’sWords ofWisdom

“Architectural features...are part of the organismof every house, inside as well as out.”

“If proportionis the goodbreeding ofarchitecture,symmetry...maybe definedas the sanityof decoration.”

DESIGN & DECORATING

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