This happy marriage between old and new and traditional and contemporary recurs throughout. The mahogany dining room table has a carved and reeded apron that recalls the early nineteenth century, but the contemporary chairs, upholstered with soft florals, are streamlined and deeply comfortable.
An old Venetian mirror is a favorite of the wife's; her husband loves the antique banjo clock. In the front hall, a Frank Stella painting over a contemporary console table speaks the vocabulary of the twentieth century while the stained floor bordered with a Greek key design and the white-painted paneling below the chair rail are deeply traditional. It all works.
With the help of a skilled designer and clients open to each other's differences, the house proves that the sensibilities of both coasts can coexist—and, in fact, shine—in one space. NEH
