athome Magazine - Susie Earls Design

b y S U Z A N N E G A N N O N p h o t o g r a p h s S T A C Y B A S S
best in show
Building on the homeowner’s refined taste, intriguing antiques, and love of all things canine,
designer Susie Earls created a tailored, timeless living space
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In just your first step into this home,
you get a sense of what the owners’
passions are: hounds, antiques,
and more hounds. A baby grand
was stripped to its natural African
flamed mahogany wood and paired
with a 1940s bench covered in white
leather. below: A collection of canes
displayed in a glass receptacle was
transformed into a point of interest.
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Y
ou know you’re onto a good thing when
the interior designer you’ve hired to decorate your house agrees to indulge your col-
lections,
both
those
that
are
somewhat
conven-
tional and those that are, shall we say, a bit unusual.
Such was the case between Lynne and Mark Florian of
Darien and interior designer Susie Earls of Fairfield. The Florians, a couple from Midwestern stock with three relatively
grown children and three hounds, were not new to home
ownership; together they’d owned and decorated four before
this one. But they’d never moved into a new house, this one
a builder spec with elaborately paneled millwork and a grand
entry hall on three acres in horse country.
Old hands at old houses, when they moved in, in
2005, they’d brought with them from Chicago some 20
years’ worth of precious antiques. There were 100-yearold landscapes and large oil portraits, 18th-century Italian chairs and an 18th-century Italian secretary, antique
weaponry including a pair of revolvers, a dueling dagger,
and a bonafide saber-in-a-sheath, plus a grand piano, an
assortment of walking sticks, a few of Lynne Florian’s
own abstract acrylic paintings, and—this is where it gets
unusual—a collection of antique dog collars, one of which
long ago adorned the neck of a famous canine.
At 7,800 square feet, the house, hidden away on a
flag lot near the New Canaan line, and not far from the
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opposite: The owner’s
(and the designer’s)
eye for detail is evident
everywhere. A gilded
faux-bamboo étagère
acts as a showcase for a
collection of antique dog
collars. A club chair and an
ottoman with a nail-head
trim provide a spot
for conversation.
this page: Massive zinc
obelisks flank French doors.
The sconces (bent arms
encircled in bracelets and
clutching candles) were
found in France. Eighteenth
century Italian dining chairs
are paired with an
English table.
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African stools sit before
an altar featuring a bust of
Lord Nelson, who served
as an admiral in the Royal
Navy and died following the
Battle of Trafalgar.
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“I’ve had a black room in every house. I did it once years
ago and still love it — it’s totally neutral.“
—lynne florian
below: At first Lynne Florian’s
painter couldn’t believe she
wanted to paint her kitchen
and family room black, but he
didn’t know she’s had one in
every home. Now he brings
new clients to see it. The white
kitchen cabinetry creates a
striking contrast against the
black walls. Chrome stools
belly up to the breakfast bar.
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“Susie really respected the things I had, but was always honest
at the same time. She wasn’t afraid to label certain stuff we
had as granny-like and instead would bring in something more modern and contemporary.“
—lynne florian
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Susie Earls, right, helped Lynne Florian warm up the kitchen and family room with upholstered, tufted, scroll-back chairs at the table. She also
stained a pine table dark and covered the chairs in the sitting area with a snakeskin-patterned fabric.
historic Stephen Mather house, provided ample space for
a point of interest in the entry hall. The grand piano,
displaying the collections in an appropriate way. But clad
showcased in the alcove created by a bowed and draped
in white shingles, and not the formal English brick of
living-room window, was given a shot of mod when Earls
their suburban Chicago houses, it had a decidedly differ-
paired it with a 1940s bench made of African mahogany
ent feel. Freed from the wall-to-wall dark trim they were
and covered it in white leather. In the family room, in-
used to, they needed a way to meld their old pieces with
dustrial elements, including the reading lamp and mod-
a new environment, and Earls figured out a way to go
ern log holder, keep the room from feeling too formal.
with the flow.
now serve as a shining centerpiece on a vast, double-
sie,” says Lynne Florian. “It’s a two-way street, like having
pedestaled English table that is paired with 18th-century
a teammate. She really respected the things I had but was
Italian chairs that the owner had re-caned. The Florians
always honest at the same time. She wasn’t afraid to label
found the sconces that flank the fireplace—bronze arms
certain stuff we had as granny-like, and instead would
encircled with bracelets—in France and brought them
bring in something more modern and contemporary.”
back to the States.
Cases in point: a slew of antique canes and walking
sticks with knobbed handles and brass tips that had been
In the dining room, birds mounted on Lucite plinths
“I could not have done it without a partner such as Su-
“Susie is great at this,” says Florian. “She took things
that I had and brought them into today.”
housed in a dark and heavy vessel. Earls transplanted
The overall effect is “tailored,” a signature style for
them to a rectangular glass container and made them into
which Earls is known, “with an edge,” according to her
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client. Earls, who got her start years ago while partnered
with Janet Slater as Slater Earls Design, has also moonlighted as a home furnishings retailer. A few years ago, she
went out on her own as Susie Earls Design.
“The house has some unexpected elements now,” says
Earls. “It doesn’t have the appearance of being planned or
contrived. There’s nothing trendy.”
That brings us to the dog collars. On a gilt, faux bamboo étagère with glass shelves, the 18 individual pieces
of canine bling—most of them engraved with names like
Trixie, Count, and Punch and some affixed with studs or
their own padlocks with key holes—are celebrated in style.
Etched into the metal of some collars are the addresses—
46th Street, Regent Road, Liverpool, to name a few—of the
owners, some of them dating to 100 years ago.
The pièce de résistance: the collar and leash that once
belonged to Trooper, the prized pug of the Duke and
Duchess of Windsor, which are displayed along with a
black-and-white photograph of her scandalized owners
in an adjacent built-in bookcase, where they get some
extra shimmer from a backdrop of antiqued mercury glass.
(Note to Royals rookies: American socialite Wallis Simpson had been married twice before beginning her affair
above and right: A guest
room painted black
features pillows in animal
prints and a mirrored cube.
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this page: An elaborately
paneled, masculine den shows
a touch of individuality with
a series of six 19th-century
Indian chief portraits,
a collection of antique
revolvers, and a Chinese
sculpture made of
twisted branches.
with the Prince of Wales, the married man who would
become King Edward the VIII of England. He eventually
divorced his wife and abdicated the throne in order to
marry Simpson, the woman he loved, and the two of
them became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.)
While the dog collars lend the home a fun and quirky
individuality, the interiors get their warmth from touches
such as the grasscloth wall covering in the front hall, the
gilded paper in the dining room, parquet floors stained
a reddish brown, and a plush chocolate carpet that runs
up the staircase.
According to Earls, the color palette, in combination
with the furniture, art, and decor, produces a look that
is “handsome” or “masculine, but bright,” in the words
of her client.
Florian says her favorite room in the house is the
entry hall, which forms an arresting axis terminated by
the front door on one end and a pair of French doors
that open onto a covered slate patio on the other. Zink
obelisks flank the rear doors, and halfway down the hall
hang a pair of 17th-century oil landscapes from Venice
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opposite: The portrait of one
of Mark Florian’s ancestors,
is flanked by mirrored
sconces, and the white rug is
long-haired sheep skin. The
mirrored bedside cabinets
feature fretwork and were
sourced from Pimlico.
this page: The walls of the
master bedroom are covered
in a hand-painted paper from
Surfaces via Roger Arlington;
it features a modern
Florentine motif.
that are combined in a little vignette with a reclining dog
made of stone beneath a console and a crystal ball. The
space gets a lot of use during cocktail parties, when the
Florians throw open the doors to the patio and equip
it with a bar.
Another noteworthy and daring flourish that encapsulates this client-designer partnership is the use of black
paint on the walls of the spacious kitchen/family room.
“I’ve had a black room in every house,” says Florian. “I
did it once years ago and still love it–it’s totally neutral.”
Eventually the painter, who initially “couldn’t get his head
around the concept,” according to Florian, got on board,
and he now brings prospective clients around to make
his case.
While he’s there, one wonders if he shows them the
tower of dog collars. It can’t be long before the Florians get
a read on whether or not Stephen Mather, the descendant
of Cotton Mather of Salem witch trials notoriety, had a
dog. And more importantly, whether it was fashionable for
dogs to wear collars back in 1788.
ah
RESOURCES:
Susie Earls, 203-218-4590
Custom Interiors Shop, 203-975-9927
Nautical Needles, 860-399-9754
[ To see more photos of this house, visit athomefc.com ]
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