Ten years ago, fashion designer Lorry Newhouse bought a Southampton cottage, pictured in the current issue of ELLE Decor, as a weekend place for herself, husband Mark and their children. The cottage was once part of a larger estate, the Orchard, built by Stanford White and Charles McKim between 1898 and 1907. Later, the cottage was owned by Ronald Grimaldi, the right hand to twentieth-century design icon Rose Cumming, and the design and décor reflected her esthetic. Lorry says, "I did live with it for a while. All the tapestried chairs and the Rose Cumming wallpaper with matching curtains. It was like a set piece."
Eventually, though, it was time to move on, though not without some pain. "My daughter said, 'No! Don't get rid of it!'" Lorry remembers when she started removing some pink chintz wallpaper. Her new vision for the house, helped along by decorator Rain Phillips, still includes some signature Cumming touches. "I love the way Rose Cumming would put wallpaper on ceilings;" the kitchen reflects that look. But modern touches like a Marimekko tablecover and a playful display of Staffordshire dogs add up to a energetic mix that anchor the cottage firmly in the present. See the rest of the article at the link after the jump.
· How Fashion Designer Lorry Newhouse Created a Perfectly Charming Cottage [ELLE Decor]