Rodman Primack
photo by Ben Hoffmann
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live?
We live already between Mexico City and New York, with a place in Guatemala as well, but I dream about a small cozy apartment in Milan.
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Considered
2. Unfussy
3. Generous
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? OMG there were many permutations, and even more proposed ones (I would present a redecoration with the arrival of almost every other Laura Ashley catalogue!) I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s in a ski resort in Idaho and read the shelter magazines voraciously as they felt like a lifeline to the real world. For a big chunk of my childhood, until I left for University, I had a great cozy room that had these handsome uneven white plastered walls, big northwest facing windows with simple canvas roman shades, with a sloped wallpapered ceiling in a little sister parish-esque print, and thick natural wool berber carpet. I had a whitewashed log bed and big desk with log legs to match the bed. I always wanted a Tizio for a bedside table or desk lamp (thanks Metropolitan home) but really had classic brass swing arm lights. We always had nice sheets and for a long time I had decorative canvas pillows on this bed that I had painted in a vaguely Southwest style as a young teen. I had started collecting Mexican Day of the Dead folk art pieces when I was twelve and there were little shelves and groupings all around my room to hold the pieces as well as bookshelves. I think I had an old English dining room chair as my desk chair with a red needlepoint seat. I remember it being a handsome room.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? Rudy and I bought a large format photograph by the excellent contemporary Mexican artist Miguel Calderon from Andre Rosen gallery in 1998 from his series Employee of the Month. I still love this piece.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? I mean this would depend on where and for what… Jean Michel Frank, Ward Bennett, Frances Elkins, Billy Baldwin, David Hicks, Mongardino… jeeez its impossible and lets not talk about the architects I would dream hire!
No room is complete without, something OFF
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Florist roses (long stemmed roses)
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Decorative cold cuts
A bar cabinet: Artificially flavored mixers
A song for:
Dinner at home- Love is the Drug, Roxy Music
Working at your desk: Only You, Steve Monite / The Last Song, Trisomie 21
Going for a run: Disparate Youth, Santigold
Biggest Vice? SWEETS, ice cream mainly and good dark chocolate
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Books…can we say abe.com
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? I think so, actually now that I think about it completely... Nothing fancy, even expensive stuff doesn’t look it to most people... a fondness for dry fabrics- linen, cotton, moleskin, vintage, there is a lot of Japan in my closest.
Who is your star crush? A$AP Rocky
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
Endless fields of white and beige
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? I can’t handle all the singulars clearly- it would have to be an armload: Horst: Interiors, The Complete Works of Dieter Rams (PHAIDON) Piero Portaluppi, Linea errante nell architettura del novocento (this has been “borrowed” multiple times from the office and I keep having to find it at vintage sellers) oh and Greybull press’ HOLLYWOOD LIFE
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Its lack of uniformity and consistent focus on craft and locality
photo by Dominique Vorillon
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Auntie Mame, 1958
Book: Impossible: The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton , Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion, The Ruins of California Martha Sherrill, Eloise, Kay Thompson
Scent: INK, Perfumer H; Bespoke oils by L’Oeil du Vert
The fabric you always come back to: C&C Milano, Elba Freccia (all colorways)
Dream project: A full revamp of Sun Valley, Idaho ski resort
Meal: My grandmother’s fried chicken
Avocado, grapefruit, butter lettuce salad
Grits “souffle”
Asparagus
Drink: Contramar Margarita
Hotel: Passalacqua, Lake Como/ Locarno, Rome/ Amangiri, Utah/ Hiiragiya, Kyoto
Travel Destination: Tokyo
Artist: David Hockney – but seriously this is impossible
A cause near and dear to me: Venetian Heritage
Thing to collect obsessively: Books, textiles, pieces of paper
Era in the history of design: 1880-1910’s– Arts + Crafts/Aesthetic Movement and its international variants – from the UK to Finland to Japan thru the 30’s
Museum: Sir John Soane’s Museum, London/ Pazzao Abatellis, Palermo
Paint Color that always looks great: Is there one? I find colors are so different in different places and that what looks great in Miami isn’t quite right in Ojai – but I always love pink walls
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Alice Rawsthorn – alice.rawsthorn@instagram
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? ALL pets make for a happier life, my dog CHAPO should get a weekly payment for his affect on my mental health
