Peter Spalding
photo by Christopher Dibble
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? The Cotswolds – preferably Goddards
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Studied
2. American
3. Hospitable
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? The house was 1910’s colonial revival; my room was square with two big, 6 over 6 double hung windows that looked into the canopy of a huge Oak tree. I picked the chair rail height paper boarder depicting a Victorian Streetscape in about 1993 when I was five. It was all sort of minty green and had matching roller shades.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? A very old Chippendale style breakfront with a broken scroll pediment and pretty fretwork.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Is Michelangelo an option? Otherwise, David Adler for the house. Either Studio Peregalli or maybe George Stacey to decorate; I love the feeling of “dusty home of a mad genius” SP evokes, but Stacey’s color palette is way cool. The way a David Adler house usually reveals its scale only once inside is my fave.
No room is complete without a dimly glowing table lamp of some kind.
People think of me as very capable, but I am really someone who needs a lot of help from others (never know where anything is, keys, wallet, phone, socks, underwear, can barely fill out a form or read an invoice, etc…)
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Anything that would make it appear as though effort went into it.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Prosciutto – I hate all charcuterie meats, but this is the most gag inducing. I know I am alone here.
A bar cabinet: Any of the tools needed to make a decent drink. I am helpless in preparing anything consumable for myself or others.
A song for:
Dinner at home: Well, my husband loves Brandy (unbelievable) and he usually selects the dinner music, so…likely “The Boy is Mine.” I am not an R&B fan, but I find it humorous how much he likes it.
Working at your desk: Either something electronic that I would never know the name of, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons or anything Edith Piaf.
Going for a run: Jessica by the Allman Brothers, because it used to be roughly the same length as my comfortable mile time. Add two minutes now.
Biggest Vice? Diet Coke
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? A pair of Ovid Egg Uplights in Mahogany from Rose Tarlow.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Sort of. I prefer flamboyant rooms to flamboyant dress. I wear mostly black, blue and grey, but I like rooms filled with color. I do like both to be pretty fitted and architectural. I find this job is one that makes it hard to keep your clothes clean.
Who is your star crush? Mmm. My husband would say The Rock or Matt Bomer. I think probably Nicolas Galitzine.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?Monochrome. Animal print.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Very Hard….I think I reference Steven Gambrel’s first book most often because he makes such interesting, big-scaled molding decisions. His holds the answer to a lot of practical questions I have. But I think maybe a book of Lutyen’s sketches would come first or Edith & Ogden’s The Decoration of Houses because it has all the answers more broadly.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Realizing concepts that initially strike people as “too fancy” in a way that makes them actually very warm, approachable and really useful for contemporary living.
Having clients tell me about something they loved in a grand old European house, explain to me that it could never work for them here and then figure out some way to bring its essence to life in a way that completely suits them.
Exuding warmth and a desire to linger.
photo by Kelley Kish
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Joe Versus the Volcano starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
Book: The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Scent: Another by Le Labo
The fabric you always come back to: Chocolate mohair
Dream project: Any large early 1940’s Colonial Revival House in a great setting. Preferably with decent but not perfect architectural details, so there’s plenty of room to expand without feeling guilty about tampering with perfection. I like late 30’s and early 40’s American plans the most – less center hall colonials and more interesting flows featuring expansive rooms and light, often cinematic details. Ideally the project would be for a family who entertains constantly and knows how to make people feel right at home. A large pocketbook with a humble demeanor is a plus.
Meal: Spaghetti Bolognese
Drink: Paper Plane
Hotel: Villa Michelangelo, Vicenza, Italy. I like it for it’s proximity to all things Palladio. Not beautifully furnished, but perfectly situated.
Travel Destination: Rome
Artist: Raymond Hood or Karl Schrag
A cause near and dear to me: Saving old buildings, helping other designers make money and buying the artwork of my talented friends (which is more a cause for myself).
Thing to collect obsessively: Old blueprints
Era in the history of design: The last gasps of the Beaux-Arts – early 1940’s in the United States. And Italian Mannerism. Also, more vernacular Baroque of Austria – spare, but still a bit heaving.
Museum: Marriane North Gallery at Kew Gardens, Sir John Soane Museum and Ham House
Paint Color that always looks great: Borrowed Light by Farrow & Ball or Yorktown Green by Ben Moore.
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @pierrebergian, @boriesandshearron
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Was never a pet person until I met my husband who came with an elderly puggle. He was grumpy and very human-like and wrapped himself in a blanket as if he were a burrito. We’ve just lost him and are looking for a dog of equally humorous and slightly unpleasant nature.
