Ward + Gray
photo by read mckendree
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live?
Staver Gray: I would renovate our real life second home in London. It’s currently a relic of my husband’s bachelor days in the aughts!
Christie Ward: Praiano. We try to go back to the same house every summer.
What are three words to describe your style?
SG:
1. Eclectic
2. Formal Composition
3. Collected
CW:
1. Collected
2. Modest
3. Lived-in
Tell us about your childhood bedroom?
SG: My mother hung this mural wallpaper herself to feel like you were looking into a garden, in front of which a swing hung from the ceiling. There were no neutral colors and she was unconcerned with practicality, which I think is right for a children’s room
CW: It had a mostly pale pink color scheme and a wrought iron canopy bed. I used to close the canopy drapes at night and sit in there with a night light – it would be my own private fort.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house?
SG: An 1865 French Normandy Grandfather Clock
CW: The bed I had made and developed a custom stripe block printed fabric for.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be?
SG: Madeleine Castaing with styling by Gabriella Crespi
CW: Renzo Mongiardino or Robert Kime
No room is complete without
SG: A great antique
CW: Antiques and someone’s collected objects
SG: People think of me as a workaholic but I am really just doing what I love.
CW: People think of me as a New Yorker, but I am really a Californian.
Things you omit from:
SG
A flower arrangement: Structure
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Paper napkins
A bar cabinet: Colored LEDs in the wine fridge
CW
A flower arrangement: Carnations
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Raw broccoli
A bar cabinet: Green Chartreuse liquor
A song for:
SG
Dinner at home: Jazz
Working at your desk: Stevie Nicks
Going for a run: I’ll let you know if I ever go
A song for:
CW
Dinner at home: Can’t Help Myself, Four Tops
Working at your desk: Into the Mystic, Van Morrison or a podcast
Going for a run: Train in Vain, The Clash
Biggest Vice?
SG: Online auctions
CW: Browsing the internet for hours looking at far away country homes for sale
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy?
SG: If you think I need an Ambien to make some impulsive decisions on Live Auctioneers, my storage unit will set you straight
CW: A cream Lacanche range to fit a kitchen I don’t have
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how?
SG: I feel happiest in something formal that resembles a tent in a great fabric. So yes.
CW: Sometimes… pops of color and pattern
Who is your star crush?
SG: Mr Darcy. Strong and stoic.
CW: Javier Bardem in Vicky Christina Barcelona
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
SG: Ultra modern design
CW: Using only white fabrics
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be?
SG: I don’t like thinking about this one!
CW: A Painterly Vision by Renzo Mongiardino or my Cabana Magazine collection
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for?
SG: Timelessness
CW: Designing spaces that make you feel good, without feeling pretentious
photo by michael clifford
A Few Favorites:
Movie:
SG: Vicky Christina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris
CW: A Bigger Splash – or anything with some form of escapism like Midnight in Paris, The Durrells (series)…
Book:
SG: She-Wolves by Sarah Gristwood. Fascinating.
CW: The Fountainhead
Scent:
SG: Gardenias. They remind me of my grandmother
CW: Just after you blow out a candle
The fabric you always come back to:
SG: Rose Tarlow Turandot, which I just upholstered my living room sofa in
CW: Robert Kime’s Swedish Ticking stripe
Dream project:
SG: Right now I’m dreaming of something Caribbean. It would be a rustic mix of dark woods and happy colored plaster
CW: An Italian palazzo turned boutique hotel and a dilapidated seaside shack pretty much anywhere
Meal:
SG: Big lunches
CW: Fresh guava juice and dumplings… preferably not together
Drink:
SG: A Puligny Montrachet at aforementioned big lunch
CW: A mezcal margarita
Hotel:
SG: So many. Uxua in Transcoso Brazil, The Dunmore on Harbour Island, Mezzatorre on Ischia
CW: São Lourenço do Barrocal in Portugal
Travel Destination:
SG: Harbour Island
CW: Awhere by the Mediterranean where I can swim for hours every day
Artist:
SG: I’m constantly drawn to Modernist female portraiture. I have yet to collect any serious art but my house is filled with auction or antique market finds
CW: Gustav Klimt
A cause near and dear to me:
SG: St Jude Children’s Hospital where my brother was a patient
CW: Making sure the homeless people on my street are fed
Thing to collect obsessively:
SG: I have a large collection of oyster shells. Every time I order them, I take the best shell home and write on the inside the occasion and with whom I shared them. They’re a gorgeous, textural display on my center table.
CW: Postcards and shells
Era in the history of design:
SG: Georgian
CW: 1960s in France and Italy
Museum:
SG: Any house museum. I’m dying to go to Villa Kerylos
CW: Neue Galerie
Paint Color that always looks great:
SG: Farrow and Ball’s Strong White or Portola’s Saint Sauvant
CW: Light Blue by Farrow & Ball
Favorite person to follow on Instagram:
SG: Diane Keaton
CW: I love following @barracuda_interiors. Their photos always bring me back to a warm, sunny day
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets?
SG: My golden retriever Bob is happiness on four legs
CW: Dogs and hopefully several babydoll sheep one day
