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28
winter
|
spr ing
the watchful eye of
Tom Curry
and his professional team of roofers.
Other details reflected in the common materials used in both the
Biltmore and this home include the hand-painted ceilings in the living
room and dining room, the arches, and the depth of the walls.
A little over four years ago, just after purchasing the property, Peter
and Ray went to Buenos Aires (along with neighbors
Jack Warner
and
Sandi Nicholson
) and filled up a complete container with light fixtures,
benches, garden sculptures, iron pieces, and other period items.
The antique light fixtures all date from the early 1900s. “We try to
integrate antique fixtures wherever possible because there’s nothing like it;
it adds authenticity,” Peter remarks.
Handles on all the doors match because Peter and Ray sent one of the
original handles to England where fabricators made all new ones from a
recast mold. “It was an additional expense,” Peter says, “but so worth it.”
The doors throughout are a combination of Spanish cedar and walnut;
some are original, although most have been copied.
The plaster moldings on the ceilings and elsewhere are all custom
made, either by Hyde Park or Fisher Jerreau. The signed Baccarat
basket-style chandeliers are so heavy it took three men and a winch to
get them installed. Many of the chandeliers can be raised and lowered
mechanically via an electric motor, for cleaning, repair, or simply to
replace a bulb.
The Sound System
“We like high-tech but we don’t like it to be seen,” Ray, an inveterate
tinkerer, says. “So we’ve installed invisible speakers,” he continues. Ray
attends the Consumer Electronics Show every year and discovered Stealth
Acoustics there. “The beauty of it is called an acoustic lever,” he explains,
“and it’s mounted like a piece of drywall; you plaster right over it, so you
have no speaker grill. For an architecturally important house, that’s a big
Original forged iron handrail support was part of Reginald
Johnson’s original design
Authentic 2” deep plaster grills were used throughout the estate, inspired by
similar grills originally found at the Biltmore Hotel
EAL ESTATES