Cooper Road, Scarsdale, New York
I've found a lovely, grand house built in 1914 to inspire us today. Almost 100 years after it was built, Cooper Road was the location of the 2013 Designer Showhouse of Westchester in Scarsdale, New York. Showhouses are fun to find in the listings, because they make such good before and after comparisons.
This house took a little bit of sleuthing to find all the before and after photos, but posts by Lynn Byrne of Decor Arts Now and Jennifer Mehditash of Dec-a-Porter, as well as a YouTube video tour
helped me put the pieces together.
Let's start in the foyer of course, and admire the beautiful Gracie wallpaper. Their site refers to this house's silver leaf paper as vintage. I think that means it was installed between 1930 and 1949, when Gracie's studio's production was based in New York and they first started producing wallpaper.
Here is how it looked during the showhouse:
(You'll get a better view of the room at the bottom of the stairs later.) Which do you like better, the crystal chandelier or the modern pendants? (Do I really need to ask?)
The opposite end of the foyer is a sitting room...
...or "Martini Alley" as the showhouse designer dubbed his design:
{Gideon Mendelson}
The living room gives us a great opportunity to see how different shapes can really influence a space:
Which shapes work better within the wall moldings? Maybe it's a personal preference.
{Ken Gemes}
Texture can really change a space, too, huh? Beautifully.
The living room is 25 feet wide x 33 feet long, with room enough for a games table in the listing:
...or a piano in the showhouse:
{Ken Gemes}
The dining room shares the beautiful moldings of the living room:
While the showhouse living room showcased texture, the dining room showcased color:
The master bedroom's sitting room had a similar transformation:
Now for the room we caught a glimpse of earlier, the first of two sunrooms:
Here is it how it appears in the listings:
Turn that up a notch, and here is the polished showhouse version:
Here's the second sunroom:
In the listing photo of this room, you're left wondering why the ceiling and back wall are so dynamic and the furniture is boring in comparison.
This should explain it:
{Lillian August}
I know it's a sunroom, but wouldn't this room look wonderful for an evening party?
Speaking of celebrations, the winner of Kristy Woodson Harvey's book Dear Carolina is...
Gail!
Congratulations, Gail! Please email your address to my contact link at the top. Thank you all for your city suggestions! Have a great week, friends!
