Loma Vista, Room by Room: Wegner, Nakashima, Henningsen, Perriand

The pieces at Loma Vista span four decades of design, from Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona stool of 1929 to Mario Bellini’s Camaleonda sofa of 1970.

“We do not begin with a furniture list,” the studio writes of its interior work. “We begin with the architecture, the client and what is already worth keeping.”

The Architecture

At Loma Vista the architecture is Rex Lotery’s 1959 pavilion, with walnut ceilings and beams, white walls, terrazzo floors and glass on every garden side.

Architecture de Collection records that Lotery “is said to have been inspired by a meeting with Charlotte Perriand during the villa’s design.” At the foot of the bed in the principal bedroom stands an original Cansado bench of hers, designed in 1958 for Cité Cansado, the housing of an iron mining company in Mauritania, in mahogany slats on a lacquered steel frame.

The Media Room

In the media room, a pair of Hans J. Wegner’s Papa Bear chairs, a design of 1951, face Mario Bellini’s modular Camaleonda sofa. Between them stands a low walnut table by George Nakashima, its free edge left as the tree gave it.

Bellini’s sofa is built of cushions joined by cords and rings, so its plan can be rearranged to suit the room.

The Living Room and the Great Room

In the living room and the great room hangs Poul Henningsen’s PH Artichoke of 1958, in copper and steel, its leaves set to shield the bulb from every angle. Under the walnut ceiling, the copper takes on the colour of the wood.

Pierre Paulin’s Little Tulip chair of 1965 and Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona stool of 1929 stand in the living room. Gaetano Pesce’s UP chair of 1969 is in the great room, and it appears again in the sitting room with its ball ottoman, beside Harry Bertoia’s welded wire Diamond chair of 1952.

The Dining Room

The dining room returns to France. Over the table hangs an original two-arm ceiling lamp by Serge Mouille, a design of 1953 in lacquered steel and brass.