A 1950s modern Turtle Creek high-rise might be the last place you’d expect to find a formal French interior, but the dcor of Kevin Peavy’s home of six years seems a natural fit. Older apartments have larger rooms with better flow and more wall space, Kevin says. Newer apartments have warrens of little rooms, which are not conducive to entertaining. And wall space is certainly important to me as a collector.
Kevin, who is a partner in Joseph Minton Antiques and president of the Slocum Street Antique Dealers Association, says he’s more of an addict than a collector.
I’m addicted to furniture and objects, he says. I’ve always felt that inanimate objects have their own soul, and I’m fascinated by who made it, who owned it, and what was going on in the world at the time. Furniture has attitude, and that intrigues me. I’m lucky enough to have been exposed to art and antiques as a child and to have had three great friends and mentors Sigmund Mandell, George Pelletier, and Joe Minton who trained my eye and gave me the opportunity to work in an area I love.
Kevin’s particular passion is French antiques, especially Napoleonic pieces and the furniture of Louis XIV and his successors. But he’s quick to point out that these are not period rooms: The majority of the pieces are French Empire, he says, but mixing in other styles and time periods makes the rooms more interesting. For instance, I love pairing Empire pieces with the masculine lines of English Regency furniture. Kevin adds interest to his home by peppering the dcor with Asian, Italian, Russian, and English pieces everything from small accessories, such as Chinese porcelains, to large, dramatic pieces of furniture, such as the English collector’s cabinet in the living room.
Balance and symmetry are the hallmarks of Kevin’s dcor. French classicism lends itself to symmetry, he says. Pairing things makes them seem more important and gives you more opportunities to note their lines and design. It also creates a more formal atmosphere. Kevin’s color and fabric choices lend an air of formal elegance, as well. Silk and linen velvets grace many pieces of his fine furniture, and the walls are painted in deep jewel tones, such as the living room’s Imperial aubergine and the bedroom’s custom mix of cranapple and vintage claret. Inspiration for the paint colors came during a tour of historic European homes in the late 80s. The walls were all ivory until that trip to Europe, Kevin remembers. People generally think adding such deep colors to the wall will close in the space, but the apartment actually seemed smaller with ivory walls. Now it’s warm and intimate. The colors are attractive during the day, but they are especially rich at night, and, of course, that’s really when people spend the most time in their homes. An added bonus of the deep and dramatic wall colors is the way they highlight the art on display throughout the home: Gold frames against deep wall colors will make your art pop, Kevin says.
Though one might be tempted to think his home is perfect and complete, Kevin still has a few projects on his to do list “and who else would he turn to but his business partner and friend, distinguished local designer Joseph Minton. Joe and I have a few plans, he says. We’ve talked about laying a limestone floor on the terrace and adding a banquette for enjoying the view. We’re investigating the possibility of raising the ceilings by borrowing from the crawl space above the apartment. We want to add architectural details paneling and molding. And we’ve found a beautiful marble mantle to mount on the mirrored wall in the living room.
The mantle it’s French, of course.
