John Chadwick
The designer's Oklahoma residence is a showcase for traditional
refinements.
Oklahoma, where the chintz comes sweeping down the plain?
Not exactly what Rodgers and Hammerstein had in
mind, but perhaps less implausible than one might think. In the
early decades of this century, the well- heeled members of Sooner
society looked back East to find models of gracious residential living.
Interior Design
October 1994
The living room, with its two distinct seating groups,
is enveloped in a richly textured cloak of
gessoed red. Chadwick compares the sisal
carpeting to a wood floor: “The more indentations and irregularities it
has, the more character it develops.” Sisal flooring: H.Lynn White.Fabrics: Decorators Walk (sofa); Jack
Valentine (love seat and curtains): Clarence House.Osborne & Little (chairs). Photography: Don Wheeler
The big cities back East were themselves looking east to Europe for
similar inspiration. Oklahoma’s first “mansion district,” an area north
of downtown Oklahoma City now known as Heritage Hills, embraced a
mélange of European styles filtered through the lens of Americana. The
first officially designated preservation district in the state, Heritage
Hills was originally planned on a rectangular
urban grid. It seems fitting then that the interiors of the 1923
Heritage Hills cottage illustrated here—a vaguely Georgian structure
measuring a modest 3,000 sq. ft.—would appear equally appropriate in the
vertical reaches of Manhattan’s Upper East Side and the gently rolling
hills of Oklahoma City.
The house belongs to local designer
John Chadwick, Jr., a traditionalist in
practice and preference. Chadwick bought the place just over two decades
ago and has been cultivating it as an ever-evolving project. “When I
got the house, it wasn’t so much abused as neglected,” he says,
noting that structural elements were basically
intact. Certain problems, however, required immediate attention.
“There was a sprayed acoustic ceiling that must have been put up to
sell the house, and on the first really damp, humid day, it started
coming down in clumps.” In addition to remedial measures for the
ceiling, the initial renovation also involved the addition of
central heating and air conditioning as well as replacement of
electrical and plumbing systems.
As for the less pressing issues of taste and style,
Chadwick’s phased refurbishment efforts over
the past two decades have yielded a design calculated to avoid appearing
overly starched and formal. “I wanted to give the
house an evolved, sophisticated and undecorated
look,” he explains. “I didn’t want a house filled with
mother-of-the-bride rooms—the kind where the shoes are dyed to match the
dress dyed to match the purse dyed to match the walls.”
In the toile-wrapped kitchen and breakfast room,
Chadwick achieved a détente between traditional decoration and modern
conveniences. The wagon wheel pot rack was
salvaged from a dilapidated threshing machine encountered on an Oklahoma
road. Toile-pattern wallpaper: Brunschwig & Fils.Curtain andlove seat fabric:
Westgate.Counters: Corian.
Appliances: Kitchen Aid.
The Chinoiserie wallpaper in the dining room was
“the first thing I did in the house 20 years ago and the last thing I’d
ever change,” says the designer. The red-and-blue plaid chair fabric
eases the transition between dining and living rooms. Portrait is of
Chadwick’s pug Vivian and her late sister Priscilla. Wallpaper: Clarence House.Fabrics:
Stroheim & Romann (chairs): Jack
Valentine (curtains).
In a nod to the Georgian flavor of the architecture, Chadwick
selected a deep gessoed red for the walls of
the central living room and a cream color for the ceiling and woodwork.
The richly textured, hand-troweled wall
finish was achieved by multiple applications
of pigment: first, a base of Russian blue, then a glaze of mustard
yellow, and finally a wash of deep red. Clear, matte-finish lacquer
sealed the deal. Furnishings in the long, narrow room
were deployed in two discrete, intimate
groups bridged by a piano. Chadwick replaced the traditional piano bench
with two Chippendale chairs that can be called
into service when extra seating is required for either grouping.
In other areas of the house, Chadwick manipulated the plan and recast
room functions to better suit his needs. An erstwhile side porch
was retooled as a library with banquette
seating and fireplace. Three small rooms in the back of the house
were conflated to create a comfortable,
state-of-the-art kitchen zone and adjacent breakfast room with newly
installed French windows opening onto a brick terrace and small garden
pool. Upstairs, a sleeping porch and two bedrooms
were annexed to create a master bedroom suite with a generous
sitting area and sybaritic bathroom chamber.
When asked if the latest round of renovation maneuvers begun nearly
two years ago represent some kind of definitive resolution for the
house, Chadwick demurs. “I’ll always be working on the house,” he says
with amiable resignation, noting that his eye invariably detects certain
areas or details ripe for change or refinement. “If I had a client who
was as hard on me as I am, I’d have to quit.”
MAYER RUS
The character of the sitting room
off the master bedroom is defined by Chadwick’s accumulated memorabilia
and family treasures. The rocking horse was
a gift from his grandmother, sent from England where she was vacationing
when the designer was born. Fabrics: Manuel Canovas
(table skirt); Brunschwig & Fils (valance and trim); Stroheim & Romann
(ottoman, curtain side panels); Rose Cumming (pillows).
Carpet:Karastan.