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Movie star's home ideal for modern loft house makeover
By Patsy Yang |
January 25, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A blend of contemporary and vintage style is manifested at Lucy and Richard Young's house in cutting-edge designs and sleek, sophisticated lines that remain natural and functional.
American-Chinese home owner Lucy combines a modernist sensibility and an Asian sensitivity to natural materials. There's a positive delight in simple lines, and a preference for things that are rustic and natural.
Whether classically elegant or contemporary, the furniture and art pieces she has sourced over the years provide both warm and exciting colors, with basic lines and impressive design schemes.
She has mixed vintage with contemporary to integrate the old with the new in a way that doesn't call too much attention to vintage items, just as an art-deco style old cabinet can become part of a modern room.
She has highlighted with details that pull together furnishings and objects, such as the two olive-green leather armchairs left behind in the house that she had re-upholstered and the couch she had designed from the inspiration of one similar in her favorite art deco hotel in Miami.
And she used as essential accents exotic fresh flower arrangements and various vases and jars she's managed to find at the antique market.
Born and raised in New York, Lucy has been fortunate to live in some great places in Asia, including Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore, and traveled extensively throughout the region in her career.
Her style is definitely influenced by the surroundings and the cultures she has been exposed to. And most of the furniture and artworks have been purchased and found throughout her travels and the places she's lived in the region since 1992.
She always wanted to live in Shanghai as her paternal family is originally from here. When arriving in the city in 2005, she and her husband decided to purchase a family house for them and their two children.
When the couple bought this house it was a very typical lane house, divided into small flats and occupied by many different people sharing common rooms. It had never been renovated and was not in great condition.
However, to their surprise, Hu Die, the most famous movie star of the 1930s, used to live in contemporary-era English-style lane house, designed by the Atkinson & Dallas.
"It was just perfect for us," Lucy said. "One thing was that it was very wide and not vertical like other lane houses - a total of 250 square meters over two and a half levels.''
The other thing was that the construction allowed them to keep the exterior in its original state but make the interior very modern. "Many times old houses have such structural walls that there is little opening up that can be done."
The first stage in this luxury makeover was to strip everything down to just the external walls, then to completely reconstruct the interior. The key to every step were architects Sasha Silva and Raefer Wallis from A00, who worked with Young on the house project.
"Neither my husband nor I have any background in architecture or engineering. We didn't want to risk anything on such a big investment so we knew we would need professional help. We had ideas but wanted to work with professional partners in getting them implemented. Working with Silva and Wallis just brought out good ideas,'' she said.
Lucy found the original floor plans to the house from the Shanghai Archive Center so she knew what they could do with the structure and the loadings, which allowed her to completely open up the ground floor.
This level was given over to the living area, open kitchen and dining area. An open kitchen fits the family lifestyle and fits well into the open-plan.
The indoor greenery facing the kitchen is located in the home's original lightwell, so no new space was created for this. "My husband originally had visions of a huge fish tank for the lightwell, but there was just going to be too much hassle.''
If a family is outgrowing the home or simply wants more room, a loft conversion allows for expansion. "We knew that the existing roof space could give us another level, however we didn't want to add a third floor. We knew we had to create additional floor space in the bedrooms to fit the family, and who doesn't love to sleep in a loft?''
Lucy turned an en-suite on the newly-added third floor into a cozy private space where she can truly de-stress. The decoration included key furniture pieces that she acquired over the years and the pitch roof gives a feeling of spaciousness that everyone wants in a city like Shanghai.
The couple also changed the original roof terrace and converted it into a family/TV room with lots of skylights and glass stairs. "It's like being in a greenhouse, which is casual, light and evokes a sense of nature. As a family, we love to spend time here - watching TV programs, reading books and playing games."
American-Chinese home owner Lucy combines a modernist sensibility and an Asian sensitivity to natural materials. There's a positive delight in simple lines, and a preference for things that are rustic and natural.
Whether classically elegant or contemporary, the furniture and art pieces she has sourced over the years provide both warm and exciting colors, with basic lines and impressive design schemes.
She has mixed vintage with contemporary to integrate the old with the new in a way that doesn't call too much attention to vintage items, just as an art-deco style old cabinet can become part of a modern room.
She has highlighted with details that pull together furnishings and objects, such as the two olive-green leather armchairs left behind in the house that she had re-upholstered and the couch she had designed from the inspiration of one similar in her favorite art deco hotel in Miami.
And she used as essential accents exotic fresh flower arrangements and various vases and jars she's managed to find at the antique market.
Born and raised in New York, Lucy has been fortunate to live in some great places in Asia, including Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore, and traveled extensively throughout the region in her career.
Her style is definitely influenced by the surroundings and the cultures she has been exposed to. And most of the furniture and artworks have been purchased and found throughout her travels and the places she's lived in the region since 1992.
She always wanted to live in Shanghai as her paternal family is originally from here. When arriving in the city in 2005, she and her husband decided to purchase a family house for them and their two children.
When the couple bought this house it was a very typical lane house, divided into small flats and occupied by many different people sharing common rooms. It had never been renovated and was not in great condition.
However, to their surprise, Hu Die, the most famous movie star of the 1930s, used to live in contemporary-era English-style lane house, designed by the Atkinson & Dallas.
"It was just perfect for us," Lucy said. "One thing was that it was very wide and not vertical like other lane houses - a total of 250 square meters over two and a half levels.''
The other thing was that the construction allowed them to keep the exterior in its original state but make the interior very modern. "Many times old houses have such structural walls that there is little opening up that can be done."
The first stage in this luxury makeover was to strip everything down to just the external walls, then to completely reconstruct the interior. The key to every step were architects Sasha Silva and Raefer Wallis from A00, who worked with Young on the house project.
"Neither my husband nor I have any background in architecture or engineering. We didn't want to risk anything on such a big investment so we knew we would need professional help. We had ideas but wanted to work with professional partners in getting them implemented. Working with Silva and Wallis just brought out good ideas,'' she said.
Lucy found the original floor plans to the house from the Shanghai Archive Center so she knew what they could do with the structure and the loadings, which allowed her to completely open up the ground floor.
This level was given over to the living area, open kitchen and dining area. An open kitchen fits the family lifestyle and fits well into the open-plan.
The indoor greenery facing the kitchen is located in the home's original lightwell, so no new space was created for this. "My husband originally had visions of a huge fish tank for the lightwell, but there was just going to be too much hassle.''
If a family is outgrowing the home or simply wants more room, a loft conversion allows for expansion. "We knew that the existing roof space could give us another level, however we didn't want to add a third floor. We knew we had to create additional floor space in the bedrooms to fit the family, and who doesn't love to sleep in a loft?''
Lucy turned an en-suite on the newly-added third floor into a cozy private space where she can truly de-stress. The decoration included key furniture pieces that she acquired over the years and the pitch roof gives a feeling of spaciousness that everyone wants in a city like Shanghai.
The couple also changed the original roof terrace and converted it into a family/TV room with lots of skylights and glass stairs. "It's like being in a greenhouse, which is casual, light and evokes a sense of nature. As a family, we love to spend time here - watching TV programs, reading books and playing games."
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