Guild Members win Prestigeous Palladio Award

Congratulations!! to Steve Rynerson and Paul Duchsherer for winning the prestigious Palladio Award for Residential Restoration, for their collaborative work on the restoration of the McDonald Mansion in Santa Rosa.
This project included the work of many guild members and you can see more images of the progress of this restoration here.

McDonald Mansion- The formal interiors at Mableton

Here are some more amazing images form the newly restored McDonald Mansion or Mableton, in Santa Rosa, California.

Have a seat and savor this fantastic period interior!

Main Entry Hall

The project was spearheaded by Steve Rynerson of Rynseron & O'Brien Architecture.    The interiors in particular feature the work of many Artistic License members, including  Paul Duchscherer as interior designer/historic design consultant; huge amounts of wallpaper by Bradbury and Bradbury; leaded art glass by Reflections Studios and Theodore Ellison; and faux finishes by George Shadow.

The Main Hall design sets the tone for the surrounding public spaces, with its bold structure of Eastlake-style mahogany woodwork, and a striking assemblage of Aesthetic Movement wallpaper patterns. 

The Library

The Library has 16 foot ceiling and a suspended glass-floored, period-style cast iron and steel catwalk to access the upper bookcases. Detailed in the Eastlake taste, the mahogany mantel features fifteen vintage Minton tiles.

Neo-Grec style wallpapers enliven the panels of the beamed and coffered ceiling.

Gentlemens Parlor

The Gothic Revival style Gentlemens’ Parlor features an unusual oak wainscot design adapted from a period example by English architect William Burges.  The wallpaper adapts an 1880s pattern by William Morris that was first commissioned for St. James’ Palace in London. The coffered ceiling treatment is grained to match the room’s oak woodwork. Seen through the wide pocket doors, the fireplace end of the Main Hall is overhung by two (of four) matching bracket chandeliers that were custom made for this project.

 

Turkish Parlor

Reviving a period tradition of exotically decorated retreats that were often called “smoking rooms”, the Turkish Parlor for Mableton, conceived in the Moorish Revival-style, here takes the form of a domed octagonal pavilion. Comprised of stacked, rotated, and corbelled octagons of graduating sizes, the dome rests on a delicate, ebonized oak framework of pierced screens, horseshoe arches, and slender columns.
 

Note the way mirrors are used in the Turkish Parlor

The Ladies' Parlor

Mableton’s Ladies’ Parlor has a feminine, French-Revival style. The previously flat sixteen-foot ceiling has been reconfigured into a room-wide barrel vault, and embellished with a Neo-classical style wallpaper treatment. Glazed and gilded painted finishes on the Louis XVI-style woodwork complement the panelized wallpaper insets, with mirrors used to amplify the light and views.

The Map Room

Mableton’s Map Room is a newly-created mezzanine-level room accessed via the Library’s spiral stair and catwalk.  As the name implies, the room houses the owners’ collection of antique maps, and the cartographic theme is reinforced by a stained glass compass rose window designed and fabricated  by Theodore Ellison Designs.  The neo-grec wallpaper scheme of the Library expands into the three-part ceiling and panelized walls of the Map Room which doubles as a private study.

Main Stair Hall

The design of the Main Stair Hall interprets the Anglo-Japanese mode of Aesthetic Movement taste, with repeating fan motifs and linear outlines adapted from Mableton’s intact, original staircase railing.

At the stair landing is a matching suite of Japanesque leaded art glass windows custom designed for this project.

Dining Room

Mableton’s Dining Room is an elongated octagon in plan with a double-coved, ribbed ceiling, and shares the Main Hall’s “Stick/Eastlake” design aesthetic.  Dark mahogany millwork frames wall, frieze and ceiling areas filled with gold and metallic accented wallpapers inspired by the Victorian avant-garde designs of Christopher Dresser.   A dining set comfortably seats  fourteen and is composed of antique and reproduction chairs as well as a table custom built to the geometry of the room.

Master Sitting Room

Mableton’s Master Sitting Room is part of a suite of rooms that also includes the Master Bedroom and Master Bath that occupies one of two new wings built at the rear of Mableton’s main floor. The Master Sitting Room’s interior includes a gently vaulted ceiling whose form is echoed in the arched opening that frames the south-facing bay window.  

Custom embroidered curtain detail in the master sitting room made by Dianne Ayres.

  

Read more details about this stunning project at  Rynerson & O'Brien's blog.

All Photographs in this post by MarkCitret.

Decorative Painting at the Historic MacDonald Mansion

Ladies' Parlor: Glazing and antiquing on woodwork, trim and pocket panel doors

Master decorative artist George Shadow's masterful contribution to an important historic restoration project in California.


Guild members George and Elise Shadow of Classic Art and Design, Inc. have been working for many months on the interior finishes for the historic MacDonald Mansion, in Santa Rosa, CA, also called Mableton.  Here now is a sneak peak at some of the stunning finished rooms featuring some of  George's outstanding work.

The Mantel of the Ladies' Parlor, marbleized to match the true marble.

The Powder Room, with gilt ceiling dome and glazed woodwork

Gents Parlor Ceiling with faux walnut beams, coffers, and crown mouldings

This project also features outstanding design work from guild members Paul Duchscherer, Steve Rynerson and copious amounts of wallpaper from Bradbury and Bradbury.
Read more about the progress of the Mableton restoration.

McDonald Mansion Interior taking shape

Architect Steve Rynerson and historic deign consultant Paul Duchscherer have collaborated for the last five years on the renovations of the McDonald Mansion in Santa Rosa.  

The Sonoma County Press Democrat has today published a great article about the interior renovations at the McDonald Mansion (also known as Mableton) in Santa Rosa, CA, as led by guild members Steve Rynerson and Paul Duchscherer.
The new interior features the work of other guild members as well:  wallpapers by Bradbury and Bradbury, and faux bois finishes by George and Elise Shadow of Classic Art and Design.

view of the McDonald Mansion exterior. 

Full article in the Press Democrat,  and more images here.

Previous articles about the McDonald Mansion history here.



photos by Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat  ©2011