Designing the “Magari” Garden for the Kips Bay Dallas Showhouse
Since 1973, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House has grown into the preeminent design attraction in New York City. This year, the event, which Architectural Digest called “arguably the most important show house within the design community,” expanded to Dallas with the inaugural Kips Bay Dallas show house. Needless to say, when it was announced that the design event of the year was coming to Dallas, I knew I had to be a part of it.
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
When I found out that I’d indeed been selected to do the design for the backyard and pool area, I was beyond elated. Then, after the shock and excitement had worn off, I became incredibly nervous; the number of star-studded designers who had designed for Kips Bay show homes in prior years is astounding, and the pressure was on. How would I design and install a spectacular garden in only 7 weeks? Well, there was no time to worry – I had work to do!
Show homes allow for a really interesting client situation. While most of my designs start with a brief based on my client’s style and needs, combined with an assessment of this site, in the case of a show home, the client is imaginary. So, I had to invent the client I envisioned I was designing this garden for, and then marry my imaginary client’s needs with my own garden fantasies, and what I felt the site called for.
In the case of the Dallas Kips Bay Show House, I created a client who was a Hollywood actress from the Golden Era. I immediately set out to create something glamorous for her that would provide her with a space that would feel sophisticated without being uptight. I knew it had to be inspiring and comfortable, romantic and sexy, formal but also relaxing.
With Hollywood glamour as the inspiration, I immediately opted for black and white furniture and fabrics, and selected and arranged plants in sculptural forms to interplay and create visual tension and striking contrast. Creating a dream-worthy garden felt as though I was granting a wish, which is why I named it the ‘Magari’ Garden. Magari in Italian means a strong wish or desire, and like it’s namesake, the grounds were designed to showcase all that is possible and dream-worthy in an outdoor space.
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
Plants As Sculpture
The overall effect is a study in shapes and negative space, where the interplay of softness and hard edge creates an intriguing contrast. The gardens were also inspired by the Italian gardens of Villa Caprarola, which influenced the use of boxwood topiary and plants used as sculptures throughout the garden. As a focal point at the end of the pool, I placed two modern urns and filled them with sculptural agaves to create a strong visual that plays upon contrasting forms. And on one side of the pool, I designed a sculptural area consisting entirely of plants; there, we juxtaposed tall slender Italian Cypress against round boxwood globes and placed them on a creamy plane of limestone gravel. It is both visually striking and magical in this small corner of the garden.
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
The Pool Area
For the pool area, I decided to renovate the stone and replaced the old and dated bluestone decking with limestone, which we had cut to size and placed in a running bond pattern. The limestone matched the existing pool coping and instantly brightened the space and made it feel more current. The furniture selections and orientation were designed to create several discrete areas where our Hollywood star could have intimate conversations with friends, but could also be used to entertain larger more lively gatherings. There we placed two symmetrical conversation seating areas on the pool deck that mirror each other and frame the entrance to the vast lawn. For the seating, I selected elegant Black and White Amalfi daybeds with romantic canopies by Janus et Cie and complemented them with the sexy Sag Harbor lounge chairs from Sutherland Furniture. The coffee tables I had custom-made, as I wanted to create something sleek and sexy but could not find a piece that fit the bill or the scale we needed for the space.
The pillows were also custom-made in complementing black and white fabrics by Perennials. Finally, I placed oversized Versailles-style plant containers around the pool deck in sleek black which were custom-made for us by Kimball and Bean, and modern cast stone low bowl-shaped containers by Jackson Cast Stone around the pool.
The pool area has a formality to it with plantings that consist of boxwoods planted en masse to create low topiary-like hedges in each of the corners, but the space is very comfortable and inviting with seating that almost beckons you to sit and stay a while.
On the other side of the pool, we placed chaise lounge chairs and custom umbrellas, along with some very sculptural side tables also by Sutherland Furniture and Perennials Fabrics.
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
A Woodland Garden
While the pool area has a formal feel to it, the other end of the garden was designed to provide a more relaxed setting. I added a woodland garden to serve as a romantic backdrop to the pool area. In the vast lawn, we included some carefully placed stepping stones to invite passersby to camminare con passo leggero (trip lightly) while lounging poolside or strolling the grounds. Here, I designed a relaxed sitting area with custom firepit, modern Adirondack chairs and the most stunning tree swing. This space was designed to sit within the landscape of mature trees, and includes hydrageas, a soft carpet of ferns and grasses with a secluded feel in a private area of the yard. The final touch – a stunning hanging sofa, suspended above the garden floor and partially hidden from the aqua-hued pool, view provides the perfect setting to read a book or watch the stars while planning the next idle pastime.
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
Photo: Stephen Karlisch
