Hotel Huntington

It’s been almost 30 years since the Virginia-born designer Ken Fulk established his eponymous firm, over which time he’s become a quasi-magician of sorts. Alongside his team of “Fulkers,” he works at his self-proclaimed “Magic Factories” in both San Francisco and New York, turning every commercial project, private party, and personal residence into a layered and dramatic, maximalist work of art. Over the last thirty years, the designer has built an impressive global portfolio, imbuing restaurants, hotels, and even private yachts and jets with his over the top style and Mad Hatter-whimsy, producing glamorous interiors and events that feel at once playful and polished, cinematic and dreamlike, with couture finishes and surprising elements at every turn. It was a pleasure to visit with him about his life on the road, and the satisfying joys of “barn-running” home to San Francisco and Provincetown.

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I am honored to be sharing a conversation with one of my all-time favorite shopkeepers and entertaining gurus, Ted Kennedy Watson. I’ll never forget discovering his store in Seattle — walking inside felt like Christmas morning with its shelves of gleaming vintage silver, tins of packaged chocolates, boxes of perfumed soaps, and Livia Cetti’s vibrant paper flowers! I bought so many treasures that day and would fly to Seattle in a minute with the sole purpose of shopping there again. Ted’s beautiful eye and knack for curating treasures is a gift. It’s no wonder that his store has been named one of the best in the country by Architectural Digest. Retail aside, Ted has been writing a daily lifestyle blog for years and it is one of my favorite places to go on the internet. He has a palpable positivity and zest for life that’s contagious, and whenever I’m in a funk or need a boost, I make a beeline to his site where I find instant inspiration. His books on entertaining (namely Ted Kennedy Watson’s Guide to Stylish Entertaining) are also wonderful, with party tips, links to soulful playlists, and wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of experience breaking bread and making memories with loved ones. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this conversation!

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I’ve always been drawn to nostalgic things. Hand-written notes sealed with wax, Venetian intaglios carved in glass, and 18th century botanical posters of flowers, berries, and trees… these are a few things that stir my soul and remind me of another time. A well-loved globe is another nostalgic treasure, particularly in our age of GPS and Google Maps. Interestingly, there are very few traditional globe makers still working today. Peter Bellerby and his team of painters, engravers, woodworkers, and cartographers at Bellerby & Co in London are one of the last remaining globe makers in the world to make globes by hand in the traditional style. Since the 1400s, globes were made by etching the map onto copper plates, gore by gore, and sending them through a printing press. (Gores are the surfboard shapes that cover the surface.) The fragile paper gores would then be taken, wetted, and stretched across the shape so they conjoined precisely so. This process takes the utmost care as the paper can easily rip, tear, or bubble. Bellerby uses modern printers but the rest of their process remains the same, unchanged over centuries. Every Bellerby globe is also hand painted using hand-mixed pigments, so no two are ever alike. Most interesting are the bespoke globes that Peter and his team make for clients all over the world, colored with special symbols and messages that tell the owner’s story. I had the pleasure of meeting years ago while penning a short article for The WSJ Magazine. Below, you will find my interview with Peter Bellerby. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do.

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As a writer, it should come as no surprise that I adore paper goods. The love affair started back in 2008 when I was living in Florence, Italy. I used to spend hours walking around the city, ducking into stationary stores, and peering through shop windows as artisans marbled paper. Last year when I was in Paris, I found the lovely writing shop, Melodies Graphiques on Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe. The street feels a touch like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, though instead of wand shopping at Olivander’s, Melodies Graphiques offers beautiful card sets, glass quills, and sealing wax sticks in every color of the rainbow. The owners, Giacomo Nottiani and Hitomi Takeuchi are incredibly kind and well-known in the writing community. After visiting, I learned that Hitomi — who studied under the master calligrapher and French type designer Claude Mediavilla — offers private calligraphy classes for both advanced and novice scribes in the second-floor studio. I wrote about this for Hemispheres, United Airlines’ in-flight magazine.

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Growing up, my idea of a fun afternoon meant staying in my bedroom surrounded by magazines. With scissors in hand, I’d cut out stories of people and places that spoke to me and tuck the clippings away into big accordion binders. Today, I still have these files filled with my early inspirations and I still get the same thrill from sitting down with a magazine. Knowing this, you can imagine my excitement when Yolanda Edwards, previously the Creative Director of Conde Nast Traveler, started a new travel quarterly called Yolo Journal.  Read on to learn about her passion project and more, such as her most over the top hotel experience and travel items she doesn’t leave home without.

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A few years ago, I discovered the ultra-talented illustrator, Tug Rice, while working on a story about The Carlyle Hotel in New York City. Tug had been commissioned to create the property’s annual calendar, and I quickly fell for his nostalgic interpretations of classic Carlyle moments. Since our first Instagram correspondence, I’ve learned — much to my delight — that Tug and I are kindred spirits, sharing a love of Hotel Sacher, cafe culture, Poulenc… and Bemelmans Bar, among other things! He is a true talent and I hope you enjoy my interview with him below!

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Elizabeth Locke

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of profiling jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke for the pages of Virginia Living. Those who know Locke’s jewelry will agree there is something very special about her work, a timeless quality reflected in the hammered gold and a sense of history reimagined in every piece. Many of the central elements in her rings, brooches, bracelets and pendants are collected by Locke herself. Every year, the designer spends a few months on what she calls a “continual treasure hunt” looking for unusual rarities and unconventional pieces that have lost their way in time. Some of these include 17th-century molds of Venetian glass intaglios and 19th-century micromosaics, the latter of which Locke collects personally. Since learning of her micromosaic collection, I’ve become enamored by the lost art form. Read on to learn more about these timeless treasures – and prepare to be inspired.

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