Page 57 - Architectural Digest - USA (February 2020)

ABOVE A DE GOURNAY WALLPAPER WRAPS A GUEST ROOM, WHERE THE BEAUTIFUL BED COMPANY BED WEARS RH LINENS. OPPOSITE VINTAGE
BOLIVIAN PILLOWS AND TEXTILES FROM GARZA MARFA DECORATE A SOFA BENEATH A PERGOLA. BRETT DOUGLAS HUNTER SCULPTURE.

features a two-foot clerestory that completely encircles the Italian model. Friedman himself made his own contribution
structure and makes the roof appear as if it were floating on to the medley in the form of multicolored cowhide carpets
a cushion of light when the home is illuminated at night. To from his new collection for Kyle Bunting.
maintain the integrity of the design, all the mechanical systems In the entryway, a monumental stone table by the contem-
and wiring are channeled through the concrete foundation. porary Dutch designer Lex Pott is flanked by a series of seven
The pool, made from a shipping container, is another prefab massive concrete planters, detailed in bronze, by landscape
element. “It arrived from Canada on a flatbed truck, and we designer Adam Sirak. “I used the planters to create an indoor
just craned it into a hole we dug. I hooked up the services and garden of specimen cactuses. It’s so nice to walk into the space
was swimming the next day,” Friedman explains. Outdoor and have a moment to exhale before moving into the big living/
amenities at Rancho Friedman also include a shade structure dining room,” Friedman says. “I also put a Judd chair in the
with pop-up screens for alfresco entertaining and a second, entry because, well, you kind of have to.”
Juddian shade structure by the pool. Notes of eccentricity emerge in the taxidermy pigeons that
Friedman attached to the huge swing-arm lamps that light up
FOR THE DECORATING PORTION of the process, the well- the dining table as well as the decidedly unexpected de Gournay
traveled photographer relied on a formidable roster of advisers wallpapers that adorn the guest rooms. “I had this fantasy that
and éminences grises. “I’m lucky to have worked with, and I could live in a totally minimalist way, but I’m just not that
befriended, some of the best designers in the world, so I person. I couldn’t resist having a little fun,” he says of the idiosyn-
naturally turned to them for guidance,” he confesses. That cratic jolts of color and pattern.
lineup includes Steven Gambrel, who made the chic table Still, notwithstanding the fanciful British wallpapers,
lamps in the living room; Nicole Hollis, represented by end Friedman insists on his bona fides as a true Texas hombre. “This
tables from her recent collection for McGuire; Brigette is my home now, and I have a Texas driver’s license to prove it,”
Romanek, who helped design and fabricate the green and he says with apparent pride. “When I’m working on the house
rose–colored marble table that anchors the living room; or in the pool, looking at the mountains in the far-off distance,
and Ken Fulk, who gifted a brass bar cart inspired by a 1960s I feel genuinely connected to the land, tarantulas and all.”

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