Last night, I had the chance to sit down, enjoy a great meal, and talk shop with a few great designers.
I made my way through the rain from Downtown, across the Common and onto Charles St. I was the first to arrive at the Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro and got a moment to take in the intimate bar area. Shortly after, I was joined by the evening’s hosts, Lauren Gilbert of The Rug Company and David Anthony Harris of Duc Duc and MasonGray, who had traveled up from New York to visit clients around Boston.
We found our table and started talking about the differences between the different neighborhood of the city, and how shockingly less expensive apartments in Boston are compared to Manhattan. A few minutes later, the last of our group arrived, local husband and wife architects Lisa Cunningham and George Warner of Warner + Cunningham. Koo de Kir‘s Kristine Irving was scheduled to join us, but had to cancel because of a busy workload — a great problem to have!
Dinner conversation revolved around growing up in various parts of the country, kiteboarding (a favorite sport for George), blending modernism and traditionalism, building a home in the rain forest of Puerto Rico, and, of course, catalogs from The Rug Company, Duc Duc and MasonGray.
Both catalogs do a beautiful job representing each company. The Rug Company’s catalog is more akin to a coffee table book, with huge, colorful photos of their rugs and accent pieces in amazing settings. The combined Duc Duc/Mason Gray catalog set resembles a scrap book of classic Americana — a reminder that all of their pieces are designed in New York and constructed in Connecticut — wrapped and tied with a piece of leather.
Also discussed was David’s new venture, the New Traditionalists, which is set to be introduced at the upcoming Architectural Digest Home Show in New York. According to David, the adult furniture line is “traditional, with a twist”, similar to the MasonGray children’s line. No pictures yet, so we’ll have to head to the AD Home show and see for ourselves.
In all, wonderful people, great food, even better conversation. A fantastic dinner.
