Luxury Retreat that Can’t be Beat
by habituallychic
06 . 18 . 14
Everyone always thinks I’m always busy doing something but every once in a while I read about someone who makes me feel like I’m definitely not doing enough with my life. Such is the case of renowned designer Juan Pablo Molyneux, who is featured in the July/August issue of WSJ. Magazine, along with his newly restored 12th-century chateau. The story is online now but will also be available in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on June 28th (June 27th in Europe.)
The Paris based designer has led a fascinating life since his early days in Santiago, Chile. After starting his design career and realizing there was no where to go in Chile, he and his wife Pilar moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, before making their way to New York, where he still has a house and office, before settling in Paris. Molyneux, like Howard Slatkin in New York, is a huge supporter of artisans who work on almost all of his projects. So much so that he has created a academy for training on the property of his chateau. “He’s never tired, never blasé, and he has a childlike enthusiasm that is marvelous,” Bertrand du Vignaud says of Molyneux.
While his style may look a bit old world, he’s another designer who is able to mix different periods and styles, and even the priceless with pieces that are worth nothing. And make it all look effortless.
“After working in so many different places with so many different craftsmen and so many different clients,” he says, “you’re not a decorator, not an architect, not a contractor—you’re an editor. All you do is take the best here, the best there and suddenly, through you, it happens.”
In the case of the chateau, it happened in a big way, as you can see from the photos. Definitely read the article. I promise you won’t be disappointed and who knows, it might even make you work a little harder too
Photography by Simon Watson for WSJ. Magazine
5 Comments
What a fabulous place! Did you see that some of the floor tiles in the dining room are cracked? I love that he didn’t rush out and replace every authentic detail of a real life with something shiny and new.
Gorgeous! I love all these mini profiles of South American talents! Thsnk you!
So very dramatic and yet dreamy!
Xoxo
Karena
Be still my heart: this is perfection! I love Juan Pablo interpretation of classic French style and am eagerly researching more of his work.
I’m excited you have posted about Mr. Molyneux because I’ve adored his work- his sense of color is of course highly developed and so beautiful…one of my favorite rooms, and, there are many, is the blue/white gold dining room at the Cercle d’Union Interalliee. He’s also done some spectacular NYC apartments not to mention his previous homes. Ahhh people may love the new spare modern (and I do as well) but when you are present in these great rooms with history and color, texture and luxe, it’s another experience entirely.