Timothy Corrigan is overseeing a photo shoot of rooms he designed for a chateau located in France’s Loire Valley. At the moment, he focuses on the lineup of chairs in the dining room, a cavernous space that is, well, fit for a castle. It isn’t hard to imagine servants darting about the high-ceiling space nor 16 or more guests seated around the enormous table. But, its wood surface shines deep and dark, the surrounding walls glow pink, and the Oriental carpet below casts blue and rosy hues upwards. Despite the glitz and obvious pedigree of the room, the ambiance is decidedly warm, and there isn’t a complexion that wouldn’t show to best advantage here. When asked about his approach to design, Los Angeles-based Timothy Corrigan doesn’t mince words: “It’s about comfortable elegance.” This is not only an apt description of the room at hand; it also captures the essential character of most of the other environments in his portfolio.
The goal of shaping extremely high-end spaces that are also easy to live in is not an uncommon one, but it’s a far simpler one to claim conceptually than to execute three-dimensionally. Corrigan, who seems as comfortable in his own skin as in the rooms he creates for both corporate heads and heads of state, says that ‘comfortable elegance’ is a state of mind and the concrete expression of it can be either over-the-top or simple and clean-lined. His projects reflect both approaches, and whether they are contained in historically significant buildings or in contemporary skyscrapers, they always conjure a heartening sense of luxury.
The Beverly Hills home of this patio features 60 feet of under-cover terraces and so “this space was about the merging of indoors and outdoors and creating an ideal transition between the two,” says Corrigan.
“Most outdoor furniture is not that comfortable and so it makes one very aware of the act of sitting outside. I wanted to create a completely indoor feeling here.”
Since the interiors of the house feature a profusion of reds, he extended the use of the color outside, mixing it with a vibrant yellow “because it reads like sunlight.” The custom chairs are made with water-resistant teak frames dressed in Perennials fabric and piping. “They have the look and feel of wonderful down-filled indoor chairs yet have all the durability of outdoor furniture,” says the designer. A sisal-like outdoor rug woven in a red and yellow microfiber binding enhances the living room-like atmosphere.
Operable curtains slide across the entire terrace on wrought-iron rods; chains at the bottom prevent them from flapping in the wind. An iron coffee table that Corrigan purchased at a Paris flea market provides a generous serving surface; a stool wearing a Pierre Frey outdoor fabric sporting leopard spots adds interest to the largely solid-colored scheme.
Corrigan decided to use the foyer of a traditional Georgian colonial located in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles to create a dramatic but neutral backdrop for a pair of large-scale Sam Francis artworks; two of many owned by the residents. The designer painted the walls, the crowns, the baseboards, and the prominent wood picture moldings (which once contrasted with the walls) in a snappy blue hue he discovered while researching the architecture of the period. “It was authentic to the Georgian period and I put it everywhere; it goes all the way up the staircase.”
Under one Sam Francis canvas, he placed an 18th-century Portuguese console, consciously selecting a piece that is the polar opposite of the art-overwrought and heavily carved as opposed to a more linear and clean-lined table. And yet, the console’s dynamic intricacy resonates with the energetic character of the art.
Corrigan replaced the “all wrong” crystal chandelier with a far simpler hall lantern he bought at a Christie’s auction. He brought the colors of the paintings into the sconces by means of shades made of a red plaid fabric. “That fabric transformed these diminutive old-world fixtures into something very vivid and alive,” he says. He expanded upon the play of color in the space with an array of 18th-century Delft pots that echo the blue on the walls without diminishing the visual impact of the painting. The 19th-century Tabrese rug from Mansour in Los Angeles, which incorporates the wall hue, achieves the same effect.
“There are several areas in a home in which you can go with high drama because one doesn’t live in them all of the time-the entry hall, the powder room, and the dining room.”
Corrigan faced several key challenges when he took on the design of a dining room for the American chairman of Dolce Gabbana. “It’s a very long, thin, and tall room with nothing but windows and doors, he recalls. “It’s like a greenhouse with a solid roof that looks out onto a verdant garden,” he recalls. “The client’s aesthetic was totally over the top and my goal was to keep it in her style while preventing it from becoming vulgar. I wanted to make it fun but not a joke.” Taking his inspiration from the 18th-century Italian dining chairs, which he upholstered in a variety of colors, he tented the ceiling and covered the walls, alternating solid green fabric panels with blue and pink ones featuring hand-painted Indian designs. “I determined to do a tented room due to the shape of the space but the chairs inspired the colors,” he says.
Corrigan then painted the trim in a matching green tone, which, he says, forges an easy sense of connection to the outside. To enable guests to experience the tented ceiling even while seated, Corrigan designed a French ‘40s-style table with a mirrored top and a bright orange lacquer frame. A custom green-and-orange rug echoes the lawn outdoors as well as the table frame. Wood floors painted in a shiny white lacquer create a neutral background for the color-rich furnishings and fabrics. “This is a room that absolutely glows at night and people love dining here,” says the designer.
Corrigan’s California office is based in a 1926 historic landmark building in West Hollywood that once served as Humphrey Bogart’s home. Moorish in style and incorporating few windows, its rooms had been dark, even foreboding before the designer infused them with, he says, ‘a look that is more my norm’. “I was limited as to what I could do structurally given the landmark status of the house,” says Corrigan.
“In a residence of this type, one would normally see a lot of dark reds and other heavy Mediterranean colors, but I wanted to push against that notion and make things light. So I kept the walls white and covered the custom sofa and chair in white slipcovers made with a durable Sunbrella fabric. It’s a living room-I wanted to be able to live in it.”
Corrigan also bleached and whitewashed the coffee table, an art deco-style piece. He lent the dark overhead beams greater visual interest and a somewhat lighter appearance by stenciling a Moorish pattern onto them. A pair of red marble-topped 1920s French console tables provides airy supports for framed artworks and tall lamps designed by Corrigan and made of ostrich eggs and macassar ebony. Eglomise mirrors bought at auction in Paris hang above. Many of the decorative pairings in this room bear testimony to Corrigan’s love of juxtaposing starkly contrasting sensibilities-on one of the consoles, for example, a Bernice Abbott photo within a black frame rests alongside a 19th-century French painting in a gilded one; contemporary lamps of Corrigan’s design sit on 18th-century consoles.
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Commode by Cote France
Keep an eye out for Timothy’s new blog on Decorati, “Around the World With Timothy Corrigan.”
In the words of Timothy Corrigan….
What’s your approach to rugs? Do you start your design with the selection of a rug?
I differ from most American designers in that I apply the European perspective-I never start with a rug and build from there because the room then looks studied. What happens is that you end up focusing on those colors so much that the result looks decorated and not like something that evolved over time. So I will often do everything else first and then find a rug that is the right size and that incorporates the right geometric content, in terms of both pattern and scale.
In what other ways is your approach European?
Europeans inherit so much more than we do and they just make those things work together and look natural. So in my firm, we really focus on buying antiques; I have a full-time person who is picking all the time. If you rely on antique stores you will break the bank, and also you don’t find the unusual, quirky things through them. I believe in mixing totally different styles and many of those things should be truly one-of-a-kind. Upholstered pieces will be new, as will lamps and coffee tables since these are 20th-century inventions, but it’s great to put the old, rare and singular around them.
How do you go about the antiques picking?
My staff picker has an expertise in old furniture. We’re looking at auctions all over Europe all the time-in Copenhagen, Milan, Amsterdam, London, and Paris. And we’re going into the field buying from private clients, antique fairs, and flea markets. We tend not to pay retail. We buy for present jobs and we also put items up on our website to sell. The items that don’t sell there will serve as inventory for us to use on later jobs.
Right now you’re in France; do you travel a lot for work?
I do get around quite a bit. I have offices in Paris and Los Angeles. We’re presently doing projects in America, in the Middle East, in Europe, and in Asia. I’m in the Paris office about a week to a week-and-a-half each month. I spend a similar amount of time in LA and then spend the rest of my time traveling to different jobs.
What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
The most challenging jobs are those in which a lot of construction work is required. What keeps me up at night is figuring out how I’m going to keep all the trades working and doing the jobs that need doing. We can control décor but the task becomes quite a bit more difficult when building is involved.
What’s your favorite style?
The style that I like most is Louis the XVth. To me that style’s furniture, architecture, and art mark the transition from the old world to the new. So it’s a style that gives you a foot in two worlds. This is something I can really relate to, in terms of how I live in both Europe and America and how I juxtapose periods and styles.
Would you tell me about a recent inspiration?
I was recently in the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, which focuses entirely on animals, nature and hunting. The collections are housed in an 18th-century private mansion that’s been redone in an extremely interesting and eclectic way. All the hand railings are made of cast bronze with alternating sections of leaves and feathers. The way things in the collections have been mixed together is extraordinary; it speaks directly to my sense of juxtaposition. You’ll see a Jeff Koons dog and then an 18th-century portrait of Louis the XIVth’s hunting dogs; a film installation of a fashion show with animals in it and then elegant guns inlaid with ivory and gold. It’s a real jewel box in the Marais. I’m struck by how beautifully it was done.
Whose work do you admire?
I love the work of Vicente Wolf. While we speak a totally different language, he has the same philosophy of mixing styles and periods and knows how much more things can be appreciated when one has the courage to mix.
What are you doing these days?
We’re pitching a couple of big hotel projects and are doing nine 30-story commercial and residential mixed-use structures in India-the public spaces and the model apartments. I particularly love working in India. There is just such a sense of possibility. You can get beautiful craftsmanship done at affordable prices-if you can dream it you can do it there.
Loire Valley Dining Room Photograph by Timothy Corrigan.
All Other Photographs by Michael McCreary.
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Resource List:
Loire Vally Dining Room: Anitique Chairs and Table, Oriental Rug
Beverly Hills Patio: Antique Coffee Table, Stool Fabric by Pierre Frey, Chair Fabric & Piping by Perennials
Foyer: Artwork by Sam Francis, 18thc Portuguese Antique Console Table, Antique Lantern from Christie’s, Rug from Mansour LA, 18thc Antique Delft Pots
Tent Dining Room : 18th Century Italian Neoclassical Dining Chairs, Custom Mirrored Table by Timothy Corrigan, Antique 1930s Chandelier
West Hollywood Living Room/Office: Antique Art Deco Coffee refurbished by Timothy Corrigan, 1920s French Red Marble-top Antique Console Tables, Ostrich Egg Table Lamps by Timothy Corrigan, Antique Mirrors from Paris
Hollywood Hills Living Room: Sofa Fabric by Christopher Hyland, Antique African Armchair, Malaysian Plantation Chairs by J.F. Chen, Antique Balinese Sculptures, Antique 1940s Cocktail Table, Aga John Rug Designed by Timothy Corrigan
Master Bedroom: Client’s Own Contemporary Artwork, Antique Chrome Bedside Table, Antique 19th Century Desk
Gold Dining Room: Original Billy Haines Dining Chairs
2 Comments
Would and or could you send me Mr. Corrigan’s website so that I may look at his antiques that he aquires and sells.
Thank you.
Timothy’s website address is: http://www.timothy-corrigan.com