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Romancing the Home From prom night to the walk down the aisle, Jessica McClintock has guided the masses with her trademark romantic, 18th-century sensibility. And now she's bringing that panache to the home with both a new book and home collection 
Is there such a thing as a Victorian hippie? There must be, because nothing else quite describes the heady mixture of romantic frippery, old-world materials and craftsmanship that characterizes fashion designer Jessica McClintock's approach to life and design. McClintock has dressed many a bride and prom queen during her 40-plus-year career. Now she is taking it all a step further with a new bed and bath collection as well as a new book - "Simply Romantic Decorating: Creating Elegance and Intimacy Throughout Your Home" (Rodale Books, 2007) written with lifestyle journalist Karen Kelly - wherein she lays out her home-decorating philosophy. Minimal she is not. Using her own meticulously restored Victorian house in San Francisco as her laboratory and launching pad, she explains everything from the fine points of 18th century ormolu (a gilding method for furniture and other home accessories) to buying furniture and gardening. "I am reality-based," she insists. Well, maybe. What is indisputable, however, is the loveliness of the vision. Looking at the dozens of photographs that illustrate the book, the 20th century with its ceaseless din and clamor seems a distant memory. Instead we find ourselves in an elegant parallel universe where 16-foot ceilings, marble fireplaces and rococo furnishings appear to be the norm. "Romantic style replenishes your energy, keeps you grounded and transports you to another world without making you feel like a guest in your own house," says McClintock. "Surround yourself with beauty and softness, and you feel special." HomeStyle: How would you describe your style? Jessica McClintock: I have a romantic feeling about life. I like Merchant-Ivory movies and candlelight and beautiful rooms. I like the patina of age. I also like anything that's clean and white. HS: You seem in love with the 18th century. McClintock: I am. I've always been interested in history and culture and that period was a time when the arts really began to blossom. There was a beauty and a symmetry to design back then that I really like. HS: I've sat on 18th century chairs and they're not very comfortable. How do you reconcile comfort with style? McClintock: Well, you know, part of it is about proportions. I'm 5 feet 4 inches tall and quite thin. Eighteenth Century furniture actually fits me pretty well. I can sit down and my feet touch the floor. But I also have some overstuffed chairs and sofas - mainly copies of older pieces - that are nice for relaxing. I like a mix of old and new. HS: Among other things, your book chronicles the renovation you did on your vintage Victorian house in San Francisco. What's special about it? McClintock: It's an official historic landmark, for one thing, which means you have to get permission from the city before you change anything. It was built in 1889 for a spice merchant and looks out on San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. I have some photographs that were taken right after the house was finished that show the house and the bay but no bridge in the background. I like that - I like the sense that the house has a past and a place in history. HS: How long have you owned it? McClintock: Since the early 1980s. The owner before me was Francis Ford Coppola, the film director. HS: What shape was it in? McClintock: Well, Coppola and I obviously have very different sensibilities. One of my favorite rooms is the first-floor music room, which I remodeled along the lines of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. When Coppola lived here, however, there was an Andy Warhol portrait of Mao Zedong over the fireplace and a lot of neon tubing on the ceiling. Coppola also installed a movie theater in the basement which I kept for a while - my son liked it - but which I'm now redoing as a butler's apartment. HS: Victorian houses were notoriously dark and with a lot of small rooms. How did you change that? McClintock: We opened up the doorways between rooms, made them taller and wider. And we painted. As I get older - I'm 70 - I like more muted colors. The whole house is shades of white and cream and beige. HS: Did you combine rooms? McClintock: We took down a few walls, particularly in the kitchen. I don't really cook, but I kept thinking of my grandparents' kitchen. They lived in a big old house in Maine and I have a lot of marvelous memories of watching my grandmother cook. She had six boys to feed, plus two granddaughters, so it seemed like she was always making something. I still remember how wonderful the aromas that came out of that kitchen were. HS: Who are your heroes? McClintock: My mother, for one. I think of myself as someone who grew up in the real world surrounded by real people. My mother divorced my father when I was 2 years old and had to go to work. She tried everything - she played piano in a movie theater, she ran a motel, she had a store, finally she had her own beauty salon. Her motto was 'you can do whatever you want but you have to work.' I feel the same way. HS: How has your style evolved? McClintock: Growing up, I was very modern. I read every magazine and was into every new fashion trend. But I came to realize that there are a lot of ways to be creative. Modern is certainly one way to go. But I've always been drawn to the past, to history. I think of myself as a romantic soul. I sometimes think there is this giant in my head - my mother - telling me to make it pretty. And I listen to her. |
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