Marc Newson and Charlotte Stockdales Libray - Oak Panelling
New York Times
Retro Modern
…“The first time I came in here,” Newson says, “I immediately had visions of ‘North by Northwest’ — you know, the fantastic Frank Lloyd Wright-ish thing in the Hitchcock film, with the large spaces and the chalet feeling?” That house became a reference point; not that the Newson aesthetic, with its smoothly lacquered surfaces and cool curves, ever really departs from retro-modern. “Yeah, yeah,” he says. “Absolutely. It’s very much about having grown up in the ’60s and ’70s with that sense of optimism about the future and technology.” The apartment is dotted with Newson’s most iconic pieces. So imagine the shock, after all that, when you enter the library and find, instead of cool curves and sleek lacquered surfaces, oak panelling and a library with a zebra-skin rug on the floor — a Stockdale family heirloom. This is where Charlotte had her way. “It’s very, very much her,” he agrees. “I never grew up in a house with a library — certainly not in Australia.” He laughs. “But she did. So it’s very typical for her.” (Stockdale is the daughter of the English baronet Sir Thomas Stockdale.) “She loves books and reading.” And he’s in no way sorry: “I thought it was such a wacky thing to do.” Still, all is not claret and crystal. Press a button on the remote and a large oak panel slides quietly down and a large-screen plasma TV emerges, Bond-like, from above the fireplace…
A version of this article appeared in print on March 14, 2010, on page M2110 of Sunday Magazine Part II
