Savoir Vivre

Against the otherwise neutral scheme, a single red silk pillow grabs your attention. “I think there’s nothing better than a black suit with a big, ol’ brooch on it,” Oetgen explains. “You can change that brooch every day; it can be rubies and diamonds one day, sapphires and emeralds the next! That’s all a pillow is. It’s a brooch for the room.”

For this home at The Mansion on Peachtree, designer John Oetgen created an elegant atmosphere, with a touch of his trademark “whimsy” thrown in.

There are Chinese influences throughout the living room because, says the designer, “I think their shapes are so beautiful. As for the rug, I saw it one day at Rugs by Robinson and thought ‘how simple and how lovely,’ and I wanted everything in the room to be this one color to make it seem bigger.” That monochromatic approach allows your attention to be drawn to the painting over the fireplace by Atlanta artist Dixie Purvis, who is represented by Sandler Hudson Gallery.

In the foyer, a light fixture that Oetgen found in Paris shines beautifully against a ceiling medallion painted a beautiful shade of sky blue.

Bathroom fixtures from Renaissance Tile & Bath are elegant in their own right, but finishing touches like this Venetian mirror up the ante further.

Just outside the bedroom, a quiet sitting spot is softly illuminated by a pair of purple glass hurricanes.

One of the works of art created by Oetgen himself.

Upon entering this residence, guests are met by this impressive antique clock, topped with a blue mercury glass sphere to make it even more of a focal point.

The dining room furniture consists simply of two 48-inch black marble Saarinen tables surrounded by Georgian chairs. And the lack of art on the walls is intentional. “I wanted it to feel spacious, make it a place where you could have amusing, theme-oriented dinner parties,” Oetgen explains. “That’s why there’s no art in here.” Serpentine candleholders are the perfect counterpoint for the much-more-straightforward-in-style gilded etagere that Oetgen found at Parc Monceau. “It’s almost like a piece of sculpture,” he says, “so I continued that feeling by making ‘sculpture’ out of the china—almost like how Chihuly or Brancusi work with forms.”

A simple, unassuming breakfast table is surrounded by chairs upholstered in a sturdy indoor/outdoor material. Given the natural light flooding the room, Oetgen used wooden Venetian blinds at the windows “to calm it down and not make it so fancy.”

Grounded by black-and-white marble floors, this kitchen—and the adjoining family room—are at once casual and elegant, comfortable and chic. No detail has been left untouched, right down to the hardware from the Matthew Quinn Collection.

“I wanted this room to feel big because it’s not; it’s little,” says Oetgen. “That’s why I painted it black, because you have no boundary edge with black.” A saddle leather sofa anchors the comfy fireside seating group. Flower photographs by Murphy Townsend. Jean de Merry chandelier through R. Hughes.

This room’s understated elegance is due, in part, to the fact that Oetgen used just one pattern throughout a subdued paisley found on the window treatments as well as the headboard and upholstered bedside tables. The master bedroom is glamorous in an understated, European way. “The bed isn’t piled with millions of pillows; it’s just simple,” says Oetgen.

The guest room has the feeling of an uptown studio apartment, one you’d be hard-pressed to leave. An iron bed, made by Charles Calhoun, is decked out in an Ikat pattern that’s echoed throughout the room. But color adds another layer of comfort to the room; Oetgen used a warm hue on the walls, sky blue on the ceiling and pops of coral here and there.

The address tells you that this is a home at The Mansion on Peachtree, a Rosewood Hotel & Residence. But a sweeping glance of this high-rise retreat makes you think twice. It feels more like you’re in Manhattan, in one of those marvelous pre-war apartment buildings on the Upper East Side.

Perhaps it’s designer John Oetgen’s generous use of black-and-white marble, reminiscent of the black-and-white lobby in New York’s Carlyle Hotel (and, ironically, another Rosewood property). Or maybe it’s his use of wooden Venetian blinds, which lend a sense of permanence to the place, much like being on Park Avenue.

But Oetgen denies any specific references to New York. Rather, his muse was simply to find the soul of this space. Here, that translates to “elegant,” with a touch of the designer’s trademark “whimsy” thrown in for good measure.

That’s apparent from the moment you step through the front door into foyer; what could have been a mere pass-through is, instead, a gallery-like experience. Glamorously trimmed with black crown molding and baseboard, the long and narrow hallway is punctuated with original photography by the designer himself. “I felt like it needed windows,” Oetgen explains. “I’m a photographer, as well as a designer, and in the middle of this project I was in Paris, where I took all these pictures. Each one is ‘framed’ by a picture of a stuccoed limestone vent hole with a metal grate in the center. I’m the old-fashioned kind of photographer who cuts and pastes, so I literally cut out the grate in the center of each photograph and inset other photos—like the Luxembourg Gardens, the Mona Lisa, a tiger print I saw in the window of an antique shop, a marvelous arrangement of Christian Dior chairs, a view of the ocean while sailing to Paris on the Queen Mary. So you’re transported from an architectural, structural point of view into a fantasy world. And perhaps that’s what this residence is, going from an architectural fortress point of view into somewhat of a fantasy world!”

Fantasy or not, the comfort found throughout is very real. The living room, for instance, is very intimate, thanks in large part to a strategically placed screen. “This is a vertical space—it has nice tall ceilings—so I brought the height down a bit, creating a horizontal line with a Chinese hand-painted screen,” Oetgen explains. And that same screen not-so-coincidentally separates the living room from the adjacent bar. “I love the idea of seeing the window (over the bar) above the screen,” he adds. “But I didn’t want to see a kitchen counter, which is the bar.”

On the other side of the bar, the formal dining room is “smallish by grand standards,” says Oetgen. “But I wanted it to feel spacious, make it a place where you could have amusing, theme-oriented dinner parties. That’s why there’s no art in here.” Instead, the walls themselves take on an artistic quality; the designer had the wallpaper cut it in blocks, then applied like limestone blocks. “It sort of mirrors the exterior of the building,” he notes. “Plus, it elongates and visually expands the size of the room.”

But it’s the heart of this home—the kitchen and family room—that truly speaks to the aforementioned New York vibe. Those Venetian blinds? “I saw this marvelous light coming in, and I wanted to use Venetian blinds to calm it down and not make it so fancy. I wanted the feeling of a bistro,” Oetgen explains. As for the black-and-white marble floors here, it wasn’t so much The Carlyle that inspired him as it was Vermeer. “I’ve always loved the paintings of Vermeer,” he says. “There’s always a window on the left, a maiden of some kind and always those great Dutch black-and-white floors.”

He may have been inspired by one of the Masters. But when it comes to design, Oetgen is a master in his own right.

John Oetgen – A SNAPSHOT
Designer John Oetgen opened his firm in 1973 and, to this day, continues to create stunning spaces that are a little unexpected and a lot of fun.

+ The styles I’m most drawn to are…the best of any period. I also love a great sense of architecture, be it cozy and cottage-y or massive and monumental. And I love psychologically different feelings. In any one home, I want a room that hugs you and a room that makes you feel “free.” A sentimental room and a lively, entertaining room. I think a good environment should offer a full smorgasbord of emotions.

+ What continues to inspire me is…travel. My favorite place to visit is Paris.

+ My favorite place to shop is…New York.

+ When I go out in Atlanta, you’ll find me at…Anis. Or any of the classic restaurants, like LaGrotta. Or maybe at a party at SCAD; I love to support SCAD.

+ My biggest splurges are always on…books, art and furniture—and really good restaurants!

+ The best thing I’ve recently discovered is…the color grape. My friend Duvall has introduced me to the world of grape.

+ I like to collect…books and art. And restaurant memories.

+ The luxuries I’d never give up are…breath and a heartbeat. I think they’re pretty much luxuries!

+ My heroes are…the artists that changed the world. Vermeer and da Vinci. Picasso and Kandinsky.

INTERIOR DESIGN: John Oetgen, Oetgen Design, Inc., (404) 352-1112; oetgendesign.com. The Mansion on Peachtree Residences, liveatthemansion.com