A coffee table by Taracea provides a solid anchor around which color and pattern “dance,” according to interior designer Jay Jeffers — from the floor covering by Manufacture de Tapis de Bourgogne to the ceiling wallpaper by Boeme. The art above the fireplace is an oil on canvas by Olivier O. Olivier, represented by Modernism, while the oil on canvas above the fireplace is by Suhas Bhujbal, represented by Andrea Schwartz Gallery.
Quintus dining chairs, covered in Cowtan & Tout linen, helm the ends of a Jay Jeffers–designed dining table, fabricated by Thomas Sellars with a base by Viya Home. Custom touches also include window coverings fabricated by Susan Lind Chastain and upper walls and ceiling moldings painted by Willem Racké Studio, with wallpaper from Carlisle & Co. The oil on canvas above the Casey Johnson console table is by Ilya Zomb, represented by Caldwell Snyder.
A coffee table by Taracea provides a solid anchor around which color and pattern “dance,” according to interior designer Jay Jeffers — from the floor covering by Manufacture de Tapis de Bourgogne to the ceiling wallpaper by Boeme. The art above the fireplace is an oil on canvas by Olivier O. Olivier, represented by Modernism, while the oil on canvas above the fireplace is by Suhas Bhujbal, represented by Andrea Schwartz Gallery.
Matthew Millman
The clients loved the Atherton house they moved into a few years back, especially its large windows that illuminated high-ceilinged rooms. But they missed the color that had infused their previous home in San Francisco. Enter interior designer, author and now hotelier Jay Jeffers, who designed and reopened The Madrona, an 1880 Victorian estate in Healdsburg, last spring. He would end up working with the clients for nearly two years to not only further brighten the home — particularly spaces meant for gathering and entertaining — but also bring back classic elements the previous modern-minded owners had covered up, like fireplace mantels and wall paneling.
“I’ve found it interesting that there’s no stigma in terms of what’s masculine, what’s feminine,” Jeffers says of working with homeowners who embrace and encourage color choices, in this case with tributes to Indian heritage as well. “It’s more the vibrancy, the life, the energy that it brings to the room.” With the clients’ family in Southern California and based in India, it was key that the 8,400-square-foot property feel as intimate and welcoming as it does visually interesting.
By the pool, a trio of Tidelli loungers offer shade in style.
Matthew Millman
In the dining room, for instance, the squared-off diamond shape of the 10-seat tabletop that Jeffers designed for the space is echoed in the rug. Overhead, the wallpapered box-beamed ceiling balances a bright paint treatment by Willem Racké Studio. “I love a dinner party where you’re sitting there and look up and instead of seeing a white ceiling you see a beautiful chandelier, or you see a painted mural or you see wallpaper like this,” Jeffers says of Carlisle & Co.’s hex pattern. Meanwhile, the clients fell in love with the oil on canvas by Russian painter Ilya Zomb, which Jeffers helped source from Caldwell Snyder. “It could have gone many places in the house, and that’s just the spot that I think was perfect,” he says of the work, which hangs on previously covered wall paneling that now adds a touch of formality.
Quintus dining chairs, covered in Cowtan & Tout linen, helm the ends of a Jay Jeffers–designed dining table, fabricated by Thomas Sellars with a base by Viya Home. Custom touches also include window coverings fabricated by Susan Lind Chastain and upper walls and ceiling moldings painted by Willem Racké Studio, with wallpaper from Carlisle & Co. The oil on canvas above the Casey Johnson console table is by Ilya Zomb, represented by Caldwell Snyder.
Matthew Millman
Jeffers also synchronized color and pattern in the living room. “I don’t ever want anything to feel like it’s a costume or a theme in a room; I want it to all sort of dance and play together well,” he says. “I think that’s a matter of having some neutral tones — and a neutral can be a solid blue — mixed with a larger pattern.” A smaller pattern on a larger piece of furniture, when viewed from farther away, can even take on a more neutral or solid effect. Case in point: the vintage club chairs by Urban Furniture Company that Jeffers had reupholstered in a plaid Pollack fabric from De Sousa Hughes. Neutral-toned patterns in floor and ceiling coverings also seem like willing partners in Jeffers’ design dance, as do the blues of a Nickey Kehoe sofa and an oil on canvas by Suhas Bhujbal, who is represented by Andrea Schwartz Gallery. The result is the designer’s favorite finished space in the home.
And while most of the project was completed by the end of 2021, Jeffers — who also designed the home’s outdoor dining and lounging spaces — is looking forward to one finishing touch: a hand-carved wooden arch made in India over the last year and a half. Now, when the front door is opened, the gaze will be carried straight through the archway framing doors leading to the backyard, where a trio of outdoor spaces are arranged, first and foremost, for gathering.
