Vogue | So Haute

Oct

2008

Carrier and Company

When New York’s fashion elite need help designing their homes, husband-and wife duo Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller, principals of the firm Carrier and Company, are often the decorators of choice. I first took notice of Carrier and Company after seeing Jesse Carrier and the homes of two of his fashionable clients featured in The Daily this past Fashion Week. One of those clients is Annelise Peterson, PR Director for Alberta Feretti and a regular on the New York social scene. Above is the bedroom in Peterson’s fabulous West Village apartment. I love everything about this room. The brown oriental toile print seen here which covers the walls, bed canopy and even the window treatments is so unexpectedly chic. Those campaign chests remind me of my ownand I adore the headboard and the curtained valance that envelops it.

This is Peterson’s living room. It has a Hamptons summer home kind of look and feel which must be so calming to come home to everyday. Jesse Carrier is a contributing editor and stylist for both Vogue and Men’s Vogue, a position which keeps him tapped into the fashion set. Without a doubt his most fashionable client is none other than Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the fashion bible also known as Vogue. Carrier has designed several private spaces for Wintour including her Hamptons summer home and has completed projects for the Vogue offices which includes the magazine’s gorgeous lobby shown below. Other clients include actress Rachel Weisz, Jay Fielden of Men’s Vogue and Bob Pittman, the founder of MTV and former president of AOL Time Warner. Quite an impressive group of clients but I’d have to argue that Carrier and Company’s portfolio is equally if not more remarkable than their client roster. Take a look at the photos below and see for yourself! And to check out the feature on Jesse Carrier from The Daily, click here.

Tags: Carrier & Company, Jesse Carrier, Mara Miller, Vogue

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Feb

2008

{Haute Homes} Francois Nars’ Private Island Retreat

In my previous post about St Barths’ Le Sereno I mentioned that Christian Liaigre designed cosmetics tycoon Francois Nars’ private island estate in the South Pacific and it reminded me of this amazing editorial from the Dec 2004 issue of Vogue that was shot on the island. The article featured Canadian model Daria Werbowy and was photographed by Patrick Demarchelier.

The island is called Motu Tane, which translates to “island of universal love” or “island of man.” It’s one of 118 islands in French Polynesia and is a 5 minute boat ride from Bora Bora. In the late 90s Nars took a family trip, island hopping around French Polynesia, and fell in love. He was mesmerized by the color and beauty of the islands so much that he ended up buying one! (He had also just received a windfall of cash after having sold his company to Shiseido.) In 2000 he partnered up with Liagire to begin designing his fantasy island retreat.

Before Nars acquired the island it had none of the comforts of civility…no electricity, no running water, etc. Designing his dream resort was an extensive undertaking that required Liaigre to bring in a team of experts from around the world to help Nars realize his dream. This included an ecologist who was flown in from Australia to oversee the construction of the island’s water and utilities systems to ensure that none of the delicate reefs would be harmed as the pipes were being laid. He also brought in French landscape architect Pascal Cribier to overhaul the island’s landscaping and plant more than 1500 coconut palm trees on the property.

The end result is absolutely stunning. The stylish resort consists of 13 wooden bungalows with thatched roofs surrounded by a huge open living room (above) designed in the style of a traditional Tahitian meeting house. The interiors all feature dark, polished wood floors and Polynesian style furniture made of antique teak, African and Thai woods. Much of the furniture and many of the structural elements used to construct the bungalows were hand crafted in France and shipped to Motu Tane.

There are two very large master suite bungalows (pictured above), one for Nars and one for his parents. There are also two smaller guest suites with two bedrooms each and nine stand alone bungalows. All are situated right on the beach or in the property’s gardens.

There are also separate bungalows for fitness, a library (above), a kitchen (below), and a huge living compound for Nars’ staff who maintains the property. There’s even a photography studio which is used by Nars, also a photographer, as well as for photography crews to use while staging photo shoots there for publications like Vogue. Many of the property’s bungalows feature Nars’ own photography, mostly portraits of Polynesian natives.

Nars spends 5-6 months out of the year at Motu Tane. During the times he’s not there he rents the place out for up to $378K per week. Yikes! Have a look at a few more of the photos below. I mean, isn’t this the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?! TRULY PARADISE!!! Motu Tane has a website for people interested in renting the island. Check it out here.