April 29, 2017 By Alicia Brunker Architectural Digest
Every spring, at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, the most celebrated interior designers come together to create a fantastical New York destination. This year’s location—a 19th-century Georgian townhouse on the Upper East Side—is the type of place you’d imagine a social swan, like Brooke Astor or Helena Rubinstein, taking up residency, adorning its walls with hand-painted chinoiserie. Or least, that’s what came to mind for San Francisco designer Ken Fulk when he first took in the sight of the home’s lush overgrown gardens from an open bay window in the dining room. The initial visit prompted him to create the fictional tale, “Madame’s Magical Menagerie,” where exotic animals escaped from the local zoo and found the perfect haven in Madam F.’s backyard garden, making her famous dinner parties more lively than ever. To help his fairytale come to life, Fulk collaborated with luxury wallpaper house de Gournay, who depicted whimsical scenes, such as a zebra nibbling on a lilac bush or a polar bear curled up on the garden bench, in a custom wallpaper that matches the design of the 1800s structure. Here, Fulk gives us a glimpse into Madam F.’s fabulous life that’s portrayed through her immaculate interiors.
Architectural Digest: How did you come to collaborate with de Gournay on this project?
Ken Fulk: Once I found out I was designing the dining room of Kips Bay Show House, I knew I wanted to create a mural on the walls, with these wayward zoo animals that this imaginary grande dame was feeding out of her Upper East Side garden window. After accepting the offer, the first call I received was Hannah from de Gournay. She suggested we do the mural together. I already had a muralist, but Hannah convinced me that we could do something great. I sent her all of my inspiration imagery and explained my tale, and she immediately got it. Luckily, we have a similar aesthetic, which allowed us to instantly speak the same language. I went to London to do a big work session, and afterwards, de Gournay slayed dragons. They flew to China to pick up the wallpaper and hand-delivered it to the show house in New York, bringing the best installers from England, who worked through the night to put the paper on the walls. It was a Herculean effort.
AD: Tell me the story behind your character Madame F.
KF: The Kips Bay Show House takes place in this glorious Upper East Side townhouse with these formal, double parlor-like rooms that flank a central staircase. When I first entered the dining room, I stepped into this beautiful bay window that looks down onto the formal gardens and imagined who would have inhabited this house. I came up with a character that’s part Auntie Mame with an indomitable spirit, like the Southern women I grew up around. This sort of Brooke Astor, old New York dame, who sleeps in late, likes her martinis, and throws these beautiful dinner parties. She’s also a lifelong animal lover, like me.
AD: What was the inspiration behind the animal dinner party theme?
KF: For one, I am an animal nut—I’m on the board of the ASPCA, and, in my own home, I have a giant giraffe and other taxidermy animals. Also, I had been to dinner in Paris, where de Gournay’s showroom has this beautiful wallpaper with impressionistic animals. All of those influences transformed into my idea of a zebra sleeping under a wisteria bush and a giraffe nibbling on a nearby tree, with Madam F. feeding them steak tartare out the window. We get to share this world with these magical creatures, and wouldn’t it be amazing if one day they escaped from the zoo to this fantasy garden?
AD: What other elements in the room helped your story come to life?
KF: In the room we have Saint-Louis crystal paired with Hermès china and beautiful 19th-century antiques. We created a real silver closet. It has a combination lock hidden behind the door, and, typically, when you open a silver case, it’s lined in velvet, so we covered the closet in sapphire blue silk velvet from Pierre Frey. Vintage silver and crystal fill the walls. I also imagined Madame F. never cooked herself, so there’s a fabulous vintage phone with menus from the Russian Tea Room, Elaine’s, and 21 Club, where she would order her takeout to serve on her finest china. All the components are very luxe and carefully selected to reflect Madame F.’s impeccable taste.
AD: How would you describe the atmosphere?
KF: There’s something about the room that feels incredibly modern and impactful, yet evocative of another time and era. You step in and feel like you may be attending her dinner party in 1967. It’s also a very optimistic space filled with childlike wonder.
AD: What kinds of conversations do you envision happening at one of these dinner parties?
KF: A great dinner party is really contingent on the guest list. You want compelling and interesting people; there’s no room for bores. In my head, there are philosophers, poets, playwrights, and maybe a funky downtown tattoo artist next to a tech titan or a rocket scientist. Madam F. would have had a variety of friends that shared a similar joie de vivre, making for some lively conversation.
AD: Why is this the perfect paper for a dining room setting?
KF: I think dining rooms can feel so staged, but this one is active and unapologetically opinionated. Dining rooms are where we come together to share meals and tell stories, and this wallpaper sets the tone for a playful party, with the animals ready to participate.