American Beauty by Thom Filicia

7/31/2019 American Beauty by Thom Filicia

1/25


2/25
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/clarksonpotter/index.phphttp://books.google.com/ebooks?as_brr=5&q=9780307884909http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9780307884909http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307884909http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-beauty-thom-filicia/1108939521?ean=9780307884909&isbsrc=Y&cm_mmc=Random+House-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link%2c+AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-VD9*lkiWNd8-_-10%3a1&http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307884902?ie=UTF8&tag=randohouseinc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307884902


3/25

Copyright 2012 by Thom Filicia

Photographs copyright 2012 by Eric Piasecki except on pages

22 and 55, photographs courtesy of the Skaneateles Historical

Society; page 23, photograph Jim Scherzi; and pages 3435,

49 (left), 61, 62, 65, 67, 68 (left), 70, 73, 74, 75, 78, 8081, 82,

85, 86, 89 (bottom), 129 (bottom right), 140, 172, 178, and 182

photographs Zach DeSart.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers,

an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of RandomHouse, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.com

www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with

colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Filicia, Thom.

American Beauty / Thom Filicia. First edition.

1. Filicia, ThomHomes and hauntsNew York (State)

Skaneateles. 2. Interior decorationPhilosophy. I. Title.

NK2004.3.F55A35 2012

747dc23 2011052490

ISBN 978-0-307-88490-9

Printed in China

Design by Stephanie Huntwork

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition


4/25


5/25

Conten t s

Foreword 8

IntroductIon: How I BougHt a House

In a Place called Home 11

1 tHe House InsIde my Head 25

2 reInventIng tHe Home 41

3 tHe essentIal elements 63

4 tHe lIBrarIan lets down Her HaIr 87

5 PuttIng It all togetHer 101

6 lettIng a House Be a Home 205

acknowledgments 220

resources 221

Index 222


6/25

8 a m e r i C a n b e a u t y

F o r e w o r d

Hello. When I read Thom Filicias frst book,

Style, I ell in love with Thoms way o

designing interiors. I had been a an o Thoms

since Queer Eye, and had harassed him at more

than one NBC party, but seeing his work un-

ettered by the extreme time and budget con-

straints o reality TV, I was really impressed

with his legit training, his visual style and his

ability to translate his philosophy into practical

tips or nerds. I really wanted to work with him.

His rooms were warm, earthy, un, and a little

bit masculinejust like me!

I was determined. I I was ever going to

leverage this temporary TV celebrity o mine, it

would be to get Thom Filicia Inc. to design my

amilys apartment. O course it turns out that

you dont have to be on TV to collaborate with

TFI, and a meeting was easily arranged to dis-

cuss the project. When we met, I asked Thom to

autograph my copy o his book. (I should point

out that I never ask anyone or an autograph,

and I have met Paul McCartney and Posh Spice.)

My husband and I enjoyed our collaboration

with Thom immensely and continue to marvel

at our good ortune when we look around our

lovely grown-up home.

InAmerican Beauty, Thom tells the story

o saving and renovating an old house, but it

seems to me its also a story about going home

again and loving your hometown. (Who knew

Thom grew up near a town with a polo club?

Classy.) Its an appreciation o a pre-homoge-

nized America, when each state and town had

its own look and eel. Its a book that oers

great pragmatic advice. But its also the perect

book or when you want to lock yoursel in the

bathroom, hide rom your children, and look at

pretty pictures.

Once signed, this foreword is a legally binding

document that states that Thom must help my family

with any home we live in until the end of time.

Sincerely,

tIna Fey

new york cIty


7/25

F o r e w a r d 9


8/25

i n t r o d u C t i o n

H o w i b o u g H t a

H o u s e i n a P l a C e

C a l l e d H o m e

beFore i beCame tHom FiliCiabeFore i beCame known as one

o he Fb Fie o tv how lled Qur ey for th straiht

guy, beore I hd ierior-deig frm wih m me o he door,

beore m er o ppreiehip he legedr deig hoe

Prih-HdleI w tomm Filii, kid rom sre. I grew

p i eighborhood o he i lled sedgwik Frm, el old

olleio o hoe bil i he 1920 rod lb where ei

whie re ill reqired. I he moed p he hill o d deig

sre uieri. alhogh ome o m old sedgwik rowd h

dried w rom or homeow, mol o new york ci, whe we

mee, or dier or b hppee o he ree, i like rig

io old ried rom mmer mp.


9/25

1 2 a m e r i C a n b e a u t y

skneele h ll-americn chrm h

drw hopper, bicycler, nd sundy drier

on ummer dy. the reidenil ree in he

illge re lined wih vicorin-er Iline

nd Federl houe. siing on n old-fhioned

fron porch, looking ou on hdy idewlk

nd buling ree, you cn wch he world

go by.


10/25

H o w i b o u g H t a H o u s e i n a P l a C e C a l l e d H o m e 1 3

lined with clapboard Colonial-, Italianate-, and

Victorian-style houses. The locals stop to chat

as they come and go rom the shops. Its a place

that loves its traditions. Every spring the wholetown is on hand or high-school graduation in

Shotwell Park, across rom the Sherwood

ater which the new graduates make their tra-

ditional dash into the lake in their gowns. In

summertime the population seems to double

every weekend. But i you hang around the bar

at the Sherwood long enough, youll eventually

see anyone in town youre looking oror at

least get the scuttlebutt about what he or she

has been up to.

The auction at the country club was a typi-

cal Skaneateles event: ar rom being a stuy

old institution, the opera is a spunky, upstart

company that many o the younger Syracuse

amilies who retreat to Skaneateles in summer

support; the polo club is also a place where the

whole community gathers. I spent the day run-

ning the auction with Carrie, my pal who is a

local TV personalityI call her Syracuses own

Katie Couric. We had a grand time and along

the way made some bucks or a good cause,

reconnecting with some people and meeting

others, and we let with a ew un stories to tell.

Late that aternoon, heading back to Man-

hattan, I had just started along the east side o

the lake when I spotted a or-sale sign on the

right side o the road. I had driven this stretch

not a month earlier and hadnt noticed the signthen. O course, I wasnt looking or a house

at least I didnt think I was: beore I knew what

I was doing, I had pulled over and was craning

my neck to catch sight o what they were selling.

My riends rom home are usually sur-

prised to hear that I go back regularly and still

hang out with people they havent seen in years.

I make the our-hour drive to attend weddings,to celebrate the birth o riends babies, or to see

my ather, who recently moved to Skaneateles

or the summer. For the previous ew years, as

I appeared more oten on television, the people

who used to call me Tommy have wanted me

to show up as Thom at und-raisers, where my

little bit o renown might bring more locals out

and put a ew more dollars into the hat.

Thats what I was doing in the quaint lake-

side town o Skaneateles, about orty minutes

southwest o Syracuse, on a gorgeous aternoon

in the middle o July 2008. I had spent the day

at a beneft or the Syracuse Opera held at the

Skaneateles Polo Club. Standing at the head

o one o the Finger Lakesthe long, narrow,

high-country lakes that central New York is

amous orSkaneateles is a place that time

(and chain stores) seem to have orgotten, yet

its a modern, lively town with its own small

airport, cute shops, a prosperous vineyard,

and marvelous restaurants. I had been coming

to Skaneateles since I was a kid, frst to swim

and fsh with my childhood riend Robbie and

later to hang out with my high-school crew

Robbie, J.R., and Ben, whose ather owned the

Sherwood Inn, a historic hotel and restaurant

overlooking the lake. When we were sixteen or

so, we would slip beers out o the Sherwoodscoolers and sneak back to a riends boathouse

or a party.

Even i I didnt have a history there, I would

still eel at home in Skaneateles. Its streets are


11/25


12/25


as a Colonial, but with its brown cedar siding

and sloping roo, it had the eeling o one o the

original camp houses the rst summer visitors

built on the lake in the late 1800s.I was a little bit relieveda place in this

shape might actually be a bit more aordable

and a little dismayed: I had no reason to turn

right around and drive o. The house was nei-

ther too grand nor too broken down. It had

possibilities.

Somebody was circling around the lawn

on a little John Deere. When he spotted me, he

turned o his mower and came over to intro-

duce himsel as Howard, the caretaker o the

property. Howard didnt oer to let me in, but

he let me look around outside all I liked. When

I walked around back, I saw that the lake side

was the true ront o the house: symmetrical,

with a peaked roo on either side. A low-slung

charm overcame its poor condition.

More important, it was perectly placed

on the lot, nearly square to the shoreline, well

away rom the road, and a short walk to the

water, ending a couple o stepping-stones into

the lake. The views were just as I had imagined.

Across the lake, a red barn and silo sat at the

top o a grassy rise. Below them, elegant houses

rom various periods dotted the shore.

Looking back, I suppose it was inevitable

that I would end up owning a house in a place

like Skaneateles. Id grown up on lakes like

Oneida, where my amily kept a classic PennYan cruiser. Summer had always meant zipping

across a lake on a sailboat, or water-skiing,

or running out the back door or a swim with

riends. I love the ocean and have enjoyed every

I couldnt see the house clearly rom the

road. It stood shrouded in trees at the bottom

o a deep lot that sloped rom the mailbox to the

waters edge. Whatever was down there had lotso yardand lots o privacy. Its location on the

lake was also perect. I had driven about a mile

and a hal out o town. Whether you went by

road or by boat, the house was close enough to

town to make shopping or an impromptu din-

ner out convenient. But it was ar enough away

rom the lakes end that it probably had a wide-

open view across the water.

The truth was, I didnt need a new house.

I already owned one on a lake in eastern New

York State, a lot closer to my home and busi-

ness in Manhattan. I didnt have the time to

get involved in a project more than our hours

upstate. With the economy already showing

signs o tanking, it didnt make any sense to put

a signicant amount o money into a house that

I would visit only on the odd weekends I could

get away. Still . . . Maybe it was the un Id had

that aternoon, or the pull o home, but despite

all the reasons to drive on, I thought, Whats the

harm in looking?

I backed up and turned into the driveway.

As the house came into view, I could see it had

suered years o benign neglect. The brown sid-

ing badly needed new stain. The roo was intact

but tired. To the right o the ront door on the

ground foor, a window was completely blocked

by the trunk o an enormous maple tree. There

was a large, separate garage with kooky nauti-

cal windows, but Id hesitate to park even an

insured vehicle there. The houses basic design

was nothing spectacularit might be described


13/25


directionaldirectional

toP: the hse s i ws he dy I rs sw i

i he smmer 2008. the clpbrd sidig

ws bdly wehered d he widws were

hdgepdge syles. leFt: t my srprise,

he hse ws srcrlly sd. the chges

eeded brehe lie i he plce were

msly csmeicd cmmsesicl.

Pricig Fixer-upper

wHen Considering tHe rigHt PriCe

r hme, esime he cs he

imprvemes h yll hve mke

d hse yll w mke. I y

d kw hw esime his cs,

sk crcr r experieced hme

wer wlk hrgh he hse wih

y. add his esime he price he

hse. this gre represes he miimm

m yd hve sell he hse r

recp yr ivesme. a hse sellig

r $500,000 h eeds $250,000 wrh

pgrdes mke y hppy livig here

will hve sell r les $750,000.

nw lk rd he eighbrhd.

are y hses cmprble yrs sellig

r mre h $750,000? I he cs he

revi dded he prchse price ges

beyd wh hse c sell r, he hse

is prbbly gre by. (or y eed

scle bck yr sdrds.)

this is re eve i, like me, yd

ever hik fippig he plce. I kes mch plesre i whs prcicl s i

whs beil. I he rece rel-ese

crsh gh s e hig, is h heres

hig prcicl r beil b hse

y c ge yr mey .


14/25


and their own mind-set: all lakes are not alike.

I wanted one that felt like home.

My personal life wasnt the only thing that

had been straying back toward central New

York; the region had become a muse for my

design ideas, too. About a year and a half before

I encountered the house, I had begun working

on my own furniture collection with a family-

owned company from Hickory, North Carolina,

called Vanguard. First I designed a dining chair

based on the ancient klismosthe low, broadchairs with curving legs that you see on ancient

Greek urns (and which have inspired many

designers). Each piece in the collection was sup-

posed to have a name, and I wanted to avoid

minute Ive spent at my brothers house and my

summer rentals in the Hamptons. But when I

was at last ready to buy a getaway of my own,

I looked inward and decided the Hamptons

wouldnt do it for me. I went looking for a lake.

About ten years ago, I bought a house on

Copake Lake in eastern New York. No more

than a mile square, Copake lies just south of the

Berkshires, about two hours from Manhattan

close enough so that I could invite colleagues,

neighbors, and city friends. For a long while, itwas all I needed. As time went by, though, and I

began to make my trips back to Syracuse, I real-

ized it wasnt just any lake I wanted; I missed

the Finger Lakes. They have their own culture


15/25


generic pomposities like The Harrington or

Avedon. As I was contemplating all this, I

happened to drive past a sign or Greek Peak,

a ski area I used to requent as a kid. I named

my American version o the klismos the Greek

Peak chair.

I began to give the pieces I added to the col-

lection not just central New York names but real

connections to the region. Id nd inspiration

or my designs in a place-name or the childhood

associations I had with a town or a building.

Sometimes I would draw an idea or a color or a

texture rom a stone wall I saw in passing, and

the area or arm where Id seen it would end

up as the name. Solvay, a town on Onondaga

Lake, northwest o Syracuse, once amous or

manuacturing steel and electric wire, inspired

a swirling metal spot table. My sleek Weed-

sport chair reminded me o a race-car seat, so I

named it ater a speedway near Auburn, a ew

minutes drive west o Skaneateles.

Some o the associations were more

abstract. When it came time to design a diningtable, I knew I wanted something classic, but

with an element o cool sophistication. I arrived

at a circular design with a metal base that

would give the table a little edge. I had stopped

Page 18: rooevel Hall, he geek revival

aepiece aco he lake fo y houe,

viewed fo y boa. oPPosite: my solvay

po able helix of eal i an hoae o he

eel wok in he own of solvay, nohwe of

skaneaele. the geek Peak chai, naed fo

a local ki ounain, echoe one of he ealie

piece of deined funiue, he klismoschai

of ancien geece.

in the tiny village o Borodino and discovered

a new gourmet ood market set up in a ormer

church. The sophisticated edibles like trufe

sea salt and organic vegetables, displayed in the

old churchs classic setting, captured the same

rediscovery o central New York that I was put-

ting into my collection. I named my new table

Borodino. By the time I nished the collection

two years later, nearly every piece had been

named ater a town, a street, or a community

within an hours drive o Syracuse.

These shapes and materials and asso-

ciations were more undamental to me than

anything Id drawn rom beore. Instead o

designing intellectually, using the principles o

the masters I drew inspiration rom, I rooted

the urniture in the landscape and the architec-

ture that surrounded me growing up. The ur-

niture came rom me because it came rom the

place I called home.

I was still in the middle o guring all

this out when I rst drove past the house in

Skaneateles. Like my urniture designs, thehouse belonged to the landscape: it was tted

to its environmentopen to the lake, bunkered

against cold nights in spring and all, made o

wood and stone taken rom its surroundings.

Its lakeside camp style was completely o its

time and place, too. It was modest enough to be

a casual spot or parties with riends, yet I could

make it as sophisticated as I wanted it to be. It

tmea kid rom Syracuse who wanted a place

near home; a designer who was searching or an

organic, personal style.

The next time I was in Skaneateles, I

walked through the house. I knew in my gut


16/25

4 8 a m e R i c a n b e a u t y

izing that its okay to have a humbler ethic

about our homeseven our primary homes.

Ater letting the building boom o the past ew

decades go to our heads, we are discovering that

we dont need mudrooms as big as our parents

dining rooms, or kitchens the size o their living

rooms. Modest but comortable houses, which

demand ewer resources, are more in step with

our concern or the environment, which is driv-

ing a green aesthetic o its own: there is a

beauty in a structure that is in proportion to

its use. Instead o size, the measure o a suc-

cessul home is its ingenious use o materials,

its reinterpretation o traditional orms, or its

unctional and clever layout. In architecture,

character is becoming the new large.

amily had style. They just hadnt put the same

kind o money into decorating their lake house

as they likely had spent on their house in town.

The disparity was a reminder that what I

was up to is a modern phenomenon. In 1917

or 1947 or 1967, or that mattergoing out to

the lake was supposed to be more like camping.

You came out to get away rom plush abrics

and complicated decoration; you were roughing

it, even i you still had indoor plumbing and a

kitchen stove. When these earlier generations o

vacationers updated, do-it-yoursel was part o

the romance o a second home. Renovation by

accident was just how things were done.

I wanted to preserve some o this simple

approach. Americans, I think, are slowly real-


17/25

R e i n v e n t i n g t h e h o m e 4 9

opposite: As we dismantled the previous

owners hardscape, the layers told a fascinating

history of American decor, one that had an

impact on my choices.above: My design

vocabulary of dark linen wallcovering, tile

in stony hues, and animal details was not so

far off from the textured wall coverings and

watery colors we had found in place.

My renovation was without a doubt going

to be a modern update. I wanted a house that

refected the way I lived and entertained. Unlikea camp, with bracing deprivations like shared

bathrooms and cots with wool blankets, my

house would aord guests privacy and a little

luxury: every bedroom would have its own bath-

room, and all the urnishings would have a luxu-

rious eel. At the same time I wanted to preserve

the reedom and ease o a simpler time. I needed

a retreat, not a complicated, high-maintenance

showplace. I planned to achieve this by invest-

ing in the context and vocabulary o the house

itsel: practical solutions, natural materials, and

details that were consistent with the original

building.


18/25


19/25

1 4 0 a m e r i c a n b e a u t y

oPPosite: Open to the lake, the living room

changes mood with the sky and water outside.

Its variation o texture, color, and fnish allows

the room to respond to dierent qualities o

light and weather.

l i v i n g r o o m

woven wall covering wall bands outdoor lanterns

Paneled ceiling weedsPort cha irs skaneateles

sofa

niagara rug

strathmore consoles

brattelroad armless chairs wendell terrace cocktail

table french fort bench drumlins lamP tables

the long living room is the crossroads o

the house, where guests frst see its ull

scope, or pass through on their way to the

lake, or rally beore an outing. It is also the

salonsomewhere everyone can lounge, eat,

warm themselves at the freplace, or socialize

while watching the parade o boats go by on the

water. Unlike the modern great rooms that

have become the center o amily lie over the

last couple o decades, my living room is a lit-

tle old-ashioned. Great rooms divide the space

into distinct eating, gaming, and TV-watching

areas, whereas my living room invites guests to


20/25

7 2 a m e r i c a n b e a u t y

OppOsite: The feldstones o the freplace

are the textural anchor o the house, not least

because they make their appearance in the

media room and upstairs guest bedroom as

the chimney rises to the roo. With its visual

weight and graphic natural surace, the

freplace inspired the other hard suraces in

the house.

t H e F i r e p L a c e

enced how I treated wood and the doorways

throughout the house, the replace aected

my decisions about countertops and tile. These

hard suraces are generally ound in places

where water fowsI wanted them to have the

same graphic eeling o rock contained in thereplace.

For my countertops, I turned to Vic Val-

lar, a second-generation stoneworker based in

Syracuse but with contacts all over the globe.

I told him I wanted a natural stone with lots

constructed rom a pile o raw eldstone,

the ve-oot-wide chimney rises rom the

massive hearth, dominating the living rooms

interior wall. The stack o earthy rock, the work

o a guy named Bill Star, who built many re-

places in the area, is a counterpoint to the shim-mering water and ethereal light rom the lake

that constitutes the view in the opposite direc-

tion. The back o the replace makes up part o

the wall in the media room behind it, and the

chimney erupts, too, into the second-foor guest

room, where it is again exposed like a river o

rock climbing the wall. The replaces gray and

brown stones, gathered rom the surrounding

elds as the house was being built, bring the

landscape into the house in a very literal way.

As with the doors, I wanted to extend the

replaces strong eeling o orest and eld into

other parts o the house. Where the doors infu-


21/25


22/25

P u t t i n g i t a l l t o g e t h e r 1 2 9

oPPosite: The bar, surrounded by foor-to-

ceiling storage and a Viking wine ridge,

allows me to greet guests with a cocktail o

their choice.a bove: Just inside the kitchen

near the entry is a handy tagre and the

phone, accompanied by the houses Energy Starplaque.


23/25


24/25

L e t t i n g a H o u s e

B e a H o m e

By tHe sHoreLine on tHe nortH side of my property was an

old, tumbledown outbuilding that I replaced with a shed we call

the boathouse, though its too small to house any boats. Its a place

to stow equipment and the lawn urniture we put on the dock in

the summer. Amid the lie preservers and extra oars that clutter

the boathouse foor, I also keep a box o candles. They are there or

summer evenings when we dont want to come inside or the night

quite yet. Greg and I will make up a couple o drinks and drag

out chairs and sit in the candles glow and talk. Ater a weekend

o dinner parties and zipping around the lake on my boat, these

candlelit chats outside the little shingled shack can eel like the most

elegant and sophisticated moments o our stay.


25/25
http://books.google.com/ebooks?as_brr=5&q=9780307884909http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9780307884909http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307884909http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-beauty-thom-filicia/1108939521?ean=9780307884909&isbsrc=Y&cm_mmc=Random+House-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link-_-RandomHouse.com+Outbound+Link%2c+AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-VD9*lkiWNd8-_-10%3a1&http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307884902?ie=UTF8&tag=randohouseinc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307884902

Documents

American Beauty by Thom Filicia