Retreat in Kenya

Today we are going over to Africa, to the Kenyan island of Lamu where Robert Peugeot (vice president at one of the companies within his family’s French automobile empire) and his wife Domitilla, hired E. Claudio Modola to renovate their house. The 4,800-square-foot getaway overlooks the Manda channel. If the house were to be summed up in a single architectural symbol, surely it would be one of the several barazas, the cozy, covered outdoor nooks where one can eat, drink, sleep or socialize while taking full advantage of ocean winds.
Tour Time!

In a baraza, or conversation area, Indian fabrics add bold infusions of color. The door surround is from a 16th-century palace.

Another of the house’s barazas. “The crescent moons,” says the designer, “are commonly found on the front or back of the dhows, put there for good luck.”

The corner master bedroom opens on two sides to capture breezes coming off the channel. “The bed was made by local Swahili artisans,” Modola says, “as were most of the house’s pieces.”

A guest room

Enhancing its privacy and views, the pool was fitted into a portion of the lot that’s 30 feet above the activity of the adjacent beach. Bruce Hobson handled the gardens.

The poolside pergola, says Modola, “is more of a Mediterranean than an East African feature.”

The rooftop baraza is where the Peugeots and their guests retreat in the evenings for drinks.

Photography by Tim Beddow

All images and information from Architectural Digest.

Chic on Safari

When I go on safari, the first place I will probably head is F.M. Allen not Louis Vuitton but that doesn't mean that I don't love their new advertising campaign.  Louis Vuitton tapped Dree Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's great-granddaughter, to star in their new catalog shot by photographer Carter Smith in Africa.  Some people have all the luck!  Bon Weekend!

Photos by Carter Smith via Luxuo

Elizabeth Warner's Retreat in Kenya

Good beautiful morning! Here's interior designer Elizabeth Warner's gorgeous home in Nairobi. She is a New Yorker but her dream was having a retreat in the capital of Kenya. The architecture of the house was done by Anthony Russell and she of course designed the interiors.
I soo love it! How about you?


Situated on 10 acres of bushlands, the house has corrugated-metal roofs, stone walls and multiple French doors, which help keep the inside cool


In the great room, amid the structure’s monochromatic finishes, Warner added color—pieces that she either inherited or collected during her travels through Africa, India and beyond. The sofas were made locally with hand-dyed fabrics. The low table and chest are Chinese.


A figwood table and a wrought-iron chandelier in the dining room.


The kitchen has a dhow-wood table, figwood cabinets and lighting fashioned from Swahili fishing nets.


Rustic, unpainted stone floors and soaring white ceilings, Warner selected a hand-carved four-poster bed made by Swahili artisans. The footstool is from Afghanistan. All of the fabrics were acquired in India.

Photography by Tim Beddow

I added this post to the MckLinky parties hosted by Melissa at The Inspired Room and Leah at A Silly Little Sparrow. Lots of other blogs linked up at their sites! Thanks so much Melissa and Leah!

All images and information from Architectural Digest.

A Shadow Falls

It's no secret that I am dying to go on an African safari but until I get there, I'm going to continue to gaze longingly at Nick Brandt's stunningly beautiful black and white photographs that I saw today on Luxury Culture. They are on exhibit at A.galerie in Paris until 24 December 2009 and are also compiled into a book A Shadow Falls that is definitely going on my Christmas list. The photos are like the gorgeous photographic love child of Peter Beard and Richard Avedon. You feel like you are looking into the souls of the animals and one could also say that Nick Brandt has also captured the soul of Africa with his photography. They will leave you moved and touched and perhaps compelled to book the next plane to Africa.

Photos by Nick Brandt

To the Manor Born

I've wanted to travel to Kenya ever since I first saw the movie Out of Africa so I've been saving magazine articles and tear sheets for a very long time. Most relate to safaris and fabulous 5 star accommodations since staying in a tent is not my idea of a vacation but a very special hotel in Nairobi has been catching my eye lately.

Giraffe Manor was built in 1932 by a Scottish lord and was modeled on a Scottish hunting lodge. In 1974, the grandson of a Scots Earl, Jock Leslie Melville and his American wife Betty bought the Manor as their home and soon after moved two highly endangered Rothschild giraffe onto the estate where their future generations have thrived and live today.

"Jock and Betty founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). The Giraffe Centre (AFEW Kenya) was built on the property so that Kenyan school children could learn conservation/ecology and feed giraffe eyeball to eyeball! Visitors touring Nairobi have a chance to visit and pay an entrance to the Giraffe Centre. Profits go to various projects in Kenya. Betty's son Rick has led AFEW USA and AFEW Kenya since 1983."

When Jock died in 1984, Betty returned to the USA and opened her house, now called The Giraffe Manor, to visitors where it is run by Rick and his wife Bryony.

Isn't this the most fabulous place ever?! Ok, I'll admit it's slightly scary to have giraffes poking their heads into the window even if they are cute, just take a look at some of the other photos on their website, but I love any place that has a mission and a purpose. Plus, it's actually not that expensive! But that only matters if you can actually secure a reservation. Apparently, Giraffe Manor is as popular with the tourists as it is with the giraffes!