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December 2014
Decking the Halls—All Year ’Round
Because you only get one chance to make a first impression

Haul out the scaffolding…put up the wallpaper….install the artwork…we need a little holiday spirit, now!!!  

 

When you’re the general contracting team entrusted with the task of spiffing up the interior of a designer show house, time is always of the essence.

Photograph: Alan Barry.

 

This holiday season, we had the good fortune of helping designer Linherr Hollingsworth, of Hollingsworth Design, transform the staid hallway and grand mezzanine of Manhattan’s historic Academy Mansion into a sparkling, art-filled “Gala at the Musée” for Holiday House NYC 2014. A vision of grace under pressure, Linherr viewed the opportunity to decorate this well-traveled interior space as a plum assignment. “We were beyond thrilled to be invited to participate in this benefit show house, and be a part of all the good work that Iris Danker and her team at Holiday House do on behalf of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. And we were especially excited to be asked to reimagine the one space that we knew everyone would have to pass through every day,” says the designer. “But we knew going in that I would have only a few precious hours to get this installation done, because everyone else in the house would need to use the staircase as a thoroughfare, and we couldn’t keep it blocked off for long!”

 

Preparing the project for prime exposure in record time, says Linherr, required finding a super-organized contractor who would not be daunted by the historic building’s less-than-perfect wall surfaces, double- to triple-height ceilings, and tight deadline. “Then we remembered John Douglas Eason’s beautiful staircase at the Villard Houses for Kips Bay Decorator Show House, this year—and that led us straight to Best & Company.”

 

At Best & Company, high-end interior renovations are our specialty. We are no strangers to complex, landmark-status interiors, or set-in-stone deadlines. And we approach every job—whether it’s a private residence or a benefit show house—with a commitment to getting the job done beautifully, on budget, and on time.

 

This holiday season, we are proud to be a part of this spectacular transformation that Linherr has wrought in her elegantly conceived “Gala at the Musée,” which has been featured widely in the media, including 1stdibs.com’s Introspective magazine; Lonny; HGTV; and industry insider Rio Hamilton’s fun, informative blog Mon Oncle, which captured both Linherr and her assigned halls looking grand, indeed, for the opening night gala.

Photograph: Mon Oncle.

Photograph: Alan Barry.

“Best & Company did a beautiful job prepping the walls and hanging the custom wallpaper we designed to mimic the original stone walls. It’s fun to see people reaching out to touch the walls as soon as we point out that it’s faux-painted paper—not actual vintage stone—that they are seeing on the walls. We had panels custom-printed to match the hallway’s existing stonework, and then hand-tinted it to get the best match possible,” says Linherr. “It’s just a shame to think that had to pack everything up and take it away again as soon as Holiday House was over.”

 

Such is the benefit show house life. But the inspiration lives on….and there’s always next year to try something new.

Photograph: Alan Barry.

 

 

3 Designers...2 Benefit Show Houses…1 Contracting Team

 

Here, three stunning benefit show house halls that general contracting team from Best & Company has had the privilege of working on this year for designers Martyn Lawrence Bullard, John Douglas Eason, and Hollingsworth Design.

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