John Jacob Zwiegelaar brings to life a complex and carefully balanced study in monochrome.
A decorator’s home is probably their best experimental canvas. It can serve as a private theatre set in which to bring alive ideas and inspirations or a place to play with geometrics and scale. But for John Jacob Zwiegelaar, what started as a simple study in black and white became an all-encompassing venture. Though a concept destined for another much larger project he’s working on elsewhere, it was the ideal means to instil his home in Bantry Bay with the dynamism is lacked. And the complexity of achieving the right balance enthralled.
‘It had lost its energy and soul,’ says Zwiegelaar of the Victorian house. ‘The previous owners had left it with a nasty ’70 aftertaste and lifeless rooms’. The quest was to give the house back its dignity and resurrect the gravitas it once had.
Zwiegelaar began by reinstating the lost details, while also subtly modernising the space in an architecturally sensitive manner. Doors were enlarged and the house was opened up to the outside world. ‘In the garden, spaces were treated like “rooms” and almost the first thing I did was install a pool-cum-water feature in the empty kitchen courtyard to restore it to life; he says. This is decorated like any other room, with trellises and creepers taking the place of wallpaper. ‘Every space in the house needs to have the same intensity,’ he asserts.
Inside the house the rooms are tall and thin. ‘Black-and-white stripes were a great way to impose tension into the space and dramatize the ceiling heights,’ says Zwiegelaar. But decorating with black and white is no mean feat. ‘It requires an intricate study in balance,’ he explains. ‘If you have too much of one or the other it falls flat, so you have to consider every elevation. There must be harmonious relationships at every turn.’ Hence, white bedding is offset with black-and-white engravings.
Maintaining a sense of visual rhythm is also problematic when decorating with black and white, particularly when manifested in stripes. This is overcome with the clever use of form and texture, which activates the space. ‘You are forced to address form in a more analytical way as it doesn’t blend into the background. It makes you much more critical about line and scale; Zwiegelaar explains. In the sitting room, stripes are overlaid with curvaceous wingback armchairs, and sculptural pots, vases and busts punctuate the house ‘I love expressing classic form in a modern way; he says. Mirror and screens have also been used to depth-enhancing effect. Sitting-room mirrors are panelled like windows creating other, varied views and reflections.
Every square inch of his house has been given the same minute attention. ‘I am detail obsessed; Zwiegelaar confesses. The house is pieced together rather like a puzzle and even kitchen cabinets are means to add layers. ‘Cut-glass drinking glasses are encased in cabinets with bevelled glass doors so that when the interiors are illuminated, the light dances between the two’ he says. ‘The reflections create dynamic intensity’. But there is nothing stilted or unlived-in about the house, which he shares with partner Paul Duncan. The key to this is its patina. ‘Black and white can seem viscously plastic so you need to create a sense of provenance; he explains. Cupboards are ebonised and antique lacquered furniture is chipped in places, leaving characterful imperfections. Many of the chairs are Directoire or English Georgian and though the faux-bamboo brass tables from Piér Rabe Antiques have been nickel-plated for a modern edge, their age is still evident.
Everything tells a story in this house, whether they’re objects that speak of foreign travels or locally bought finds. It is this that ensures the theme feels far more than simply an experiment. And as someone who likes to work with a clear decorating concept in mind, he couldn’t have had a stronger direction. ‘In an old house that was clearly desperate for a new lease of life, I had to be bold to create dynamism, ‘ he proclaims-a mantra that he ha clearly fulfilled.
