Yes Sandra Bullock I was not an actress, I would be an architect. “Since being an actress didn’t allow me to do that after a while, the money I earned was invested in real estate,” recalls the Hollywood star, who has shared her personal passion for design away from the spotlight. followed. properties back to life. “Every place is different and every place has its own history and memories.”
Of all those projects, “the most important”, as she describes it, is a 19th-century townhouse in Manhattan, a property that required “a lot of restoration and love”. attracted to her Rear Garden, its original fireplaces and its great hall, Sandra Bullock The house was bought 20 years ago. At the time, he recalls, his life was in a process of change: “I think taking care of the house’s restoration was my attempt to enter adulthood.”
In renewalAs with any display on a screen, Sandra Bullock He delights in detail, revealing his wit, strength and poise at every turn. In this case, those details included missing pieces of ceiling medallions that had to be hand-carved, as well as carefully recreated 19th-century fireplaces. (One removed by a former owner was also discovered in a neighbor’s house.) Behind every piece of plasterboard, he recalls, was “a story of what used to be.”
Writing the next chapter required the help of an expert team of craftsmen able to put the pieces back together. “that kind of craft was transferred from generation to generation,” she reflects, noting that the experts she brought together represented not only 15 nationalities, but a world of knowledge: “I’m not a fine artist. , but I can walk into a building and feel what the space wants to be. I just have to find actors who can execute what I have in mind.”
more recently, Sandra Bullock have renewed that vision with the help of a pair of AD100 Ashe Leandro to Ariel Ashe and Rinaldo Leandro, whom she had met through her friend Amanda Anka and whose work—she realized immediately—she had long admired. Working remotely due to pandemic, kindred spirits begin what was to be kitchen remodel, but which soon expanded into a total reimagining of the rooms. The wood floors were sanded to reveal the grain, the fireplace was polished and the walls were painted with Benjamin Moore’s Superwhite: “We de-glossed everything,” Ashe recalls, who added Noguchi pendants throughout the home to emit their unique glow. To complement Bullock’s collection of antiques, the designers added bespoke pieces, such as the sofas that flank the fireplace in the living room, creating a cozy conversation area. Nearby, an ancient Flemish tapestry anchors a retaining wall, For the kitchen, they installed stainless steel Bultup cabinets inspired by Jasper Conran’s home. Other references were to the early works of Rose Tarlow. The goal, Ashe notes, was for the interiors to “look full but not crowded.”
Collaborating remotely meant the designers often tried on pieces in the space, sharing photos with the actress via email and text. “It was all new to me, as I had always worked on site in projects,” says Sandra Bullock, adding: “Now I’ve got to give up some control, which I’m not very good at.” As a sign of the times, the three haven’t yet met face-to-face: “Ariel and Rinaldo are very, very patient,” says Bullock. “But what is observed right now is that they respect the integrity of space.”
Bullock, who spent much of his childhood in Germany and Austria, credits his love of design to his father, who bought and restored homes such as the singing studio where he taught opera. “I was his partner and I loved living in old houses,” he says, recalling the thrill of peering under old floors, exploring dusty attics, and salvaging architectural artifacts. For him, home repair process It’s not much different from the process of making a film: “Both require everyone working on the same story.”
Today, the design stories that excite you the most are the ones that will go unnoticed. “I love places where other people freak out,” says Bullock, “my family thinks I’m crazy”; finding stories between walls, writing scenes room by room…the process never gets old. “Architecture used to be considered a fallback plan, but luckily times have changed and we are now allowed to do more than one ‘thing’ in life,” Bullock says, grateful for the acting opportunities. “My two There can be passions.”
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