Years ago I had an unexpected satori. It occurred in the beachside clubhouse of Windsor, an upscale resort community in Florida. It was a most pleasant room, relaxed, quietly comfortable, a place to relax. I learned later that it was the work of the grande dame of New York decorators (whose name I now can’t recall). Aha, I thought, now I understand—great interior decoration is invisible. It reminded me of something that my friend Marc Appleton said, “I’ve always admired Billy Wilder’s direction because you’re not aware of it, only the story he’s telling.” Describing his own house Marc told me “I hope it doesn’t look like an architect had anything to do with it.” Another satori occurred when Shirley and I spent a week in Andrea Palladio’s Villa Saraceno (see the living room above). The house belongs to the British Landmark Trust, which rescues old buildings, then rents them to short-stay visitors. How do you furnish a sixteenth century masterpiece? By not decorating it.
