Tour a Bridgehampton Cottage in a French Style
Written by Alejandro Saralegui
Photographs by Tria Giovan
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Well, not really. But French fashion designer Roland Nivelais’s dreamy, wooded getaway in Bridgehampton could definitely be compared to a stage set from MGM’s heyday—with a bit of European hunting lodge tossed in for good measure. Tucked away on two verdant acres just a stone’s throw from Starbucks, the couturier’s sophisticated cottage transports visitors to a world of rustic elegance. Erudite nods to literature, French history, fashion, and film proliferate, creating an alluring, year-round weekend house full of wit and polish.
Called Belle Ombre, or “beautiful shadow,” the house is named for the French country manor in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. “I was reading the book shortly after I bought the house, in 2000, and the name seemed to fit the property so well,” recalls Nivelais, who shares the cottage with Antonio Santiago, a lighting and home accessories designer. Constructed in 1901, the house is situated among towering trees that give it a slightly European park–like feel, which immediately attracted Nivelais, who grew up in the Loire Valley. “The house may be small, but there is something grand about the trees that gives it a very pleasing proportion. And the pool is hidden away in a more formal part of the garden. It’s very elegant.”
The interiors are an eclectic mix of 18th-century French and 1940s American and French objects and furniture. “I think the 1940s and the Louis pieces go very well together,” says Nivelais, who, like most fashion designers, doesn’t shy away from animal instincts, either. Taxidermy from Deyrolle (the storied French shop is conveniently located next door to his apartment in Paris) and objects like a surprising marble bust of a woman sculpted with a donkey skin over her head make for an amusing, eye-catching menagerie. The latter depicts the princess in Charles Perrault’s Cinderella-like 1695 fairytale, Peau d’Âne. Nivelais bought the bust soon after getting the house and considers it a good omen. “It is one of my favorite French tales,” he explains, “combining evening wear, incest, and perseverance!” During dinner parties, he sometimes regales his guests with the tale while Santiago videotapes the performance. “Antonio does a great job catching everyone’s surprised and horrified looks as I tell this tale of a downcast princess saved by her prince!”
Even modern-day creatures have joined the ranks of Nivelais’s animal kingdom, including Chippy the chipmunk, who used to have breakfast with the couple every morning on the terrace, and a frog who regularly suns himself on the mini sailboat in the pool. “I guess it’s paradise for animals here,” comments Nivelais. “We once rescued a deer from the pool, and now we have a wild turkey roaming the grounds.”
In evidence both indoors and out is Nivelais’s unerring fashion sensibility. A designer of evening wear, he started his own eponymous dress collection in the late 1980s and was immediately picked up by Bergdorf Goodman; his impeccably crafted creations were frequently photographed by the likes of Robert Mapplethorpe, David LaChapelle, and Marcus Leatherdale. More than two decades later, Nivelais is still garnering raves for his sophisticated, soigné cocktail dresses and gowns, scoring two Women’s Wear Daily covers this year alone—no small feat. “I do evening wear,” he says, “and my house follows suit, with its own sense of formality. I don’t like casual clothes, and I loathe open kitchens. I don’t want to see people cooking or have people see me cooking.” Unsurprisingly, at dinner parties chez Nivelais, meals are prepared behind a curtain that closes off the kitchen from the dining room.
“So many houses nowadays look like extensions of the W hotel,” Nivelais continues, “but a house should have a soul. When you enter someone’s home, you should have a clear picture of who owns it, and not their favorite hotel.” In other words, bring out and use the sterling flatware, skip the AC (as all Frenchmen seem to do), cosset the vintage Mercedes convertible, and stop fetishizing the stainless-steel appliances. And by all means, spend some time getting to know Chippy the chipmunk.
November 19, 2012
A version of this article appeared in the Holiday 2012 issue of Hamptons Cottages & Gardens with the headline: Belle Ombre.