DAVID EASTON VISITS THE SKIRTED ROUNDTABLE!


This week, we are thrilled to welcome architect and interior designer David Easton to the Skirted Roundtable.   Easton was a total surprise.  I think all three of us thought we were in for a serious discussion on design, but Easton has an infectious sense of humor and likes to tease!  A lot!   He also likes to read and talk science fiction, which was rather surprising, to say the least.   He is charming, sweet, nice and highly intelligent, yet always entertaining.   We certainly were entertained.  




The day we interviewed Easton, he had just come back from being on the Martha Stewart show - no pressure on us, no, not at all!   He immediately put us at ease, and we totally forgot about riding on Martha's coattails.   We spent some time talking about his new, beautifully photographed book "Timeless Elegance" which shows some of his more famous houses and some that have never been seen before.   His two most famous houses, Albemarle House and Balderbrae are of course included.  




And Easton spends some time talking about his childhood spent growing up in this beautiful house with wonderful porches.  He reminisces about this house and how it inspires his designs.

The interview is highly enjoyable, easy to listen to, and thought-provoking all at once.  Enjoy!

Comments

One of your BEST! Such a gentleman and the wit is wicked I say. They are all making their way to the SRT.

Congratulations in your second year.
Megan said…
Discussion on the future of design was very interesting - good points made by David about the impacts of population, work habits etc.
A traditional nuclear family needs bedrooms, dining room, family rooms but traditional families are not the majority of households (well not in Australia anyway). There is a dogged determination to hold on to the "great Australian dream" of a house on a 1/4 acre block but rising house prices and the fact that people just don't live that way will eventually evolve new homes.
When David described how he wants to live in one big room - that was what I had imagined if I lived on my own (as opposed to husband and three kids).
Good discussion!
I hung on every word. Absolutely fascinating. So many brilliant and thought provoking points touched upon. I need to listen again and take notes!

It's marvelous when someone you admire turns out to be a real sweetheart. David has such a pleasing manner and a delightful wit. I could listen to him all day long.

Thank you...this interview truly made my day!

H.H.
Erik Perez said…
I loved how he turned it around and asked you guys - amazing!!
Cindy D. said…
Wow! What an incredibly awesome and intelligent man! I want to go to N.Y. and sit and drink and talk and listen endlessly to Mr. Easton!
I am definitely not a science fiction fan but his thoughts and feelings on how we will live in the future are something to ponder and, his ideas for our future global world are certainly ideas that we will have to learn to embrace. I barely use my cell phone or check my email because I don't like either of them and I dream of living "back in the day" when life seemed simpler.But, through these new technologies, I have found Joni,Megan, Linda, David,etc. And, just as you all have never met in person but are now friends through technology, I feel as though I know you all from your wonderful blog posts and pod casts! A few months ago I didn't even know what a blog was and now I have been introduced to so many fantastic and talented people and ideas!! Thanks for expanding my horizons!
Fabulous, loved every minute!
What a great conversation. David Easton has always been one of my favorite designers & the interiors he did for the smallest house on Lake Shore Drive here in Chicago were an inspiration for me as I worked on my even smaller apartment, but it was great to hear the man behind all that talent.

When Easton talks about how we'll live in a different kind of home in the future, one less based on historic precedent, I'm sure he's right. Cultural & demographic shifts and geo-political changes have their own impacts on design & designers, but, sadly, at a more personal level, one significant factor that Easton cites as a major influence on his own early aesthetic development--and one which influenced countless other designers & decorators in the same way--is already history.

Trend House, on the eighth floor of Marshall Fields flagship store on State Street since the 193Os, is, as of this fall, the latest casualty of Macy's inexorable cost-cutting since their takeover, its barrel-vaulted rooms now walled-off & downgraded to storage space. Field's once-famous Antique Galleries--where, I, as a callow eighth grader on a field trip to the big city, first learned what real antiques looked like--vanished a few years ago. Sure, a determined kid (or an interested adult not intimidated by a snooty proprietor) can still go to a high-end antique store if he wants to see the same sort of thing, but at Fields', such treasures were only one floor above the cafeteria, where they were plainly visible to us small-town rubes as we rode up & down the store's Art Deco escalators. What was even better was that you could not only see the Federal chairs & Empire center tables, you could touch them. You could actually sit on the Regency sofas. I know. I did.

Stifle a kid's creativity in one area, and it will just come out in another, but if you turn off his inspiration at the source, everybody loses. Without the miniature rooms at the Art Institute & Trend House at Marshall Field's to nudge David Easton toward his future career, who knows where he have ended up? Of course, the Thorne Rooms are still at the Art Institute, but it costs $20 or so to get into the museum, while Trend House was free.

If, as Easton predicts, traditional design dies out among the next generation of designers, it won't be because of some future replacement of its traditional adherents with newcomers of a different ethnic heritage--Rome subsumed Greek architecture, rather than replacing it, and Gothic cathedrals were the efflorescence, not the death, of the pointed arches the Crusaders saw in the Middle East--but because of current corprate decisions like Macy's, which, in refusing to even acknowledge the existence of traditional design, effectively ghettoizes it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Anyway, this was one of the most thought-provoking interviews yet.

[N.B. to David Easton: You like to drink, I like to drink. You travel to Chicago, I live here. Call me up next time you're in town.]
Anonymous said…
Very interesting . . . could have listened to you all for another hour! This book will be on my Christmas wish list.

Mr. Easton, some of the best times of my life have been the family meals enjoyed on my parents big front porch, overlooking a lake in western NY. Heaven.

Jennifer
Concrete Jungle said…
Simply amazing....what a wonderful, wonderful interview...this one may be very hard to top!

I agree with the above ....another hour would have been great....can we please, please have number 2 interview where we hear about the blood, sweat and tears part of design from David!
Anonymous said…
I've listened to a few of the Skirted Roundtable interviews, but this is one of my favorites. What an interesting perspective, I thought it was thought provoking,

Thank you!
Read it today, Halloween night, it was definetely a TREAT! now give me the book or a TRICK will happen! I am so grateful for all these interviews.
Terry said…
Thanks to the Mr. Easton and the GSO Trinity. I so enjoy y'all's sparring this time. There is almost no disagreement in blogs. This is a breath of fresh air.

One great room living. Yes yes yes. One room for everything rather one room for each thing. I hope every house can have one great room. Keep the bedrooms and bathroom private.

Few can afford "the totality" almost no one. I hope everyone can manage a small chunk of totality in their one great room.

Human nature won't change. Certainly there are unexpected things in our future that we'll like Let's hope so. But we keep forgetting and rediscovering what is good. Mr Easton's Union Square office will always be good don't you think?
Anonymous said…
Great interview! I also love the way he interviewed you ladies. His discussion about how we'll live in the future was very thought-
provoking!

Karen
jkg4121@att.net
Greet Lefèvre said…
It was indeed an interview, so easy to listen to and Mr Easton seems to be a very friendly and very wise man!
Thanks for given us the opportunity to listen to him!
xx
Greet
Yes, an interview that has some thought provoking issues. What an interesting fellow.
Anonymous said…
Delightful! So disarming and warm! What a wonderful, wonderful feeling I had listening to the podcast.One of your best guests and interviews yet!
Alan Karlin said…
Great interview. I can see why he is a success due to his easy conversation and getting everyone into the discussion. That is the secret to being a good designer, getting everyone involved in the project.
Roy said…
Wonderful interview! I loved how candid, honest, and down to earth Mr. Easton was during this fascinating chat. You gals are very fortunate to be able to pick the brain of a master. I am totally jealous of the open invitation to be entertained in NY and you are all crazy if you don't make your plans immediately!
Join, Megan, and Linda,- Very thought provoking! Please keep interviewing the architects!

That you three have never met fit in beautifully with the science fiction thread of the interview...

Should we all start a travel fund?

Loretta
Anonymous said…
Now THAT'S an interview! Bravo, ladies. You did good!

Ellen
Amber said…
Wow! The cover of the book is divine - i'm particularly adoring that couch... perfection.
Would love to win a copy of the book if it's still available!
Was surprised to hear most of all his sense of humor - plus his love of science fiction ALMOST made me want to go to the library! Great episode, ladies; keep them coming!
Unknown said…
What a great interview with an utmost charming man!
And that book is on my list already! So please???

Love your interviews, they are getting better by the week!
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Anonymous said…
I liked the interview...but it felt like only part one. I hope there will be a part 2 in the future.
Mary Casey said…
Best skirted roundtable yet! The discussion was fascinating. I wonder what David Easton would speculate as to the future role of the interior designer? I don't think he was saying that role will necessarily go away, but change....
thanks for a great skirted roundtable.
caseym@stpiusx-pdx.org
Best ever! What a charming, talented man. I hung on every word, and will replay this several times. Thanks again for the time, love and care you three put into each one of these delights. Lidy
Ladies,
This was definitely one of my favorites...what a great conversation!
Best,
Ashleigh
linds said…
A fantastic roundtable! Very thought provoking. I might have a go at science fiction, too.
Bonnie said…
I'd love to win a copy of David Easton's book, Timeless Elegance. You're so fortunate to have been able to spend time with him and see pics of his beautiful work. Timeless Elegance is how I'd want my home and life to feel forever. Thank you for a great post. Bonnie
Enjoyed this interview very much. It was really fascinating to hear David's ideas about where he believes home design and lifestyle are headed. Change is hard to face sometime. I hope someone cares enough to preserve the our older homes in the future.
Susan
Room Service ~ Decorating 101 said…
As for myself a "design freak", my own dream home is a one room wonder. I have it designed it down to the dishes... I find the older I get the most simple I want to live. I could live with so much less, if only I could get my husband on board.
Tableau Vivant said…
Very good interview. Definitely unexpected and thought provoking in many different areas in life.
Richard Morales said…
Enjoyed my first Skirted Roundtable =) Wow, this was very interactive. The interviewee became the interviewer! I will be back for more.
Can't wait for my book! Another treasure to add to my library. Thank you David for sharing your story and knowledge with us!

Ruthie
Unknown said…
Great one girls! Just finished listening to it in the car. My parents live in York so it was such fun to hear Mr. Easton reminisce and I know that house! Congrats on one year!! I loot forward to every TSR.
Miss Frangipani said…
What a wonderful interview. The book looks amazing!