Design legend John Wheatman in the study he designed for the mansion
It’s not every day that you bump into legendary interior designer John Wheatman at a San Francisco Decorator Showcase. But the veteran with an uncanny eye for craftsmanship, tailoring, and color proclaims this is an important time to show solidarity with likeminded visionaries.
“No one’s business is as good as it should be right now and it’s good to have a presence,” he told me after I entered the espresso brown paneled study, which was a collaboration of the 82-year-old master and his gifted associates: Siobhan Brennan, Jason Collard and Troy P. Walker. Of all the rooms, this one is truly the most livable with a minimal amount of clutter and highly sophisticated works of art.
The moment I entered the space the tall and debonair design celeb welcomed me like a long lost cousin and remarked “here comes some sunshine in our day,” referring to the blazing yellow and black vintage polyester dress I was wearing with a pattern that could easily rival the best Scalamandre wall covering. I told you he has great taste. It’s all evident in the signature Wheatman décor of the handsome upstairs retreat in the 1910 mansion at 2980 Pacific Street.
(images: brown walls with a custom mirror to open up the space and pair of Asian tonsus; linen-blend sofa free of seams, Ward Bennett mid-century chairs and bronze coffee table; stunning white painted mantle which pops against the espresso wall; custom wood carved desk and chair)
Guess 2009 is a year for luminaries at the showcase which opens Saturday and runs through May 25. One of the world’s top designers, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy, also was recruited to rework a space in the manse and chose the dining room. Organizers were thrilled to attract both of these men this year and gave them their pick of the spaces in the grand house. The two designers also are participating in a book signing series at the showcase on Thursday evenings, beginning with Orlando on April 30.
Wheatman spoke to me at length about his second book, A Good House is Never Done, and how the theory applies to the study he customized blending classic furnishings with comfort, warmth and livability – elements not always prioritized by designers using showcase rooms to flaunt their flair. Wheatman explained he and his collegues achieved the timeless allure of the space by keeping out too many distractions.
“I wanted a room where you could enter with no other intrusions, where you didn’t have to see a door to another room, and I enlarged it by using dark color everywhere from the walls and baseboard to the flooring,” he elaborates. “The dark color of all aspects lets your eyes just float.” The brown shade brushed on by Color Folio Design has a glimmer of metallic to add an inner luster to the room.
The canvas was accented with furniture designed by Wheatman's firm. The stand-out pieces include a sofa wrapped in a seamless Rogers and Goffigon linen blend from Kneedler-Fauchere and a bronze coffee table with figurine legs on wheels inspired by a Celtic princess sculpture the designer saw in Paris. Other woodwork and glass comes from local artisans. “We’re able to put a lot of people to work because almost everything we do is local, 70% coming from the state of California,” says associate Troy Walker.
Naturally, the modernist in Wheatman is reflected in a pair of Ward Bennett beech wood and black leather chairs, which he says he also has in his own home which has evolved greatly over the years. Wheatman says the way he has lived has changed since Mary, his wife of over 40 years, died seven years ago. He is cleaning out items like large cabinets displaying plates and much of his storage. As for being lonely? “Well, there’s no one sleeping on that other pillow,” he says. “But the casserole committee has found me and many women are dropping off dinner to my house.”
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