Pale Fire

Nicole Hollis brings her passion for artful design to an oasis of tranquility

Above Image: In the foyer, Animal Spirits (2017) by Colleen Heslin is paired with glazed stoneware by Kati Tuominen-Niittyla

By Maile Pingel

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Photograpy by Douglas Friedman

Designer Nicole Hollis’s brief for a new Indian Wells home was to create a place of peace and quiet. “Clean and minimal,” says Hollis of the clients’ goal. “They wanted to pare things down.” The house, designed by architects Loren Kroeger and Sasha Janev of Kroeger Janev Architects, was built to be the clients’ dream retreat.

“My work always responds to the architecture and the site, but it was difficult not to respond to the landscape in this design because it’s so stunning—that first site visit was a pivotal moment,” she recalls.

Artistry of Home (Rizzoli) the second book from NICOLEHOLLIS, debuts this month. Photo of Nicole by Laure Joliet.

1966 Collection chaise lounge chairs by Richard Schultz overlook the pool.

“My work always responds to the architecture and the site, but it was difficult not to respond to the landscape in this design because it’s so stunning—that first site visit was a pivotal moment.”

As she gathered ideas for the interiors, which are almost monastic in nature, she wanted to keep the focus on the views but also make the rooms human-scale and inviting, something instilled in her by the late Howard Backen. “He had such a way of thinking about how a house would make you feel,” she says. “What’s your view from the bed, or the kitchen counter? His expression of home from inside out was very influential.” (Kroeger and Janev, too, are Backen protégées.)

To counter the angular forms of the architecture, Hollis looked to curvilinear furnishings, like the living room’s Vladimir Kagan sofas and chairs. “The soft lines of midcentury pieces just work naturally—they felt right here,” she says. Other classic pieces include Marco Zanuso’s 1951 Lady chair, which Hollis chose in a sage-green hue for the primary suite’s sitting area, and Richard Schultz’s seminal 1960s seating designs set on the terraces.

In the bedroom sitting area, the custom Polar Bear sofa by Jonas New York is upholstered in ivory bouclé by Pierre Frey through Kneedler Fauchère. Custom coffee table by NICOLEHOLLIS Interior Design (NHID). Ballet Composition pendants by Arturo Alvarez. In the primary bedroom, Scarab (2014) by Renee Gouin hangs above the custom bed. Bed, headboard, floating nightstands, and tv bench by NHID. Headboard and bed base upholstered in Prima Alpaca by Sandra Jordan through Shears & Window. Drawer face leather by Edelman Leather in Smoke. Custom vanity Designed by Loren Kroeger and Sasha Janev of Kroger Janev Architects. Custom vanity stool by C. Mariani Antiques, upholstered in a rosewater linen by Kerry Joyce through Kneedler Fauchère.

To keep the rooms fresh and unexpected, she also included such contemporary European furniture designers as Christian Liaigre, Pierre Augustin Rose, Vincenzo De Cotiis, and Patrick Naggar. Her dynamic art-and-design pairings too, add an edge. In the family room, a Star Trek armchair by Roberto Lazzeroni faces Helen Frankenthaler’s 2003 painting, Geisha, and in the husband’s office, a pair of sculptural armchairs by husband-and-wife team Chantal Saccomanno and Olivier Dayot converse with Andy Warhol’s 1967 Marilyn.

Geisha (2003) by Helen Frankenthaler overlooks the family room. Standing glazed stoneware piece is by Kristina Riska. Nobu coffee table by Liaigre through De Sousa Hughes

Hollis also brought her passion for contemporary makers into the home, commissioning such pieces as Jeff Zimmerman’s branching chandelier above the Joseph Dirand dining table. “There’s not a lot of decoration in this house so singular moments of whimsy, like Jeff’s sculptural light, felt nice,” she says. Zimmerman, along with eight other artists including David Wiseman and Michele Oka Doner, feature prominently in Hollis’s second book, Artistry of Home (Rizzoli), launching this month.

In further reverence to the views, Hollis connected the interiors to the landscape with indoor trees, an artform of its own in the hands of Stephen Block of LA’s Inner Gardens, as well as with ceramics. The organic shapes and rough textures of selected works—Kati Tuominen-Niittyla’s stoneware vessels on the kitchen island and dining table, Kristina Riska’s monumental standing sculpture in the family room, for example—subtly reference the desert’s rugged terrain.

Works by ceramicists Christiane Perrochon and Kati Touminen-Nittyla rest atop the island in the the serene kitchen. In the formal living room, a custom Floating Curved Sofa by Vladimir Kagan through Kneedler Fauchère upholstered in velvet by Larsen through Cowtan & Tout. Custom Serpentine sofa by Vladimir Kagan through Kneedler Fauchère. Custom wool-and-silk area rug by Shiir through De Sousa Hughes.

“There’s just such a great feel to this home,” says Hollis, who is currently working on projects in New York, Los Angeles, Jackson Hole, Aspen, and Hawaii. “It was designed to be reductive,” she adds, noting that the clients would often remove items under consideration in their discussions. As she writes in the chapter devoted to this home in her new book, “Open space is a decision in itself and these clients understood the calming nature of simplicity.”

On the pool deck, Portofino lounge chairs by Patrick Naggar.

Pale Fire

By Maile Pingel

Photograpy by Douglas Friedman

“My work always responds to the architecture and the site, but it was difficult not to respond to the landscape in this design because it’s so stunning—that first site visit was a pivotal moment.”

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