Town & Country magazine invited me to design their first show house, a neo-Georgian house at the Ford Plantation, near Savannah. We were given a budget of $400,000, a deadline and the mandate to decorate a stylish and comfortable home for a young family. While the client was hypothetical, we worked with the premise that the family would indeed have great personal style and a sense of fun, as well as an active life. The decoration would also acknowledge the traditions of Southern classicism and the history of its lush site, once a rice-growing estate in the 18th century, and later the winter home of the automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. A quote from the magazine article about the house sums up my philosophy for the project: "I like old things, but I want them to look fresh--and that often comes from looking again at the old source and rethinking it, in color, shape, and juxtaposition." A prime example of that philosophy would be the breakfast room. It is a mix of styles that sums up the lighthearted traditional spirit of the house. Martha Washington-style dining chairs slipcovered in chintz surround a Saarinen tulip table that sits on a plaid cotton drugget, all of it topped with a mobile from the Guggenheim Museum shop. Aspects of Southern décor are subtly introduced into the decoration. The master bedroom has hand-painted silk walls with flowers strewn across it, an allusion to the region’s historic appreciation of Chinoiserie-decorated walls. The guest room has a canopy bed with hangings, also an old Southern tradition. This elaborate bed is made whimsical with bouquets of feathers borrowed from a Mardi Gras costume.