Lee Stanton Blog

As the season turns to autumn, we are delighted to introduce a new collection of antique treasures. This latest collection pays homage to the artistic and architectural excellence of early 20th century Dutch design. With a focus on the groundbreaking work of Haagse and Amsterdamse school designers, the pieces show a unique blend of traditional Dutch craftsmanship and modernist design principles. Indeed, these pieces are more than just furniture; they are a testament to a bygone era of artistic innovation and craft.

The legacy of these design schools left an indelible mark on Dutch architecture and design, and now, you can own a piece of this legacy. Our carefully curated selection features five exquisite items from this iconic period. Each piece showcases the movement's hallmark traits - solid wood construction, geometric forms, intricate detailing, and functional elegance.

From beautifully constructed desks to stunning wood cabinets, these items tell a story of craftsmanship and artistry that has endured the test of time. Whether you're an aficionado of design history or simply appreciate the beauty of well-crafted furniture, our Amsterdamse and Haagse School collection is a must-see.

As with any period of furniture, I prefer pieces from the earlier and humble stages of the period before they become more embellished and imitated trends.  Therefore, I have focused on those earlier pieces in our collection. Please stop by our showroom to experience the craftsmanship in person or view the items on our website to view a part of Dutch design history!

Photo: Keystone/Getty.

I love this photograph of the Queen, taken at her much beloved Balmoral Castle in 1972. Seated at her personal writing desk, and surrounded by her famous corgi companions, the image feels intimate and spontaneous. The elegant array of trinkets covering her desk, rich green tartan carpeting, and blonde wood furnishings give us a glimpse into her personal aesthetic sensibility. It's her pose, however--pert, graceful, and relaxed--that seems to me the most telling. The poise, focus, and incredible reserves of inner strength for which the late royal leader was known seem captured in her softly fixed gaze.

GET THE LOOK

Known widely as the late Queen's favorite residence, Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland plays an important role in the history of the royal family. With its high Scottish Baronial architecture--a variant of Gothic Revival--lush, sprawling grounds, and beautifully appointed heirloom antiques, it's no wonder she considered Balmoral her "happy place". A fitting location then, that it should play host in her Majesty's final hours. 

Pictured above is Balmoral's grand ballroom. Dramatic high ceilings, Tudor-style architectural accents and mounted taxidermy give the space a rustic, lodge-like quality. Gilt chandeliers and richly brocaded tapestries incorporate a more gracious, opulent dimension. 

The lodge-like theme continues. The entrance hall at Balmoral has a robust yet restrained decorative schema, making it a perfect introduction to the rest of the home.

The hallway on the castle's ground floor has beautiful natural light. A colonnade of slim gothic arches flanks a wide spiral staircase, creating a sense of rhythmic dynamism.

The dining room at Balmoral features a handsome suite of studded leather chairs, large, simple mirrors, and a pair of heavily draped French windows. The effect is cozy and inviting.

Wall-to-wall tartan carpeting and floriated Victorian wallpaper create an atmosphere of Highland charm in Balmoral's central drawing room. Overstuffed tartan couches and plush tartan drapes enhance the effect.

The Queen's bedroom at Balmoral is simple yet luxurious. Elegant fleur-de-lis wallpaper creates a rich textural contrast with the wall-to-wall carpeting and various marbleized wood finishes. The antique textile framing her canopy bed adds a graceful, feminine touch. 

Photo: The Royal Collection Trust.

If you haven’t seen the Sheldon Harte-designed home in the latest issue of House Beautiful, please check it out here. Furnished with numerous finds sourced by yours truly, the Sonoma wine country home was a project for a dear client of mine. With their open mind and the impeccable taste of their talented designer, the result is elevated yet full of rustic, natural beauty. After shopping in my showroom, the duo agreed they were going to need more, and wanted to see where it all came from.  I agreed to take these amazing clients on a buying trip to England, France and Belgium. In addition to lots of fun and great food, we managed to acquire some of the greatest finds in my career of sourcing antiques for clients.

From the orangerie planters in the humble yet spacious open-air entrance, to the architectural industrial lights in the media room, we found so many pieces that felt destined to be a part of the home. The collegiate library table that seats ten family members and friends in the outdoor lounge, the pair of sideboards in the great room to accompany world class art, the huge and unexpected dining table to enjoy farm-to-table delicacies, the carts from fabric mills in the guest house that any guest would love to wheel home, the fun and conversational accessories for both the youngsters and grown-ups to enjoy and appreciate, the numerous sculptures to admire, the functional pieces for the master bedroom and bath to start and end their day with, not to mention the rock crystal coffee table by Lanvin to marvel at in the living room…the list goes on.

One of my greatest joys has always been finding exceptional pieces for my clients that they will live with, enjoy and cherish for a lifetime. Working with this family on their home has epitomized that joy, and the spread in House Beautiful furthermore reminds me how fortunate I am in my career to help furnish the homes of friends. To be able to give them spaces which feel thoughtful, unique, and fun is truly a joy. 

Photo: John Merkl for House Beautiful.

I am humbled to present a small collection of handsome, handmade and wood-fired black clay pottery made in collaboration with talented Ukrainian potters under abnormal war circumstances.

The collection of variously shaped vessels has subtle hand-drawn decoration, and interprets the traditional black clay pottery that has been crafted on the Poland-Ukraine border for ages. After crossing the border into Poland and making it stateside, the arrival of this collection represents our hope for a supportive dialogue with those faced by the reality of a destructive war. I look forward to continuing my support for the potters making this beautiful pottery, along with their friends and families suffering through this moment of tragedy and loss.

Please contact us for further details.  

Nestled in the sloping hills of Umbria, a rare architectural gem by midcentury visionary Tomaso Buzzi continues to mystify. His dramatic proposal for an ideal metaphysical city draws on Surrealist influences like Dalí and Calvino, as well as the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Brutalist architecture he was exposed to as a youth. Like something out of a mythic fever dream, La Scarzuola is a panoply of archetypal mashups. 

Buzzi worked on the project between 1958 and 1978, though at the time of his death it remained unfinished. In the 1980s however, the architect's nephew, Marco Solari, took on the complex task of completing his uncle's vision. Using original sketches and blueprints, Solari was able to finish what Buzzi started, and now presides as the site's director. 

With an emphasis on dreams, spirituality, and the natural world, Buzzi aimed to produce the means by which a visitor might psychically journey inwards, towards discovery of the self. The result, a Neo-Mannerist, mad-hatter mashup of style and symbology, abounds in monuments to various world religions and architectural masterpieces; replicas of the Acropolis and Colosseum brush up against triumphal arches, the Tower of Babel, a pyramid, and an enormous sea creature meant to invoke, as Buzzi imagined it, the personal transformation Jonah experienced after his three days in the whale.

Buzzi's fantastical creations are full of contradiction and surprise, reverence and abandon. Mixing together human, animal, and otherworldly features, the architect's creations are endowed with a mystical, sphinx-like appeal. "The stones will speak of you," he wrote.

La Scarzuola derives its name from a type of marsh grass native to the area known as scarza. It's significant for being the material St. Francis of Assisi used to first build his shelter on the site. Indeed, each of Buzzi's creations at La Scarzuola are possessed by a range of personal and esoteric significances. He felt the site was, in many ways, "an autobiography in stone."

The overall layout of La Scarzuola was designed to form a large ship, where its visitors are invited to metaphorically embark on a journey into their innermost soul. Here, a sharp-sided tower stands like a fortress at its helm. 

Buzzi's interest in various forms of spirituality, as well as the ways in which architecture finds its intersection produces a rich dialogue of reference. Utterly modern and yet driven by a love for the ancient, La Scarzuola feels like stumbling into the ruins of a lost city from another dimension.  

Photo: Pieter Estersohn for The World of Interiors