By Donna Cornelius
Journal Features Writer
When Nancy Gowens and her team from Issis & Sons walked through the empty ShowHouse living room, they immediately recognized the potential of the expansive space.
“”It’s the largest room in the house,” said Nancy, the company’s operations manager, “and we saw its grandeur. The house itself is classic and tasteful, and we wanted the room to reflect that.”
The Issis & Sons decorators hope ShowHouse visitors will feel as if they’ve returned to a time of, as Nancy said, “elegant sophistication, when things were calm and manners were manners.”
“We wanted the room to be simple and understated,” she said.
To that end, they filled the room not only with furniture pieces that should last for generations but with carefully-chosen accessories, like a striking Norwegian glass bowl and candlesticks inlaid with marble.
You’d expect Issis & Sons to provide a beautiful rug, and you won’t be disappointed by the handmade Oushak in soft, muted colors. The mansion-sized rug has a Turkish design.
“Each knot is hand-tied,” said Nancy.
The company now offers not only rugs but furniture, lamps, paintings, fabrics and decorative items – everything, according to Nancy, “from ceiling to floor.”
“We’re also fortunate to have a great staff of interior decorators,” Nancy said. “Their services are complimentary when you buy furniture.”
In the room are elements that are sophisticated but still inviting, including a curved Queen Anne-style sofa from E.J. Victor. Its design was inspired by a pair of large sofas acquired by Southern gentleman J. Edgar Monroe for Rosecliff, his Newport mansion, in the 1940s.
Equally comfortable is a stylish high-backed chair in soft chocolate-brown leather. Two upholstered settees with hand-carved frames are reproductions of antique French pieces.
On the wall opposite the fireplace is an impressive walnut library cabinet patterned after a 16th century Venetian bookcase.
“The pilasters are hand-carved,” said Nancy. “This really has the quality of a long-term heirloom.”
Two other pieces are beautifully made but still functional for those who use the room. A stately secretary offers storage and display space but is enlivened with a mirrored inset and doors. In one corner, a Sherrill game table is set with gleaming chess pieces.
In the fireplace are stylized hand-forged irons from Italy. On the mantel, a landscape painting leans against a mirror that reflects the room.
The decorators wanted to avoid a “heavy” look not just for design purposes but for practical reasons. Although glass doors open onto the loggia, that outdoor space is covered, so “there’s not a lot of natural light,” said Nancy.
But there’s plenty of light — and lots of bright ideas — in Issis & Sons’ living room.
“We wanted clean lines, taste – a new elegance,” Nancy said. “We wanted to tie all the pieces together for an experience rather than just décor.”
