Jeffrey Bilhuber Redecorates

WARNING: This post started out as something very simple, and has grown into something that you may need hours to read. If you have a blog, you may have had this happen to you. As I sat down to compare the decorating projects of master decorator, Jeffrey Bilhuber, I never imagined that I would be so enthralled, no, captivated by his vacation home: Hay Fever. Located in Locust Valley, New York, the house is something of a rambling mansion. The original structure was completed in 1668, but there have been additions made to the original house throughout the years - making it a 30 room gem that Bilhuber has turned into an architectural and interior design masterpiece.

 

 

Thankfully, the house has been photographed a lot. And it seems like every time that the house is photographed, the rooms change. Sometimes slightly, a chair moves or art changes; and then sometimes it changes all together. A foyer becomes a dining room, for example. What I had originally intended to show was simple: investing in things you love is key - even if they're trendy right now. Just to appease my psyche I have to do it. So, allow me this mild digression.

 

Jeffrey and his son live in New York City, and they spend most every weekend at Hay Fever. The apartment in the city is lovely, and you've probably seen the rooms there 100 times, if not 1000 times. Prior to becoming a father, Jeffrey had a library in his city apartment.

 

 

The lacquered ceiling and nailhead wall treatment were all anyone could talk about, and landed the room in several high end design magazines, and even in Jeffrey's second book: Defining Luxury. The room functioned well as an office for Jeffrey, and as a guest room of sorts with the daybeds. The German roe buck antler mounts and portraiture of Native American chiefs were gorgeous pairings with the wallpaper and brass nailheads. But, like most of us, Bilhuber likes change, and son Christoph was the impetus for a big change! Gone was the need for a fancy library office, and in was the pressing need for a private bedroom for a growing little boy. It seems however, that the whole apartment got an upgrade. And when I started to connect the dots, it appears that much of the old décor ended up at Hay Fever. So, let's first play a little before and after at the Manhattan apartment, and then we'll take a look at Hay Fever, and play a little game of I-spy.

 

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Can you believe the change? Color, pattern, texture galore in the new space. Inspired by the interiors of New York's Gilded Age, Jeffrey wanted a club like feeling to the new space, and he spared no expense doing it. It also gave him a lot of material for his newest book, Jeffrey Bilhuber: American Master. If you're missing the old décor (and I won't lie, I was) most of it ended up at the weekend house in Long Island.

 

It's why I became consumed with the place, and why we now get to look through these pictures together and count how many things we recognize from the Manhattan apartment pre-redecoration.

Ready? Let's begin:

 

The parlor at Hay Fever, now home to the ebony marble bust and pedestal, and several of the antler mounts from the old office, and the antique school house map from the old dining room. This room also acts as dining room for the Bilhubers when needed.

 

 

The foyer at Hay Fever is beautiful, and the Quadrille paper was an early choice of Bilhuber's, a historic reprint that he had commissioned by the company called "Climbing Hydrangea":

 

Below you can see that prior to the school map photo above the parlor felt a little more like, well, a parlor, a convenient sitting room and extension of the foyer. I spy some of those Native American chief portraits from the old office, do you?

It also had a little more colorful journey as a sitting room, too!

 

Here's the master of the house, Jeffrey sitting so happy on the sofa in the living room. For a brief moment, you see from the prior photo, this art changed. But it seems to be the preferred arrangement for the moment. More of the Native American chief portraits surround a piece that Jeffrey once had in a much older version of his apartment:

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember the purple sofa from the parlor sitting room, now dining room? Well, it's made its way into a paneled lounge:

 

More of the antler mounts are seen here. Prior to this version, there were others:

The map from the parlor/dining room once hung behind an English roll arm sofa with tassel fringe.

 

And even a little earlier with antler mounts and a pop of red with that wicker rocker, below the same room turns dining room with more antler mounts and a shaded chandelier:

 



From this view, the kitchen looks like any other weekend house kitchen. Small, but serviceable. But in these photos of the kitchen - you can see that it's actually a chef's dream!

 

 

 

The master bedroom at Hay Fever. This is actually, an AFTER! Believe it or not, the room once looked like this:

 

 

Jeffrey opted to switch the position of the bed, but didn't let that destroy the canopy and all of the glorious fabric! The upholstered pieces here are now in the apartment in the city, it appears. 

What more could you possibly want in a third floor play room? Needless to say - Hay Fever is a masterpiece. Truly. For more photos of Hay Fever, the Manhattan apartment, and the glorious homes of Jeffrey's clients, check out his books: