Tiffany's Charming New Orleans Sanctuary

When Tiffany Napper was house hunting in New Orleans five years ago, she couldn't get her mind off the first place she saw. The little white shotgun, located near the Mississippi River, was previously owned by a 93-year-old woman who had been born in the house and lived there until she died. It had drop ceilings, faux wood paneling, and dirty wall-to-wall carpeting. The narrow 1,400-square-foot structure also boasted a dark galley kitchen, one tiny bathroom, and four small bedrooms sandwiched together without a hallway...

“My real estate agent thought I was joking,” Tiffany says, after she asked to go back to the house for a another look. “When I first walked in, I saw the potential and couldn’t let go of that idea,” she explains. Tiffany returned to the house with a video camera, then went straight to a nearby coffee shop to get to work. She sketched plans to reconfigure the cluttered building into the airy two-bedroom, two-bathroom space she now calls home.

It’s not surprising that Tiffany was up for the challenge of a major renovation. She has been witnessing the transformation of spaces since she was a child. Her parents owned a flooring business for years and tackled many ambitious projects, and their creative spirit rubbed off on her. “I’ve always had a really strong vision when it comes to design and aesthetics,” she explains. Unexpected elements, like the hardwood flooring on the kitchen ceiling and the sliding pocket doors that open to the guest room, are a testament to this.

A key part of Tiffany’s redesign is the large combination office and living space at the very front of the house. A striking brick fireplace, once hidden in a closet, serves as the centerpiece. One side of the bright and spacious room has a sleek row of white built-in cabinets and the other has two cozy seating areas, an art wall, and a hanging swing chair.

The casual and inspiring atmosphere became the launchpad for Tiffany’s two businesses: Bats on Strings, a public relations and marketing firm for musicians and creative artists, and a handbag line called Flying Fox. The little white shotgun that was once desperately in need of new life became a place where fresh ideas are born. Tiffany ran the businesses out of her home for three years before moving the operations to a rented office space, which has her unmistakable visual stamp all over it. “Now, for the first time since I renovated, my home is just my home. It’s my sanctuary, and it feels really great,“ she says with a smile.

You can view Tiffany's full Apartment Therapy house tour and read more about her style HERE.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

Sarah & Jeremy's Quirky '70s-Inspired Apartment

When Sarah and Jeremy met in Savannah, Georgia, they bonded over a shared love of collecting vintage toys, oddball objects and natural specimens. She was studying painting at Savannah College of Art and Design and he was a glassblower working at a new studio in town.

Their dates consisted of hunting for treasures in thrift stores and junk shops. They have the same idea of what constitutes a good find: “the creepier, the funkier, the better,” says Jeremy. They spent hours combing long stretches of road outside of town in search of insects they incorporated in their art. “A bug can die and it stays totally perfect,” Sarah explains, “I love butterfly and dragon wings for their delicate and lacy beauty.”

Thirteen years later, the New Orleans apartment Sarah and Jeremy share with their two young children reflects the nostalgic yearnings that brought them together as young artists. The walls are decorated with the beloved objects they’ve gathered and inherited – separately and as a couple – throughout the years.

Nearly all of their furnishings are vintage. The couple prefers to salvage and refurbish pieces rather than buying something new. “In the days before big box manufacturing, things were made with more thought; things were made to last,” Sarah explains.

Jeremy enjoys tinkering with electronics and bringing them back to life. A collection of vintage radios decorate the hallway outside of the kids’ room and a larger one is now a side table in the dining room. He has incorporated his handblown glass into the space – as door knobs, drawer pulls, chandelier embellishments – in every room.

Judging from June's growing collection of nesting dolls and silver dollars – both annual gifts from her grandfather, also a collector – and Louis' love of vintage windup toys, the kids take after their parents. Jeremy says he always had them in mind – even before they were born – as he acquired things. "I was a romantic in the way that I was thinking about my kids," he says. Wondering whether June and Louis will want to inherit their collections some day, Sarah muses, “I think it’s really interesting now, raising kids in a house with everything from previous decades, because of the newness of everything in their generation. I hope that we can instill in them an appreciation of the past."

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

You can check out the full hour tour and read more about Sarah and Jeremy's style on Apartment Therapy.

Kerry's Fun French Quarter Apartment

Six rows of neatly displayed wigs decorate a brick wall in Kerry Maloney’s French Quarter apartment. They’ve been collected from Mardi Gras costumes throughout the years. They’re decked out with stars and plumes, birds and elaborate handmade crowns. There’s the French aristocrat, the drum major, the conehead, and the wizard. Like the dozens of framed snapshots that cover the opposite wall, each of these wigs holds a memory and tells a story of spirited camaraderie.

“Mardi Gras has been so important to me,” Kerry explains, “It’s a thing that’s grown with me and my friends.” Kerry and her comrades have made an annual tradition of selecting a group costume theme for parading on Fat Tuesday. They start creating their festive ensembles as soon as each new year begins. “After New Year’s, it’s just glitter and glue until Mardi Gras,” she says with a smile, “The excitement of it just builds. And having the most glitter means winning.” Past themes have included aliens, sea creatures, a marching band and Vikings – complete with a shopping cart decorated as a ship.”

When Mardi Gras day finally arrives, the friends are awake before dawn. They paint their bodies, transform into character, and make their way to the Bywater neighborhood to march with The Society of Saint Anne, a walking club of merry revelers dressed in the most elaborate and over-the-top costumes imaginable. “We spend all day dancing in the streets, hugging and laughing. It’s the most glorious day ever,” Kerry gushes, “I can’t believe I lived for 22 years without Mardi Gras.”

When Kerry, a wedding photographer with a background in journalism, moved to New Orleans, she never thought about living in the French Quarter. “It didn’t seem like anyone lived here,” she explains. But something kept pulling her back to the neighborhood. When she spotted a rental sign in the window of a duplex with a porch – a rarity in the Quarter – she knew it was where she wanted to live.

Six years later, Kerry is still happy with her choice. “There’s always something going on here. Everyday someone walks by playing an instrument. Every week there’s a parade within earshot.” Even though she lives in an area heavily-trafficked by tourists, Kerry still feels a sense of community in her neighborhood. Her next door neighbor Jim has lived in the other half of her duplex for over 20 years and Catherine, who is in her 90s, has lived in the Creole Cottage across the street since the 1960s. “We look out for each other,” Kerry says.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

Click here to see the full tour of Kerry's space on Apartment Therapy.

You can check out Kerrys' beautiful photography here.

Want to stay at our house?

If you're planning a trip to Newport, I have the perfect place for you to stay: our house!

When we found out that we would be moving to New Orleans, we knew we weren't ready to let go of our beloved 1928 cottage (which is actually located in Middletown), so we decided we would turn it into a vacation rental so we could share the special space with people coming to visit the City by the Sea.

We've put a lot of love into making our home a warm and inviting refection of ourselves since we bought it in 2009.  Although our personal art collection and some sentimental pieces of furniture came down South with us, we've left our house fully furnished and ready for visitors to make themselves at home and feel like a local during their stay.

Our vision for the space is to eventually have it feel like a living gallery, with our photography on display (and for sale) throughout our home. That's our next step. For the time being, I added color to the walls with vibrant textiles, which are kind of an obsession of mine.

We've always spent a lot of time gardening and tending to our grounds, which include a large deck, several flower beds, and tall hedges that keep the property, the last house on a small dead end street, feeling private. Landscaper Jonathan Hall and gardener Catherine Curtis will be taking over those jobs to ensure that our guests to be able to enjoy the beauty of our outdoor spaces as much as we have.

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To book a stay, contact Lisel Woods at liselwoods@gmail.com or 401.714.4303.

Photos by Jacqueline Marque

Douglas & Caryl's Zen-Inspired Home

Continuity is the most important element in a home for Douglas and Caryl Sickul. “It has to feel like it all belongs together,” says Douglas, who has been designing and building homes for 35 years. Douglas’ passion for creating inspiring spaces has lead the Sickuls to move a dozen times in their almost-50 years of marriage. “Doug would see a piece of land and get a vision and want to build a house,” Caryl explains.

 The concept for their Tiverton, Rhode Island home, situated on 3.7 pastoral acres, was serenity and connecting with nature. As with all of the houses he has built, Douglas hand-picked all of the wood used throughout the interior. “The materials themselves affect us," he explains. “I worked at it so everything feels like it keeps flowing along. Nothing stops you, jars you, or hits you in the face as you walk by. It all flows.”

Curved lines both inside and outside the home, inspired by Zen and Japanese design, make the house softer. “The intention is for the house and garden to flow as one,” Caryl elaborates. “The sun, moon, and earth are elliptical, as are the features of land and faces. ‘All is one’ as the Dalai Lama says.”

The element of fluidity lends itself beautifully to Caryl’s life and work as a dancer and yoga instructor. A large 18’ x 36’ studio, with a wall of windows on two sides, provides an inspiring space for Caryl to dance and guide students through Vinyasa yoga classes.

Caryl’s long career as a dance professor – her area of expertise is sacred and ritual dance and yoga – provided a life of adventure for the Sickuls. Her research sabbaticals sent the couple to Africa, Australia, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Mexico and New Guinea, where they observed performances, community ceremonies and events that Caryl would later share with her students. The ethnographic art displayed throughout their home reflects the deep impression these travel experiences made on their life. “People make the things they cherish,” Douglas says while pointing to a mask he and Caryl watched a little old man hand-carve in New Guinea. “Once you see that, and feel that, the objects you take home from there are just different.”

The continuity Douglas and Caryl seek in a home carries over from their work into their life. Creative expression is fluidly woven into the fabric of their everyday existence. Making their artistic pursuits a priority has given these septuagenarians the energy and glow of newlyweds half their age.

You can check out the full house tour and read more about the Sickul's home on Apartment Therapy.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

Vanessa's Worldy Seaside Cottage

You don’t even have to enter Vanessa’s home to know that it’s not your typical seaside cottage. Unique bullseye glass details embellish bright green doors and custom-designed bamboo fencing. A horse made of rusty metal tools grazes on the front lawn. The tidy gardens, framed by a single stone arch and a curved brick pathway, are peppered with whimsical planters and sculptures. Impeccable craftsmanship, attention to detail and a fun-loving owner who doesn’t restrict herself to a singular style make this small cedar-shingled house shine.

When Vanessa, a real estate developer and designer who owns an equestrian center in rural Rhode Island, purchased the home in 1999, she was enchanted by the privacy and tranquility of the oceanside property. She capitalized on the stunning location with all new landscaping and the addition of outdoor entertaining areas, including a deck with a full-sized dining table, a gazebo with a stone fire pit, and a private dock.

The house itself was nothing special, but Vanessa saw it as an opportunity to design everything exactly the way she wanted it. She gutted it down to the studs and looked to magazines and her world travels for inspiration. “You go to these places and see things you’ve never seen before. Travel was my education in design,” she explains. Some decisions were based on the love of an object; bright blue granite became the starting point for her kitchen. Others were more practical and forward-thinking; pickled grey floors were chosen to hide the dirt that would inevitably be tracked in by her dogs Solomon and The Dude.

Vanessa’s furnishings, art and decor reflect a wide range of styles and origin. It doesn’t matter if it’s antique or modern, traditional or folk; if Vanessa loves it, she incorporates it into her home. Her aesthetic influences span the globe. There are bright Moroccan tiles in the bathroom, carved Mexican cougar heads in the guest room, and teak Tibetan monk statues from Thailand in nearly every corner.

Vanessa’s playful and unrestricted approach to homemaking makes her house unique. Tiny plastic figurines from toy stores and vending machines, plus funny pop culture references that appear throughout the house keep the feeling light. “I find my house personally entertaining,” says Vanessa. “I just sort of laugh and enjoy. I think that’s what a house should be all about.”

You can see the full tour and learn more about the Vanessa's style and inspiration on Apartment Therapy.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

Vinyl Guru

Thanks to Kyle Tormey, vinyl devotees in Newport have a new spot on Broadway to hunt for 12-inch treasures. Kyle buys, sells and trades records that span all musical genres at Vinyl Guru, so the inventory is always changing. Eamon and I are big fans of the place and have scored some gems for our growing collection since Kyle opened in June. Eamon's favorites: Kurt Vile's Childish Prodigy and Constant Hitmaker. Mine: Stevie Wonder classics Innervisions and Talking Book. Not only is the shop packed with great finds, but Kyle and his girlfriend Jessica Teixeira are always a pleasure to see. I had fun shooting the couple recently for a Mercury cover story by Olivia Barrett on Vinyl Guru and two other new local businesses started by young entrepreneurs, The Reformed Moth and Tricycle Ice Cream.

Aerial Dancer Nichole Raab

I got to experience the magic of aerial dancer Nichole Raab last month at the Newport Art Museum's annual summer gala, Night at the Museum: A Beaux Arts Ball. When I entered the museum that evening, I was delighted by the sight of Nichole, wearing a pink mask and white wig, suspended in a bed of white fabric near the ceiling. It took me a few moments to notice her, but then I couldn't stop staring at her with a big smile on my face. It was a charming sight that set the tone for a lovely evening.

Later in the night, Nichole captivated the crowd with a surprise performance. Seeing her maneuver fluidly from one acrobatic pose to the next while hanging from red silks was a wondrous sight.

To read about Nichole, who has combined her love of aerial dance with sailing through the program she founded, The Art of Sailing Project, on the Tall Ship Sloop Providence, check out Jamie Gillette's interview in this week's Mercury.

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Photos by Jacqueline Marque

Newport Folk Festival 2014

The Newport Folk Festival celebrated it's 55th anniversary this summer with yet another thrilling weekend of amazing music and unforgettable moments.  This year’s festival was jam-packed with performers whose music I was hearing for the first time. Like a birthday girl leaving her party with a bag full of shiny new toys, I walked away from the weekend buzzing with excitement over the priceless gift of new music to add to the soundtrack of my life.

Topping my list is the 1960's-inspired indie pop band Lucius. Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, with their mod matching outfits and beautifully-synched voices, are a joy to watch. I fell in love with their gorgeous harmonies, stomping percussion and infectious melodies. I think I'll be listening to their debut album Wildewoman a lot this year.

Reignwolf's sweat-soaked electrifying performance left me speechless. Jordan Cook, aka Reignwolf, could be a one-man show. He plays the guitar – like he's possessed by the spirit of Jimi Hendrix – sings, and plays drums all at the same time. He doesn't even have a debut album yet, but he's already toured with the Pixies and Black Sabbath. Not only is he crazy talented, he's a super nice guy. I had a chance to chat with him after his set and he talked about how humbled he was to be playing the Newport Folk Festival. Something tells me it won't be his last time.

Speaking of amazing guitar skills, the Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Their music is a fusion of neuvo flamenco, rock and metal. The passionate duo are mesmerizing to watch as they strum and tap their guitars with unimaginable speed and precision.

Other new favorites include Monica Martin, of PHOX, above, and Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive, below. Both of these soulful leading ladies have impeccable voices and powerful stage presence. I see two stars in the making.

It’s always fun to check out the stylish ensembles gracing the Fort throughout the weekend.

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Guitarist Steve Varney and violinist Jeb Bows perform with Gregory Alan Isakov.

Jimmy Cliff spreads good vibrations.

Ryan Monroe, Ben Bridwell and Tyler Ramsey of Band of Horses

Shakey Graves

The crowd goes wild while Trampled By Turtles performs.

Kurt Vile

Jesse Trbovich, right, performs with Kurt Vile, left, and The Violators.

Pokey LaFarge

Alynda Lee Segarra performs with her band Hurray For The Riff Raff.

Shakey Graves

Deer Tick frontman John McCauley gets a smack on the cheek from Folk Festival Producer Jay Sweet.

Beck was roaming around in the crowd as a spectator on Friday. With a straw hat, sunglasses and a nautical striped shirt, he could have blended right in with the crowd if it weren’t for the backstage access sticker he was wearing with BECK written on it. Very few people seemed to notice him, but he was graciously posing for photographs and saying hello to fans who approached him.

With so much good music to hear, it's impossible to get to everything, but I'm happy I made it to the quad stage to catch the end of The Oh Hellos' exuberant set. I loved seeing the performers react to the crowds' roaring applause.

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Mavis Staples celebrated her 75th birthday by closing out the festival with an uplifting set that inspired some folk fans to form an impromtu Soul Train line in the crowd. Watching strangers skipping and dancing through the human walkway reminded me of what I love most about music: it's power to spread cheer and bring people together.  Mavis' set featured lots of special guests, included Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, Norah Jones, Trampled By Turtles and Jeff Tweedy. She closed with a moving group singalong of "We Shall Overcome" in tribute to the late Pete Seeger. The weekend ended with the presentation of a birthday cake and the audience broke into song, "...Happy Birthday, Dear Mavis, Happy Birthday to you!"

Folk fan and beloved New England musician and visual artist Dan Blakeslee of Somerville, Mass., dances his way through the impromptu Soul Train line that formed during Mavis Staples' set. Dan wasn't one of the performers at this year's festival, but he's set to celebrate the release of his sixth album Owed To The Tanglin' Wind at the Columbus Theatre September 4th.

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Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque   

Jim & Laura's Light-Filled Providence Colonial

There had been no talk of moving in the Nelson family when a house in Providence caught Laura’s eye in the newspaper one Saturday in 2009. Pictures of the sun-drenched kitchen and unusually large backyard jumped off the page. And the charming College Hill colonial, built in 1772, was a mere two blocks from Laura’s childhood home. “It reminded me of the house I grew up in, but re-imagined in a much fresher, more modern way.” Thinking ahead to the urban life they planned to resume in retirement, Laura said to her husband Jim, “When we move to Providence, that’s the house I want to buy.”

The couple had been living in a wonderful Dutch colonial in the suburban community of South Kingstown for 16 years. Situated near the University of Rhode Island and within close proximity to both the woods and beaches and thirty minutes away from Providence, the Nelsons had access to a lot of resources. While they loved the life they had built raising their four children in South Kingstown, Jim, a high school principal, and Laura, who works at a marketing communications and public relations firm, are urban dwellers at heart.

In addition to the five years they lived together in Manhattan before spending a year traveling the world, the couple lived in a Greek revival they gutted and renovated in Providence’s Armory District. When they eventually moved to suburbia to satisfy their need for better schools and more open space, they always knew they would one day find their way back to the city. They just didn’t imagine it would happen so soon.

Laura was planning to visit her parents in Providence the day the newspaper article was published. Unable to resist the urge to see the house, she called the agent and asked if she could take a look even though it was a day before the open house. “I saw it and fell in love with it that day.” The next day, she and Jim went to the open house. They made an offer that night.

“We just loved everything about it. It was impulsive,” Laura concedes, “but we don’t regret a single bit about it. We loved it exactly the way it was…Even though it retains all of the charms of the period, it feels modern at the same time.” After listing all of the things that won him over – the light, the openness of the main floor, the kitchen, the yard, the radiant heat in the master bathroom – Jim simply states, “It’s the perfect house.”

Four-and-a-half years later, Jim and Laura couldn’t be happier with their decision. “There’s nothing in New York that we can’t get here and it’s really just more manageable here,” Jim explains. Their expansive back yard, surrounded by a picket fence, offers them the kind of privacy and open space you don’t often find in an urban setting. Great food, theater, art and cultural events are just footsteps away. It seems that Jim and Laura’s impulse was spot-on; they have landed exactly where they belong.

You can see the full tour and learn more about the Nelson's home and inspiration on Apartment Therapy.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque