Design Showcase: Decompression Chambers
Louis Postel with Marilyn Mower
02/01/2006

Edie Stevens grew up in and around shipyards. As an adult, she knew what it was like to be the wife of a man who loved boats. Yet she dreaded their dampness and the smell of mildew and bilge pumps aboard small boats. "The mustiness stays forever in your brain," she says. To Stevens, yachts of the 1960s were floating locker rooms dressed in primary colors and more about testosterone than taking it easy. Then came the era of megayacht modern, which was all about Lucite, fiber-optic carpets and metallic lacquers, following a backlash formality centered on European period styles. More recently, semi-production builders have directed the public’s tastes to an Italian-inspired version of contemporary classic with high-gloss joinery enveloping beige, beige and even more beige fabrics. Today, a subtle course correction is taking place in yacht interiors, and interior designers like Stevens are leading the way.

Chic, simple lines mark the modern custom furniture from the Danish studio of Glyn Peter Machin. (Click image to enlarge)

Edie’s grandfather, J. Arthur Stevens, co-founded the Goudy and Stevens shipyard in East Boothbay, Maine, in the early 1920s. The younger Stevens eventually sold the firm after it logged 50 years of building boats for many a Rockefeller and Mellon (and even a few minesweepers). Now a designer for Simply Home in Falmouth, Maine, she just finished the interior of another yacht for a repeat customer, taking great pains to make it relaxing and inviting for both sexes.

Here’s what Stevens recommends for decompressing on the high seas: "It’s the senses that count: smell, temperature and texture of fabrics. Why does a cashmere sweater feel so much better than an acrylic? The things your body touches are important—like the linens. Are they all cotton or polyester? Are the beds warm and dry? Carpets should be textured wool because you’re always walking around barefoot, and the texture offsets the sleekness of teak."

Oak and steel bent for the human form by Glyn Peter Machin. (Click image to enlarge)

Expensive decorator touches are important, but Stevens prefers to offer pride of place to personal items—things that have been collected over time—such as artwork, souvenirs, pillows and fine toiletries—all the things that make a space feel like home.

Mario Buatta, arguably among the world’s most famous decorators, was among the first to stand the traditional yacht interior scheme on its head.

"The stewardesses were upset in 1998 when they first saw 154-foot Roxana," Buatta recalls. "‘Where is the red, white and blue?’ they demanded, ‘And the nautical themes?’" This was a boat that had nothing red, white and blue about it.

V3 Lounge Chair by Glyn Peter Machin. (Click image to enlarge)

Buatta created a retreat for Roxana’s owners that took its design cues from high-end British Colonial meets the Hamptons. "Everything was chintzes, soft fabrics, velvets; patterns, geometrics and paisleys—everything but what you would expect to find," he says. Roxana was like a floating home—one that had developed over time and was not obsessed with matching pairs of this and that.

Roxana’s master suite was in pink, a mauve glazed stria to be precise, and the ceiling was a pale aqua done in panels of leather. There was a king-sized sleigh bed covered with floral chintz, and a chair in pale yellow in the sitting area along with a little blue love seat. Buatta took the themes of a fine country estate to the highest degree by hiring painter Robert Jackson to wrap the dining room in a mural depicting the four seasons.It’s hard to imagine anyone being disagreeable to Judy Ross of TradeWinds, whose design clientele ranges from Paul Firestone of Reebok in Boston, Massachusetts, to philanthropists and arts patrons Madeleine and Edward Redstone in Rancho Mirage, California. Nevertheless, this petite redhead with alert, kind eyes was astonished when she encountered the yachting industry for the first time; everyone was so uniformly pleasant, she says, from Andrew Winch, to the artisans at Feadship’s de Vries yard, to the jolly crew of 12 on board 171-foot Solemates, on whose interior she collaborated with Winch.

The salon, Top photo, and skylounge, Bottom photo, show Judy Ross’ idea of relaxed living spaces using two distinctly different palettes on Solemates. Rounded furniture shapes, loose pillows, asymmetry and contrasting colors create drama without formality. (Click images to enlarge)

When it comes to designing a yacht for relaxation, Ross notes, "The industry and the subject matter itself has a relaxed manner, and that’s so important to keep in mind. There are those beautiful sunsets, the sea. Yachting people clearly enjoy each other. Building the boats is hard work, but there is a lot of pride in craftsmanship that you rarely see elsewhere."

Tucked on a shelf in Ross’ Boston office amid samples of antique moldings is a 1999 ShowBoats Award for Solemates. To achieve a relaxed atmosphere on Solemates took years.

"You need patience in design, especially for a soft, comfortable look. It has to evolve into a living presence; finishes need eight or nine coats and to be rubbed away for hours and hours. Any commercial finisher can give you a gilt finish with a white edge, but this is different," she says, hefting a sample of the French polish joinery from Solemates. "You can feel this gorgeous patina, see the colors coming through. You feel elegant, beautiful, cared for, relaxed. There’s huge detail in design, but it needs to be well edited, pared away. In classic design, there’s a very fine line where furniture is comfortable without being frumpy or stiff."

Judy Ross. (Click image to enlarge)

In casual interiors, there is another fine line between relaxed and sloppy. "We had fun trying to make the boat feel like home with a few little twists," Ross continues. "For example, in the salon we had a custom Stark carpet all in cream with subtle, coral-like shapes in it; we also mixed Lurex into about 10 percent of the wool to give it a glamorous sparkle. We covered the ceilings in leather. Sofas were residential scale, filled with down and very deep; you sunk into them.

"Staterooms were all different; each one a complete vignette, some more feminine, some more masculine. The master suite had fiber optics in the ceiling in the shape of constellations and a Galilean chart painted to look like parchment to conceal the TV. Another stateroom was all in peach with taffeta coverlets. Yet another had Napoleonic headboards on the twin beds painted in black and white with a big yellow and white striped rug," Ross notes.

No space for enormous teak chaises? No problem! Relax on this updated sling by John Hutton for Sutherland in weathered teak with brass fittings. (Click image to enlarge)

Capitalizing on the reason many people take to the sea—relaxation—many designers are turning to themes that make yacht interiors as elegant and comfortable as any home—with an occasional shake of Lurex in the mix just for the fun of it.