Please note, this post has been altered since its original posting on August 25th, at to the request of Metropolitan Home Magazine. Some of the images and text have since been replaced or removed.
14 renowned designers will transform two New York penthouses into the ultimate multimedia showhouse with rooms inspired by Showtime's 6 Original Series; Californication, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, The Tudors, United States of Tara and Weeds.
It will be hard to top last year's Dexter House, but here's a first look at some of the sketches and intended designs for the 2009 Showtime House.
The Muse: Californication
The series revolves around Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny, as a charming but lascivious writer and novelist plagued with personal demons. He blames his years-long case of writer's block on a variety of reasons, ranging from the hedonism of Los Angeles, to his on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend Karen. Hank constantly deals with the fallout of his lack of will to say "no" to drugs, sex and alcohol, while trying to show his family that he can be a good, caring person. (source: wikipedia)
studioMDA’s Californication Master Bedroom:
Here, architect Markus Dochantschi of studioMDA has conjured up a master bedroom worthy of a five-star hotel suite in which Hank can indulge his vices while feeling incredibly pampered. “This room is all about the bed, which we designed as a playful escape for Hank to exhibit his cavalier behavior,” says Dochantschi. “From the bed, Hank can look out over Hollywood while in return Hollywood is stealing a look at him.”
The Muse: Dexter:
Dexter, played by Michael C. Hall, is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami-Metro Police Department, but in his own time Dexter is a serial killer. He was taught by his adoptive father, Harry, only to kill those "who deserve it"; mainly, other killers who have escaped the traditional legal system or were never suspected in the first place. (source: wikipedia)
Aiello’s Dexter Foyer/Gallery, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen and Terrace:
Whether Dexter is passing through the foyer, hanging out in the living room with the kids, or thoughtfully sharpening a knife in the kitchen, Marie Aiello has designed a space to accommodate the many sides of Dexter. “I want my space to speak to Dexter’s conflict and inner torment but be rendered in not so obvious ways. Each room is sophisticated and seductive but not too pretty,” says Aiello. “As with Dexter, there is a superficial sense of serenity to them all, but look closely, and you’ll see that the beautiful pieces, surfaces and forms in each space are made from things that are actually fractured, broken or even a little creepy.”
The Muse: Nurse Jackie
The series stars Edie Falco as title character Jackie Peyton, a "flawed" emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City. For Jackie, a functioning drug-addict , "Every day is a high wire act of juggling patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own indiscretions. ( source: wikipedia)
Coleman & Sanchez’s Nurse Jackie Bedroom:
Christopher Coleman and fashion designer Angel Sanchez have designed a bedroom escape where Jackie can breathe, relax, and pop a few pills in private before nodding off to dreamland. “Jackie’s bedroom plays to the show with its use of reflective, hard-edge industrial medical equipment and a color palette of white with touches of hospital blue,” says Sanchez. “However, the room has a sense of refuge about it with its stress-freeing massage table and witty pill-patterned wallpaper.”
The Muse: The Tudors
The Tudors is a historical fiction television series starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The series is based upon the reign of English monarch Henry VIII, and is named after the Tudor dynasty. (source: wikipedia)
Lissoni Associati’s Tudors Dining Room and Garden Terrace:
The luxe life is the only thing Henry the VIII knows so Italy’s Piero Lissoni and Nicoletta Canesi, co-founders of Lissoni Associati, have created a dining room and outdoor garden terrace to put him in his royal element. “Dining chairs and terrace pillows feature portraits of Henry’s six wives so that should keep his mind occupied,” says Nicoletta Canesi. If not, Henry can turn his thoughts inward with ego-driven décor like a Swarovski crystal covered bust and walls fancifully scripted with the king’s most memorable sayings.
The Muse: United States of Tara
Tara Gregson, played by Toni Collette, is a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder (DID). After deciding to take a break from her medication to discover the real cause of her disorder, her alternate personalties re-emerge: wild and flirty teenager T; old-fashioned housewife Alice; and male, loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet Buck. Tara is supported by her calm and level-headed husband Max, her somewhat troubled teenage daughter Kate and quirky, good-hearted gay son Marshall. Her sister, Charmaine, is not so supportive, often expressing her doubt about the validity of Tara's disorder. The show is set in Overland Park, Kansas. (source: wikipedia)
Gardner’s United States of Tara Duplex Apartment:
Upstairs, downstairs—wherever Tara and her alters want to go, French native Francine Gardner is ready for them with a duplex apartment as intriguing as Tara herself. An intimate living room stretches out along the first floor and a spacious dining area and rec room above. “The first floor also has a side room that’s Tara’s ‘cocoon’—a nurturing and soothing space where she can rest, let go of inner demons and release stress,” says Gardner. Thought-provoking sculpture links each space to Tara’s multi-faceted mind.
The Muse: Weeds
The plot revolves around a widowed housewife played by Mary-Louise Parker, from an affluent California suburb who becomes her neighborhood's marijuana dealer to make ends meet. (source: wikipedia)
Biber’s Weeds Dining Room:
For true Weeds devotees, the dining room designed by architect James Biber takes its inspiration from one unholy Weeds episode. “The dining table is based on an unforgettable scene in which a stolen cross from the Majestic church is put to use as a lighting fixture in a hastily assembled grow house,” says Biber. Breaking bread and sipping wine will never be the same.
The captions under the design sketches were written by Carla Jordan. Images courtesy of Metropolitan Home and Showtime.
See more of Metroplitan Home's 2009 Showtime House here.
The press release from Showtime:
New York, NY (August 2009) – How do you top the most original and popular showhome concept? Metropolitan Home, the definitive resource for modern design, and Showtime Networks, producer of award-winning TV series, are partnering for a second season of the ultimate multimedia showhouse, with double the space and twice as many designers.
Metropolitan Home's Showtime House, powered by Time Warner Cable, will celebrate its second season with twin penthouses located in the luxurious Tribeca Summit building here. Top designers will transform 14,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor spaces into stunning masterpieces of design, with the Showtime original series as their inspirations. It will be open on weekends for public tours Sept. 12 - Oct. 18, and tickets will sell for $20 each, with all proceeds from the ticket sales benefiting the non-profit organization Housing Works.
"The partnership between Metropolitan Home and Showtime has been a major hit and we wanted to ensure that this second incarnation will be even more successful," says Christie Boyle, Metropolitan Home's VP of Brand Development, and the project's co-creator with Larry Kieran, Director of Promotions and Partnerships for Showtime. "With twice as many designers and double the number of stunning design ideas, the second season of the showhome will be as original and surprising as the Showtime series themselves." Metropolitan Home's Showtime House won the silver 2008 Folio FAME Award for Best First-Time Event.
"Building on last year's success, Showtime is incredibly excited to once again partner with Metropolitan Home for this one-of-a-kind experience," says Len Fogge, Showtime Executive VP, Creative & Marketing. "The combination of the latest in innovative modern design and Showtime's cutting-edge programming forms an organic environment where consumers can physically experience and explore the Showtime brand. The house allows visitors to get a deeper insight into the characters and storylines that solidify Showtime as the premiere destination for compelling programming."
This year's line-up of incredible design talent includes Marie Aiello, James Biber, Christopher Coleman and Angel Sanchez, Markus Dochantschi at Studio MDA, Susannah Drake, Francine Gardner, Holly Hunt and Joannah Kornak for Holly Hunt, Andrew Kotchen and Matthew Berman of Workshop/apd, Paul Latham, Piero Lissoni, Kara Mann, Richard Mishaan, and Surfacedesign. Each designer has been assigned a room and an inspiring Showtime series, such as Californication, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, The Tudors, United States of Tara, and Weeds. Interior designers from the Savannah College of Art & Design are also creating an innovative entryway for the showhome.
Today’s top brands will integrate their products within the house including premier sponsor Time Warner Cable and preferred partners AKO, Alessi, Benjamin Moore, Blanco, CaesarStone, Crystallized - Swarovski Elements, Elica, Flou, Kraftmaid, Miele, Molteni & C, Napoleon, and Swarovski Crystal Palace.
If you never saw last year's Dexter House by Amy Lau and the SCAD items that went with it, check it out here.
Showtime