"An African Retreat" was featured on the front cover of Designers Illustrated, and continues to be talked about and used for many inspired African interior designed rooms today.

This period room is to take you back to an English settlement in South Africa in the mid-1800's. This fully restored sunroom of this French chateau built in the mid-forties, of the last century, has 18' windows with full garden views. Imagine the sounds of waterfalls as the background voices of South African harmony singers, (Ladysmith Black Mambazo), can be heard as though in the near distance beneath the swaying of the palm tree fronds.

An antique reproduction English buffet, game table and 80 yards of gauze hand wrapped around the jumbo Etruscan finished poles with the grand scale pineapple finial's, are reminiscent of perhaps an afternoon tea under the mosquito netting taking in a game of backgammon or chess, as it were, nearly 200 years ago. The Schumacher tapestry rug bordered in hand painted canvas, subtly draws this airy space together. Life size scale, hand painted palm trees in each corner of the arched windows, create enchantment as the sound track changes to "Out of Africa".

click images in the film strip to see a close-up of that image