The interior of the yacht Bubba Too, created by decorator Sarah Benton

Passing the gallery

Text: Olga Gvozdeva

A photo: - (c) Kim Sargent/Sargent Architectural Photography

Magazine: N6 (62) 2002

Probably, you need to be an American in the fifth generation in order to mix eras and styles so masterly. However, decorator Sarah Benton from Marc-Michaels Interior Design believes that only in the past can one get fresh ideas when it comes to genuine luxury. The interior of the yacht Bubba Too is a little like a boat. The only detail that openly indicates that the object belongs to the water element is the seascape above the fireplace in the cabin. Everything else could make up the interior of a good house on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where luxury conservatism has long since become a lifestyle. However, there are a number of details for which you can unmistakably recognize the interior of the yacht. These are relatively low ceilings, an abundance of panoramic windows and a compact arrangement of functional areas, which requires decorators to work especially carefully with details. Of course, the captain's cabin remains unrivaled. Sarah Benton admits that this room has undergone minimal intervention from her. However, it is impossible not to notice that the beige-brown gamma dominating in the interiors penetrated here too. The focus of active life on Bubba Too is two lounges, one above the other at the stern of the yacht. The music room on the first deck is the very personification of languid bliss. Cozy sofas with jacquard upholstery are complemented by pillows in covers of luxurious fabrics. In the ensemble with them are two coffee tables, competing with each other in part of the decor. The first one is with a tempered glass top placed on an exquisite bronze frame. The second - a massive, made of carved walnut. Despite its obvious "novelty", the imagination helpfully draws an antique shop, in the depths of which this priceless object was discovered. Anyway, this rather heavy parven has quite noble prototypes. So, legs in the form of a lion's paw are often found in the furniture of ancient Rome. And the wavy frieze pattern is nothing more than a decorative motif loved by the Greeks. Even more clearly, the neoclassical canvas is visible in the interior of the living room on the second deck. The caisson ceiling and oak wall paneling are complemented by the classic forms of furniture. A cabinet in the corner of a room is more like an architectural structure built according to the canons of the order system. And the chairs and armchairs of modern work fully meet the Biedermeier style. However, one should not look for similarities with the prototype in their outlines: the decorator approached the creation of this interior with a certain degree of irony. In this sense, bar stools are especially curious, with their back-shaped form reminiscent of an empire trough. Put on high legs, they could become a parody of retrostyle, if ... they were not so comfortable. The interior of the bedroom and the office preceding it look the most uncompromising. Oak cabinets and panels perform in a harmonious ensemble with an antique walnut table. And the chair from the Victorian era puts the last point in this brilliant decorative treatise.