In August 1986 artists Janis Provisor and Brad Davis had their newly constructed Colorado home featured in House & Garden magazine. 30 years later, in August 2016, we’re looking back on this eclectic house by sharing insights on its unique construction, the pieces they acquired and art they made while living there, and their reflections on it today.
Provisor now says, “The sofa is an early Thonet, late 40s, we believe a prototype when Thonet first came to America. We’ve never seen another like it. It now resides in our showroom in New York. The Mies Van Der Rohe chairs, also now in the showroom, were purchased at the same time, when we started planning and collecting for the house in 1983-84. Both the sofa and the chairs have since been recovered in Pollack fabric.
When we were putting together the house, we looked for a carpet long and hard. Our furniture was mid-century or early modern for the most party, and we didn’t want an oriental or ethnic piece. The contemporary carpets on the market were super graphic, bright, hard-edge… not for us. We ended up with a Chinese deco. That rug played a very important part of our world… When we were attempting to make the very first ‘painterly’ carpets, we pointed to parts in our rug that had ‘shading’ in it and asked ‘If in one area, why not all over?”
Another bit of ingenuity is a floor-to-ceiling white wood cactus sculpture that serves as a support for shelves and cabinet. These hold a staggered shower of twentieth-century pottery – German, Italian, and American.
– Richard Price, House & Garden, August 1986
“We are still avid collectors of vintage post-war European pottery. Some of the pieces pictured in the article are currently on display in our New York and Hong Kong showrooms. I am always on the look-out for new and interesting pieces,” says Davis of his current collection.
Looking back, Davis says “We used cattle fencing for the entry stairs and railing of the porch off the second floor living room. We had a local sculptor make them, as well as the hanging cabinet in the kitchen. All works of art. He sprayed molybdenum on it (normally used as lubricant on big machinery) to make a soft grey finish that was unique.”
Says Davis, “There were 22 different tones of color on the walls and trim. Each to relate to house the light hit the walls as the light changed during the day. All the interior doors were Zolotone paint. They were a rich mix of colors – as I remember 8 colors of base tone beige and 7 bright colors in lacquer.
When they laid the carpet in the bedroom, we thought the wall color was wrong for the color of the carpet, so we completely repainted the room to make it more harmonious. The contractor thought we were nuts!”