I had a fun evening at
Soho House recently and although it looked like they might have relaxed the membership standards just a bit, I was surprised at how great the place still looks after four years. The interiors created by
Ilse Crawford are modern and elegant and yet at the same time have that relaxed European feel. I have to come to think of that as her trademark and a style that I have loved since profiling her work for the
Grand Hotel restaurant in Stockholm recently.
Crawford retained much of the building's original brick walls and timber beams. "Without those great bones, it would have been impossible to create the mix of amazing modern furniture and amazing vintage pieces." She also explained that her design was predominantly driven by an emotional reading of the Soho House clientele. "It's a happy, sexy place. You can have fun—but also do quite serious business."
The hotel rooms feel more like lofts than the usual hotel accommodations. Crawford created studies in contrast, energetic juxtapositions of ornate oversize French marriage beds, vintage armoires, modernist sofas by Piero Lissoni, and freestanding concrete tubs by Boffi.
In the library, Warren Platner's wire-frame seating and a velvet-upholstered sofa meet a floor lamp resembling an overblown desk lamp. The lamp's origins weren't given but you can find similar floor lamps from
Design Within Reach and more reasonably priced at
White on White.
In the Cinema Bar or White Room is just that. White. And modern with zebra skin rugs and white Moroccan poufs and also glamorous with it's mirrored bar.
The sixth floor displays a distinctively laid back edge. The restaurant boasts salvaged pine flooring, a new pressed-tin ceiling, and crystal chandeliers. Crawford likens the mix to wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a knockout pair of shoes. "It's boring to wear entirely fabulous things," she maintains. "I prefer to see the personality, not the decoration." The chesterfield sofas are also reminiscent of those she used in the Grand Hotel restaurant.
Crawford purposely waited to finish off the interiors with flea market purchases. On the rough painted brick wallsin the Drawing Room, she spontaneously decided to leave test patches of colors ranging from peacock and teal to petrol blue-green. "In my experience as a magazine editor," she says, "I learned that you need to combine the planned and the unplanned." The plastic armchairs are 1960's Italian.
The Library's cheeky custom wallpaper by Deborah Bowness serves as a backdrop for a Swan chair by Arne Jacobsen, twin armchairs by Jeffrey Bernett, and a conical chair from a New York flea market.
A Playhouse room's leather-covered chesterfield backs onto a stenciled wall above.
Aluminum chaise lounges line the teak decking of a rooftop pool area that made famous in an episode of Sex and the City. The roof also has fantastic views of the West Village and the Hudson River. Membership certainly has it's privileges!
The pièce de résistance of my day of design last Friday was dinner at Soho House West Hollywood. Membership definitely has its privileges and lucky for us, I know a member! I used to think that Soho House New York was fabulous until I walked up the stairs at the LA outpost and saw the view above! I think I might have heard angels singing or maybe it was just the ubiquitous LA helicopters. Whatever the case, it was jaw dropping!
There are only a few spots in LA with views and Soho House West Hollywood sits on the top two floors of 9200 Sunset Boulevard. For those of you who know LA, it's in the same building as Boa. You enter through the garage and just as we got out of the car, we saw Jordana Brewster heading out.
On one side of the top floor is a walkway that connects the more casual club bar and sitting room with the roof garden.
Here you can get a little peek at the club bar at the end.
I joked about moving to LA after this trip but only on the condition that I would be accepted for membership in Soho House West Hollywood! I still cannot get over the view!
Waldo Fernandez designed the interiors and I was so happy that he chose to go more traditional and clubby instead of slick and modern which would have been an easy thing to do in such a modern building.
The club bar has herringbone wood floors while the walkway and roof garden is paved with large stone tiles, probably since it's exposed to the outside.
I really love the juxtaposition of the wood garden furniture and plants next to the modern glass windows.
Waldo Fernandez had mature olive trees craned onto the roof to create an oasis in the sky! Now that is chic...and maybe a little crazy but in a good way! I hear that the Soho House New York roof terrace is having a little work done. Makes me wonder if they are getting trees too!
As it got darker, the lanterns lit up the terrace. It was beyond gorgeous! We got there early when it was empty but it soon filled up and producer J.J. Abrams ended up sitting at the next table! I also overheard someone taking about a pilot that had just gotten picked up. You know you're in LA when the dinner talk is all about television and film and not finance or fashion like New York!
I have to also say that the food was just as good as the view and decor! The roof also retracts for open air dining and closes for the three days a year that it rains.
Not sure if you can see it in this photo but there is a little koi pond in the middle of the room. The waiter joked that you couldn't swim in it like the pool on the roof of Soho House New York but you just know some drunk member will be falling in there at some point!
Just like gardens on the ground, the roof terrace has wood benches and comfy throw pillows made from fabric from LA designer Peter Dunham.
The dining area is raised in the center and surrounding it is a lower area with sofas. Again, look at that view!
It was really beautiful at sunset but they also serve breakfast and lunch. Unlike the Soho House in New York, this one doesn't have rooms for overnight guests. Too bad!
I didn't want to get yelled at for taking photos in the reception area so this one is from the website. On the right, you can get a little glimpse of the dark walls that are hung gallery style with art. 
In this sketch of the design from Waldo Fernandez, the walls are wood and not hung gallery style as the are now. There is also a pool table on the left instead of a sitting area.
This photo of founder Nick Jones at a pre-Oscar party gives you a little peek at the bar club side of Soho House West Hollywood. It definitely had an English clubby feel with lots of books. Below is a sketch of the original design. I am still dreaming of this wonderful space. We always like to think that everything is better in New York but in this case, Soho House West Hollywood blows away the competition. And definitely makes me want to move to LA!
In these tough economic times, I think it's even more important to support smaller boutiques like 
