Your host is stunned to see you,
standing at a set of large mahogany doors to the right as you walk through the
doors, a handful of file folders in front of him, but he recovers in time to say “I’ll be right with you.” Vanishing into the room behind, he returns at
last empty-handed and far more relaxed than you’ve
seen him before. His suit jacket, vest
and tie are gone, leaving him in the creamy white hand-tailored shirt, sleeves
rolled up and collar open two buttons.
He joins you in the center of the foyer, pointing up to the Austrian
crystal chandelier, and down to the rose tinted marble floor, telling you of
the objet d’art in the grand entry. But though the
things are expensive, what captures your attention is the amazing sense of
spaciousness. It is enough to make you
feel very small, dwarfing you and Penn easily as he leads you away from the
mahogany doors to the living room.
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Walking through a set of
French doors, you enter a truly massive living room, done in white and chrome
with an eclectic mix of furniture from a variety of times. Yet, somehow it all matches, nothing truly
anachronistic. There is a fireplace directly
ahead of you, comfortable looking dark grey Bauhaus sofas to the sides, a
television, a Louis XIV writing desk against one inner wall... and its all tied together by the eccentric size of the room. Penn takes you by the elbow,
gently leading you through a barely noticeable set of pocket doors and
through a large hallway to a formal dining room with a massive cherry table
that can easily seat twenty people – it’s 15 feet long if it’s an inch. Sideboards and china cabinets are awash
with formal dining ware and its all almost too much
to take in, but the tour isn’t over yet and your host takes the lead into the
kitchen. |
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The house is truly built on a
grand scale, everything larger than everything else
and as you wind through the kitchen, looking at the modern stainless steel
appliances and out the French doors to the patio beyond, you simply shake your
head in wonder. The island in the
kitchen is obviously what is used most as a place to
dine, but everything is spotless. It is
a comfortable space, light oak, Provincial style
furniture, everything light and airy. But you keep moving, into a wide hallway and through a door
into what is obviously a man’s study, again on a grand scale. At one end of the enormous room is a board room table, mahogany like all of the exposed wood in
this room. The windows tower above with
long heavy curtains to shut out the light for presentations,. There are all the modern comforts of life
here, two computer stations hidden in plain sight, the flat monitors
unobtrusive to the overall design of the room.
The walls are painted a deep blue and at the
far end from the door you entered, is a large desk with an oversized black
leather chair behind it. There is no
computer atop this desk, just neatly stacked file folders, though the occupant
of the desk can turn to use a third computer placed on a second desk behind the
chair. Between the boardroom and the
desk there is a seating area delineated by two large black leather sofas and a
coffee table, with two oversized wing chairs at each end. But for the hidden
technology, you can easily see this room in any of the ancestral homes of
“Are you ready to see the second
floor? No, wait, forgive me, let’s have a drink first.”
Penn steps across to a bar that
you missed on your first viewing of the room and pours you a drink of whatever
you ask for, then sits across for you and smiles, a
kind mild smile that hides more than it tells.
He has money, that much is obvious now, even moreso
than you realized from his urban dwelling.
But here, he is more relaxed, less aloof, and
in no time at all, you are talking about all manner of things.
“Come, let’s continue with this
tour. The second floor awaits our discovery!”