Laurence Luxury

So luxury, whether one is creating it or experiencing it, comes from unexpected places.  And, it’s not always the most expensive.  During the winter, I stayed at a very, very nice hotel.  The suite did not have a refrigerator.  They wanted $25 per day to provide a fridge unless I had medicine that required refrigeration.  In March, I stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn that provided a refrigerator at no cost.  So the posh of the very nice hotel was not luxurious because I could not have cold milk in my room without ordering it and waiting 30 minutes for room service.  Where’s the luxury?  The very nice hotel is a famous, 5 star resort.  Should I wish a ride to somewhere in town, they provide a chauffeur and a Rolls.  But not a refrigerator.  It’s always fun to ride in a Rolls, especially since I don’t keep one myself, but is the luxury experience complete?

In our homes, the luxury is often subtle, but carefully planned.  Components like switches are placed where one would expect them to be, and we know, unlike other builders, that they are not design elements.  They are servants, ready to serve, but otherwise in the background.  Our hallways are wide so two people can pass in them.  Our customers choose their own granite slabs, even when they order a basic, Group 1 stone.   This is because, at Laurence, luxury is about attention to the details and the quality of the execution.  It’s about the customer meeting with our designers to choose from a plethora of standard and upgraded features.

As you may have surmised from my previous blog entries, we spend a lot of time here at Laurence, talking about luxury – what luxury actually is, how to get it, how to provide it, how to design it.  I think that first and foremost, luxury is about always having everything where it’s supposed to be when you reach for it.

Others think luxury is about appearances and grandness, regardless of ease of use. That may be true at first glance, but when considering the meaning of luxury, I am reminded of my mother’s stories of having to drive friends to the repair shop to pick up their “luxury” cars. She would laugh and laugh because her Chrysler was completely reliable, very comfortable, and consistenly worked when it was necessary to pass by Beverly Hills Rolls Royce.

For a while now, we’ve been working on a design called the Hillhouse.  The exterior and basic floorplan are outstanding examples of American Folk Victorian architecture.  But, I wasn’t perfectly excited with the second floor, and had it reworked by one of our staff architects.  Thinking it was still not perfect, our new young rising star, Daniel Ankri tackled the floor plan and I am just thrilled with the results!

Please view this exciting plan in the Custom Homes section of our website here.

Did you see the “Heard On The Street” in October 10^th’s WSJ?  Gianni Versace has closed the last of its boutiques in Japan.  More significant is the rise of Uniqlo, a highly profit able and fast rising fashion retailer worldwide.  Here’s a link to their SOHO store.

Also check out their site www.uniqlo.com for a more international perspective.  The WSJ suggests that, “The switch from haute couture to high street might give fashionistas a hint about fall trends in Paris.” I don’t know.  Even Betsey Bloomingdale has dropped haute couture and now wears and sells ready made clothes.  Could it be that more and more customers realize, as do I, that consistent quality is more important than provenance or grandeur?