Latest News in Refinancing Home Mortgages – Sept 10, 2010


Who Lives There: In Newport, but Not of It

The creator of the TED conference and his novelist wife, who live in a grand 19th-century copy of an 18th-century French country house, happily shun Rhode Island society.



In the Garden: Fending Off the Weeds With Newsprint

Planting the last of the fall seeds — spinach, arugula, mâche — in a no-till garden.



On Location: An Artist Turns a Gristmill Into a Refuge

Jan Green, a painter, lives and works in an early 19th-century gristmill in upstate New York.



Shopping With Luke Ives Pontifell: Bookends

Luke Ives Pontifell, the founder of Thornwillow Press, shopped for bookends that are as striking as they are functional.



On a Mission to Save Cruise Ship Décor

A former music promoter has been buying up furniture and fittings from scrapped 1950s, ’60s and ’70s cruise ships, remnants of an era when artists and craftsmen created striking interiors.



Currents | Q&A: The Father of Modern Architectural Minimalism

Questions for the British architect John Pawson, who has a new monograph out next month.



Currents | Furniture: Panasonic’s Streamlined Massage Chair

The living-room-worthy Sofa Chair hides the ottoman — where the feet and calves are massaged — under the seat.



Currents | Tableware: Design Firm Turns Dinnerware Into Works of Art

A design firm is dedicated to making tableware appealing to buyers in their 20s and 30s.



Currents | Décor: A Mirror Framed in Copper

The Genesis mirror by the textile designer Maya Romanoff is framed in thin oxidized copper squares that were adapted from one of his wall coverings.



Currents | Open: Armoires Made From Fallen Birch Trees

The Sawkille Company, a new store in Rhinebeck, N.Y., is offering a sustainable storage solution in the form of white birch-bark armoires.



Currents | Deals: Sales at Moss, Crate & Barrel and McGuire

Fall is a time for furniture bargains, with discounts on seating, lighting, tables, decorative objects and more.



On Location: In France, a Farmhouse of the Right Vintage

A 1750s farmhouse has a beautifully carved sandstone facade and offers sweeping views of vineyards and the Dordogne River.



Property Values: What You Get for … $875,000

A 1907 brownstone in Washington; a 1914 English Tudor in Kansas City, Mo.; and a 1925 bungalow in Sarasota, Fla.



House Hunting in … Greece

Until the financial crisis, foreigners had been a significant force in the real estate market, an area broker said.



Fashion’s Night In

Clothing designers dress their rooms, too. “American Fashion Designers At Home,” a book published by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Assouline, offers a glimpses into the homes of dozens of fashion-world notables.