Current Obsessions: New and Noted
by Remodelista Team
A surrealist Pensión in Mexico City, a new Manhattan atelier, and a “rather chic” community garden are just a few of the fresh ideas that captured us this week. Have a look:
Above: “The most striking aspect of Mexico City guesthouse Pensión is that it looks unlike any other design-forward hotel on your Instagram feed,” writes Nicole in this week’s Design Travel story. Take a look around and see what we mean in Waking Up Inside an Image: A Surrealist Guesthouse, Restaurant, and Bookshop. Photograph by Ricardo Acuña, courtesy of Rafael Prieto.
- Are you following @grainandknot? Everything this “object maker” creates is so good.
- “Love that all of Block Shop’s quilts are reversible,” writes Margot. We agree.
- Tailoring Academy? Sign us up: The Nest in Providence, RI, will teach you to alter your own bespoke wardrobe.
- Also, this paper lamp workshop is the stuff of Remodelista editor dreams.
- Autumn Sonata has new Lower Manhattan outpost! (As for that headline: We’ve always said an emphatic yes.)
- Ooh, looking forward to the next iteration of Shaker Outpost.
- Wooed by the wood paneling and Alpine touches in this Swiss villa.
- Love, love, love.
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NYBG is celebrating Diá de los Muertos all through October. Vamos!
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It’s getting to be that time of year for gardeners. Here’s a reminder that a little vinegar can go a long way.
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“All I want for Christmas is this,” says Fan.
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No surprise Catherine Fitzgerald has been named House & Garden’s Garden Designer of the Year—have you seen her own swoon-worthy garden?
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An artist’s stunning contemplation on grief and loss.
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Must-read! Laura wrote a New York Times story on how gardeners are coping with extreme rain.
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Just nature doing its thing—and we’re here for it.
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ICYMI, Kendra’s story on a new community-oriented garden that is “rather chic.”
Waking Up Inside an Image: A Surrealist Guesthouse, Restaurant, and Bookshop in Mexico City
by Nicole Najafi
The most striking aspect of Pensión, the Mexico City guesthouse by Rafael Prieto and Bernardo Dominguez of Savvy Studio, is that it looks unlike any other design-forward hotel on your Instagram feed. It feels as though it were conceived entirely outside of the internet design vernacular. Salmon wall-to-wall carpet, large-scale photographic wallpaper, a bathtub in a bedroom—there are unexpected twists and surprises at every turn as Prieto and Dominguez subvert your expectations.
What began as a small three-room project has recently expanded to ten rooms, each with its own distinct design that feels like a little private world, alongside the launch of Café Ideal, a restaurant-bar on the ground floor with a menu by Prieto’s friend and frequent collaborator (and Remodelista favorite) Laila Gohar. On the second floor is Prieto and Jorge de la Garza’s bookstore, Librería, where you can pick up rare art books from independent publishers.
Eat, sleep, and shop all under one (sublimely designed) roof. Here’s a tour of the three spaces.
Photography by Ricardo Acuña, except where noted, courtesy of Rafael Prieto.
Cafe Ideal
Above: The new Café Ideal is set within an early-1900s Porfirian mansion on a quiet, tree-lined street in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood. The arched windows, iron Juliet balcony, and cantera stone facade are distinct architectural details of the period and place.
Above: The dining room at Café Ideal is an homage to 1970s Mexico City. Powder-blue archival fabric forms the pinch-pleat wall curtains, adorned with antique marble cameo portraits.
Pensión
Above: The reception room at Pensión features a linen pendant light by Marrow Project, marble plinth bench, antique plaster bust, and cheeky teal accent color. The wall-sized mirror imbues the space with a slightly off-kilter, surrealist feeling.
Above: The guest rooms are designed with a unique photographic wallpaper using analog photos taken by Prieto in collaboration with Wallpaper Projects. “The intention was really to give each room its own emotional backdrop, something immersive rather than decorative,” Rafael tells us. “A photograph carries memory and time in a way a pattern can’t. You’re not just waking up in a room; you’re waking up inside an image.” Photograph by Max Farago.
Above: A warm and inviting guestroom with a rug from Prieto’s Swimming Pools collection for Christopher Farr. The pinch-pleat wall curtains recall the ones in Café Ideal. “We approached each room with the instinct of a collector rather than the logic of a hotelier,” says Rafael. “Everything was chosen by someone who cared about it.”
Above: A guestroom bathroom with an original porcelain sink. When asked about the process of restoring a century-old building, Prieto said, “You work slowly, you listen to what’s there, you try not to force it. Patience and respect for the detail that already exists.”
Bookstore
Above: The second floor bookstore, Librería, with rare and independent art books. The modern books set against the backdrop of the Belle Époque stained-glass windows make for a brilliant contrast. Photograph by Adrianna Glaviano.
Above: Librería’s collection spans photography, architecture, design, decoration, ceramics, the culinary arts, and artistic monographs. Photograph by Adrianna Glaviano.
More standouts nearby:
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