TEMPUS Magazine redefines time, giving you a glimpse into all things sophisticated, compelling, vibrant, with its pages reflecting the style, luxury and beauty of the world in which we live. A quarterly publication for private aviation enthusiasts.
Issue link: http://tempus-magazine.epubxp.com/i/107193
Vignettes Form & Function A Palm desert antiques store and fne home furnishings shop becomes a sought-out spot for flling the well-appointed home // By Heidi Coryell Williams A A decAde before Phyllis Washington founded her West Coast antiques store and home furnishings shop in the heart of Palm Desert's El Paseo shopping district, she had devoted herself to bettering the quality of life for those around her. Along with her husband, Dennis, she founded the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Since 1988, the nonproft has provided hundreds of scholarships for higher education and more than $130 million in charitable contributions. It's no surprise then to discover that Phyllis, too, is a lifelong learner—engaging in travel and continuing education opportunities at every turn, broadening her mind and her experience. That pursuit of knowledge laid the foundation for a rich design career— one that spanned projects ranging from residences and yachts to private trains and aircraft. Now, ffteen years after opening Maison Felice/Phyllis Washington Antiques, Washington continues to offer her uncommon design sensibility and cosmopolitan sense of style to some of the West Coast's top designers. With more than 25,000 square feet of space to house lovely and found furnishings (from the eighteenth century to art deco), Maison Felice specializes in period pieces with fair. The store foor is flled with everything from sideboards and seating to lighting and artwork. The common thread is that each eye-catching object makes a statement, be it a French art deco citrine and clear-glass mirrored bar or a nineteenthcentury rustic grape-harvesting basket. Washington's taste is not only highly tuned, it is exceptionally trained. Her 24 Tempus-Magazine.com . Spring 2013 TaSTe Maker: Shop owner Phyllis Washington brings a wealth of design knowledge to the collections housed inside her namesake Palm Desert store. memberships include the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, the French Heritage Society, and the Royal Oak topped with cherubs or a luxuriously contemporary twentieth-century mirrored chest of drawers with glass handles and wood banding. Seated squarely at the crossroads of beauty and function, you could spend days perusing the entire space at Maison The store foor is flled with everything from sideboards and seating to lighting and artwork. Foundation. All that comes into play when bringing pieces onto her shop foor, be it a classic eighteenth-century gilt-wood and gesso framed mirror Felice/Phyllis Washington Antiques. But with new arrivals weekly, the pursuit would be timeless, much like the pieces being pursued.