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A Pop-Up Hotel and Restaurant in Arles
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| Left: Villa Bank, the Modernist building that will temporarily be known as Casa Ideale, a restaurant and hotel. Right: in the living room, near a sculptured metal fireplace by the designer Max Sauze and a DS-600 sofa by De Sede, is a wall lined with photographs supplied through a collaboration with Fondazione Sozzani. Laurent Giannesini |
The Paris-based events company We Are Ona has specialized in creating pop-up restaurants in stylish locations (such as a Milan tennis club and a skyscraper terrace in Hong Kong) since its founding in 2019. Now, in Villa Bank, a former home in the Provençal city of Arles designed by the Modernist architect Émile Sala, We Are Ona is launching a longer-term experience called Casa Ideale, which includes a set of guest bedrooms. For its six-month takeover of the property, We Are Ona collaborated with the Paris- and Milan-based arts nonprofit Fondazione Sozzani to bring in photographs by artists like William Claxton, Sarah Moon and Helmut Newton. Temporary furnishings include a midcentury wooden desk and bench by the French designer Henri Bataille and several pieces, including a Doghe coffee table, by the Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, through a collaboration with the Paris-based gallerist Luna Laffanour. (Guests can buy the furniture on view.) Then there’s the creative cuisine that’s We Are Ona’s trademark, prepared using mostly local ingredients, including vegetables and herbs grown on the premises. From July 1 to 10, stays are available in each of the property’s five bedrooms, and a restaurant will be open to the public. Otherwise, from mid-May through October, bookings are for the entire property, with tours by appointment. Future iterations in additional locations are already in the works. Individual bookings from about $584 a night, weareona.co; full property bookings, from about $3,500 for three nights, casaideale.co.
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Sculptural Cabinet Pulls, Door Knobs and Light Switches
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| Left, clockwise from top: Ellis Works Portal cabinet knob in extra large, $199; Ellis Works Portal cabinet knob in large, $149; Ellis Works Tompkins cabinet knob in polished brass in small, $29; and Ellis Works Sackett cabinet knob in polished brass in small, $39; ellis-works.com. Center, from left: Dimwit Single dimmer with Porto plate and Mum knob in carmine, $330; and Dimwit double dimmer with Muir plate and Dot knobs in moss, $485; dimwit.world. Right, from left: Petra Barbara pull in small, $120; and Petra Barbara pull in large, $195 petrahardware.com. From left: Courtesy of Ellis Works; Leigh Verwey; Matthew Gordon |
Alex Bellos, the founder of the brand Ellis Works and a former president of West Elm, thinks of interior hardware (like drawer pulls and door knobs) as “the jewelry of the home,” he says. “It’s this thing you interact with as a daily ritual.” Ellis Works, which launched in January, sells its own hardware designs, as well as collaborations with artists and designers — such as Kalen Kaminski, whose creations include handblown glass knobs, and Heath Wagoner, who designed cabinet knobs and pulls inspired by the Italian painter Caravaggio — resulting in 13 distinct collections. It’s among a group of companies upgrading home hardware. Petra, which was founded by Monica Khemsurov (a T contributing editor) in 2024 as an online showroom, launched its in-house collection, Petra Fundamentals, this week. Its first release features contributions from the New York-based design companies Bower Studios and Alexis and Ginger. The solid-brass knobs and pulls are influenced by ancient objects and Modernist sculpture, and are hand-cast by an artisans’ workshop in India that, Khemsurov says, gives them an “organic, imperfect shape.” Tactility and customization were driving principles for Joanna Bean Martin, the founder of Dimwit, an electrical hardware brand whose first collection of dimmer light switches will arrive on May 16. The light switches, which come in six colorways of ceramic-coated brass wall plates with acrylic dimmer knobs in four colors and three shapes, can be easily interchanged, bringing playful intentionality to an aspect of interior design that’s often overlooked.
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In Bruges, a Bed-and-Breakfast That Doubles as a Creative Lab
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| Left: Jonoje, a new bed-and-breakfast in Bruges, Belgium, looks out over an expansive garden. Right: for the interiors, its designer founders experimented with materials such as woven bamboo, brick and clay. © Tijs Vervecken |
Last month, the Belgian designers and business partners Jo Hoeven and Karel Loontiens opened Jonoje, a six-room bed-and-breakfast in their hometown, Bruges. In a brick building that was once a broom factory on the edge of the city’s historic district, the duo have installed objects developed by their firm, Studio Loho, which produces bespoke ceramic objects for interior designers like Vincent Van Duysen and Pierre Yovanovitch. There are egg-shaped ceramic shower cubicles, clay wash basins and walls clad with organic plaster. “Jonoje is our playground where we can test different things, play with color and experiment,” says Loontiens. Breakfast includes homemade sourdough, whipped butter and cheese and locally made jam. A concierge can arrange bicycle rentals and offer personalized tips for exploring Bruges — Hoeven recommends the natural wine bar Cuvée and a visit to the design gallery Dries Van Landschoote. From about $280 a night, breakfast included, jonoje.com.
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A Painter’s Flooded, Frayed Canvases, on View in New York
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| From left: Vaughn Davis Jr.’s “Darwin’s Movement” (2026) and “A Gentle Reminder” (2026). © Vaughn Davis Jr., courtesy of the artist and Superhouse |
Before using any paints or pigments, the St. Louis-based artist Vaughn Davis Jr. soaks the surface of his artwork with water. “I lay a sheet of unprimed, unstretched canvas on my studio floor, and I get on my knees and wet the work, almost as if I’m scrubbing or pre-washing it,” he explains. Using sponges, mops, brooms or any other mark-making tool he has at hand, Davis then layers on color, which is altered by the dampened surface below. “It’s this process of laying down paint and also letting the water say what it needs to say,” he says. The aqueous through line of Davis’s oeuvre was on his mind as he prepared for his upcoming solo exhibition at downtown Manhattan’s Superhouse gallery. Titled “Wade in the Water,” the show shares its name with the well-known spiritual but can also be interpreted more directly: “This idea of moving slowly, cautiously through a plane really became the anchor for this [collection of] work.” Davis’s large canvases are slashed, torn and mounted, with their frayed edges visible — sometimes creasing to accommodate a corner or trailing the floor — which lends each painting a sculptural quality. “Wade in the Water” will be on view at Superhouse from May 20 through June 27, superhouse.us.
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A Hotel in a Provençal Village Breathes New Life Into Old Stone Houses
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| A room at Hotel Crillon le Brave, with curtains from Antoinette Poisson featuring an 18th-century-inspired block printed floral pattern. © Mr. Tripper |
The picturesque hilltop village of Crillon le Brave is about 25 miles northeast of Avignon in the Vaucluse department of southern France. It thrived from the Middle Ages through the 1800s, but faced a period of decline into the mid-20th century, by which time most of its inhabitants had left and many of its structures had fallen into disrepair. In 1989, a couple of enterprising hoteliers converted one of the town’s stone homes into the 11-room Hostellerie de Crillon le Brave, hoping it would appeal to travelers wanting to explore beyond traditional Provençal resort destinations like Èze and St.-Tropez. Now, after several expansions that have incorporated other historic structures into the property, the Hotel Crillon le Brave (as it’s now known) is reopening following an extensive renovation. The nine new rooms spread across three houses were designed with large groups and families in mind — and, like in the rest of the property, each one is unique. Antique terra-cotta tiling was sourced from across southern France and Italy, while vintage furnishings were found at local brocantes; ceramic bedside tables were made in nearby Beaujolais and floral curtains came from the heritage textile makers Antoinette Poisson and Colefax & Fowler. The hotel’s spa, in vaulted 18th-century stables, now includes a hammam, sauna and cold baths. Rooms from $550, crillonlebrave.com.
FROM T’S INSTAGRAM
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| Illustration by Sacha Strange. Animation by Jonathan Eden |
Compared with the shoulders and back, the face is an underappreciated candidate for massage. But the muscles in our forehead, temples, jaw and elsewhere are constantly at work, shaping expressions and warehousing tension. What’s more, regular kneading is not only relaxing; it can improve both skin elasticity and blood flow, with the potential to sculpt the face by reducing puffiness. Click here to read experts’ tips on how to add facial massage to your beauty routine and follow us on Instagram.
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