FEATURES

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Kolansky's keen eye allows her to balance the probable with the utterly unique. Majolica and magnifying glasses might have been done before, but mixing her own art photographs with Lartigue and Cartier-Bresson is just plain gutsy. Her collector's eye is constantly roaming: white porcelain tea- and coffeepots hobnob with antique majolica cornware. Shelves are loaded with Staffordshire transferware in both blue and red. Old striped country mixing bowls look just right against the richly colored faience. Indeed, when a strong sense of personal taste overrides all other considerations, then mixing styles is second nature and the result is simultaneously innovative, original and totally correct.

Gastronomic indulgence is the other secret behind the harmony of these spaces. The house, both inside and out, is replete with at least a dozen places to dine. Every porch is enclosed in glass and boasts a table and chairs for playing chess, backgammon or, of course, eating. Suiting the lusty appetites of their friends, the vast outdoor kitchen is as rugged as the arbor is eclectic. Each dining area is replete with places to sit, mingle or read. The proper dining room seats 14 at the table and another dozen in the cushy, comfortably stuffed sofas and loveseats. What a way to dine!

Troiano has an insatiable appetite for cookbooks; he reads a new one every day, which is evident in his idea-filled menus. His caramelized onion pizza is, he describes, "like onion soup without the broth." He bakes fresh rosemary focaccia—simmered in olive oil and garlic—in one of two brick wood-burning ovens that emit heavenly aromas.