THE 2007 HC&G IDEA HOUSE

August 1, 2007

Far from the utilitarian spaces of yesteryear, bathrooms today are often places of quiet contemplation, rejuvenation and sometimes downright fantasy. As Andreas Dornbracht, president of the eponymous German kitchen and bathroom fittings company, said in these pages last year, "Today, the bathroom is a place where you can spend time with your body and soul. You take a bath not just to be clean but to relax, think and ask yourself, 'What is the future of me?'"

So, with so much at stake, how do you go about designing a bath? The 2007 HC&G Idea House has no less than nine bathrooms—eight full baths and one powder room—as well as another full bath in Kimberly Hall's colorful pool house. Of the nine in the main residence, we feature six here.

For the first-floor powder room just off the entrance foyer, Peggy Fruin and Susanne Kelley of Hampton Design Kitchens Baths have created a shimmering interior combining a mix of white glass mosaics and a distinctive wallpaper by Designers Guild. An antique reproduction mirrored vanity with a wall-mount lavatory and crystal chandelier round out the classically elegant look. In contrast, Fruin and Kelley's other ground-level bath, located off of the kitchen, has a look of countrified chic, featuring a shower with wide, alternating stripes of white and iridescent glass tiles along with walls lined with horizontal boards that mimic the side of a barn.

For the two full baths on the lower level, Fruin and Kelley have created both a traditional, soothing retreat (featuring a Calcutta stone herringbone floor and linen wallpaper) along with a room off of Jeffrey McCullough's gentleman's retreat that they describe as having "an Out of Africa feeling."