When the Ranch at Malibu opened in 2010 as a luxury health resort on 200 acres in California’s Santa Monica Mountains, its approach was somewhat radical: Guests signed up for a full week of group hikes, fitness classes, spa treatments, nutrition consults and communal, organic meals without caffeine, gluten, soy or dairy. The goal, says its founder Alex Glasscock, was “for people to mentally and physically reset and recharge.” On April 15, a second location, the Ranch at Hudson Valley, is scheduled to open near Tuxedo Park, N.Y., in a slate-and-stone lakefront mansion surrounded by state parks. Glasscock hopes the 25-room property, which he describes as “like a big, luxury dorm,” will facilitate connections between those who stay. Guests will do yoga under the ornate plaster ceiling of the former ballroom and, in Glasscock’s ideal world, come to dinner in their pajamas and robes. This new outpost offers a few additional treatments including colonics and energy healings — which incorporate techniques such as hypnosis and sound therapy. In winter, guests can sled or snowshoe, and in summer there’s paddleboarding on the lake. The Ranch has also relaxed a few of the restrictions: You can book three nights at the Hudson Valley property instead of the seven required in Malibu, and, in concession to the most common request of all, caffeine is no longer taboo — organic Nicaraguan coffee is served at breakfast in both locations. Reservations open Feb. 21; rooms from $3,280 per person for three nights including accommodations, meals and programming; theranchhudsonvalley.com.
Gift This
Collectible Posters From the Herman Miller Archive
For much of the 20th century, the Michigan furniture company Herman Miller was the star-maker of American design, responsible for turning Isamu Noguchi, George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames into household names. But the brand’s archive, which spans 119 years, also includes contributions from hundreds of talents whom history has overlooked, and whose work Herman Miller’s team began resurfacing through an ongoing collectible poster series launched in 2021. Among those getting their due in the project’s latest edition, which debuts next week, are Linda Powell and Barbara Loveland, who worked in the company’s graphics department in the ’80s and ’90s: Powell’s rainbow-striped 1978 Ideas magazine cover is now a poster, as is Loveland’s 1981 promotional print for the Wilkes Modular sofa (aka the Chiclet). The standout of the collection, though, is a group of three abstract Op Art compositions by the Japanese American graphic designer Tomoko Miho; as head of George Nelson’s design team and later of her own firm, she counted among her clients not just Herman Miller but Noguchi, MoMA and the Smithsonian. “She’s someone who did the work but wasn’t, as many women weren’t, quite celebrated,” says Amy Auscherman, Herman Miller’s archive director. “She created a lot of bangers, so it’s great to see her get the recognition she deserves.” On sale Feb. 27; from $245, store.hermanmiller.com.
The 40-year-old designer Adam Wade Wagner had for years traveled internationally doing visual merchandising for a fashion retailer when, stuck at home in Brooklyn Heights during the pandemic, he was finally able to focus on his leather-working hobby. At first, he was drawn to the hides themselves, because he knew that New York’s garment district was among the world’s best places to source artisanal, vegetable-tanned options imported from Italy. “When I buy, I gauge for the leathers’ structural qualities, and ones that feel like skin — versus vinyl or anything artificial — and are finished so they age beautifully,” says Wagner, who trained as an architect and cites Brutalism as a central influence. Eventually he decided to produce a line of bags that he sells online, every one — whether a heavy black leather carryall or a slouchy olive green suede tote — made from a distinct leather that suits its silhouette and purpose. With saddle-stitched construction, minimalist lines and a neutral color palette, each item is crafted individually by hand from a bench covered with traditional tools in the corner of Wagner’s living room: He’s inspired by the durability and functionality upheld by stalwart workwear brands like Filson, even if he’s offering a more rarified product. “I could never find a bag that I liked,” he says. “I ended up with something that’s purely leather — it’s important to manipulate it as little as possible.” From $650, adamwadewagner.com.
Visit This
A Cape Town Gallery’s Inaugural Exhibition in Los Angeles
Since it opened in Cape Town in 2008, the Southern Guild, a collectible design gallery, has expanded into a campus that includes a 5,000-square-foot gallery, production facilities and artist residency quarters. When its owners, Trevyn and Julian McGowan, were considering an international outpost, they knew they wanted to establish the Southern Guild in the U.S., where they’ve long had a client base. In many ways, Los Angeles was the obvious choice: “I’m from Johannesburg and I always felt at home in L.A.,” Trevyn says. “Both cities went through a gold rush moment around the same time, they have a similar industrious spirit and the locals tend to have an open and warm attitude.” In early 2023, the couple and their team found a 1920s building, a former laundromat, on Western Avenue in Melrose Hill. After a year of renovations, they will launch their new satellite space this weekend with a group exhibition of 25 artists and a solo show of over nine-foot-high ceramic vessels by the Cape Town-based sculptor Zizipho Poswa. Up next: a solo show from the South African artist and activist Zanele Muholi. southernguild.com.
Try This
Balms That Do It All
The winter months are known to dry and irritate skin, but stashing a multipurpose balm in your bag, car, desk or suitcase can help guard against the effects of cold weather. Sade Baron’s cocoa butter and sweet almond oil All Moi Multipurpose Balm comes in a small stick that can be tucked in a back pocket. Danucera’s oil-rich Cerabalm can remove makeup and buildup when used as a cleanser or replenish dehydrated skin if left on for a few minutes as a mask. Bonjout Beauty’s Le Balm, created by a French pharmacist, is billed as a solid serum crammed with over 60 active ingredients, including barrier-supporting ceramides, hyaluronic acid and stem cells that aim to boost skin’s radiance. Travelers looking to pack light will appreciate that the palm-size disc can serve as both a serum and a moisturizer. Dore’s castor oil-based balm works on dry patches that can appear around the lips and nose in the winter or can be slathered over skin for a version of slugging. Moisture loss in the skin is often accompanied by inflammation, which is why the Everything Rescue Balm from True Botanicals contains soothing calendula oil (which gives the balm its orange hue) and aloe. The Universal Balm from Monastery, scented with neroli, sandalwood and hinoki, soaks into skin on hands (or anywhere else) quickly for a nearly matte finish — and it comes with a key to squeeze out every last bit.
The Miami-based artist Autumn Casey was first introduced to Tiffany-style lamps at Applebees and Pizza Hut. As a child, she was taken with the intricacies of the design, characterized by a distinctive stained glass shade and nature-inspired motifs, without knowing the history behind it. (Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Women’s Cutting Glass Department at his studio, the lamps were a hallmark of the Art Nouveau movement.) Now, in a new solo exhibition at the Future Perfect in Manhattan’s West Village, Casey updates the classic form with seven pieces that nod to her early fascination. The fixtures are adorned with apple blossoms, wisteria, daffodils and a pair of birds, all rendered in colors that are bold, but not too bold — restraint was a major effort, she says. “It was almost like a little challenge for myself, to not make [each lamp] a million different colors,” she says. Titled “Fantasy and her Fantasies,” the show takes its name from a line in the Japanese film “Hausu” (1977), a hallucinatory horror comedy (and cult classic) in which a house and its furniture alarmingly come to life. Casey, whose artistic practice spans sculpture, collage and video, thinks of this exhibition as a sort of “gothic cartoon.” To create each shade, the artist builds a frame of welded steel, wire, plaster and clay, overlaying it with fabrics inherited from her late grandmother, who was a doll maker. A final layer of resin gives the appearance of stained glass, transforming the lamps into what Casey calls “illuminated sculptures.” “Autumn Casey: Fantasy and Her Fantasies” is on view at Future Perfect, New York, through March 14, thefutureperfect.com.
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