Comfort
Zone
Charlotte Moss warms up her cozy Aspen chalet for winter.
By
Nancy A. Ruhling
A 19th-century French table in the dining room
changes its winter wardrobe – linens, china,
centerpiece and flowers – for every event.
The blue-and-white color scheme of the living
room is punctuated by dark greens to give a crisp,
clean look. Moss adds soft throws, fluffy pillows
and darker lampshades to winterize the scene.
With
a newly fallen coat of snow wrapped around its dove-gray
shingles like a knitted shawl, Charlotte Moss's
Aspen home beckons her and her family – as it
does every skiing season – for a welcome as warm
as a cup of hot-mulled cider.
In what has become a rite of winter, interior designer
Moss and her husband, investment banker Barry Friedberg
– with their cute Cavalier spaniels Oscar and
Darby in tow – trade their elegant Manhattan townhouse
for their tranquil, chalet-style mountain home so they
can kick off their big-city cares and strap on their
skis.
“What makes this house so special is that I can
do anything I want in Aspen,” says Moss, whose
new book, Winter House (Clarkson Potter, $50),
gives a glimpse of the special place the city and the
house hold in her heart. “I can be as social as
I want – I can go skiing, snowshoeing and hiking,
or go to parties – or I can hang out by the fire
and have lunch all by myself.”
For Moss, whose clients have included New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Ronald Spogli, U.S. ambassador
to Italy, it's all about relaxing. While Friedberg
hits the slopes 14/7, breaking only for lunches and
the occasional game of chess at the club, Moss relishes
the idea of staying closer to home. “While I enjoy
being outside, the ultimate luxury for me is simply
to have time to sit in bed with the dogs at my feet,
with some magazines, books and a cup of coffee. Or sit
by the fire and needlepoint, or soak in a bubble bath,”
she says.
The décor of the winter home is cocoon-cozy in
Moss's signature style of traditional with a modern
slant: Stucco walls, slate-stone floors and a mix of
international furnishings – including an Irish
cupboard and Italian painted pieces – are as inviting
as the flickering fire. “The winter look is about
taking things out of the cupboard, adding and subtracting
things to make you feel comfortable so you don't
get cabin fever,” she says.
Putting her Aspen home in a winter frame of mind is
all about “changing the little things,”
Moss says. “I like to think of it as a layered
look; it's just like changing into your winter
wardrobe.” The warm woods upholstered in dark
velvets and suedes take on a glow when Moss adds her
seasonal touches: baby-soft throws on the chairs, plush
pillows lavishly decorated with tassels and trims, darker
shades on lamps and ever-aromatic evergreens. Winter
blows into the living room with blues, snow-whites and
greens. “The blue-and-white paisley upholstery
brings out the blue and white in the Delft and faience,”
she says. “And the dark greens give warmth to
the room. A sisal rug, which most people associate with
summer, gives texture and lightness.”
In the dining room, it is the linens, china, centerpiece
and flowers that set the winter mood at the long 19th-century
French table that seats 14. “I change them for
every occasion,” Moss says. “This gives
a personal touch to each meal.”
Perhaps the coziest room of the house is the master
bedroom, where a French-style canopy bed – with
a soothing, stucco-color, French floral fabric punctuated
by elaborate, antique tiebacks – “has arms
that wrap around you,” Moss says. A sisal carpet,
overlaid by a needlepoint rug, is easy on bare feet.
Moss says the house is made for family and friends.
When the holidays arrive, Friedberg's two grown
sons bring their significant others, and Moss's
siblings and their children settle in. Sometimes they
pop corn and watch TV; sometimes they head to the kitchen,
where they chat as Moss prepares simple fare like piping-hot
chili and crusty, mouthwatering bread served with a
bottle of wine. Other times, they congregate in the
game room to try their hand at billiards, cards, chess
or Scrabble.
But the house has been known to come out of hibernation
for long periods. Moss says the season wouldn't
be complete without her annual all-girl pajama party,
and Friedberg and his sons often use the house as a
weekend retreat.
Moss loves to add little winter touches to make all
of her guests feel at home. She fills the guest rooms
with bouquets of fresh-cut flowers and evergreens, and
lights candles in spicy scents like fig or pine. “A
winter house is a state of mind,” she says. “You
don't need a separate house to get the feel. You
just have to think about your house in a fresh way,
even if that means just rearranging the furniture. It
all boils down to hospitality.”
Hospitality in Moss's winter house includes making
each guest room special. “First of all, I decide
whom to put in each room,” she says. “I
may put my nieces in the room with the twin beds so
they can gab. Then I go through each room and place
books individually selected from the library that I
feel each guest will want to read.”
But for guests to really feel at home, so must the host
– and Moss loves her Aspen house right down to
its strap-hinged shutters and antique porch pillars.
Playing the hostess is as spontaneous as the season's
first snowfall.
Regardless of where she and Friedberg are or what they
are doing, Moss says that the most important thing –
in winter, summer or in between – is “that
we're all together.”
Nancy A. Ruhling, a freelance writer based in New York
City, writes frequently about art, antiques and interior
design.
Nancy
A. Ruhling, a freelance writer based in New York City,
frequently writes about art, antiques and interior design.
