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Soulful Historic Home

It's a toss-up whether designer Matthew Bees likes global style or soulful old Southern houses best. But one thing is certain: His curiously contradictory passions make for strong, spirited decorating.
Country: United States
Mathew Bees was still in high school when he saw Monticello for the first time, but he couldn't help correcting the docent when she misidentified several furnishings on her tour of Thomas Jefferson's masterpiece. Anyone requiring further evidence that Matthew was born to decorate historic...
Soulful Historic Home
For the interiors, Matthew wanted to create a look appropriate for a remote Southern getaway, but nothing too sleepy. He started with a traditional foundation composed of classic American and English wood antiques, mellowed Oriental rugs, grids of framed prints, and Colonial portraits crowned with...
The Living Room
Most of the rooms are personable public spaces created with drinks and conversations in mind. In the living room, for example, Matthew paired a shapely sofa with a witty trompe l'oeil plaster coffee table that looks like a stack of large books. The sofa itself is made richer with colorful textiles...
The Living Room
Original cypress paneling throughout the house sets a rustic mood. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Landing
Seabird engravings framed in white hang around a large Indian brass platter with lots of patina. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Entry
"I feed off natural elements, probably because of my upbringing in rural South Alabama," he says. "But I have definitely taken some liberties and bumped up the usual game trophies one would find in a Southern home. The game room features an African kudu, a gazelle, and a zebra hide. And why not?...
The Game Room
Posters of the state flags of Alabama, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia (the birth states of Matthew and the close family friends with whom he shares the house) hang above the sofa. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Game Room
Curtains made with a John Robshaw-designed fabric frame wing chairs from architect Bobby McAlpine's collection for Lee Industries. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Game Room
Conical baskets, believed to have once been used by Asian fishermen, are now airy pendant shades over the South Carolina pine dining table. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Dining Room
On the wall, a large framed Indian print and roe deer antlers hang on a whitewashed screen made of old shutters. Below that is an American Empire sofa, which Matthew suspects was originally made for a hotel lobby. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Dining Room
In the bedrooms, Mathew layers headboards, pillows, duvet covers, curtains, and shades with different printed textiles that look as if they were carried home from several continents—all set against a backdrop of antique wooden beds, chests, and trunks. "Taking propriety and pairing it with...
The Guest Room
A modern flat-weave rug adds youthful pattern beneath the pair of antique German twin beds. Vintage Indian quilts bring additional color on top. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Guest Room
Layers of textiles create a cocoon-like feel. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Master Bedroom
A linen three-panel screen hung horizontally behind the upholstered daybed adds even more coziness. Photo by Jonny Valiant for Southern Living
The Master Bedroom
"I think anything, expensive or inexpensive, new or old, American or global, can be in the same space if it is placed correctly," Matthew says.
The Designer