Privet House and Vol. 1 Antiques have settled into their new digs in the village of New Preston, complete with stunning pieces and fresh ideas.
Litchfield County residents Suzanne Cassano and Richard Lambertson are the owners of Privet House, a home emporium for design afficionados. The store carries housewares, furniture, luxury goods, vintage books, tabletop items, gardening accessories, hotel silver, Cire Trudou candles from France, and the popular Libeco line of Belgian linens. All of the merchandise is displayed in tastefully arranged groupings. Every corner, every wall and room in the two floors has been designed to showcase the collections. The spaces are truly inspirational.
On the second floor, a large room is painted a deep indigo black, the perfect background to act as a foil for the real stars within the space—the furniture, art, and accessories, a mix of antiques and new pieces. Having received many compliments and queries about the color of the walls, Suzanne reveals that the paint on the walls is actually chalkboard paint. It’s this out-of-the-box attitude that makes Privet House so appealingly fresh.
After operating Privet House for five years in the small center of Warren, Suzanne and Richard decided to move both Privet House and Vol. 1 Antiques to the village of New Preston. They combined them as one large shop in a beautiful 2-story building. The new space is a hybrid of both worlds. The location is great because New Preston is a shopping mecca—the destination for visitors and weekenders. “We’re happy to be a part of a village, a town that is such a great destination, with so many businesses whose owners are involved and present,” says Suzanne. Compared to other shops in the area, “Privet House is a little more bohemian, in a refined, grown up way. And there’s always a sense of discovery. You never know what you’re going to find here.” Indeed, who would have thought that a collection of kitchen, housekeeping, and personal care brushes imported from Germany would make such an arresting display.
Suzanne Cassano studied marketing at UMass Amherst. She landed an internship at the Lord & Taylor flagship store in New York, and turned it into her first job. After working for 4 years there, she went back to school and received a degree in marketing management at Baruch College. From there, she went into the cosmetics business—specifically the fragrance world—which she found to be much more intuitive. Over the years, she worked at Avon, Charles of the Ritz, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein, and Ann Taylor. During the span of her career, Suzanne has always been going to flea markets and auctions. She sees it as a form of therapy, a joyful departure from the pressures of the business world.
Richard Lambertson is an award-winning accessories designer. In addition to being co-owner of Privet House, Richard and his partner, John Truex, are vice presidents and design directors of the leather-goods division at Tiffany & Co. Richard’s career began with a display job for Saks Fifth Avenue followed by several positions at Bergdorf Goodman, Geoffrey Beene, Barneys New York, Gucci, Calvin Klein, and Geoffrey Beene. In 1998, Richard and John founded Lambertson Truex, a luxury handbag and leather accessories brand. Finally, in 2009, the two partners joined Tiffany & Co. A year before that, Richard teamed up with Suzanne in launching Privet House, in its original location in Warren.
Richard and Suzanne met as neighbors and quickly realized they had similar interests. Privet House is the result of these two creative minds coming together. They enjoy going on buying trips to antique shows in southern France. Each brings their own sensibility to it and they trust each other. Auctions, fairs, antique shows, people’s homes— their searches encompass a wide range of sources to find beautiful and unusual items for their customers. They shop really well together. Their instincts allow them to see beyond a piece—if it needs to be reupholstered, if it could use a different finish. If it’s within reach, it’s about time. In addition to offering contemporary pieces and antiques, Richard and Suzanne stay on the lookout for talented, local artisans. It’s all about editing and they do it very well.
Last year, Target, the retail chain, selected Privet House to be one of the first five shops in their new concept, “The Shops at Target.” Suzanne and Richard developed 125 products for Target’s Privet House collection. They also opened another Privet House store in Greenwich and an online business called Privet House Supply, an e‑shopping web site. The website says, “Privet House Supply is a series of endlessly evolving online concept shops that will never cease to delight, surprise and amuse. The first e-shop is aptly named, “OUT OF THE BOX”, which is a nod to our debut, as well as to thinking outside the box. Out of the Box—an edited selection of goods.”
While Privet House settles into its new space and Richard and Suzanne continue to find timeless objets d’art for the shop, the rest of us can enjoy browsing and perhaps treat ourselves and our homes to that special one-of-a-kind piece that draws compliments and ultimately, brings us comfort and joy.
Privet House
13 East Shore Road
New Preston
Wednesday through Monday, 11am-5pm
860.868.1800
[email protected]
www.privethouse.com
