HYLAND
backdrops. Sometimes into these pale precincts there is a
surprise shot of vibrant color, as in the fuchsia chairs which
enliven a daughter's sitting room, where a very modern
Marilyn- adorns the wall. The mistress's bathroom, of all
rooms, epitomizes Drysdale's minimalist take on Empire:
a silvery freestanding bathtub,
not unlike the one David
painted the murdered Marat in,
complemented by a sunburst
mirror on the wall above.
These breathtakingly simple
ensembles evoke certain forms
of Malmaison and the Empire
without slavishly mimicking its
weightier excesses. Similarly,
in the master bedroom, three
books wrapped in inscribed
parchment and a single
porcelain cup, in vivid turquoise,
rest upon a mantelpiece.
If anything, Drysdale is inspired heiress apparent to Syrie
Maugham's wonderful way with white, of which Vogue
editors wrote, she had "apprehended the sweet uses of
white and light." There are quantities of sublimely pickled
furniture at Marwood, more Maugham at the Petit Trianon
than Josephine at Malmaison. Certain Maugham signatures-
