Whimsical Chateau in the Pacific Northwest
Just around the corner from downtown Lake Oswego sits a beautiful French chateau, which makes you feel a world away. Dede Marriott has dwelt within this magnificent, unforgettable home for three decades. The home has been created in 2003 by Gösta and Mary Nilson, owners of Marquess of Granby Antiques in Lake Oswego. Dede thing about her home? It was built for, and around, a few exceptional antiques instead of being built first and afterwards looking for pieces to match the home. Dede has intertwined the old with the new to create a cozy, functional and historical home.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Dede Marriott and her puppy Mina
Location: Lake Oswego, Oregon
Size: 4,500 sq. ft., two-story detached house with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms
Whitney Lyons
Marriott’s home makes a bold curbside statement. To the right is a three-car garage which has a little living room above for guests. The house sits on a half-acre of property. There’s no grass on the house making yard work a simple endeavor. The driveway is quarter round gravel and is safer to walk on than pea gravel since it doesn’t roll under foot.
The beautiful French doors in the entry are 300 years old. They’re complete with classic hardware and also a sliding bolt latch that are styled out by hand-chiseled stone blocks.
Whitney Lyons
The shutters from the dining area are 200 years old. In the cabinet is a flag created in Portland, Oregon in 1910 that reads”fearless and true.” The flag was created for Portland’s”Liedertafel,” a singing society composed of German immigrants that settled in Portland.
Persian rug: O’Gallerie auction
Whitney Lyons
Marriott has a unique knack for mixing the old with the new, the elaborate using all the plain and the unique together with all the ordinary. She decorates boldly, mixing pieces most people would not think to combine but wish they had. “I don’t have one design — it’s eclectic. There’s a story to everything I accumulate,” says Dede.
The chandelier in Marriott’s living room is in the 1700s and after hung within a castle in Germany. Beautiful Persian rugs and embroidered tablecloths also from Germany complete the diverse room. She combines the old and the newest in this area using a leather sofa from Anthropologie.
Whitney Lyons
Marriott went all out with decorating for the holidays this season. Her house was one of five homes in the Lake Oswego Holiday Tour that happened on December 8. Children’s novels gave her inspiration for a”gnome dinner party.” According to the novels, gnomes are vegetarians. Marriott served her gnomes lettuce, mushroom, milk while the tour happened.
This gnome is a great addition to Marriott’s vacation theme. She discovered him along with all the cosmetic mushroom and stocking Digs Inside and Out in northeast Portland.
Whitney Lyons
Marriott doesn’t buy anything unless it’s available, and also these gnome dishes from Digs Inside and Out are no exception. She also found gnome-themed wine toppers out of Digs Inside and Out as a fun addition to her tabletop collection. Although Marriott has discovered a number of her collections in Digs Inside and Out, she doesn’t have a favorite shop. “I only love to shop. I wish I did have a favorite shop. It would be much simpler! I find things all over the place,” she states.
Dede loves her kitchen cabinets. The translucent cupboard doors replicate chicken wire. As there’s absolutely no glass on the cabinets, minimal cleaning is needed.
Whitney Lyons
“I am a collector. I can not only have anything,” says Marriott. When she discovered this classic tiger carpet, she had a few Steiff tigers. She has continued to improve her collection during the years.
Whitney Lyons
This 80-year-old dressing table from Europe was installed when the house was built.
Whitney Lyons
The chandeliers through the house have been antiques from France. The mirror has been bought from Stars Antique Mall from the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland.
Her walk-in cupboard uses curtains as a space-saving alternative to doors.
Whitney Lyons
Marriott’s library holds many of her late mother’s belongings, including this white carpet from Atiyeh Brothers which has a 1920s Austrian design. Above the desk hangs a painting of her mother, Gerda.
Whitney Lyons
This whimsical chair is constructed of cast iron antlers. Marriott located it at a card shop, of all places, in Beaverton, Oregon.
Whitney Lyons
It was love at first sight 20 years ago for Marriott’s mother Gerda when she watched this exceptional sheep foot feces while the family vacationed at Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Whitney Lyons
Drapes out of Pottery Barn enclose this outside area in winter. In summer time she pulls back the drapes to relish the Northwest sunshine.
In her backyard, Marriott utilizes industrial electrical pump housings and an old chili pot as flower pots.
Whitney Lyons
Marriott loves unique houses and has lived in several different historical homes across the Portland area. This may likely not be the last home that Marriott decorates, but it will have a extraordinary home to lure her to leave this one.
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