PARNASSUS
Interior Decoration
Client: Private
Interior Decoration: Nickolas Gurtler
Photography: Timothy Kaye
Published: Belle Magazine June 2024
Parnassus is the personal home of designer Nickolas Gurtler and his Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Hermes. Named for the home of the muses in classical mythology, it functions as an experimental two bedroom apartment that evolves with new ideas and collected treasures. The residence sits in Abbotsford on Melbourne’s northern fringe within a building by SJB and Carr, providing a disciplined architectural frame for a layered, highly personal interior.
The apartment carries a gallery sensibility. A growing art collection in varied mediums is installed as changing vignettes rather than a fixed hang. In the living room, a rare silver gelatin print of Herb Ritts’ Michael Keaton as Batman, sourced in New York, sits beside a timber commission by Los Angeles artist Bradley Duncan and a stainless steel sculpture by Melbourne maker Alexander Brown. Other works include a painting by Timothy Kaye, a screen print by Cleon Peterson and a sketch by Paris-based Clément Legrand. A hand-carved travertine pillar supports a hand-blown glass and aged-brass vessel by Oliver Wilcox of Lost Profile Studio.
Books are everywhere. Architecture, fashion, science and photography titles stack on shelves, tables and the floor, reinforcing the home’s role as a working library of references.
Furnishings and lighting were curated and commissioned for sculptural presence and tactility. An alpaca velvet sofa by Grazia & Co in burnt umber provides a vivid counterpoint to the neutral palette. A structured walnut and fabric armchair by Furnished Forever sits with a soft Gubi Pacha chair by Pierre Paulin. Vintage tables, including a Knoll Platner and a 1970s Emperador marble piece from 1stDibs, anchor the setting. Lighting acts as jewellery. A floor lamp by Lost Profile Studio balances a quartz, brass and marble commission by Christopher Boots, which crowns a classic USM unit.
In the dining area, a work by London artist Elsebeth Shaw presides over a walnut and brass table by Australian architect Daniel Boddam. An eclectic set of chairs surrounds a custom pendant in hand-blown glass and aged bronze by Lost Profile Studio. The dark SJB kitchen is punctuated by a plaster mirror by Sarah Shinners.
A corridor to the bedroom features a vivid work by Nick Thomm above a vintage bench and more of the ever-growing library. The bedroom reads as an ephemeral study in black, white and grey with accents of chrome and aluminium. Sculptural objects include a ceramic by Theodosius Ng, aluminium stacking candleholders by Thomas Maxam and a vintage Finnish glass dish from Smith St Bazaar.
Parnassus remains deliberately in flux. Pieces arrive and depart, artworks are layered several deep and the rooms continue to shift as the studio’s interests evolve.