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Patricia Altschul's Home Has the Same Mural Jackie Kennedy Installed in the White House
TheSouthern Charmmatriarch has a seriously luxurious wall that's the "ultimate in decorative art."
If we had to describe Patricia Altschul’s historical home, the Isaac Jenkins Mikell House, in a word, it would be opulent. The 9,500-square-foot property — which was formerly Charleston’s public library! — has all the ornate trappings, from gallery walls to "a morning room" to a piazza to a “sea” of staffers on call. And Patricia’s dining room is no different.
In a recent Instagram share, the Southern Charm matriarch called attention to the panoramic wallpaper covering her dining room walls. “My dining room is illustrated in the new book Zuber on Panoramic wallpaper by Brian Coleman..#vogue gave it the number 1 book to order this fall. (I wrote the introduction) Can you see #Siegfried & #Roy? #zuber #wallpaper #pomeranian,” she wrote in a caption alongside a stunning shot of her dining room, which the “Prince of Chintz” decorator Mario Buatta designed. It's equal parts elegant and, well, chintzy. In the best way possible, of course!
Patricia’s dining room walls are anchored by wainscoting on the bottom portion, but the top half is covered by storied French wallpaper company Zuber’s "The American War of Independence" wallpaper, which runs up to the ceiling on every wall in the room.
According to Elle Décor, Patricia has had the wall covering since she was a child and brings the panels with her to every home she’s ever lived in. “Every time I move, the panels have been taken off the walls and reapplied,” Patricia told Elle Décor. “I love the idea of introducing history to my surroundings, and this scene reminds me of an ancestor who served under George Washington.”
Who else has had this same treasured wallpaper? Um, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who had it installed in the White House’s private dining room in 1961. (Betty Ford later removed the coverings, only to have them re-hung by the Carters, where they stayed until the Clintons moved in!)
In her forward in the book Zuber: Two Centuries of Panoramic Wallpaper, Patricia summarizes her sentiments about her own piece, saying, “I feel very privileged to live with this ultimate form of creativity, skill and imagination. Zuber et Cie is the ultimate in decorative art.”
