When Laura Vinroot Poole first opened Capitol more than twenty years ago, she never imagined there would ever be another iteration of her iconic store.
But, as luck would have it, a few months after Capitol celebrated its twentieth anniversary last spring, Vinroot Poole and her architect husband, Perry Poole, were approached about opening a second location in Los Angeles’ Brentwood Country Mart. “I’ve been going to LA since I was thirteen,” she says. “Every time I’m there, I always stop by Brentwood Country Mart. I love that its goal is to be this amazing conglomeration of the best stores in the country.
There’s Goop, Sid Mashburn, Space NK Apothecary, Roberta Roller Rabbit – some of the most interesting stores. I never
wanted to open a second location of Capitol, but I told myself that if I ever were to do it, this would be the only place I would.”
Since giving the green light in October, the Pooles’ team of architects and designers including designer Scott Newkirk, architect Drew Button, and designer Margaret Farnham, got to work on creating the space. “We had to revise the first iteration of the design because it was too simple and sweet; too stereotypical of the South,” Vinroot Poole says. “My clients and my roots are more complex. We are a complicated bunch, full of myriad contradictions, and I wanted the store to reflect that in addition to the graciousness, the warmth, and the hospitality that are a big part of our heritage.” The result of the revision: a space that couples the Pooles’ warmth and laid-back elegance with the spirit of both California and the South.
As you weave through Capitol Brentwood, new design elements and displays pique curiosity while encouraging you to move from room to room. “This layout was intentional,” Newkirk says. “We wanted you to discover something new every turn you take.” In “the Parlor,” which serves as the centerpiece of the store, you’ll find a rare Serge Mouille one-arm swing lamp and a pair of Jacques Adnet floor lamps, which illuminate a linen Charlotte Perriand daybed with red leather piping. A large lacquered multipanel screen features a de Gournay hand-painted wallpaper (similar to the one in the Charlotte Capitol) developed by Perry Poole Architects (PPA) that incorporates a lemon tree, a toucan and an opossum amongst palm trees, and tropical plants and flowers – a nod to both the South and California.
The rest of the space features pieces pulled from the Pooles’ personal collection, most notably a rosewood George Nelson shelving unit and a monumental Oregon pine display cabinet by Tom Hobgood – a stunning display for accessories and luxurious dresses from the collections of Rosie Assoulin and Peter Pilotto.
At the front of the store is jewelry designer Irene Neuwirth’s collection. (Neuwirth and Vinroot Poole are close friends and collaborated on the store’s design.) The space, designed by Pam Shamshiri of Studio Shamshiri, complements PPA’s design. “The shop’s design feels at once familiar and unexpected with a healthy dose of wonder and whimsy,” Shamshiri explains.
“Stepping into a Capitol store feels like entering a friend’s home,” Perry Poole says. “Hospitality is core to who Laura is, and our top priority was to translate that relaxed, intimate feeling into the design.” Mission accomplished.