House Of Style

When she’s not supporting emerging designers in London, L.A., and beyond, Tania Fares escapes to a family retreat near her native Beirut. Christopher Bagley drops by.

- Christopher Bagley

Tania Fares is walking around her house in the sun-soaked mountains above Beirut, casually pointing out her favorite pieces of art and design. At first glance, the mix of objects could almost serve as a checklist of must-haves for the summer retreat of any affluent, culturally savvy family. There’s the Yves Klein gold leaf–filled plexiglass table, the pair of Jean Royère club chairs, the paintings by Charline von Heyl and Peter Doig. Not far from a 1970s Paul Evans modular sofa is a Phoenician terra-cotta figure from about 350 BC, along with a rare Hubert le Gall coffee table and Louis XVI chairs that came from Fares’s mother’s apartment in Paris.

The surprise is that Fares furnished the house almost 15 years ago, back when many of these disparate pieces were far less coveted than they are now—and when the very idea of bringing them all together under one roof was considered outré in this part of the world. (Her neighbors here in the wealthy enclave of Shalimar tend to be more traditional in their tastes.) Fares had no help from a decorator, adding or subtracting a Campana Brothers chair here, a Nada Debs side table there. The house’s architect is Nabil Gholam, who was practically unknown at the time Fares hired him—but who later went on to design one of the tallest buildings in Beirut.

“When we built this house, some people liked it, some didn’t,” says Fares, who’s dressed in a Rosie Assoulin pink smiley face T-shirt and Stella McCartney wide-leg silk pants. “But it’s always that way. So you follow the things that you’re passionate about, and that’s it.”