Stephan Salny ’75: Fascinated for Life
It all began in college while cruising the posh neighborhoods of Lake Forest, just north of Chicago. Stephen Salny ’73 found himself drawn to a dozen or so Georgian and Mediterranean-style homes dotting the countryside. Further investigation revealed that they had all been designed by one David Adler in the first half of the 1900s. That led to a three-decade fascination with Adler, his sister, designer Frances Elkins, and her protégé, Michael Taylor. And the 75 page independent study he wrote as a college senior has led to three lavishly-illustrated books, the latest one on Taylor published just this January.
But writing, and researching, and lecturing is not Salny’s real job. By day, he oversees a third generation property management business in Baltimore where he’s lived for 32 years. “My grandfather was in real estate and bought property down here years ago. I always knew I’d go into the family business,” said Salny. “In fact, at Lake Forest I majored in economics because it was as close as I could get to a business major at a liberal arts college.”
At night and on weekends Salny writes, or chases the endless details needed to document his subjects’ work, be it floorplans, photos, correspondence, or interviews with owners. “I enjoy the chase and I enjoy the challenge,” said Salny. “I’m what I like to call ‘diplomatically aggressive’ in getting what I need for a book.”
Despite his lack of formal training, Salny’s books have met with critical acclaim. For the new book on Taylor, he did a two-week tour of the West Coast, with receptions at design centers, museums, and cultural centers. He is a frequent speaker at architectural forums such as those held at Winterthur near Philadelphia (check). And he has contributed articles to both Architectural Digest and the New York Times.
“I published my first piece on Adler in 1980 in the Times. Then a researcher from Lake Forest asked my opinion about a room thought to be by Adler and his sister and I realized that I should really publish my research in a book.”
New Englanders might recognize David Adler for his design of the famous Crane Estate on the North Shore. He often collaborated with his sister, Frances Elkins, who designed the interiors, albeit with a more dramatic and contemporary flair. She established her own thriving business on the West Coast at a time when women designers were few and far between. She in turn had tremendous influence on Michael Taylor who created a tradition-breaking California Style, bringing outdoor elements indoors, mixing trees with antiquities, whites with bright accent colors.
Salny’s day job does impact his writing projects. “There is a lot of legality and business negotiation in doing a book like this with licensing rights and so on, so it is similar to the skills I use on a daily basis,” he said. Plus, he occasionally gets to have some fun putting those design theories to use in the model apartments for his properties.
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