In that winter garden, planted by landscape artist Gaby Sosa, a cozy seating area lies beneath a canopy created by potted Japanese Guava trees. Nearby, a gleaming blue-glass lamp is by Luis Barragán and the white-marble sculpture by Sophia Vari, Fernando Botero’s wife. A bar on one end is made from an antique case piece, purchased at the Paris Flea Market, and topped with a marble slab. “My favorite pastime is to go on the weekends to the flea market,” says Botero. “And I’ve bought so many incredible pieces there, which I’ve mixed with handcrafts and other things—like these turn-of-the-century French soda bottles in blue turquoise that you see in the bar.”
Around the house, more of those flea market finds, collected over many years, mix in with Latin American crafts, luxurious textiles, and blue-chip artworks, working to give the newly built space some sense of history. In the living room, for example, Pierre Jeanneret chairs, sheepskin lounges by Flemming Lassen, and a contemporary table by Atelier Er mingle with artworks by Ugo Rondinone, Henry Moore, her father, and others. In the dining room, artisanal, woven-straw dining chairs surround the handmade table, watched over by two monumental Fernando Botero paintings—a juicy still life of a sliced watermelon, which hung in his own Colombian home for many years; and a portrait of a pudgy girl. “I love the way those two paintings talk to each other,” says Botero.
Meanwhile, the library, where Botero houses her photography collection (including pieces by Irving Penn, Graciela Iturbide, Edward Weston, and Luis González Palma), Botero explains that “I knew from the start I wanted the predominant color to be red—it’s such a happy color, very cozy and very alive.” Here, a pair of 1940s Halabala armchairs are upholstered in crimson southwestern Ralph Lauren fabric and other seats are sheathed in a similar geranium hue. The television, nearby, is cleverly concealed behind one of her father’s large still life paintings.
“My father always had a phrase that I loved: There’s success in excess,” recalls Botero. “Basically, if you’re going to make a statement, make it a bold statement.”
