R. Ward Lariscy is the sole proprietor of R. Ward Lariscy, Inc., an antique and gift shop on Prudential Drive. His company has been in business for 22 years.
DO YOU HAVE
OTHER LOCATIONS?
The Prudential Drive location houses his design showroom. He operates gift and accessory shops, known as The Wardroom Ltd., out of San Marco, Amelia Island and St. Augustine. “I started in San Marco. That was the first design shop. Then I went to Europe and bought too many antiques to fit there, so I moved in here.”
WHERE DO YOU BUY
YOUR ANTIQUES?
“Most of my antiques are imports. I travel to England and France to purchase them. Plus, I have dealers that buy in Sweden. We comb the eastern coast of the United States for antiques, too. We sell anything for the home.”
WHAT TYPE OF FURNISHINGS DO
YOU BUY?
“I go for more traditional, classic and decorative pieces; like painted pieces because that accents when all the furniture is in wood tones.”
DO YOU GET a GREAT DEAL OF PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC?
“Decorating is not a business where people walk in off the street. It costs a lot of money so people want to make sure they’re getting their money’s worth. I’ve been doing this for 35 years so I’ve built up repeat customers.”
WHERE Did YOU LEARN
THE TRADE?
“I was with May Cohens for 15 years in charge of the interior design department and as fashion director for the home.”
WHY DID YOU LEAVE?
“I could see the great change coming. Department stores are not the place to be any more. Now it’s Home Depot and Target — those are the department stores of the future.”
WHERE IS YOUR
CUSTOMER BASE?
“Most of my work is in Jacksonville, but because people are coming in from outlying areas, we’ve gone elsewhere to do work. You do their place here and then their vacation homes. Now that downtown is coming alive again with residents, we’re seeing business in those places. I’ve got a condo in the Berkman townhomes I’m going to furnish.”
WHAT ABOUT DESIGN APPEALS TO YOU?
“It’s creating beauty. How I really got into it was I went to a psychologist in college. Through counseling and testing, he pulled out my inner desires. That’s how I ended up in design. I started in engineering because that was what my father was pushing for and what the country was pushing for. There was a big demand for engineers then and they were paying well.”
WHAT’S YOUR
BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY?
“I treat my clients the way that psychologist treated me. We come up with several ideas, but they have to make the final decision. When I show a fabric, I give them several choices, but they’re the ones that have to live with it. You have to really analyze a person to find out their likes. If I had another profession to go into, it would be psychology because you really have to get inside people’s heads.”
HOMETOWN
Savannah.
HAVE YOU WORKED IN ANOTHER FIELD?
“In high school, I worked in a sporting goods warehouse as a stock boy. Then in college, I worked at a florist. When I was in the Army for two years, I was a clerk typist.”
WHAT’S MOST REWARDING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
“Finishing a project that is appreciated and that the client is happy with. And since I work mainly with the women, getting thank you notes from the husbands is most rewarding.”
WHAT’S CHALLENGING
FOR YOU?
“Being able to find things cheap enough or to find copies of what they see in New York magazines. A lot of that stuff in magazines is created just for photographs. It makes good copy but it may not be what’s actually there [in a home].”
IS DESIGN A
LEARNED SKILL?
“A lot of it is inborn and natural. You can’t go in and do things without some schooling. You need to learn good balance and form. So much you pick up from traveling that you absorb subconsciously. Then you try to take all those ideas and cram them into a 2,000 square foot house. My clients are the upper 10 percent of the income bracket so those people are definitely well-traveled. It’s good to experience where your clients are going and staying, what they’re used to.”
WHERE DID he GO
TO SCHOOL?
Lariscy has a bachelor’s degree in interior design from Auburn University.
HOW MUCH IS THERE
TO LEARN?
Issues such as handicapped accessibility, especially for commercial jobs, liability, restoration of historic structures, green decorating and meeting building codes are some of the topics he must know. “Now, with the additional codes, we have four hours of mandatory courses on building codes. All fabrics and wall coverings have to meet flammability codes. It’s not like doing someone’s house; it becomes very technical. At 11 E. [11 E. Forsyth St.] only one window per unit can be opened and it can only be opened six inches so someone’s child won’t fall out. Those are things we need to know about but the contractor should be on top of.”
WHAT IS GREEN DECORATING?
“They get more into that in the commercial end. For instance, if they were replacing carpet in the Independent Square, can you imagine how much carpet they would take out of there? Mills that make commercial carpet have places where carpet can be recycled. You don’t just put it on the curb for it to go to the landfill.”
WHAT’S YOUR PET PEEVE?
“People who want these fabulous things out of magazines but can’t afford it.”
WHAT DOes he DO
FOR FUN?
Antiquing, playing on the computer and traveling, especially to London. For entertainment, he likes the classic film “To Kill A Mockingbird” and re-reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” His favorite food is fried shrimp.
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“Thomas Jefferson. He created Monticello and all that fabulous architecture he did in Virginia. He was a great Classicist. He incorporated some great ideas from the Romans and France. He was a big traveler.”
— by Monica Chamness