点缀唐卡的苏州别墅里 法国范儿遇见旧上海

 　　SHANGHAI — It’s difficult to imagine a home that perfectly¹ balances French antiques with traditional Tibetan artworks and a bold jewel-toned color scheme, but a renovated³ villa⁴ in Suzhou, a city of approximately six million people just a 30-minute train ride from Shanghai, manages to pull it off.

　　上海——很难想象，一所房子能把法国古董、藏族传统艺术品以及大胆的珠宝色调配色方案完美地搭配在一起，但苏州一栋经过翻修的别墅成功地做到了这一点。苏州是一座大约有600万人口的城市，从上海到那里只要乘坐30分钟的火车。

　　The 400-square-meter, or 4,300-square-foot, villa is the weekend home of a Shanghainese couple, Lily Wu, 42, and Su Jun, 45.

　　这栋面积为400平方米（约合4300平方英尺）的别墅属于42岁的莉莉?吴（Lily Wu，音）和45岁的苏君（Su Jun，音）这对上海夫妇，被他们用来当做周末度假屋。

　　Mr Su, an investor⁵, was inspired to buy the property 15 years ago by fond childhood memories of family vacations spent in Suzhou, a 2,500-year-old city famous in China for its manicured gardens and canals crossed with stone bridges.

　　从事投资工作的苏君之所以在15年前买下这处房产，是因为对小时候跟家人在苏州度假的经历恋恋不忘。有2500年历史的苏州以精雕细琢的园林和石桥运河而闻名于世。

　　Four years ago we decided⁶ we could spend some time renovating⁷ this villa and enjoy our life there, Ms Wu said.

　　四年前，我们觉得可以花些时间翻修这栋别墅，在里面享受人生，莉莉?吴说。

　　Ms Wu said that right from the start of the process, she and her husband were in agreement about what they wanted to achieve and remained so through the 18 months it took for contractors⁸ to gut⁹ and renovate² the place.

　　莉莉?吴表示，从一开始，她和丈夫便就翻修最终的目标达成了一致，在承包商大刀阔斧地改造、翻修房子的18个月里，他们从未动摇过。

　　Today, the villa’s grand entrance, complete with tiled floors and chandelier, branches off to the left through an archway to an open-plan living and entertaining space.

　　如今，别墅门厅处有着以地砖铺就的地板和枝形吊灯，通过一道拱廊可以向左拐进一个开放式的生活和娱乐空间。

　　A reading room dominated by a turquoise¹⁰ wall and a traditional Tibetan Buddhist¹¹ thangka painting, a favorite among Mr Su’s pieces, leads to the main living room, which then flows out to a glass-encased sunroom, complete with an amethyst¹² velvet-upholstered daybed and colorful leather armchairs.

　　书房最醒目的是一面绿松石色墙壁，上面挂着一幅藏传佛教传统唐卡画，苏君收藏了若干唐卡，这一幅是他最喜爱的，书房通往主起居室。再往前就是一个环绕着玻璃的日光室，里边摆着一张紫水晶色天鹅绒软垫沙发床和几把彩色皮面扶手椅。

　　Ms Wu said this is one of her favorite spaces in the villa.

　　莉莉?吴说，在这栋别墅里，日光室是她很喜欢的空间之一。

　　We wanted to make it a place where friends can come and get together, she said.

　　我们希望它可以成为一个跟朋友相聚的地方，她说。

　　It was important that people can sit anywhere and see each other and talk and relax.

　　很重要的一点是，人们可以坐在任何地方，注视彼此，闲谈、放松。

　　Ms Wu’s other favorite room is the master bathroom, complete with Art Deco-inspired black and white tiles and a raised bathtub framed by an ornate arch and welcoming natural light coming in through iron-gridded windows.

　　莉莉?吴还很喜欢主卫生间，那里铺着装饰派艺术(Art Deco)风格的黑白两色瓷砖，安了一个饰有华丽拱门的凸起式浴缸，宜人的自然光会透过铁格栅窗照进来。

　　Upstairs are two bedrooms.

　　楼上有两间卧室。

　　The master bedroom is 50 square meters, with an apex¹³ ceiling soaring up more than 4.5 meters, or 15 feet.

　　主卧面积为50平方米，高挑的天花板离地面足有4.5米（约合15英尺）。

　　The bleached¹⁴ wood flooring and neutral colors contribute to the feeling of spaciousness¹⁵.

　　退了色的木地板以及中性色调让空间显得更为开阔。

　　Working in corporate¹⁶ communications in Shanghai for the luxury house Chanel has given Ms Wu a taste for all things French, and she and her husband hired a French interior designer based in Shanghai, Baptiste Bohu, to help them realize a vision that combined both French and Chinese traditions.

　　在上海从事公关工作的莉莉?吴服务于奢侈品企业香奈儿(Chanel)，对所有法式的东西都很喜欢。她和丈夫聘用了常住上海的法国室内设计师小贝(Baptiste Bohu），来帮他们打造兼容法国和中国传统的视觉效果。

　　I work for a French company and I quite like the French style, Ms Wu said.

　　我在一家法国公司工作，非常喜欢法国范儿，莉莉?吴说。

　　The old Shanghai style is also something I like.

　　我也喜欢旧上海风格。

　　So when we met Baptiste, we briefed him about what kind of buildings and design we like.

　　因此和小贝见面时，我们向他简要介绍了我们喜欢什么样的建筑和设计。

　　We told him we wanted something elegant and comfortable.

　　我们告诉他，我们想要某种既优雅又舒适的东西。

　　We wanted this house after 20 or 30 years to still be beautiful.

　　我们想让这栋房子在二三十年以后依然美丽。

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

3 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

4 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

5 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 renovating   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The increased production was largely attained by renovating old orchards and vineyards. 通过更新老果园和葡萄园，使生产大大增加。
• Renovating that house will cost you a pretty penny. 为了整修那所房子，你得花很多钱。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

10 turquoise   

n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的

参考例句：

• She wore a string of turquoise round her neck.她脖子上戴着一串绿宝石。
• The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise.那些女人戴着由绿松石制成的精美项链。

11 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

12 amethyst   

n.紫水晶

参考例句：

• She pinned a large amethyst brooch to her lapel.她在翻领上别了一枚大大的紫水晶饰针。
• The exquisite flowers come alive in shades of amethyst.那些漂亮的花儿在紫水晶的映衬下显得格外夺目。

13 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

14 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

15 spaciousness   

n.宽敞

参考例句：

• A high ceiling gives a feeling of airness and spaciousness. 天花板高给人一种通风和宽敞的感觉。
• The tremendous spaciousness of it was glowing with rich gold. 苍茫辽阔的景色染上了一片瑰丽浓艳的金黄色。

16 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。