By most standards, Tam Stone would be considered an accomplished professional in her field. As a Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Tam was a nationally recognized expert in process design and quality management, as well as a respected teacher and administrator. Her resume boasts numerous nationally funded research studies, journal publications and even a leading book on the subjects. While climbing the professional and academic ladder, Tam often turned to interior design as a source of personal satisfaction. In recent years, she worked in her spare time as lead interior designer for significant period properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as a wide range of other projects, including large scale remodels of manor homes, urban garden apartments, mountain/beach retreats, and corporate offices.
What began as a personal interest in the interior design of her own properties, flourished into a full time career as Tam formally combined her academic training with her creative and artistic gifts to found Thomas Stone Interiors + Design (TSID). TSID is a full service architectural and interior design firm specializing in the preservation and restoration of significant historic properties. Tam and her team are recognized for their unwavering attention to detail, timely project management and bold, sometimes edgy interiors that speak to a curated, timeless style. Among the projects closest to Tam's heart is a 10,000 square foot International Moderne home in central Missouri, Chatol, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Tam and her husband, Gil, purchased the home in 2006, and Tam continues to restore the home to its original splendor when not working on client projects.
Presently, Tam splits her time between NYC and her home in Missouri, while she pursues a certificate in Architectural studies and Interior design from Parsons, The New School for design. Tam felt that if she was going to invest the time and resources pursuing a formal interior design education, (she) wanted to learn from the best.
Tam flies to NYC each week to Attend Louise Devenish’s course on Antiques Connoisseurship. “I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be part of such an amazing class. I cannot imagine another course that could so uniquely and succinctly cover the depth of knowledge that Louise brings to her students. Louise's course provides an opportunity not only to study the concepts she teaches, but also the chance to see ideas take shape through touring classroom visits to such wonderful places as The Metropolitan Museum of Art"
Statement from the National Register of Historic Places Application for CHATOL, 1979.
Many more original features of Chatol survive which can be characterized as decorative, practical and even whimsical. Most striking of the remaining decorative features is the oriental wallpaper which covers the walls of the dining room. It depicts a garden of bamboo and peonies, populated by animated and colorful birds on a background of golden-bronze. The paper, which was intended to cover and decorate Japanese screens, was hand-painted in the Orient, purchased by F. Gano Chance on one of his many trips abroad, and shipped to the U.S. where the design was assembled square by square on the walls of Chatol. Also featured in the dining room is the hand-carved dining room set of Honduras mahogany which includes in its design certain Mayan motives such as the elongated, curving plume and the step pyramid. This furniture was originally carved for and exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933 and acquired for Chatol afterward.
