metallic toilet

Game of Thrones

How one couple found their silver commode (because Pierre Cardin never designed a toilet).

Lisa Marie Hart Current Digital, Home & Design, Real Estate

metallic toilet
A search for an economical alternative to stainless steel led P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes to this mirrored beauty for the powder room. Artwork by Michael Hayden.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANTHONY-MASTERSON

It all began with a black toilet in the powder room. Once sleek and statement-making in its own right, it had succumbed to invincible white residue from the city’s hard water. With silver wallpaper from Modern Home Design Showroom already installed, why not source a glitzy new commode?

“I always liked the Neo-Metro stainless-steel toilets that were publicized in Dwell magazine, but now they’re $4,000 each,” says P. David Ebersole, when asked to explain how the entire powder room ended up wearing a monochromatic — but not at all neutral — metallic silver. “You see them in public restrooms and jails, too” adds his husband, Todd Hughes, before Ebersole continues. “We didn’t want to spend that much, so we started Googling.”

Hughes was aghast. “We found some blinged-out, jewel-encrusted toilets!” That wasn’t quite what these documentary filmmakers had in mind.

Their William Krisel-designed home in the Indian Canyons neighborhood of Palm Springs is a hall of fame to Pierre Cardin, both a longtime obsession and the subject of their authorized feature film. (House of Cardin premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival then lit up Modernism Week before making its way around the globe.) In the living area, a rare coffee table by Cardin fronts a luminous silver couch.

When metallic thrones directly from a manufacturer in China popped up in their search, they decided to replace each commode in their home. A mere $1,600 for four, including delivery, put silver commodes in three bathrooms — plus a shining gold one reserved for the master bath. While the unexpected upside is their supreme water-efficiency, the fixtures were delayed in customs for an additional tariff.

“The whole trajectory of getting these toilets delivered was pretty funny,” Ebersole says. “I posted about our journey on Facebook, so a lot of friends come in and immediately ask to see them.” Considering the rest of the home is laden with Cardin objects and accessories, the request is a sterling complement to Chaoan Zhongtao Ceramics Co. Ltd.

toilet