SIBLING REVELRY

When Meg Selling and her husband, Ralf, were returning to the States with their three children (Adele, 10, George, 8, and Fritz, 6) after spending seven years in Ralf's hometown of Frankfurt, Germany, they called on Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat to help renovate the turn-of-the-century Colonial they'd recently purchased in Rumson, on the Jersey Shore.

Joe Lucas happens to be Meg's brother. When Joe and Parrish opened their own design firm, in fact, having five siblings helped him to kick-start his portfolio. "I thought I could either keep my job security and let someone else mess up my siblings' houses, or I could go out on my own and do what everyone always warns you not to do-mix business and family," says Joe. "I couldn't be happier with my decision. It's a nice precedent, actually. Now no one in the family can call any other designer. They're trapped."

Design:
Architect: Dan Rew, HDR CUH2A, 1000 Lenox Dr., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648; 609/844-1212.
Interior designers: Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat, Lucas Studio Inc./Harbinger, Almont Yard, 636-A N. Almont Dr., West Hollywood, CA 90069; 310/858-6884.

Written and produced by Jenny Bradley
Photographs by John Bessler