LaCroix Office Interior Review.

Sebastian LaCroix is a Ventrue Prince of Los Angeles, associated with Camarilla. In simpler terms he’s a powerful vampire that has businesses in human world. He resides in a building that bears the family name in a very fancy office mostly decked in gold.

The more I think about it, the more striking is the resemblance between an ex president of USA and our guy becomes.

The office is huge and imposing. It’s technically richly decorated and yet very sparse. The space has a sense of liminality to it – it’s as if the old owner was kicked out along with the brick-a-brac but the walls remained.

Initially, the space around the room screams opulence. The rich cream and gold curtains play off the grand chandelier and gold accents lining the ceiling and the azure wallpaper. The empty window tables are clearly missing grand ceramic flower vases. It makes little sense for a vampire to have fresh cut flowers, as they normally they are associated with the alive but then we don’t really know if that choice is due to vampirism or personality. I would say that the empty tables downgrade the overall look – they could have easily been replaced with torcheres to keep the design complete yet inorganic.

It is also worthwhile to mention that the carpeting is awful – a thin strip running from the lift and back and couple of rugs too small for their floor sections. The small step just after the carpet ends is also a weird safety hazard – it’s not tall enough to properly elevate the platform and only seems to create a harsh divide in the space with no seeing benefits.

I do want to tip my hat of appreciation towards the completely extra columns that serve to create smaller rooms on the right and the left hand side.

To the left from the entrance we see a fireplace. As fire is bad news for a vampire, this could serve as another power indicator – akin to a tame jaguar. The presence of a fire could also instill slight sense fear and discomfort in the vampire visitors. The space is well complemented by a discussion table with chesterfield style armchairs.

Above the fireplace hangs the original (presumably) of “Sleep and his Half-Brother Death” by Waterhouse, a surprisingly Romantic choice for a vampire however, since death is part of the painting, it checks out.

Looking opposite to the right side of the room – it’s a disaster: back to back sofas facing the wall or the middle walkway, empty display shelves and bizarre lighting choice ending in dead zones in each corner. It’s as if someone removed a plastic tap after moving, but not bothered to arrange the furniture.

However, the real pièce de résistance of the room are the six paintings.

Four of the painting are depictions of Cain killing Able by Rubens, Titian, Josep Vergara and Pietro Novelli. Cain in this universe was the vampire progenitor after the famous incident of murdering his brother with a donkey jaw and being punished by the God, and the presence of the paintings is therefore is pretty self explanatory.

Interestingly the other two paintings are of french origins – “Louis XVI dressed as a Roman Emperor” Unknown, a “Chancellor Seguir” by Charles Le Brun. “La Croix” is a french sounding name (meaning: the cross) and Louis XVI was the last king of France summarily guillotined in public. Putting two together implies there’s a chance that La Croix family was connected/part of french royalty which was picked by Ventury to continue the vampire bloodlines.

All in all, cool office, isn’t it?