Brooklyn Heights
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS – NYC
Brooklyn Heights
The design for this ‘19th Century Living Room for the 21st Century’ in the first Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse was supported by a number of New York’s finest antique, contemporary and fine art dealers – all from 1stdibs. Within the existing formal architecture, the room was designed for a living today using a multifunctional layout including a generous seating group, a large table-desk, and a large storage cabinet. The 19th-century Khorassan carpet reinforces the history of the 1867 house, while perfectly sized for the grand space, with enough room for the original Greek-key floor inlay to be seen throughout. The surprising shimmer of gold metallic bee silhouettes on the Farrow & Ball ‘Bumble Bee’ wallpaper covering the entire ceiling in this graciously-scaled living room in a wide townhouse built in 1867.
A bold Larry Zox painting from 1967 hangs in sharp contrast to the original 19th-century curvacious marble fireplace surround. Extending the main seating area into the center of the room is a vintage Vladimir Kagan sofa paired with a Maxine Old center table and a vintage stool, one of a pair.
A massive scale and of the striking English Arts & Crafts Armoire boldly holds one side of the room with its evocative form, and earthier finish a counterpoint to many of the more glossy, refined elements in the room.
The 1959 painting by Abstract Expressionist painter Judith Godwin, entitled ‘Black Cross’, pairs beautifully with the striking Jules Leleu modernist table-desk and the pair of vintage Jacques Adnet leather-wrapped chairs. The rusted steel sculpture by Marino di Teana sits proudly on a mahogany pedestal in the window.
The grey-blue Milano sofa from Dmitriy & Co. anchors the primary seating area of the room. A large-scale painting by artist Dan Christiansen, “Dolby”, loaned by Berry Campbell Gallery, hangs above the sofa. The magenta tie-dyed pillows add complimentary saturation of color to the sofa, while coordinating with the painting above.
The luminous 1958 painting by Walter Darby Bannard, a strong complement to the existing 19th-century architectural details of the room, hangs above a pair of 1930’s Bjorn Thagard armchairs upholstered in a pale celadon velvet, and a set of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings nesting tables.
