Family Home – Greenwich Village

GREENWICH VILLAGE – NYC

Family Home

This grand-scale duplex apartment in a 1906 building was purchased as a raw space ready to create a home. Glenn Gissler Design was given the task of creating, essentially from scratch, a livable and happy space for a young family while connecting the design to the building’s past. Appropriately scaled architectural elements and moldings were added as well as a grand-scale curving stair. The furnishing and decoration were selected to be cheery and classic, yet strong and bold enough to hold up in these large-scale rooms

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In the living room, bold scale molding and architecture details were added to the bright and sunny room. The decor is a mix of bold furnishings based on classic forms and the fabrics are a mix of Bohemian woven textiles all placed on top of a red and rich chocolate-brown contemporary carpet. The sculpture abstract root-like table lamps are vintage James Mont.

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The entrance vestibule was painted a rich and dramatic aubergine. The contemporary antiqued brass and glass globe light fixture hang in contrast to the patina of the 19th-century Chinese bench and console cabinet. The mirror sconce is custom designed by Glenn Gissler.

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Up a few stairs from the front door, the spacious stair hall is paneled in cerused oak adding a light, yet rich surface. The 1940’s French table with a pair the vintage bronze lamps are placed center in the dynamic space serving to anchor the room.

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The newly built curving stair wrapped in cerused oak paneling, appearing as if it had always been a part of the building. An enormous custom Lindsey Adelman chandelier hangs dramatically in the large curved volume.

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The warm dining room is enveloped by a commissioned mural by artist Kevin Paulsen, depicting a fantastical landscape of an imagined history of New York City. The large-scale oak dining table was custom made and a pair of vintage Moroccan lanterns and the feeling of exoticism to the room.

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In the sitting room, a series of large Walton Ford editions are installed in a grid on the rich green-brown walls. The pair of vintage 1970’s table lamps are the perfect complement to the tailored upholstery in a warm mix of deep browns, greens, and oranges.

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For the draperies of this sitting room, the reverse side of a formal paisley fabric of used to achieve a more vintage handmade affect.

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The large custom kitchen was painted a Farrow and Ball ‘Hague Blue’ a deep blue-green. The backsplash is a handmade brick-like subway tile. The island was finished in the same cerused oak to found in other areas of the home.

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The corner banquette and oak pedestal table are the perfect place in the kitchen for a cozy family meal. The chairs are English oak with a unique spindle back

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In the upstairs stair landing the squiggle linear pattern of the contemporary carpet lead your eye to the large-scale Lindsey Adelman chandelier and the canvas by Robert DeNiro Sr. is an unexpected splash of color.

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Formerly an airshaft the focal point of this symmetrical secret garden is the bronze sculpture titled ‘The Elan’ by Bill Barrett which sites inform of a large architectural mirror that reflects light and creates a feeling of openness in the small space. The trellis above gives a sense of enclosure and privacy from above. The garden is filled with green plantings like boxwood, magnolia trees, and climbing vines mixed with perennials

"Glenn Gissler Design did a tremendous job transforming an imposing raw space in an historic building in the West Village into an architecturally beautiful home that is warm and comfortable. Our family will be happy in our home for many years to come!"

– Client

Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz
Photos by Gross & Daley

Kors Penthouse – Greenwich Village

GREENWICH VILLAGE – NYC

Kors Penthouse

Since 1987, Glenn Gissler has designed a series of luxuriously minimal apartments and showrooms for fashion designer Michael Kors. The interior design and landscaping of Kors’ most recent residence, which he shares with his husband Lance Le Pere, cover a 2200 square foot penthouse loft with a 1500 square foot terrace in Greenwich Village. The project represents Gissler’s definitive showcase for Kors’ streamlined aesthetic, now realized on a grand scale.

Kors’ taste and design imperatives over his long working relationship with our firm have remained a constant. Kors espouses a disciplined palette of white, black and gray; a vocabulary of materials consisting of polished chrome, stainless steel, marble and wood; a penchant for upholstery using Kors’ own grey flannel suiting fabric, black leather and white canvas.

This design repertoire is handsomely woven into the residence, now furnished with icons of mid century furniture design by Mies van der Rohe, Florence Knoll, George Nelson, Achille Castiglione and Warren Platner. Hundreds of books and silver-framed photographs of friends and family soften the stylish, slightly austere space, expressing ease as well as elegance. The penthouse epitomizes Kors’ hallmark of luxury without fuss.

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The Foyer is classic Kors, the tufted Florence Knoll daybed on steel frame and legs seeming to float against the genuine zebra rug from Global Leathers. The stainless steel and glass “MR Table” is by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, c. 1927, from Knoll.

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A vintage photo of cigarettes by photographer Irving Penn hangs above a simple black granite surround we designed. A 1960’s chrome floor lamp offers light over the Warren Platner chrome and glass side table and the Barcelona Chair and Stool by Mies van Der Rohe.

A spacious orchestration of mid-century classics marks the living room. At left, a suite of Florence Knoll furniture: the tufted sofa, a rectangular coffee table with satin chrome base, and chrome and clear glass side table. At right, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s famous Barcelona Chair and Stool, c. 1929 and Warren Platner’s silvery side table.

"We travel constantly and we live a hectic, fast paced life and needed our NYC apartment to feel like a calm luxurious and sleek retreat. Working with Glenn Gissler was a seamless way to find the balance between clean pragmatism and laid back luxe that we were looking for.”

– Michael Kors & Lance Lepere

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The classic mid-century Florence Knoll sofa and steel and glass tables, and marble column lamps sit in front of a wall of closed storage and open bookshelves with Kors’ collection of biographies, fashion and lifestyle books.

Kors preferred the sheen of the wood floors over any sort of floor covering that helps give the open plan apartment a loft-like feeling. The palate of the apartment is very consistent – grey flannel, black leather, chrome and white, wood Venetian blinds, and wood floors with classic modern furniture and lighting throughout.

"My apartment is clean, spare, and simple, but the pieces have presence and quality, which is the same approach I take to designing clothes."

– Michael Kors

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The polished plainness of this space is notable, as is Kors’ and his husband Lance Lepere’s avowed penchant for ordering in from New York’s finest restaurants. The sleek choice of furniture–the custom Wooster table from Desiron with marble top, coupled with quintessential ’70s Spoleto armless chairs from Knoll–sets a shipshape scene for dining.

We might, echoing Le Corbusier, call Kors’ kitchen a “machine for living,” so pure and unadorned are its lines and volumes, so stark it’s palette, all white except for the shining controls on its Viking 30″ range, and the polished stainless steel and woven black leather of the counter stools.

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Kors’ bathroom is a place of beauty, every inch sheathed in Stone Source’s Calacatta Vision marble, notable for the fine veins of grey in its pristine white surface. The sinks are a triumph of simplicity, the shape and concept ancient in inspiration: Kohler’s “Timpani” vessel sink in stainless steel.

Simplicity and purity abet pure luxury in the master bedroom. The custom king platform bed is in dark walnut with Parsons legs, accompanied at its foot by a three-seater stainless steel and leather bench from Knoll. A velvety custom area rug from Stark, bound in black canvas, creates softness underfoot.

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View looking at the wisteria-covered pergola above the built-in seating area.

Large custom dining table looking East to chaise lounge and oversized square umbrella.

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A modern Wisteria arbor creates a cool shaded place in the hot sun, and a romantic place to sit and gaze at the views south at night.

A bank of potted miniature Japanese maples contrast with a boxwood hedge, all overlooking a magnificent view of downtown Manhattan.

A bank of potted miniature Japanese maples contrast with a boxwood hedge, all overlooking a magnificent view of downtown Manhattan.

Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz
Photos by Gross & Daley

Pied-à-Terre – Greenwich Village, NYC

GREENWICH VILLAGE – NYC

Pied-à-Terre

The Ottoman Empire, with its richly figured carpets and ornaments, was the vision this Colorado couple had for their two-bedroom condominium in a Greenwich Village building renovated by designer Victoria Hagan, who had preserved its prewar character.

We decided to articulate the room separations by using casings, moldings, and a portiere to create a greater sense of sequence to the rooms. To further emphasize room separations, we changed coloration from one room to the other, with the entry  lacquered a vivid cinnabar. Judiciously placed mirrors expanded and lightened the spaces.

The clients were very interested in vintage textiles, so we introduced layering of Persian rugs and embroidered or tapestry wall-hangings. A selection of patterned textiles, woven or embroidered rather than printed, and often antique in appearance, are carefully juxtaposed. Many of the upholstery and pillow fabrics are actually new, but they have a luscious, aged look.

The result is not a recreated Turkish interior, but a place where imagined travel meets the incomparable comfort of home, in this case, a second one in one of the most charming neighborhoods New York City has to offer.

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An antique Tabriz area rug with stylized floral pattern in indigo and cream, is keynote of this richly patterned and textured room. The custom Belgian sofa is from Jonas. Interesting objects–two pairs of mounted oryx horns; a cross-legged Aesthetic Movement table–add detail and depth.

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A provenance with panache: this Italian walnut Baroque chest of drawers, 19th century with 18th century elements, is from Loring House, Massachusetts, home of the Codman family.

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An antique Tabriz area rug with stylized floral pattern in indigo and cream, is keynote of this richly patterned and textured room. The custom Belgian sofa is from Jonas. Interesting objects–two pairs of mounted oryx horns; a cross-legged Aesthetic Movement table–add detail and depth.

"You guys are amazing. It's really kinda thrilling to be in the presence of your genius, vision, passion, professionalism. Thanks."

– Client

The dining room became a study which can be used for occasional entertaining, centered upon the Empire round table the clients brought from Colorado. Chairs are from a 1930s ocean liner. Meant to be flexible, the table may be set up as a dining table, buffet, or bar. At right, a portiere in Kravet’s double-sided “Interweave” fabric marks the separation from the bedroom.

A place for reflection: a contemporary photograph of a Chinese dam joins a patinated brass ceiling fixture and a crystal orb.

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Outsider art, insider ceramics: a charming primitive painted in a hand-made “tramp art” frame joins Arts & Crafts Movement pots.

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Nothing less than sumptuous, the king-sized bed features Williams-Sonoma’s faintly curving “Sutton” upholstered headboard. The crimson, persimmon, black and cream stylized floral pattern bed covering is an antique Suzani. The slightly shimmering “Fiori” wallpaper is by Rose Tarlow.

Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz
Photos by Gross & Daley

Family Apartment – Greenwich Village

GREENWICH VILLAGE – NYC

Family Apartment

These Manhattan clients, art collectors and parents, acquired a 3000 square foot apartment in a particularly charming prewar building on lower Fifth Avenue, having already inhabited a smaller apartment in the same building. The new space, which required gut renovation, provided an exceptional opportunity for a more serious display of their collection of modern and contemporary drawings.

Capacious closets were plentiful; suddenly there was room for amenities such as a laundry room, central air conditioning, an office-cum-playroom which doubled as a guest room, two full baths and two half baths. Glenn also renewed much of the architectural detail in the apartment: crown moldings, baseboards and door casings were all painstakingly recreated.

The most striking attribute of the apartment was its abundant and spectacular views of Greenwich Village, seen through beautiful original steel casement windows. The dining room, in particular, comprised a large loggia with windows on three sides. So immense was the dining table designed by Gissler, that its top, made by Tucker Robbins of reclaimed wood, had to be brought in via crane!

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The master bedroom encapsulates the clients’ eye for art and decorative accents. The pencil drawing above the bed is by Alan Saret; the embroidered throw on the bed is a Suzani from Uzbekistan. The Liberty “Thebes” chair is a Gissler hallmark, a seminal work of decorative art which appears in several of his interiors.

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The master bath is a lean yet luxurious jewel box of satin nickel accoutrements and beautiful black mosaic tile, laid out in a design that expands the length of the room. Mirror panels in the deep set window bring in more light and view; the light fitting has an antique milk glass shade with Edison bulbs.

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In the entry, the rustic paneled cabinet is from Mexico; the lamp is crafted from a turned wooden urn with a pair of handles in a modern silhouette. The Egyptian-inspired drawing is by Nancy Spero; the ink drawing by New York artist Beth Dary. The candlestick is by Christopher Dresser.

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In the living room, two fine French art deco chairs, reminiscent of the faceted designs of Pierre Chareau, are from Maison Gerard, NYC. They reside with a collection of framed works on paper displayed cleverly along rails built into the wall.

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In the hallway, a 19th century chair is paired with a large drawing by New York artist Karin Davie. The silvery urn at the side is a large mercury glass vessel.

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In the foyer, an antique console is arrayed with glass vessels and an African mask; above hang works on paper by Jonathan Borofsky, Gordon Matta-Clark, Merit Cohen, Robert Smithson and Lorna Simpson.

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The newly built curving stair wrapped in cerused oak paneling, appearing as if it had always been a part of the building. An enormous custom Lindsey Adelman chandelier hangs dramatically in the large curved volume.

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In the living room, an array of 20th century classics is set out with variety and verve. At left, a pair of ‘Klismos’ chairs by Robsjohn-Gibbings vies with two leather Arts & Crafts stools, and an English club chair upholstered in red Manuel Canovas fabric.

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In a corner of the living room, abutting steel casement windows provide spectacular views of downtown Manhattan. A chair with sinuous wooden arms contrasts with the geometry of the windows. The owners’ cat naps on an elegant chaise longue.

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Bookshelves line the dining room, which opens onto the living room and its magnificent views.

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In the dining room, a modified antique gas chandelier casts a glow over the custom table crafted by Tucker Robbins of reclaimed wood. It seats fourteen. The mid-century Austrian chairs with pierced slats were designed in the 1950s for Vienna’s city hall, and were bought from Kimcherova. .

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Books constituted a major aspect of the clients’ collecting activities, and shelving for them was a major architectural feature of the apartment.

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Art pervades the kitchen, with a large drawing by Donald Baechler.

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Expanses of sparkling white “subway” tiles create a pristine backdrop for the splendid stainless steel double-oven range and crisp millwork.

Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz
Photos by Gross & Daley