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Duplex Loft – SOHO
View of the living looking directly at the custom marble-clad fireplace with its design roots in early modern architecture, large custom coffee table, a pair of French Art Deco arm chairs with sinuous wood arms, striped custom flat weave rug and the oversized mirror. One can also see the custom lighting made to reinforce the industrial legacy of the space, and to provide proper lighting for the clients’ art collection.
SOHO – NYC
Duplex Loft
After living for more than a decade on the Upper East Side, these empty nesters headed a few miles south to Soho to try loft living. While some items from their expansive classical pre-war apartment made it to the new address, most everything was selected specifically for this apartment.
The expansive very open Living – Dining – Kitchen with 12 foot ceiling and a wall of large windows facing west offering protected views over the landmark district and ever-changing sunset views.
To create a living area that suited many functions we created a custom 20-foot L-shaped sofa with one end offering ideal TV viewing, and other end creating a seating group focused on the marble-clad fireplace. To amplify and expand the incredible light and views, we had the largest possible framed mirror made that would fit into the building’s elevator. Custom cabinetry combined with steel shelving house the discretely displayed television, books, and ceramic collection.
The elevator opens directly into the Dining Room where the large work on paper by artist Julian Schnabel holds court. The delicate lines of the steel and leather chairs and the steel and light wood table create a casual but chic first impression.
The large main space has an open view from the Living and Dining areas to the Kitchen and the stairs to the second floor beyond.
Asymmetrical carpet design inspired by a Gio Ponti carpet made with cowhides with a center table creates a modern stair hall.
Hallway to lower bedrooms, powder room and laundry painted dark grey is lined with artwork; a custom ‘X’ base stool anchors the end wall with two works of art.
A wonderful 1920’s cabinet by Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia was originally purchased for their ‘uptown life’ was reused in this apartment along with the Herzog and De Meuron ‘Hocker’ stool, a bold work on paper and other decorative objects.
Hallway to lower bedrooms, powder room and laundry painted dark grey is lined with artwork; a custom ‘X’ base stool anchors the end wall with two works of art.
Living area detail showing a ‘Hocker’ stool by Herzog & De Meuron, a pair of French Art Deco chairs with sinuous wood arms and an oversized framed mirror hanging over a custom fireplace clad in ‘Grey Goose’ marble.
TV corner of the over-sized Living Room sofa with a photograph by Frank Thiel, a detail of peeling paint, and a Toio floor lamp designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1962, and a leather ottoman that works well for feet, books or beverages.
View over the adjacent low-rise historic district with a view of the residential towers at NYU (with the needle of the Empire State building popping up) and the expanding metropolis at Hudson Yards, in the distance.
Wide view of the living area looking at the wall of large windows.
Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz
Photos by Gross & Daley
PROJECTS
Gracious Apartment – Upper West Side
An eclectic array of furniture marks the transition from living room to dining room, the latter seen through wide French doors. In the Living Room, an antique Italian armchair by Ulrich Guglielmo, from the 1950s echoes the curves of the Danish Modern rosewood pedestal table, the Frank Gehry Wiggle Chair, and Herve van der Straeten’s “Tornade” lamp.
UPPER WEST SIDE – NYC
Gracious Apartment
Works of fine art by Picasso, Cy Twombly, Brice Marden, Al Held, and Terry Winters hang amid furniture of comparable aesthetic stature in this classic ten-room apartment on West End Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. For the clients, empty nesters, we mixed mid-twentieth century design with traditional forms of furniture that speak to supreme comfort. So distinctive are certain 20th century artifacts–icons of the avant-garde of their time–that they approach the level of fine art.
Seen with a magnificent Sultanabad carpet, c. 1900, deeply upholstered English-style sofas and armchairs, and plain yet luxurious draperies, the contemporary objects such as architect Frank Gehry’s corrugated “Wiggle Chair” take on new resonance and context; just as an Ethiopian carved wood chair, c. 1900, seems mysteriously to fit with the undulating mahogany and brass cabinet by Tommi Parzinger, c. 1950, we chose for this project.
This residence fuses luxury with restraint, comfort with discipline, and fine art of the highest order with consummate works of decorative art. It represents a lively and inspired collaboration between clients and the designer in creating a new collection, and implanting its art and artifacts in a home as livable as it is stylish.
Surprising harmonies in rich reds, ebonies and honey tones are exemplified by the custom red wool area rug from Martin Patrick Evan; the Chinese camphor wood altar table from Shanxi Province, c. 1850; and textiles from Donghia and Gretchen Bellinger. An aquatint etching by Cubist artist Jacques Villon is posed on a cast iron artist’s easel.
Comfort meets culture: above the custom sofa from Jonas Upholstery in Holly Hunt’s “Great Plains Paisley” are two prints by Brice Marden. The custom coffee table is topped in pale gray honed marble; the walls are in a Donald Kaufman paint; and antique Asian modern lamps are from Glenn Gissler Design’s inventory.
The 1947 painting, “Fugue,” by Abstract Expressionist James Brooks, rivets our attention. Poised on the custom coffee table is an ancient work of Pre-Columbian art, a Colima Carinate Vessel, between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D., from Douglas Dawson Gallery. (Second) A corner devoted to interesting early and mid 20th century design: the Vienna Secession side table by Gustav Siegel, c. 1905, accompanies a luxurious tufted custom daybed upholstered in Lee Jofa’s “Tahira Ottoman” fabric. The modernist floor lamp was designed in the 1950s by Austrian designer J.T. Kalmar.
Picasso’s portrait of Dora Maar of 1939-42 hangs above an Ethiopian carved wooden chair, c. 1900, from Kimcherova. On the adjacent wall, above Austrian designer Tommi Parzinger’s mahogany and brass cabinet, c. 1950, hangs a print by contemporary abstract artist Terry Winters.
A quartet of bold ink drawings by Al Held defines this space, where a comfortable banquette in a Holly Hunt Great Plains Fabric surrounds a custom table of solid walnut. The distinctive side chairs are by Ico Parisi, Italy c. 1947, from Leon Hamaekers. The milk glass chandelier with Edison bulbs is from Early Electrics.
Comfort and earthiness define the Family Room, with two deep, boxy Jean-Michel Frank sofas upholstered by Jonas Upholstery. The rugged central light fixture–a new machine age artifact–was custom made by Daniel Berglund, its frame composed of industrial conveyor belt links. A boldly striped wool rug from Martin Patrick Evan grounds the ensemble.
Two framed collages by Conrad Marca-Relli from Hollis Taggart Galleries invoke a neo-primitive element. A large Nassau coffee table from Williams-Sonoma invites piles of books. The room’s woody quality is accentuated by vintage or contemporary hand hewn wooden side tables, including the round Heliotrope table from Newman Studio.
Soft neutrals create an inviting sense of repose. The king sized upholstered bed is by Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, the fabric by Pollack. Contemporary designer Lindsey Adelman’s chandelier is of oil-rubbed bronze with hand-blown glass globes; the unusual floor lamp is by French designer Rispal, 1955; and the bedside chrome and clear glass table lamps are from Saladino.
A curvaceous Boudin armchair with ottoman, upholstered in Pollack fabric is perfect for reading, illuminated by the Rispal lamp. The sculptural Tetra table is from C.S. Post & Co. Custom flat roman shades in Sahco fabric and curtain panels in Pollack fabric were made by Boaz Sharoni Design. The carpet is from Paul H. Lee.