Family Apartment – Upper East Side

UPPER EAST SIDE – NYC

Family Apartment

Originally this eleven room apartment was two apartments in a building designed in 1923 by architect Mott B. Schmidt on Manhattan’s Upper East Side off Park Avenue. The co-op had several beautifully proportioned rooms and 110 feet of southern exposure. The clients, a family, sought a design for the interior that would be both livable and stylish.

The spare yet luxurious Neo-classicism of French 1940s design appealed to these collectors of contemporary art. They also had inherited a collection of American furniture and decorative arts. The designer’s brief was to achieve an airy, spacious aesthetic in the public rooms, while integrating the family’s earlier furniture and art into the cozier private space of the master bedroom.

In every space, works of fine and decorative art–mostly twentieth century– initiate us into the careful layering of eras and textures which characterizes the apartment as a whole. As well as French 1940s pieces, the residence features custom furniture of the highest quality. The meticulous detailing of architecture and fixtures throughout the apartment attains a high level of quality, materiality and finish. It is a home for art lovers, as comfortable as it is beautiful.

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The 30-foot living room’s palette of creams, browns and silvery tones unifies the subtle mix of custom and 1940s furniture and contemporary art. A custom steel and limestone coffee table by Richard Shapiro vies with the gentler curves of the “Breck” sofa from Jonas Upholstery and the “Vermeer” end table from Nancy Corzine.

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The upholstered furniture is tailored but welcoming, covered in warm-hued fabrics—greens, beiges, and purples—that use texture or unassertive pattern to create additional visual interest. Tables, chairs, and case goods in solid dark-stained wood offer strong, graphic silhouettes. Walls are painted in warm and soothing, yet art-friendly shades of taupe.

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In the entry hall, gleaming dark wood floors contrast with a custom interpretation of a Gio Ponti rug of 1954, made originally in cowhide, now handmade by Martin Patrick Evan. Large photograph of a rough, peeling wall is by German artist Frank Thiel; the large work on paper at left is by Julian Schnabel. Glass and brass light fixtures are custom, from Daniel Berglund.

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In another corner of the living room, the furniture is assertively midcentury modern. The splendid, massive library table is 1940s French, of limed oak, complemented by Russell side chairs from Dessin Fournir, upholstered in olive leather. A strong sculptural note is architects Herzog & de Meuron’s solid birch “Hocker” stool, a contemporary classic which echoes the forms of African art.

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An Italian fruitwood cabinet, c. 1927, by Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia is the setting for a Louise Bourgeois drawing presented on an easel. Elegant plain curtains in Holly Hunt’s “Colonial Pewter” fabric frame the tableau for these Modernist icons. Scandinavian ceramics complete the vignette.

"Over the years Glenn has worked with us on two projects - a sprawling Upper East Side Co-Op and a Soho penthouse loft. They could not have represented two more different challenges, but each could not have been more successful. Glenn has impeccable taste - he was both sensitive to our needs and aesthetic and to the integrity of the space in which he worked."

– Client

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Gilt-framed family portraits flank the entry of the Dining Room, with a view into the living room. The pear wood dining table is from Holly Hunt; the custom Russell side chairs are from Dessin Fournir.

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The superbly proportioned Library is enveloped in the warmth created by the soft browns, camels and ambers of the wools and leather used for upholstery, rug and curtains. There is hint of the safari lodge in the stylized tiger design of the custom wool carpet and the tropical hardwoods of the furniture. The brass chandelier, by Sarfatti, is Italian, from the 1950s.

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A collection of white-glazed Chinese pottery graces an antique secretary – a family heirloom. The custom wool and silk rug from Tai Ping, is woven to resemble a needlepoint pattern. The crisply pleated curtains are in “Palazzo Check” from Holly Hunt; the custom strie wallpaper is from Farrow & Ball. More family heirlooms, a Queen Anne chair and footstool, complete the space.

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The pair of generously proportioned custom “Briarcliff” armchairs by Jonas are upholstered in a lively stripe from Larsen Fabrics, flanking a three-tiered Art Deco side table in chocolate faux shagreen.

Pied-à-Terre – Upper East Side, NYC

UPPER EAST SIDE – NYC

Pied-à-Terre

The clients, natives of Sao Paulo, love New York City, and wanted to establish a sometime home there, where their children and grandchildren could visit and they might entertain. To import the colors and cadence of Brazil was a joyous assignment for us, an unusual, less sedate take on modernism which draws inspiration from Latin American architects such as Brazil’s own Oscar Niemeyer, landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, and Mexico’s Luis Barragan.

We adopted Niemeyer’s and Marx’s love of undulating biomorphic shapes in our selection of ceramics and artworks; and Barragan’s bold use of color to demarcate planes and announce room transitions. These architectural trends are hinted at, echoed rather than imitated. Instead of painting a whole wall orange, as Barragan might have done, we brought in this luscious, vibrant color more sparingly: the large ceramic lamp in the entry; the pillows and napkins in the dining area; and the back of a shelving unit. Yet the dominant colors–coffee brown, cinnamon and natural walnut–also speak of Brazilian tropics and tastes.

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A custom banquette upholstered in distressed buckskin, and “Turner” chair in Kravet’s Diamond Raffia surround a custom walnut table top from Nutech Interiors. The large late 1950’s abstract painting in grey, black and white evinces the spirit of cool jazz.

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The slim, handsome custom one-armed sleeper sofa from Carlyle is juxtaposed with a jaunty abstract rug by John-Paul Philippe for West Elm, and Rietveld’s classic Zig Zag Chair.

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We created an ensemble with an aura of Latin sophistication. The sideboard was crafted from rare, exotic peroba wood salvaged from the siding and floors of old buildings in Brazil. The 1960s orange stoneware lamp sets the vibrant mood of the entire apartment. The 1970s bentwood and cane stool and African sculpture complete the earthy, quirky atmosphere.

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Earthy modern ceramics populate the large multi-use low table in the Living Room, with pops of color provided by textiles used on pillows and a vintage Kente cloth throw with a common orange thread.

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A rich warm palette and comfortable mid-century style furniture overlook the cool geometry of the NYC landscape.

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In the spacious bedroom, a custom bedside console floats along the wall, illuminated by the Machine Age lamp designed by Edouard-Wilfred Bouquet. The print is by Robert Motherwell. Archaic elements make their way into the room: a vintage Thebes Chair with leather upholstery and a small vintage Moroccan rug, c. 1940s, from Jacques Carcanagues.

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A tailored upholstered head board combined with custom wall-mounted mahogany bedside cabinets with Edouard-Wilfred Buquet articulated lamps continue the clean-lined mid-century story.

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In a definite nod to simple luxury living a modern vanity was designed to provide a perfect location near the large window for the application of make-up, and completion of finishing touches.