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In the cabana, a 19th-century Chinese lanternpurchased at auction, rattan lounge chairs by Bielecky Brothers, and a Ming cocktail tableby Michael S. Smith Reproduction Furniture. Facing page, clockwise from top: Crawford and her daughter, Kaia, by the pool. The1850s Chinese bookcase in the entry is from Belgium, the 19th-century Chinese black- lacquer scroll table is from J. F. Chen, and the Moroccan wool rug is from Mansour. The front door, which is flanked by hand-carved Moroccan mahogany panels, is reached bywalking over a shallow pool. See Resources.

The Evan armchairs in the dining room areby Michael S. Smith Reproduction Furniture,the circa-1820s British copper ball lanternis from Ann-Morris Antiques, and the ceilingis papered in white-gold leaf; the multimediawork, Scholars Rocks, is by Nancy Lorenz.Facing page: The family room’s Bond Streetsofa by Donghia is upholstered in a JohnRobshaw cotton-linen, the 18th-centuryLombardian mirror is from Amy PerlinAntiques, and the Tribeca fan is by HunterFan Co.; the Industrial light pendants andthe Cargo fixtures above the kitchen islandare by Urban Archaeology. See Resources.

“WE FEEL LIKE WE’RE ON A PERPETUAL VACATION,” SAYS CINDY CRAWFORD. “OUR KIDS ARE IN THEPOOL FIVE TIMES A WEEK. WE LIVE OUTDOORS AS MUCH AS IN, AND IT’S ALWAYS CASUAL— WE ARE A NO-COASTER HOUSEHOLD”deck, and if it’s warm enough, we eat outside. If not, we Smith, an old friend of Crawford’s who had collaboratedmove to the dining room. But we always end up out by the with her on her previous places. He helped reconcile theirfire. We want people to feel like they don’t want to leave.” tastes and had a few opinions of his own, too. Yet Crawford and Gerber came to the project with very He put the couple in touch with architect Oscar Shamamian,different ideas. “Rande is edgy, modern, and Armani- who came up with a structure that Crawford characterizesesque, and I prefer a cozier, more romantic feeling,” says as “like a sugar plantation in the tropics,” part ColonialCrawford. “He hates the traditional Oriental rugs I love, and (classic proportions, clean lines), part Caribbean (indoor-would have just carpeted the whole place. We each had outdoor living, tropical materials). What draws the twoto step out of our safety zones and find something we both styles together, according to Shamamian, is the use of sim-liked.” For help they turned to interior designer Michael S. ple elements—dark wood, light plaster walls, and stone ELLEDECOR.COM 101

The mid-20th-century rugs bythe Beni Ouarain tribe in themaster bedroom are fromBrooke Pickering MoroccanRugs, and the curtains are ofRural linen from Travers; thebed is dressed with linens byNancy Koltes. See Resources.

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In a guest bedroom, panels of Jasperhemp by Michael S. Smith frame a viewof the ocean; the chair is antique, andthe 19th-century inlaid dresser is Indian.Facing page, clockwise from top left:Umbrellas by Santa Barbara Designsand X chairs by McGuire on the ter-race. The master bathroom’s Town bathand sink fittings are by Michael S. Smithfor Kallista. In another guest room,a rope bed by John Himmel has shamsand a coverlet by John Robshaw; theSlatted Ships bedside table is by MichaelS. Smith Reproduction Furniture. A PeterBeard photograph dominates a wall ofthe sitting room; the vintage cocktailtable is from ABC Carpet & Home, theKolom hanging light is by Kevin Reillyfrom Holly Hunt, and the bisque-porcelainvases are by J. F. Chen. See Resources.

floors—in intimate rooms that stand in contrast to the the fireplace add an elegant element, as do shuttered doorslarger-than-life ocean views they emphasize. As soon in the bar and the carved moldings in the master bath. Aas the front door opens, you can see through the double- white-gold–leaf ceiling in the dining room and bambooheight entry to the sea and sky beyond. “We had the shades in nearly every room let light play capriciously.house feng shui’d,” says Crawford, “and it turned outthat the good that came in flowed right out the other side.” The house reveals itself over time. “It may seem like aSo now a round table, originally from Crawford’s New one-note idea of a wood-and-white,” says Smith, “but it’sYork apartment, stands sentry in the hall. not. It’s complex and sophisticated. You’re forced into taking a second look.” Each time you do, you discover “This house is a hybrid,” says Smith. “Cindy’s need for another layer—subtly textured fabrics or Venetian plas-warmth and comfort permeates the place, but Rande’s ter on a wall that adds a quiet sheen, an earthy color on theneed for drama and sequence makes it memorable.” ceiling, unusual Moroccan rugs that have a sense of history but are still beach-appropriate, curtains that can trans- The challenge was to convey spareness and simplicity form a sunny room into a virtual tent. “The house is big-while keeping the design earthy and romantic. Smith ac- ger than the sum of its parts,” concludes Smith.complished this by limiting the use of patterns, choosingquality pieces versus “fancy stuff,” and allowing the archi- “We all nudged, pushed, fought, and inspired each oth-tectural details to speak for themselves. In the living room, er,” says Crawford of the three-way collaboration. “Andfor example, the recessed squares in the stone around the house is so much better for our family because of it.” ELLEDECOR.COM 105

The living room of decoupageartist John Derian’s Lower EastSide apartment; a vintage boatfender is used as an ottoman,and the sisal rug is from ABCCarpet & Home. The largemirror is early-20th-centuryFrench from Rooms & Gardens,and the photograph, GoldenScreen, is by Derian’s friendJack Pierson. See Resources.

LORD OF THE FLEAS FOR JOHN DERIAN, FLEA MARKETSAREN’T MERE DIVERSIONS—THEY SHAPE HIS WORK AND LIFE, INCLUDING HIS APARTMENT WHERE, LITERALLY, NOTHING IS NEW TEXT BY DAVID COLMAN · PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM WALDRON PRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDIDuring the late-1990s tech boom, when fortunes Derian. Over the past two decades he has graduallywere made speculating that people would shop turned a life spent puttering around flea markets andonline only for name-brand merchandise, many his own art studio into one of the more charming,sneered at eBay, the auction website, dismissing it idiosyncratic visions on the design scene. His decou-as nothing more than a dubious schlockfest for the page plates, lamps, and paperweights, all featuringgullible, the sentimental, and the taste-challenged. various lovely and/or witty 19th-century ephemera and artwork, are increasingly sought after by people We all know what happened there. But the greater wearying of floor-to-rafters modernism.irony is that, because of the way eBay is set up—you have to search for items using words more than And his small, warm gem of an apartment—the onlyeyes—name-brand merchandise is, in fact, the eas- place he’s lived since moving to Manhattan 13 yearsiest kind to find and one of the fastest-growing cat- ago—is a demonstration of how slow and steady notegories on the site. If you don’t know what you’re only wins the race but looks pretty good doing it. Alooking for, you’re better off at the flea market. one-bedroom on the Lower East Side, Derian’s pad boasts not a single designer object, and even the If the apartment of New York decoupage artist John stove is an antique. “I’m not sure if it’s safe to use theDerian is any indication, you’re better off at the flea mar- oven,” he admits. The whole place sounds a littleket anyway. Derian has never been on eBay—“I would- wobbly, but it’s almost a relief for a visitor accustomedn’t know where to start,” he says. A born aesthete, he to generating an automatic checklist of musts—has been hitting flea markets since he was a teenager, Prouvé desk, Nakashima table, Sub-Zero fridge—initially with his sister and then with a favorite eccentric within seconds of entering any fashionable interior.aunt (“She had hassocks,” he recalls, “and orange- The well-worn modern chairs around the dining table?painted garden furniture”). And some of his best mem- Derian doesn’t know who designed them.ories from his days at the Massachusetts College ofArt in Boston are of cutting class to scour thrifts and You heard right. He doesn’t know. It’s still possible.fleas on the North Shore with his first boyfriend. What he does have is an entry papered neatly with pages from some of the antique books he bought A career of truancy doesn’t usually pay off, but it more than 20 years ago—the first sign that Derian’shas proven not to be the worst course of study for 107

Facing page, clockwise from top left: John Derian out-side his store, a few blocks from his apartment. An1860s American cupboard in the dining room holds or-ganic treasures and pieces of mercury glass. The foyeris papered with pages from old books, applied withElmer’s glue and water; the 1850s American tilt-top tableholds an anonymous 1870s oil painting, Sand Dunes.This page: A 1907 folding metal camp chair, an antiqueDutch burlap-upholstered chair, a 1930s French parkchair from Rooms & Gardens, and an array of folk art inthe living room; the fin de siècle shipping barrel is fromJohn Derian Co. See Resources.

time machine looks backward, not forward. In thedining room, a rustic and narrow X-base table sitssquarely atop two Oriental carpets. A small crystalchandelier and a paper lantern (minus the paper) hangoverhead. Three handsome shelves made of mas-sive antique floorboards hold the old art books andmagazines he leafs through for inspiration. A super-model-thin antique cupboard—a dealer at the fleamarket knew Derian would want it, and he did—isfull of rocks, shells, crystals, and whatnot. Old amberbeads, a find in Marrakech, hang on its latch. Nearby,what looks like either a nasty mass of twigs or a veryexpensive artwork is in fact an arrangement of driedvines by his friend Christopher Bassett. Derian has an eye, that’s for sure, and it’s most oftensearching for pieces with a little personality and alot of history. A mirror eaten away by time; a pinkphotograph by Jack Pierson (a longtime friend andthe apartment’s former tenant); anonymous paint-ings and bits of Americana, gifts from friends; a trayof broken sticks of sealing wax (who knew it was sohard and brittle?). If some of today’s interiors feellike nautilus shells, crafted with a precision and puritythat is practiced only by univalve mollusks and highlycerebral architects, Derian’s place feels as thoughit were lovingly assembled by a highly aesthetic but ELLEDECOR.COM 109

In the dining room, an 1820s American table holds a Spider Web platter by the home-owner; the shelves were made from antique floorboards, the1920s Italian sconce is from Joanne Rossman, and the circa-1900 mirror is from Paula Rubenstein. Facing page: Derian’s cat, Skip, in the kitchen. Alamp found at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris hangs beside vintage animal cut-outs. The stool is antique, and the handmade vase, pitcher, and plate are by Astier deVillatte from John Derian Co. See Resources.

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not terribly orderly squirrel, an effect enhanced by look and feel “touched,” as he puts it: a stack of bird the fact that, as cracks have appeared in the plas- nests, or a little tree festooned with flower buds made ter over the years, Derian has patched them, but of shells. One only has to look at the pink wing chair not repainted. While some people work on mak- in the living room, whose fringy upholstery has been ing their homes more and more perfect, Derian so finely shredded one would think it had been pro- prefers his to become less and less so. “I love that duced by the workroom of a Paris couturier. wrecked, ruined, and decaying look that you can’t get immediately,” he says. “Now, after all this time, In fact, it was done by his cat. it’s starting to look like that.” You can’t buy that kind of handiwork. As Derian’s apartment demonstrates, you can only keep your Indeed, whether it’s by the hands of time or the hands eye out for beauty, be open and patient, and hope. of whoever made it, Derian insists on finding things that And having a cat can’t hurt.112 ELLEDECOR.COM

The antique iron bed is dressed with a vin- tage ticking pillow from Paula Rubensteinand an Elsa C. quilt from John Derian Co. The sea sponge was a gift from Derian’s sister, and the photograph is by DavidArmstrong; a curtain of French fabric fromthe 1930s hangs at the bedroom entrance. Facing page: Cards, notes, and inspira-tions from friends are posted in the dining room; Derian jots the phone numbers offavorite restaurants, the building superin- tendent, and the dry cleaner directly on the wall. See Resources.

The living room of Liz and SteveWeinstein’s house on the UpperEast Side, decorated by MilesRedd. The sofa is upholsteredin Lee Jofa’s Rochelle Velvet,and the side chairs are coveredin a custom-embroidered sou-tache by Penn & Fletcher. Thepainting was inspired by a favor-ite Franz Kline. See Resources.

BOLDSTROKESA NEW YORK COUPLE TURNS TO DESIGNWUNDERKIND MILES REDD TO UPDATE A GRANDTOWNHOUSE FOR THEIR YOUNG FAMILY.HIS SOLUTION? DITCH THE FORMALITY WITHOUTLOSING ANY OF THE GLAMOURTEXT BY DAVID COLMAN · PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON UPTONPRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDIBefore you decide to decorate a house, a word ofadvice: Take a good, long look in the mirror. Liz Weinstein did, and wasn’t pleased by what shesaw. “I didn’t like it,” she said. “But Miles convincedme to go with it, and as usual, he was right.” A word of explanation. Weinstein wasn’t scrutiniz-ing her own reflection. Rather, she was looking at atowering wall of smoky, antiqued-mirror panels thatpresided over the west side of the living room ofthe Manhattan townhouse she and her husband,Steve, had purchased. At first, and even second,glance, the panels seemed like an eyesore—a sadyet sweet remnant of the way people used to liveand decorate, joining such erstwhile luxuries as thebutler’s pantry and formal dining rooms on the listof what people would just as soon do without today. But Miles Redd, the young designer whom Wein-stein charged with redoing the place, looked at theexpanses of silvery, obsolescent iridescence andsaw two things. First, as decor’s boy wonder is wontto do, he saw himself, and second, he saw his client.“They’re one of my favorite things about the house,”he says of the panels, “and I didn’t even install them.” Redd and Weinstein ended up not just keeping themirrors but, in a way, channeling their old-schoolHollywood glamour for the rest of the house, nim-bly demonstrating Redd’s central design philos-ophy: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.All too often, people come to a renovation with thewords gut job fixed in their minds—not only can youstart fresh and erase everything that went before,but you can also get exactly what you want. In theory, that is. But Weinstein likes to embracethe past—this is a woman who, the last time shewent apartment shopping, ended up buying the 115

The custom-made Venetian-style sofa isupholstered in Lyons silk velvet byDecorators Walk; the Loop armchairs byFrances Elkins were bought at auction,the cocktail table is by Matthews &Parker, and the print is by Chuck Close.Facing page, from top: Liz Weinstein andher three sons, Matthew, William, andGeorge. Nineteenth-century Chinese an-cestral portraits flank the fireplace,which is topped with a Georgian gilt-wood mirror and a pair of horns, bothfrom John Rosselli International; the19th-century Minton garden seat is fromNiall Smith Antiques. See Resources.

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In Steve’s study, the Climate sec- tional sofa by Dune is topped withpillows covered in Clarence House’s Labyrinth silk, the Pacific Airline cocktail table is from Hinson & Co., and the French leather-and- palisander armchairs date fromthe 1940s; a collection of figurative and abstract drawings hangs on walls lacquered chocolate brown. Right: The clamshell is from C. J. Peters, and the 1980s watercolor by Vojtech Kobylka is from Senti- mento Antiques. See Resources. very same Upper East Side apartment she had grown up in. But as her family expanded to include three sons, William, Matthew, and George, it be- came clear that an upgrade was in order. She nearly bought a completely modernized townhouse—just add toothbrushes—but its lack of personality ulti- mately left her cold. “It seemed to have no charac- ter,” she says, “just a lot of marble.” Instead, the couple opted for a quirky townhouse complete with elevator, solarium, and formal din- ing room, the grand residence of an older couple with no children. On the advice of a friend, Weinstein went to see Redd at his NoHo townhouse. “As soon as I met Miles, I loved him,” she says. “He’s so person- able, and I knew instantly that we have virtually the same aesthetic. I love painted wood floors; he had painted wood floors. I love animal prints and pony- skin and chinoiserie; he had it all.” But as much as Weinstein wanted a house with character, she didn’t want a traditional interior. “I don’t believe in saving rooms for special occasions,” she says. For Redd, the trick was reworking the old-fashioned way the house had functioned for its previous owners while keeping its great bones. For example, the garden level was completely rethought: The formal dining room, with its ruched- fabric ceiling, and the industrial catering kitchen both got the heave-ho; in their stead is a mudroom for coats and bikes; a breakfast nook with a rich leather banquette; a warm, kid-friendly kitchen; and ELLEDECOR.COM 119

Nineteenth-century hall chairs from AmyPerlin Antiques and a Radial mahogany din-ing table by Oscar de la Renta for CenturyFurniture in the family/dining room; the book-shelves were designed by Redd, and thecocktail table is from Amy Perlin Antiques.Facing page, from top: A powder roomsheathed in glass mosaic tiles by Ann Sacks;the sconces are by Ann-Morris Antiques. Inthe entrance hall, the 19th-century Englishpine console is from Sentimento Antiques, the1920s serpentine mirror is from John RosselliInternational, and the 1960s rock-crystal lampis from Liz O’Brien; original architectural ren-derings of the house are displayed above thestaircase, and the floor has been faux-paintedto resemble travertine. See Resources.

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In the master bedroom, the bed wasdesigned by Redd, the St. Antoine wall-paper is by Farrow & Ball, the lampsare from Capitol Furnishings, andthe doors, dressed in a Brunschwig &Fils fabric, lead to a tented solarium.Facing page: The tufted chaise byOscar de la Renta for Century Furnitureis upholstered in Ralph Lauren Home’sShelbourne Woven, the floor lampis by Visual Comfort, and the porcelaingarden seat and rococo-style mir-ror are from Treillage. See Resources.

a dual family/dining room painted a deep red that’sboth elegant and relaxed. The upstairs rooms werelikewise done up in old-world fabrics and finishesthat convey both glamour and fun, including Steve’smodern chocolate-brown study and the charminglytented solarium off the master bedroom. “A lot of thebolder things I wasn’t sure about,” Weinstein ad-mits. “But I trust Miles. And at the end of the day,he’s always right.” Redd considers the place one ofhis most gratifying projects, because Weinstein lethim spread his wings with a freedom that few cli-ents grant—or ultimately appreciate. That freedom is most gloriously demonstrated inthe house’s main floor, a 60-foot-long stretch. “Youusually don’t get that kind of loftlike space in a town-house,” Redd says. He started with a bright redOriental carpet and then went on a color spree, mix-ing other reds with greens, including a striking virid-ian velvet sofa and, a holdover from the last ownersand Steve’s only request, a huge pool table. “The pool table wasn’t my first choice,” she says.“I wanted a big library table, but Steve really stayedout of my hair during this, and Miles said, ‘Let’s giveit to him.’ And it’s fun. Steve will have a stressful day,and he can come home and shoot a few balls. That’swhy we use the living room, because it’s there.” The result, pool table and all, is a remarkable syn-thesis of old and new, grand and casual. It’s certainlynot futuristic. But it works very well in the present,and that’s the only tense worth living in. ELLEDECOR.COM 123



From left: Edo by China Seas fromQuadrille. Arabesque by Ornamenta from Stark Wallcovering. Gra-mercy by Waverly. Caterpillar Leaf by Neisha Crosland. Woodstock by Cole & Son from Lee Jofa. Facing page, clockwise from topleft: Dalton by Jane Churchill from Cowtan & Tout. Salisbury Man- sion by Waterhouse Wallhangings from Christopher Norman. Silver-gate by Farrow & Ball. Edo Pines byStudio Printworks. See Resources.MAKING A STATEMENT FORGET SUBTLE BACKGROUNDS. TODAY’S BEST WALLPAPERS ARE BOLDLY PATTERNED, BIG, AND BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTONIS ACHILLEOS PRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDI 125

From left: Imperial Trellis by KellyWearstler for Decorators Walk. PeraTrail by Osborne & Little. FloweringQuince by Clarence House. JerseyLily by Osborne & Little. JoshuaLawrence Chamberlin by WaterhouseWallhangings from ChristopherNorman. Indramayu by China Seasfrom Quadrille. McCall Foulard byRalph Lauren Home. See Resources.

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From left: Baldwin’s Bamboo byScalamandré. Clacket Lane by Mibo.Acorus by Alexander Beauchampfrom Stark Wallcovering. Mimosa byCole & Son from Lee Jofa. BerryFlower by Neisha Crosland.Facing page, clockwise from topleft: Nanou Rockery by Brunschwig &Fils. Durbar Hall by DesignersGuild from Osborne & Little.Cordoba by Zoffany. Kabloom byFlavor Paper. See Resources. 129

Facing page: The Augustine familywith their black Lab, Tree, in the barnon their property in Dutchess County,New York; the house and barn were de-signed by Cicognani Kalla Architects.This page: In the entry, the walnut-and-steel console and the woodpedestals are by Chris Lehrecke; theAlbert Oehlen painting is titled3rd Gear—It’s All Right, and the black-and-white painting, Untitled (TheShow Is Over...), is by ChristopherWool; the bronze sculptures areby Rachel Whiteread. See Resources.

IN A NEW LIGHT WHEN A MANHATTAN DEALER AND HISFAMILY MOVE FULL-TIME TO THE COUNTRY, THEIR CHALLENGE IS TO ACHIEVE A BALANCE OF ART AND NATURE TEXT BY VICKY LOWRY · PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM WALDRON PRODUCED BY ELIZABETH SVERBEYEFF BYRON AND LILI ABIR REGEN 131

In the living room, the sofas, coveredin Donghia’s Pluscious wool velvet,and the stainless-steel cocktail tablesare by Chris Lehrecke from RalphPucci International. George Condo’sThe Cocktail Drinker hangs above theblack slate fireplace surround, andthe sculptures include ChocolateSilicon Blockhead by Paul McCarthyand Martin Kippenberger’s DrunkenLantern. Christopher Wool’s Mama TooTight is on the far wall. See Resources.

I n life, there are always trade-offs. Building a country house can be an especially challenging balancing act. You may want a home large enough to enter- tain friends for the weekend, but too many bed- rooms means constant upkeep. Or your taste might lean toward rustic-cabin casual, but that doesn’t mean you want to relinquish all high-tech ameni- ties. It’s never easy aligning your dreams and de- sires with practical realities. Roland Augustine, co-owner of Luhring Augustine gallery in Manhattan, and his wife, Kathleen, a former magazine editor, built a weekend house in upstate New York a decade ago. But when they decided to move to the area full-time with their two sons, Sam, 16, and James, 13, they felt they needed a better piece of property. (The couple are avid outdoor types: Roland likes to shoot sporting clays at a nearby preserve, and Kathleen is a competitive tennis player.) “The longer we were here,” says Kathleen, “the more we cared about the land.” Seven years ago, together with her parents, they bought a former dairy farm in Dutchess County and both couples planned to build houses on the property. Everyone agreed to use barn- red clapboard siding and metal roofs as a nod to the area’s agricultural traditions. The real issue for the Augustines, though, was light. They wanted as many windows as possible to take advantage of the endless views of the Catskills from the hilltop setting. But they also required large ex- panses of wall space for their extensive collection of contemporary art. Renovating the original 1840s farmhouse wasn’t going to solve the problem, and in any case, it was a mess. “Raccoons were living in it,” says Kathleen. Constructing a glass house, while tempting, was also nixed. “Everybody wants light and everybody wants wall space,” says Kathleen, “and the two are difficult to achieve.” For help, the couple turned to architects Pietro Cicognani and Ann Kalla. Their solution was both in- genious and appropriate to the area: a barnlike structure, based on a traditional Dutch design, with clerestory windows tucked just below the roofline. Light pours in while the walls are left unobstructed. For the more private living quarters, the architects created wings on either side of the central double- height space with enough glass for the family to ELLEDECOR.COM 133

The granite-top cherry kitchen island is by Varenna, and the windows are by Marvin. Facing page, clockwise from top: In the dining room, midcentury Danish chairs sur- round a cherry table by Chris Lehrecke. The photographs are Yasumasa Morimura’s Vermeer Study and Joel Sternfeld’s McLean, Virginia. The exterior of the house, with a dining terrace off the kitchen. The range is by Viking, and the photograph, Orange Lion, is by Paul McCarthy. See Resources.134



survey their own 120 acres and the hills far beyond. a few choice pieces with provenance: a Nakashima“It’s like a loft,” explains Kalla, “and everything else sideboard from the 1960s, four Chinese chairs fromis spirited away, above and below, with little hints the late Ming dynasty, and two Chinese painting ta-of their existence.” A wooden shutter above the bles. “They kind of look like nothing,” says Kathleen,kitchen hides Roland’s home office; it can slide open, “but it’s very rare to find a pair.”says Kathleen, “when he wants to know what’s fordinner.” Light from the boys’ bathroom shines into The Augustines are constantly editing the artworks,the living room below, alerting the parents when the which include paintings by Christopher Wool andkids are home. A circular stair allows the boys to un- George Condo. (A cleaning woman once put Cadyobtrusively hit the basement playroom. Noland’s basket of beer cans, prominently displayed in the living room, on the curb for garbage pickup, Materials are simple—deep American walnut and and workmen have occasionally tossed their owngreenish-gray bluestone from a quarry near Albany— empties into it.) Their 11-foot-wide Albert Oehlenand the walls, at least for now, are stark white. “I’m painting is out on loan for an exhibition, and a Martinthinking of finally painting the walls a color,” says Kippenberger sculpture that Roland had covetedKathleen. “By the time we got to the end of the proj- for a decade is now wrapped in plastic in the base-ect two summers ago, we painted them white just ment. “We’re in détente,” jokes Kathleen. “It’s the onlyto get it over with.” The furniture, too, is simple, though piece we’ve ever gone to bat over.” For Roland, thedeceptively so. Chris Lehrecke, a master wood crafts- work, consisting of seven nesting tables made ofman who lives nearby, designed most of it, includ- cheap particleboard, is seminal: “It’s a satire on do-ing a 14-foot-long cherry dining table, a steel-legged mesticity.” For Kathleen, it’s an eyesore: “It sits in thewalnut console with a sinuous edge for the entry, middle of the room, and you can’t put anything on it.”and surprisingly comfortable minimalist sofas forthe living room. His designs are complemented by “Collecting is very autobiographical,” admits Roland. “It’s a pathology.”136 ELLEDECOR.COM





In the master bedroom, the ma-hogany bed by Chris Lehrecke is covered in a vintage suzani fromABC Carpet & Home; the painting is Albert Oehlen’s Alte Geweihe.Facing page: The walnut cabinetry in the bathroom was designed by Cicognani Kalla Architects,the tub is by American Standard, and the fittings are by Water- works. The countertop and tub surround are of bluestone from a nearby quarry. See Resources.

SMALL CHANGE LANDSCAPE DESIGNER MARIO NIEVERA IS USED TO CONCEIVING GRAND GARDENS, SO HE HAD TO SWITCH GEARS WHEN PULLING TOGETHER HIS NEW YORK PIED-À-TERRE. YET HE FOUND THAT LESS SPACE YIELDED MORE CREATIVITY TEXT BY NANCY HASS · PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIMOTHY KOLK · PRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDI To say that Mario Nievera is accustomed to working on a broad can- pied-à-terre on the Upper East Side, he knew he would have to think vas would be an understatement. The celebrated Palm Beach land- small. “Part of the fun,” says Nievera, a slim, elegant man whose ca- scape architect’s projects have included rambling terraced gardens for sual chic makes it easy to imagine how the Palm Beach denizens might the likes of the Lauder family, Jimmy Buffett, and socialite Terry Allen cotton to him, “was to take a modest place with good potential and Kramer, tropical paradises that seem to have no boundaries—and no make it somehow just right. I needed somewhere that would be easy budget. “When you work in Palm Beach,” he says, “you can do things to take care of, but also make me feel good when I walked in the door.” on a very grand scale, which is really satisfying.” He has turned the pocket-size space (at 650 square feet, it’s smaller Nievera and his partner, Robert Janjigian, the fashion editor of The than some of his hibiscus beds) into a polished gem that combines Palm Beach Daily News, own a home in Florida’s tony enclave as well classicism, thrift-shop zaniness, and spare modernity. Originally a stu- as a place in Southampton. But with a growing roster of clients who dio, the apartment has been transformed into a one-bedroom by an want him to design not only their Palm Beach spreads but also their ingenious set of sliding doors. During the day, the doors are left open, Hamptons gardens and Manhattan terraces, Nievera now spends a giving the space an airy feel; at night, they slide shut to seal off the bed- couple of days each week in New York. When he decided to buy a room and reveal shelves that hold books and antique globes.138

The living room of landscape architectMario Nievera’s New York apartment; it wasdecorated with the help of his friend Bruce Bierman. Mirrors custom made in Venicehang beneath vintage wooden game boardsand a model of a fountain Nievera designed. Facing page: The Regency-style commode in the entrance hall holds a Grecian plasterbust; the mirror, framed in crushed bamboo, is from Mecox Gardens. See Resources.

Facing page, from left: Mario Nievera in the living room of his Manhattanapartment. Sliding doors, designed by Bierman, can close off the bed- room, revealing shelves stockedwith antique globes, garden books, and folk-art crucifixes. This page: Custom-made bamboo end tablesby Scott Snyder flank the bed, which has a headboard and skirt of Bierman’s design. See Resources.

NIEVERA IS MORE INTERESTED IN COMPLEMENTARY SHAPES AND SIZES THAN MATCHING PAIRS. “YOU ALWAYS WANTTO MESS WITH PERFECTION,” HE SAYS. “YOU DECIDE TO CONVEY AN IDEA, THEN DO SOMETHING TO THROW IT A LITTLE OFF” Nievera’s unerring sense of proportion is evident everywhere. Rarely furniture minimal. In such a setting, a shiny red vinyl cushion tossed onare such idiosyncratic elements balanced with such delicacy. “As with an armless gray sofa speaks volumes. But whimsy emerges in the leasta garden,” he says, “you never want things to seem contrived or out expected places: One living room wall is dominated by an enormousof scale.” On both walls that flank the large living room windows, for painting of the Eiffel Tower. “Robert found it in the garbage somewhere,”example, is a vertical series of five items, including a Balinese finial and Nievera explains. “We had it restored and it’s perfectly weird enough toa tiny watercolor. A prosaic eye might have chosen only matching pairs work.” Outside the bathroom hangs a display rack of art postcards.of objects, or matching sets, to lend symmetry, but Nievera is more “You can change them constantly to keep yourself amused,” he says.interested in complementary shapes and sizes. “You always want to A row of 24 round Russel Wright clocks in shades of black, dusty mauve,mess with perfection,” he says. “You decide to convey an idea, then and split pea are the focus in the small, all-white kitchen. Above thedo something to throw it a little off.” bed’s upholstered headboard, surrounded by a formal grouping of mir- rors, hangs a thrift-shop landscape of waves crashing on a shore. Above a spare Walter Chatham console hangs a set of custom-madeVenetian mirrors and a pair of vintage wooden game boards. Crowning As precisely configured as the compact apartment may be, Nieverathe top of the arrangement is a plaster model of a fountain Nievera de- never stops changing things. One moment, a Grecian plaster bust gracessigned. In the entry, a mirror looms above a Regency-style commode; the entry; the next, he has replaced it with a rustic wooden toy villagenearby, amid photographs found in a Paris flea market, hangs Nievera’s that had been hidden away. On a rattan stand near the front door is anseventh-grade self-portrait. A geometric-pattern hooked rug—“I intricate collection of folk-art crucifixes; just days before, that choicecan’t get enough of them,” he says—lends a modern counterpoint. perch had been occupied by a volleyball-size sphere of seashells. “People think that you’re limited when the space is small,” he says, “but I think Nievera, who was helped with devising the layout and choosing fin- the key is seeing everything as somewhat in flux, never standing still,ishes by interior designer and friend Bruce Bierman, has kept the palette always shifting, realigning. In a lot of ways, it’s like a garden.”largely neutral, in subtle variations from mushroom to pumice, and the ELLEDECOR.COM 141

CLEARING THE FACED WITH AN OVERDESIGNED TESTAMENT TO ’80S EXCESS, DECORATOR KATIE RIDDER AND ARCHITECT TEXT BY MELISSA BARRETT RHODES · PHOTOGRAPHY BY PIETER ESTERSOHN · PRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDI The living room of a young family’s Man- hattan apartment overlooking Central Park. The design was a collaboration be- tween architect Peter Pennoyer and designer Katie Ridder. A unique print by Andy Warhol, J.S. Flowers, and a paint- ing by Jack Youngerman, Enigma, hang above a sofa upholstered in silk mohair by J. Robert Scott; the cocktail table by Urban has a faux-parchment finish. The carved Dutch Colonial Burgomaster chair is 17th century, the 1940s gilded- iron table is by Raymond Subes, and the drawing is by Alexander Calder. The North Indian carpet from Beauvais dates from the early 1900s. See Resources.

WAYPETER PENNOYER RESTORE AN UPPER EAST SIDE CLASSIC TO ITS ESSENCE 143

THE WORD POTENTIAL was written home into something more reflective of their own style. “My husband and I didn’t want it to feel like a all over it. A sprawling prewar in a blue-chip building classic uptown ‘serious’ apartment,” says the wife, not far from Central Park, the clients’ new apartment who was pregnant with their first child while the had all the trappings of a truly elegant Manhattan renovation was under way. “I wanted to make our residence, with a private elevator entrance, sweep- home comfortable, colorful, and unexpected—but ing views and light, and enough space for the young most of all, fun,” she says. couple to start a family, and then some. Except that once you stepped off the elevator, there it was, con- The first step was to clean up the architectural fronting you like a cobra: The gaudy, heavy-handed mess. “Making rooms simple shapes helps to dis- relics of ’80s architectural excess, a postmodern play the gems,” Pennoyer explains. “When I work with statement on steroids. Clunky built-ins swallowing interior designers, it’s always about making what the windows, mattress-width banquettes clinging they do look best.” To set the stage for Ridder’s cre- to walls like giant hovering parasites, massive den- ativity and the clients’ important postwar modern-art til crown moldings fit for the Parthenon. It was the collection, Pennoyer stripped and reconfigured the horrifying equivalent of discovering old pictures of long wall of windows in the living room. “Originally your big ’80s hair—what was I thinking?—yet at least there was cabinetry jutting out about three feet from it was somebody else’s interior design faux pas. the windows, so there was no way to step up to the beautiful view,” says Ridder. Pennoyer also rede- “It was a bit over the top,” says Peter Pennoyer, signed the molding flanking the windows to incor- the architect hired by the new owners. “There was porate mirrors that reflect more of the view and light just too much architecture going on.” into the room. He and Ridder designed three faux- bois French doors to reorient the traffic flow and in- “And on top of that,” jokes interior designer Katie crease the light in the spaces that branch off the liv- Ridder, Pennoyer’s wife and his design partner on ing room—foyer, library, and dining room. this and other projects, “the decoration was very French–meets–American Southwest. Everything Ridder worked closely with the clients to come up was gilded, swagged, or sponge-painted.” with an informal furniture plan and whimsical touch- es. In the center of the living room, she placed a pop- The owners, a business entrepreneur and his wife, up, pivoting TV cabinet so that the family can watch commissioned Ridder and Pennoyer to reclaim the elegant bones of the apartment and make their new144 ELLEDECOR.COM

The 1930s cabinet is by Jacques Adnet, the 1961 painting, Lazy “S” Twist, is byLeon Polk Smith, and a vintage Tommi Parzinger side table holds a 1920sItalian glass lamp. Facing page: Bronze- and-wood étagères designed by PeterPennoyer flank the dining room mantel, the untitled 1962 painting is by Hans Hoffman, the table is Biedermeier, andthe Chelsea tufted side chairs by Jonas Upholstery are covered in Larsen’s Memory cotton-linen. See Resources.

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