That initial call confirmed that, indeed, the vibes were good. “I felt like it would just be an all-around-good-feelings kind of project,” the designer reflects. The home also struck a personal chord. “I grew up in New York City, and I love town house living,” she enthuses. The goal was to meld the thoughtfully maintained features from years past, like the gilt mantle in the primary bedroom, while making key upgrades such as introducing “very modern, minimalist bathrooms,” and a stainless-steel kitchen designed by the architects.
“In this project, we were tasked with both restoring the legacy of a prominent architect who had previously renovated and lived in this home, and updating it for a whole new chapter belonging to a young family starting their life together there,” explains Charlap Hyman and Herrero, in an email. “We quickly realized we would need to develop an architectural language for our interventions that was respectfully apart from what was existing, so that a distinction could be made between old and new, without the changes being too jarring.”
The blend of old and new didn’t stop at the architecture; when it came time to decorate, the family’s assemblage of art provided guidance, too, as did some of their cherished possessions, like a bold, animal-print velvet settee that became a highlight in the otherwise subdued primary suite, as well as a Gae Aulenti rocker reupholstered in Sandra Jordan Prima Alpaca’s sumptuous bouclé, fit for the nursery.
Family-focused functionality was also at the forefront of the project, but absent is a strictly utilitarian sensibility. Take the town house’s entrance. “This is the entryway for everything, groceries and so forth,” notes de Rege, who “wanted it to feel durable and chic.” Metallic-finish Botteganove tiles on the walls and de Gournay’s soaring Caelus pattern on the ceiling above provide an optical illusion of extra space where, thanks to Manhattan’s legendary confines, there isn’t much. Then there’s the living/family room, where a trim sectional beckons for movie nights. “‘We don’t want it to look like a family room most of the time,’” de Rege recalls of the homeowners’ directive. Cue the custom sofa in Rose Tarlow’s Velours Monchalet II, with pillows in Arjumand’s Ramage Celadon—in de Rege’s words, “a sectional that really doesn’t read like a sectional.” And the guest room, with Schumacher’s polished Edwin Stripe Wide on the walls and Stark’s Oswego sisal on the floor, is designed for guests and grandparents today but can convert to another children’s room tomorrow—or when the time comes.
