Against these textural works, elegant juxtaposition became a defining interior trait when Lincoln and architect Bo Lee, who had previously led the home’s renovation by 1100 Architect before she founded her eponymous New York firm, collaborated to swath a living room wall and custom mantel in a multidimensional, striated travertine. A 1890 portrait of actor Lawrence Barrett by John Singer Sargent and a 2013 neon piece by Francois Morellet now flank the fireplace, centering two smaller seating areas with Fernando Mastrangelo rugs. This large room also offers a bespoke bar made of bronze, lacquer, stone, and eglomise by designer Richard Shemtov of Dune, which is beloved by guests and family alike.
Across the house, Lincoln mixed materials and forms, the old and the new, intentionally using color and contrast to ground each space, and reflect the modern sensibility of its blended family. The breakfast room, where a delicate hand-blown filigree glass pendant by Jeff Zimmerman and James Mongrain hangs over the solid midcentury-style dining table and cane back chairs, is bathed in sunlight. Out a door, past a Zizipho Poswa sculpture, is the garden by Terrain. Along with the living room and library—which features a game table by Tom Sachs and ping-pong table by Green River Project—this urban oasis is one of the family’s most-used spaces, says Abigail. However, all offer conversation-starting pieces with newly personal history—or heirlooms that provoke them.
This past spring, Abigail and Warren hosted a dinner party in their redesigned town house for Philadelphia-based artist Roberto Lugo, whose ceramic vessels they collect. “[Lugo] said, ‘Caring about where the things that you’re putting in your home are from and the person behind it should be part of the collecting process,’” recalls Abigail. “New York is not really an interesting place if we don’t have people creating things here.”