A complete renovation; from baths to kitchen. I opened doorways that had been closed for decades to restore the intended flow of Rosario Candela’s iconic architecture.  

A sweeping, circular wrought iron-post staircase maintained as a focal point, along with the custom Gracie panels that take you from entry to second level bedrooms with the upward sweep of a hand painted tree.  Everything else was updated to suit more contemporary Upper East Side living including transforming numerous closets into luxurious ensuite bathrooms. 

The East Hampton House was completed at the tail end of the 20th Century after over a year and a half of ground-up construction.  Lovers of architectural history, the owners modeled it closely after a well-known Georgian gem in Southampton, Brig General Thomas Barber's 'Keewaydin.'  Built over a century earlier, Keewaydin was home to a member of the van Rensselaer family -- whose family manor house was an even earlier iteration built in 1740 outside Albany. 

Despite falling in love with the historically rich Southampton home (which was for sale at the time), the owners had strong family ties to East Hampton, and so they elected to buy land and erect their own version.  Much research was conducted by the owners and their architect, including studying the original plans from the National Historic Registry, the owners ultimately revised the blueprints, tailoring the home to fit their lifestyle.  The result was a Georgian-style, shingled house with a double-width central staircase, on a palladian scale.

The goal here was to create a harmonious mix between the extremely traditional  personality of the home while injecting the spaces with some lighter and brighter contemporary elements, making it an exceptional and unique blend of old and new.

This full floor apartment demanded a serious update, with requirements for a functional and stylish kitchen, two bedrooms with ensuites, and a chic nursery for a newborn boy.

I worked closely with the client to create a mahogany wood-paneled library reminiscent of an old English Gentlemen’s club complete with hidden, lacquered bar.   Custom DeGournay lines the walls of the dining room and, after searching tirelessly for the perfect slabs, new marble fireplaces were installed.

 

Perhaps the most challenging – albeit fulfilling—project of my career.  The 1716 house was one of the earliest examples of Colonial saltbox architecture in the town and had been moved from its original location on Main Street to what was farmland in the 1950s.

The objective was to update and expand the home for a growing family, while maintaining the integrity of the original features.  This required working closely with the architect to reintegrate and represent original materials in a new way. The design scheme was focused heavily on mixing original antique pieces from a past generation with contemporary art and furniture. Just a ten-minute walk to the ocean beaches this is a dreamy place to be in the summertime.