On a leafy stretch of New York’s West Village is a 1901 Georgian townhouse owned by a famous musician and his auction house manager wife. It is peppered with themes of prosperity and growth, which makes sense, given his expertise in nurturing and refining designs, and the fact that the couple took over the home for their growing family.
Both wanted to preserve elements of the previous owner’s renovation – done by architect Stephen Harris in AD 100 – but felt the cottage needed some practical renovations (think extra storage space). They also wanted to put their own stamp on the house as a designed and unexpected space for socializing with family and friends in the industry.
To bring their ideas to life, the couple hired architect Amy Sachs, who had recently started her own practice after years with the firm of Annabelle Selldorf. Designer Penelope August (another Selldorf Architects graduate) collaborated on the furnishings and finishes. “The client had a very clear idea of how his family and guests wanted to experience the house,” Sachs explains. “He was interested in creating spaces that promote gathering and conversation.”
Falling in love with his work in the Paul Kasmin Gallery, the owners commissioned artist David Wiseman to create the definitive conversation piece for the dining room, visible as soon as someone walked in through the front door. The installation—a tree-like bronze and porcelain light fixture that climbs the wall and across the ceiling, sprinkled with an abundance of porcelain blossoms—is an expression of whimsy and romance. It hovers above the dining table, which is bordered by a curved banquette upholstered in Jiun Ho green velvet and surrounded by Gio Ponti and Pierre Jeanneret chairs. It is a place that works well both for intimate family dinners and for late-night celebrations with guests. That, if they don’t retire to the cozy front library, which features chrome-and-velvet Cy Mann chairs and a jewel-bar lined in Gretchen Bellinger’s celadon limousine.
Throughout the cottage, Saxe and Augustus used an intentional and unifying color palette. The homeowners had returned from a trip to Kyoto with thoughts of blooming flowers and a piece of bright red silk rope that ended up as the inspiration behind multiple elements, including the shade of moiré silk wallpaper that graces the entry-hall closet. This same color wraps up the ladder in a wool runner, and can be found in the luxurious felt curtains in the master bedroom. More subtly, it can also be seen in a mohair panel built above the custom dressing room table. “The clients provided good direction, but they also left plenty of room for ideas and development,” August says.
Basements are grounded in the greenery of the back garden (updated by Michael Franco of Blue Plant), which contains an ink koi pond with a floating marble walkway and towering bamboo wall. At garden level is an inviting sitting room with medium-sized sofas oriented around a streamlined white granite fireplace and a custom desk designed by Sachs. Flanking the desk is a pair of huge white Wilson Audio Watt speakers. The adjoining dining kitchen is fitted with oak cabinetry and a green tiled backsplash.
The master bedroom suite, which overlooks the garden, is inspired by the idea of a pale rose. Savel Inc. Burgundy Felt Curtains and Walls with Cotton Cover. Velvet provides a pink backdrop for a white wool bed and classic Paul Mathieu seat by Ralph Pucci. Meanwhile, the primary bathroom is a space in luminous Rosa Portogallo and Rosa Aurora marble from ABC Stone. The shared dressing room, which joins the bedroom and bathroom, has open shelves in warm oak and a central dressing table with a burgundy mohair top and Ted Muehling knobs. All of this is overlooked by the old Paavo Tynell “Starry Sky” roof fixtures.
The other three bedrooms in the townhouse have been reconfigured into two more spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and a laundry room in between. Complementing the floral theme, a floral floral from Clarence House covers the headboard in one room, while a velveteen headboard in the other—all options the pair carefully considered. “He was really interested in getting it right for his family,” August says. “It was really cool to see how interested he was. He went with me for the upholstery work and sat on all the cushions.”
If most residences are based on ideas about the garden, flowers and greenery, then the upper floor is about connecting with the sky. Realizing the huge potential of the previously unused space, they transformed it into what the homeowner called, according to Sachs, “my Barcelona suite.” Cream vein cut and sandy limestone trace the north and south balconies. Colors change with the changing light – cool and dreamy on a winter morning, warm and golden at sunset. It’s the perfect space for a family movie night or a night out with old friends, followed by meandering conversations that stretch until dawn.
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