Bigger sizes, better quality. A fraction of the cost of mined diamonds. With G-H color and VS2-SI1 clarity, our 3 carat studs are gorgeous real diamonds, priced lower than our competitors. Each pair is IGI-certified and ready to dazzle. Also available in 14kt yellow gold. Item #984912 Shown larger for detail. $2,995 Compare at $4,495 Superb 3 Carat Lab-Grown Diamond Studs in 14kt White Gold FREE EXPRESS SHIPPING — ORDER TODAY! To receive this special offer, use code: LAB5 1.800.556.7376 or visit ross-simons.com/lab5 Item #984913 THE LAB OF LUXURY DISCOVER LAB-GROWN DIAMONDS BY
TEXT BY BUSOLA EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON UPTON STYLED BY SARA MATHERS With the help of designer Beata Heuman, Adwoa Aboah transforms a London town house into a lively home bursting with vibrant color and personal touches
lit english THE LIBRARY FEATURES A BESPOKE BOOKSHELF AND MIRROR MADE WITH ANTIQUE GLASS. OPPOSITE ADWOA ABOAH WEARING A VINTAGE DIOR JACKET AND ALAÏA JEANS IN THE LIVING ROOM. THE ARTWORK OVER THE FIREPLACE IS BY STEVE HUSBAND. HAIR BY JAZ LANYERO ASSISTED BY ANOUSHKA DANIELLE; MAKEUP BY MAHA ALSELAMI USING LAURA MERCIER FOR LMC WORLDWIDE; MANICURE BY MICHELLE CLASS FOR LMC WORLDWIDE. ART: STEVE HUSBAND. FASHION STYLING BY STUDIO&.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 103 A LARGE ROOMSCAPE BY ARTIST ARIANA PAPADEMETROPOULOS DEFINES A LIVING ROOM WALL. SOFAS AND OTTOMAN BY BEATA HEUMAN. VINTAGE THREE-ARM LAMP AND MOROCCAN BERBER RUG. ART: © ARIANA PAPADEMETROPOULOS
CUSTOM CABINETRY IN YELLOWSTAINED BIRCH PLYWOOD TOPPED WITH HONED CARRARA MARBLE WRAPS AROUND THE KITCHEN. SMEG RANGE; HECTOR FINCH SCONCES (AT RIGHT); BACKSPLASH TILE FROM MOSAIC FACTORY. PENDANTS BY PURE WHITE LINES HANG ABOVE THE BESPOKE ISLAND.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 105 he front door of the Victorian-era home of model, actor, and activist Adwoa Aboah, it turns out, is brilliantly deceptive. Painted a discreet black, it gives little indication of the decor behind it but suggests, perhaps, an owner with a penchant for the pared-back. Step into the entry hall, however, and that is all subterfuge. A framed, brightly colored vintage Asafo flag showcasing symbolic African art—a nod to Aboah’s dual Ghanaian and English heritage—greets you, hanging against walls bathed in soft pink, and ahead, a graphic stair runner catches your eye. Minimalism this is not. “I wanted to make a point of putting this here, as soon as you enter the house. It really sets the tone,” says Aboah of the flag. “We’ve collected them for ages—me, my dad, and my sister.” She was with her father, Charles, and sister Kesewa, an artist and model, when she viewed the four-story redbrick town house five years ago. She had been searching within a short radius of her parents’ home in West London but had yet to find The One. On paper, this wasn’t it either. A worrying wreck, it had no electricity or heating and was split haphazardly into five units. “But we walked in, looked at each other, and just knew,” she recalls. “It was falling apart, but I was like, ‘This is my home.’ ” Aboah, who has graced magazine covers including British Vogue and fronted advertising campaigns for the likes of Chanel and Burberry, always had a clear vision. “I didn’t want a stage home. I grew up in a house filled with pattern and color where nothing matched. It was unpretentious and comfortable. And that’s what I wanted.” She started working on the restoration with architectural designer Lewis Kane. But with a hectic schedule—she divides her time between London and LA—Aboah needed additional expertise. Enter Beata Heuman, the AD100 Swedish-born, London-based interior decorating maestro known for her cheerfully bold and offbeat aesthetic. “I loved that she wasn’t scared to take certain risks in terms of color, pattern, and shapes,” explains Aboah. For Heuman and her head of interior design Fosca Mariani, it was clear this was going to be a collaborative process. “Adwoa has a really strong sense of style, so her thing always was to find someone who understood that, who she felt could enhance or contribute. It’s about interpreting who she is. It was great to work with a client who is so focused.” t IN THE DINING ROOM, A GIDEON APPAH PAINTING HANGS ABOVE A BANQUETTE BY HEUMAN IN LEATHER FROM WHISTLER LEATHER. 1960s CHAIRS BY NIELS OTTO MØLLER REUPHOLSTERED IN SCALAMANDRÉ’S PANTHERA VELVET; 1950s ITALIAN SCONCES. ART: GIDEON APPAH
THE ENTRY HALL’S FLOOR TILE WAS ALREADY IN PLACE. HEUMAN DESIGNED THE STAIR RUNNER; COATRACK BY GEBRÜDER THONET. HANGING AT LEFT IS AN ANTIQUE ASAFO FLAG MADE BY THE FANTE PEOPLE, WHICH ABOAH BOUGHT IN GHANA. OPPOSITE VINTAGE ARTPROG OUTDOOR CHAIRS SURROUND A TABLE FROM MENA WOODWORK ON THE TERRACE. THE GARDEN WAS DESIGNED BY ABOAH’S AUNT, LANDSCAPE DESIGNER SARAH HUSBAND. ART: D.A. JASPER
“I grew up in a house filled with pattern and color where nothing matched,” says Aboah. “It was unpretentious and comfortable. And that’s what I wanted.”
ABOAH, WEARING TURNBULL & ASSER PAJAMAS, IN THE BATH. EDWINS TUB AND FITTINGS; CHAIR BY HEUMAN IN A LE MANACH FLORAL.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 109 “Friends have said if they could imagine a house that described me, this would be it.” CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE THE POWDER ROOM FEATURES A YELLOW SINK BY THE WATER MONOPOLY. A RED TAPESTRY BY KESEWA ABOAH AND FAMILY PHOTOS ARE DISPLAYED IN THE LIBRARY. IN ABOAH’S BATH, THE SHOWER IS CLAD IN PAONAZZETTO MARBLE, ART: KESEWA ABOAH. ENRIQUE BADULESCU. HUGO SCOTT. COLIN JONES/TOPFOTO & MICHAEL HOPPEN GALLERY. JOSH LUDLOW. AND DULUX PAINT COLORS THE ARCHED NICHES.
110 ARCHDIGEST.COM SERIOUS ISSUES MAY LIE close to Aboah’s heart—she has been candid about her past mental health struggles, and she created Gurls Talk, a successful platform to support the well-being of adolescent girls and young women globally—but she is lighthearted in person, an element reflected in her home. Heuman helped conjure a city reworking of a relaxed English country look, with chintz thrown off-kilter by bespoke pieces and vintage finds. “I don’t want it to look that controlled, but it is quite considered,” the designer says of her approach. Souvenirs of Aboah’s life abound in the spaces, giving this home its heartfelt character. Dotted around are creative contributions from family and friends—even her garden was designed by her aunt, landscape designer Sarah Husband. Aboah’s library is a trove of eclectic curios (including her own Barbie doll), rare and personal photographs, artwork—a wall tapestry made by her sister as part of her art school degree hangs in a prominent spot—and books collected over the years. Her living room was designed around a large-scale hanging by Ariana Papademetropoulos. “A friend introduced me to her artwork, and I completely fell in love,” says Aboah. Two bespoke sofas act as calming counterpoints while an ottoman, upholstered in Warris Vianni’s Naivasha in pink, adds, as Heuman notes, “some sass.” A new kitchen side extension allowed a run of birch plywood cabinetry, painstakingly stained a custom yellow. Most of the pieces here are freestanding, including the bottle-green banquette, beneath a work by Ghanaian artist Gideon Appah. “I didn’t want to have anything in a fixed position—what if I want to have a party?” laughs Aboah. Unexpected details are a hallmark of Heuman’s work and are seen in abundance, from the delightful glossy blue ceiling in the library to the sherbet-lemon plumbing fixtures in the powder room. Or indeed in the dressing room, where neutral floor-to-ceiling cabinetry has been zhuzhed up with ruby trim. The primary bath is Heuman’s canny interpretation of the original brief to make the whole space pink. An additional wall created arched alcoves that are highlighted in the color, while recessing the marble shower. “We felt that if she had pink all over the walls, she might get bored . . . so we suggested an element of that, but not one that dominated the space.” Aboah’s bedroom embodies what she had visualized for years. “I always wanted patterned wallpaper and matching curtains,” she says. For that, Heuman turned to Whiteworks’ Posy, while keeping the overall look tailored so as not to feel too saccharine. “We wanted something theatrical but still cozy and calm,” she explains. Aboah—back onscreen now in the Netflix drama Top Boy— says with Heuman’s help, her home provides much more than meets the eye. “Friends have said if they could imagine a house that described me, this would be it. I feel very at peace here. It is like my sanctuary.” A VINTAGE ELDA CHAIR BY JOE COLOMBO STANDS IN THE DRESSING ROOM. BESPOKE RUG INSPIRED BY THE DESIGNS OF PIERO FORNASETTI. CABINETRY PAINTED IN FARROW & BALL’S AMMONITE.
IN THE PRIMARY BEDROOM, THE WALLPAPER AND CURTAINS ARE OF WHITEWORKS’ POSY. A 1920s GUSTAVIAN BENCH STANDS AT THE FOOT OF THE DRAPED BED. ART DECO DRESSING TABLE AND STOOL CUSHIONED WITH A MADELEINE CASTAING FABRIC; CUSTOM CARPET.
design notes THE DETAILS THAT MAKE THE LOOK I have always been a collector and I like to show my possessions, not hide them.” —Adwoa Aboah IN THE LIBRARY, A FRENCH BALL LIGHT HANGS ABOVE A VINTAGE TABLE SURROUNDED BY EAMES MOLDED PLASTIC CHAIRS. CUSTOM JUTE RUG. GURLI RUG; $3,915. BEATAHEUMAN.COM EAMES MOLDED PLASTIC SIDE CHAIR BY CHARLES AND RAY EAMES FOR HERMAN MILLER; FROM $745. DWR.COM ALMA WALL LIGHT BY ORIGINAL BTC x BEATA HEUMAN; $625. ORIGINALBTC.COM RENWICK LARGE SPHERE CHANDELIER BY AERIN FOR VISUAL COMFORT & CO.; $2,529. VISUALCOMFORT.COM RCEEF TILES; $55 PER SQUARE FOOT. MOSAICHSE.COM THE BEEHIVE KNOBS; $59 EACH. BEATA HEUMAN.COM DARK ROSE BOWL WITH YELLOW SPOTS; $595. PAULARNHOLD GLASS.COM OSCILLA BENCH IN JUMBO GINGHAM FABRIC; PRICE UPON REQUEST. BEATA HEUMAN.COM INTERIORS: SIMON UPTON. ART: STEVE HUSBAND. NADINE FARAJ/ANNA ZORINA GALLERY, NEW YORK CITY AND LOS ANGELES. D.A. JASPER. HUGO SCOTT. ZORA SICHER. ALL PRODUCTS COURTESY OF THE COMPANIES.
PRODUCED BY MADELINE O’MALLEY ARCHDIGEST.COM 113 The Jean Monro chintz is one of my favorite fabrics. I’ve known it for 15 years and I still get excited about it.” —Beata Heuman MIDCENTURY GREEN GLASS CATCHALL BOWL; $300. 1STDIBS.COM VELVET STASIA STOOL; $298. ANTHROPOLOGIE.COM ROSE & FERN COTTON BY JEAN MONRO; TO THE TRADE. FABRICUT.COM OVAL TRAY BY JOHN DERIAN FOR THE LACQUER COMPANY; $595. THELACQUER COMPANY.COM A VIBRANT MIX OF COLORFUL FABRICS ENLIVENS THE LIVING ROOM. WILD THING LINEN; TO THE TRADE. LEWISANDWOOD.COM BUTTON BACK SCROLL ARM CHAIR; FROM $7,417. GEORGESMITH.COM A COLLAGE BY ZORA SICHER IS DISPLAYED IN THE KITCHEN SITTING AREA. TRIBECA SIDE TABLE BY JULIAN CHICHESTER. PEONY & BLUSH SUEDE BATH OIL; $75. JOMALONE.COM CLEO CHANDELIER BY BOTTEGA VENEZIANA; $7,085. ARTEMEST.COM
GREEN IN THE LOWER-LEVEL SITTING ROOM A CAMALEONDA SOFA BY MARIO BELLINI FOR B&B ITALIA IN FOREST GREEN MOHAIR SNAKES AROUND A CUSTOM WALNUT BURL COCKTAIL TABLE. HOMEOWNER AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER ABIGAIL TURIN STANDS NEXT TO A SCULPTURE BY OLAFUR ELIASSON. THE ARTWORK AT RIGHT IS BY PIOTR UKLAŃSKI. ART: © 2008 OLAFUR ELIASSON/TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY, NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES. PIOTR UKLAŃSKI.
PEACE TEXT BY ELIZABETH FAZZARE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SANG AN STYLED BY ROD HIPSKIND A lush private garden informs the transformation of architectural designer Abigail Turin’s historic San Francisco house
A SCULPTURE BY PEDRO REYES STANDS IN A NICHE OVERLOOKING THE POOL. LANDSCAPE DESIGN BY KEN MENDONÇA. ART: © PEDRO REYES
a city of hills and valleys, what’s most coveted in San Francisco are its views—those sweeping, unobstructed panoramas of the unique nature-abutting-urbanity that define Northern California’s cultural capital. Such prospects are rare, but unlike in other, taller-built cities, easier to maintain. In 2001, architectural designer Abigail Turin and her then fiancé, now husband Jonathan Gans went hunting here for a new home— a modern design with a Bay vista—or so they thought. Instead, they quickly fell in love with the charm and potential of a 1925 Italianate manse in Pacific Heights. Two stories tall, it had a garden accessible via its small basement, with a large eucalyptus tree whose curved branches had grown in a tender, yet respectful embrace of its architecture. It didn’t have a view of the water, but sunlight dappled the tree’s lightly scented bluegreen leaves and nature felt closer than ever. After a quick renovation, the couple moved in the following year. Then, in 2003, Turin established the Bay Area branch of Kallos Turin, the SFand London-based design firm she leads with Stephania Kallos. A marriage, a good 15 years, and the birth of their daughter went by before Turin decided to revisit her home’s quaint yet not entirely functional object in a landscape feel. “Architects are like shoemakers,” laughs the Golden State native, who met her international business partner in London when they were both designing for architect David Chipperfield. “We never In GEORGIE, A RESCUE, CLIMBS THE LOWER-LEVEL STAIRCASE. TERRAZZOLIKE CEPPO DI GRÉ STONE DEFINES THE SPACE. CONSOLE TABLE BY TURIN; ARTWORK INCLUDES EXCLAMATION POINT BY RICHARD ARTSCHWAGER, AND KATHARINA FRITSCH’S MADONNENFIGUR.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 119 quite get around to our own projects.” The slow and steady method, however, allowed her to ponder her house’s “big gestures.” What had made it so enchanting was its secret backyard garden; strengthening the connection between this and the house was crucial. Thankfully, like many old buildings on a hill in San Francisco, the best way to expand was down, following the natural slope of its site. In late 2019, the family moved out and an excavator moved in to dig an entirely new lower level. Kallos Turin conceived of this concrete box as both a plinth—supporting the generous original floor plan of the gut-renovated historic house and its terraces above—and a home for a new sitting room, architectural office, library, wine cellar, and bath directly off the garden. (Local architect of record Jones|Haydu helped manage the project.) “This level is meant to feel like it’s carved out of the ground, not built up from it,” says Turin, whose transformation added around 2,000 square feet to the three-bedroom, four-and-ahalf-bathroom abode. Large sliding glass doors with linen sheer curtains by artist Martin Thompson now allow seamless access to the yard, with a small swimming pool, cabana, and a lush jungle of split-leaf philodendron, leopard plant, bird of paradise, and bamboo realized with the help of local landscape designer Ken Mendonça. A LARGE HEJI SHIN INKJET PRINT DOMINATES A WALL IN THE KITCHEN. MINOTTI CHAIRS SURROUND A STUDIO BBPR DINING TABLE TOPPED WITH A TERRARIUM BY PAULA HAYES. IGNAZIO GARDELLA PENDANTS; STUDIO BBPR COUNTER STOOLS. ART: HEJI SHIN
ABOVE THE DINING ROOM IS FURNISHED WITH A CARLO COLOMBO FOR CAPPELLINI CONSOLE, A CHARLOTTE PERRIAND TABLE, PIERRE PAULIN CHAIRS, AND A SISAL BENCH BY FERNANDO LAPOSSE FROM AGO PROJECTS. STUDIO BBPR CEILING LIGHTS; ART BY, FROM LEFT, WOLFGANG TILLMANS, DANH VO, CHRISTOPHER WOOL, PAULA HAYES, AND MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO. LEFT IN TURIN’S OFFICE AN ETTORE SOTTSASS CHAIR PULLS UP TO A DESK OF HER OWN DESIGN; UCHIWA LAMP BY INGO MAURER FROM REWIRE.
Though the project required the home be taken down to its studs, Turin was careful to preserve original details where she could. RIGHT A TABLE AND CHAIRS BY ROBERT STADLER STAND ON THE UPPER GARDEN TERRACE. BELOW THE LIVING ROOM WALLS ARE FINISHED IN PORTOLA PAINTS’ ROMAN CLAY IN PROSPEKT. A GABRIELLA CRESPI COCKTAIL TABLE STANDS BETWEEN TWO B&B ITALIA SOFAS WEARING ARMY GREEN MOHAIR. JOSEF FRANK SIDE TABLE; STUDIO JOB MIRROR (ABOVE MANTEL); SILK RUG BY CROSBY STREET STUDIOS. ART: CHRISTOPHER WOOL, UNTITLED, 1994. WOLFGANG TILLMANS/DAVID ZWIRNER, NEW YORK/HONG KONG; GALERIE BUCHHOLZ, BERLIN/COLOGNE; AND MAUREEN PALEY, LONDON. STUDIO JOB (JOB SMEETS). © STEVEN PARRINO/PARRINO FAMILY ESTATE.
122 ARCHDIGEST.COM TURIN’S INTERIOR COLOR PALETTE and material choices enhance this indoor-outdoor transition. Inspired by the pebbled ground of the garden and a love birthed two decades ago during visits to Milan for the annual Salone del Mobile furniture fair, the architectural designer employed Ceppo di Gré, a light-gray dolomitic breccia stone with a terrazzolike appearance, for the lower-level flooring, bathroom walls and bespoke sink basin, and block-like stair that leads to the original two stories. In the first-floor kitchen, it also makes up the backsplash, countertops, and island, set with stools by Studio BBPR for Arflex and lit by Ignazio Gardella pendants. Shades of green in the new and reupholstered furniture continue the theme, in playful combination with Turin’s fascination for Italian modernist design. On the garden level, a statement-making Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini wears a forest green mohair and surrounds a custom cocktail table made of salvaged walnut burl from Marin County–based Arborica. In the primary bedroom, there is a custom teal lacquer bed. The color is picked up again in the lacquer back of a 1980s Ettore Sottsass Donau chair at Turin’s desk, a custom design with steel legs and a Verde Alpi marble top. Blocks of the same stone are used as a step at the front door, for the dressing room vanity and showers of the upstairs bathrooms, and in the bespoke door handles to Gans’s wine room, where two 1951 Gio Ponti Triennale leather-and-wood armchairs cozy up to a brass-and-glass Ponti cocktail table. A 1970s Gabriella Crespi floor lamp lights the custom walnut millwork for Gans's extensive collection of bottles. Though the project required the home be taken down to its studs, Turin was careful to preserve original details where she could. The curving staircase and banister now share space with artworks by Sigmar Polke and Richard Wright, two of many in the family’s ever-growing contemporary collection, which also includes pieces by Tauba Auerbach, Piotr Ukla´nski, and Paula Hayes, among many others. The house’s historic stepped baseboards were maintained and replicated in the expansion. In the moody, slate-colored living room, light still filters through leaded glass windows, and the old marble mantel presides over a space now furnished with a pair of B&B Italia sofas in army green mohair and a 1975 Gabriella Crespi cocktail table. And everywhere one turns—indoors and out—there is greenery, especially visible through the large windows that puncture the back walls of the house. “You can’t argue with a view in San Francisco,” says Turin, “but I think that the south-facing warm garden in our foggy corner of the city is worth its weight in gold.” TURIN DESIGNED THE PRIMARY BEDROOM’S TEAL LACQUERED DRAWERS, BED, AND SIDE TABLES. IN CORNER, GAETANO PESCE CHAIRS; CURTAINS OF A DEDAR SHEER. ART: © TAUBA AUERBACH
LOOKING INTO THE LOWER-LEVEL SITTING ROOM FROM THE GARDEN. AN ARTWORK BY TAUBA AUERBACH HANGS ON THE REAR WALL.
REFEREN
CE LIBRARY DESIGNED BY RYAN LAWSON, THE MANHATTAN LOFT OF STEPHEN HENDERSON AND JAMES LaFORCE FEATURES A LIBRARY WITH A FLOATING BOOKCASE BY GREEN RIVER PROJECT AND A CUSTOM DAYBED UPHOLSTERED IN A CLAREMONT VELVET; THE ARMCHAIRS ARE VINTAGE DANISH AND THE WALL SCULPTURES (LEFT) ARE BY R.W. RUSSELL. Pulling inspiration from all chapters of the decorative arts, designer Ryan Lawson deftly transforms one couple’s Manhattan loft into the ultimate crowd-pleaser TEXT BY SAM COCHRAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN KENT JOHNSON STYLED BY COLIN KING ART: R.W. RUSSELL
IN THE SITTING AREA, A VINTAGE SOFA UPHOLSTERED IN A CLARENCE HOUSE LINEN MINGLES WITH ABSTRACT PAINTINGS BY WILLIAM RONALD (LEFT) AND TOM LEVINE; LAWSON DESIGNED THE KILIM-CLAD PARTITION TO DOUBLE AS A FLEXIBLE GALLERY WALL USING JOSEF HOFFMANN PICTURE NAILS FROM THE NEUE GALERIE. OPPOSITE LaFORCE (LEFT) AND HENDERSON RECLINE ON THE TWIN SOFAS, EACH UPHOLSTERED IN A PIERRE FREY STRIPE; THE MOUNTED FABRIC PANELS ARE ROMAN SHADES BOUGHT FROM AN AUCTION OF THE JOHN RICHARDSON ESTATE.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 127 hen people ask James LaForce and Stephen Henderson for the key to a long and happy relationship, the New York power couple of 34 years offer three pieces of advice. “The secret to marriage is a kingsize bed, separate bathrooms, and separate sofas,” jokes Henderson, a writer, alluding to the quotidian bliss of parallel play. Space, in other words, can be a salve. But space also poses its challenges, as the duo discovered upon buying their new Manhattan apartment. Set in a historic Chelsea factory building, the loft spanned some 6,000 square feet, with broad windows and an auxiliary studio apartment incorporated into the generous floor plan. For social butterflies who love to entertain but also delight in their downtime together, the question became how to make sense of that sprawl. “We recognize it’s a luxury,” says LaForce, a communications and marketing maestro, noting they envisioned the space as a venue for fundraisers and gatherings. “It would be a waste to have it unused.” So they called their friend and decorator Fernando Santangelo, who, as fate would have it, wasn’t accepting new projects in their timeline. “He said he was too busy but that there was this really nice kid across the hall from him,” recalls Henderson. “So we got the kid across the hall—and he was great.” That talented neighbor was Ryan Lawson, a long-standing if under-the-radar thought leader on the New York design scene, with big ideas and a deep knowledge of the decorative arts. When he first visited the LaFenderson (as the buzzer reads) loft, his imagination flooded with historical references: Lina Bo Bardi’s modern but hand-hewn Casa de Vidro, Carlo Scarpa’s color-blocked Casa Tabarelli, and the playfully furnished Menil House in Houston, among others. “None of these should exist together, and yet in my head it all made sense,” recalls Lawson, motivated to make his charismatic clients proud. “The space needed a narrative to live up to their exciting lives.” Surgical layout tweaks finessed the overall flow. To heighten the sense of arrival, the entry was reconfigured to usher visitors through glass doors into an elegant foyer, distinguished by the Donald Judd–inspired shelves that had been installed by the former owner, painter Tom Levine. The kitchen, previously an internal space, was opened up to an adjoining room, letting in light and creating side-by-side cooking and lounging areas. And ceiling planes were simplified, with any exposed conduit removed and architectural lighting reduced to a strict geometric language of squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles. Wherever possible, meanwhile, Lawson highlighted the hand of the artisan, from the mouth-blown glass panes of those internal partitions to the monochromatic grids of tile that distinguish each of the four bathrooms. w
ABOVE IN THE KITCHEN, HANDMADE PORTUGUESE TILE COMPLEMENTS MARBLE COUNTERTOPS AND CABINETRY PAINTED IN A RESSOURCE PAINTS BLUE; COUNTER STOOLS BY HARRY BERTOIA FOR KNOLL. LEFT A VINTAGE ART DECO CHANDELIER HANGS IN THE PANTRY, WHICH IS OUTFITTED WITH WALL SHELVES FROM STUDIO VAN DEN AKKER AND CUSTOM CURTAINS BY JOYFUL CUSTOM SEWING. OPPOSITE THE BUILT-IN BOOKSHELVES WERE INSTALLED BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER, PAINTER TOM LEVINE; FLUSH-MOUNT LAMPS FROM DESIGN WITHIN REACH. “When you have sophisticated clients, you can come with bigger ideas and more esoteric references,” says designer Ryan Lawson.
“Ryan is a lot like us, not haughty or precious,” says homeowner Stephen Henderson. “He is a little DIY and yet immediately talking about Lina Bo Bardi.”
ARCHDIGEST.COM 131 CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE THE PRIMARY SUITE FEATURES AN ANTIQUE VERDURE TAPESTRY. INSPIRED BY AGNES MARTIN, INDIVIDUALLY PAINTED WALL PANELS FORM A STRIPED EXPANSE ACROSS A KITCHEN WALL; THE GOTHIC REVIVAL CENTER TABLE WAS PURCHASED FROM AN AUCTION OF THE MARIO BUATTA ESTATE, THE CHANDELIER IS BY R.W. RUSSELL, AND THE ART DECO RUG IS AN ANTIQUE PORTUGUESE FLAT WEAVE. HENDERSON’S DEDICATED PRIMARY BATH FEATURES WALLS OF GRIDDED TILES AND A MOSAIC FLOOR LAID IN AN IRREGULAR PATTERN, ALL BY WATERWORKS. MORE WATERWORKS TILE LINES LaFORCE’S BATH; HERE, AS IN THE OTHER BATHS, LAWSON DESIGNED A BESPOKE VANITY IN THE STYLE OF JOSEF HOFFMANN.
132 ARCHDIGEST.COM COLOR BECAME ITS OWN spatial framework, with Lawson channeling Scarpa in a series of vibrant interventions. “James and Stephen seemed up for a different formula,” the designer reflects of the idiosyncratic palette, which eschews white walls in favor of a shade he calls “cream of mushroom soup.” Against that neutral backdrop, bold splashes offer visual anchors—whether the kitchen’s striped paneling of individually painted boards, the library’s floating red bookcase, or the living room’s oversized wall-mounted fabric panels. Counterintuitively, Lawson explains, these bold gestures offer moments of rest. “It frees your eye from having to look at small things.” And there are certainly many treasures to discover. LaForce and Henderson are avid yet unfussy collectors, deriving as much joy from flea-market finds as pedigreed pieces. Their vintage claw-foot consoles came from the collection of Picasso biographer John Richardson, their Gothic Revival center table from the Mario Buatta estate. Unattributed vintage sofas have nevertheless become scene-stealers thanks to the couple’s daring upholstery choices. Art, meanwhile, tends toward the small-scale and thrifty. In the den, dozens of works—many anonymous, others by friends—now form an immersive salon-style arrangement. (“Big rooms would have eaten them up, so we thought of them as wallpaper, grouped together floor to ceiling,” recalls Lawson.) Elsewhere pride of place has been given to provenanced pieces by the likes of Robert Indiana and Paul Cadmus, talents whom the couple affectionately call their gay forebears. “We created an apartment that was beautiful and robust enough in its own right but still encouraged them to evolve their collections over time,” reflects Lawson, noting that the Josef Hoffmann picture nails on the sitting area’s kilimlined partition make it easy to swap out works. He credits that success to LaForce and Henderson’s willingness to say yes. “When you have sophisticated clients, you can come with bigger ideas and more esoteric references,” says Lawson, for whom those conceptual constraints offered a rewarding intellectual exercise. “I don’t design out of thin air. I weave together things that I know and love.” For their parts, LaForce and Henderson both thrilled to the decorative crash course. “Ryan is a lot like us, not haughty or precious,” says Henderson. “He is a little DIY and yet immediately talking about Lina Bo Bardi.” They’re references the couple can now share with their regular guests, be they crashing in the guest suite or on the library’s bespoke daybed, cleverly overscaled to accommodate overnight additions. Some nights the loft buzzes with a crowd of 100 or more, as LaForce and Henderson host events for any of their many progressive and creative causes. But on other evenings that hum quiets to a whisper, LaForce lounging in the den as Henderson cooks. Once dinner is ready, they’ll retreat to the living room for some well-deserved screen time—each reclining on his assigned sofa, plates on their chests, happily side by side. ART: ELVIN RODRIQUEZ. MARK BEARD. BRADLEY NARDUZZI. GUNO PARK. PETER HARVEY. ANDREW KENNEDY.
THE GUEST SUITE IS PAINTED IN A DEEP YELLOW BY RESSOURCE PAINTS; THE HEADBOARD IS UPHOLSTERED IN AN ANTIQUE SUZANI; THE CURTAIN IS A HOLLAND & SHERRY LINEN. OPPOSITE METICULOUSLY MAPPED BY HENDERSON, THE DEN’S SALONSTYLE ART HANGINGS FEATURE AN ARRAY OF FLEA-MARKET FINDS, PAINTINGS BY FRIENDS, AND A GROUP OF UNATTRIBUTED FIGURE STUDIES FROM THE EARLY 1900s. “James and Stephen seemed up for a different formula,” the designer reflects of the idiosyncratic palette.
FUN HOUSE
To add edge to her newly built forever family home in LA, Parachute founder Ariel Kaye calls on designer Sally Breer TEXT BY LINDSAY TALBOT PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURE JOLIET STYLED BY AMY CHIN ARIEL KAYE IN THE SITTING ROOM. THE MARIO MARENCO FOR ARFLEX SOFA IN A MAHARAM FABRIC AND THE TERRA SIDE TABLE ARE FROM THE FUTURE PERFECT; OAK CLOUD COCKTAIL TABLE BY LOUISE LILJENCRANTZ; 1970s ITALIAN LOUNGE CHAIRS FROM SOUTH LOOP LOFT; LADIES & GENTLEMEN STUDIO SCONCE; TEKIÒ VERTICAL PENDANT BY SANTA & COLE FROM LIGHTOLOGY; LULU AND GEORGIA RUG. ART: P. LEVENBACK/NFS.
KAYE IN THE BACKYARD WITH HER KIDS, VAN (LEFT) AND LOU. THE PLAYSET WAS BUILT BY LANDSCAPE DESIGNER CASE FLEHER OF LANDSCAPE WORKSPACE, WHO ALSO PLANNED THE OUTDOOR AREAS.
ARCHDIGEST.COM 137 the secluded enclave of Mar Vista, the fastcooling late-afternoon air is filled with the heady scent of lemon verbena and eucalyptus, as scatterings of periwinkle petals from overgrown hedges of jacaranda and frothy canary-colored clusters of fallen mimosa blanket the sidewalks of narrow streets dotted with Craftsman cottages, modern bungalows, and Spanish Colonials. Offering vistas overlooking the ocean, the Los Angeles neighborhood enthralled Ariel Kaye, the founder of the popular home furnishings brand Parachute, who had spent the past seven years renting in nearby Venice. It felt like an idyllic setting in which to raise her two young children. Though she expected her house hunt to be endless, she ended up seeing just one property (and three days later, in February 2021, her offer was accepted). Sited close to her parents and the beach, the newly built house checked many boxes, but the open-plan interiors felt sterile and cold. Still, Kaye possesses imagination and vision— not surprisingly, given that she’s built her home decor empire with its distinct design-driven aesthetic from the ground up. Tackling the project herself felt too daunting, especially with her then two-year-old daughter, Lou, and newborn son, Van. “I needed to leave my safe beige world behind and get funky by bringing on an expert who’d push me out of my comfort zone,” she says. So she reached out to Sally Breer, whom she first met in 2014, when Breer was designing the Hotel Covell on the edge of Los Feliz and called to ask if the just launched Parachute could supply its bedding. “I knew Sally’s eye for vintage and custom pieces, as well as her off-kilter approach, would inject that edge and patina I so desperately craved.” Breer admits she was hesitant at first to work with Kaye: “Ariel had established such a strong California-cool identity, and I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about the weirdness I like to play within my spaces,” the designer admits. “Much to my surprise, she was incredibly open-minded, brave, and trusting.” They also both had similarly aged children, and Kaye knew Breer could conjure up an elevated yet not-too-serious space that felt kid-friendly and not overly precious. To infuse age and character, they sourced vintage pieces, including a 1960s walnut sideboard by Silvio Coppola, 1950s pieces by Guillerme et Chambron, and 1940s Audoux-Minet roped chairs. Lighting was not to be overlooked, either: 1950s fixtures attributed to Jacques Biny embellish the family room; circa 1969 floor lamps braided with smoky amber Murano glass ribbons by Carlo Nason tower above the curved In IN THE PLAYROOM, A NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE PRINT AND A SCONCE BY MICHAEL ANASTASSIADES FROM THE FUTURE PERFECT HANG ABOVE A VINTAGE CAMALEONDA SOFA BY MARIO BELLINI. NICKEY KEHOE ROUND HASSOCKS; VINTAGE FRENCH INDUSTRIAL COCKTAIL TABLE; CUSTOM SALLY BREER WORLD CREDENZA; ECOBIRDY TABLE AND CHAIRS; HAVENHURST RUG BY JAKE ARNOLD FOR LULU AND GEORGIA. ART: © 2323 NIKI CHARITABLE ART FOUNDATION / ARS, NY / ADAGP, PARIS
“I knew Sally’s eye for vintage and custom pieces, as well as her off-kilter approach, would inject that edge and patina I so desperately craved,” Kaye says. MIDCENTURY OAK DINING CHAIRS BY GUILLERME ET CHAMBRON REUPHOLSTERED IN AN OUTDOOR VELVET BY LINK SURROUND A SALLY BREER WORLD TABLE. HANGING LIGHT BY PAUL MATTER FROM GARDE; VINTAGE CERAMIC LAMPS FROM SOUTH LOOP LOFT. ARTWORKS, FROM FAR LEFT, BY AMY BERLIN, PATRICIA IGLESIAS PECO, ANDY WARHOL, AND A HISTORY OF FROGS.
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE IN THE FAMILY ROOM, A PAINTING BY STRAUSS BOURQUE-LAFRANCE HANGS ABOVE A CUSTOM SECTIONAL WEARING A KRAVET FABRIC. THE KITCHEN FEATURES A WOLF RANGE, KATHERINE BRADFORD PAINTING, AND AN ANTIQUE TURKISH OUSHAK RUNNER. KAYE AND HER CHILDREN IN THE GARDEN. ART: AMY BERLIN. PATRICIA IGLESIAS PECO. © 2023 THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC. / LICENSED BY ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK. MAGNUS MAXINE/SEBASTIAN GLADSTONE GALLERY. STRAUSS BOURQUE-LAFRANCE. KATHERINE BRADFORD.
140 ARCHDIGEST.COM teddy-mohair Pierre Augustin Rose settee in the primary bedroom; and sculptural pearl-like sconces illuminate Armando Mesías’s abstract canvas The Sunk Cost Fallacy in the formal sitting room. Other artworks, including sand paintings by Bertrand Fompeyrine from Mexico City and pieces by Clare Grill and Katherine Bradford, add a sense of personal history. ELSEWHERE, BREER RESORTED to custom creations to offset the boxy volume of various spaces: “Making the furniture exactly the right scale allowed the rooms to feel intimately proportionate rather than gargantuan,” she explains. She crafted a 12-foot-long dining table using an inlaid hardwood oak so it could be refinished if needed. (Veneer would be less forgiving.) Meanwhile, she covered the family-room-filling sectional in a nubby performance fabric by Kravet, with dusty rose piping and burgundy bouclé ball cushions. Breer also wrapped the dining room’s built-in cabinets in a funky olive green leather and installed new handles to add color and texture. Moody paint hues, patterned upholstery, geometric mirrors, and layerings of rich textiles also softened the ambience. The office, which once felt like a cubicle, is now saturated with warm transporting tones: earthy blue Roman clay plastered walls, a terra-cotta-tiled cocktail table, and a russet Egyptian armadillo rug. Floor-length curtains and a pull-out daybed covered in an indigo-colored woven fabric by Schumacher allow it to double as a guest room. In the playroom, a vintage Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini in its original 1970s floral fabric vies with pistachio wooden paneling: “When Ariel said yes to that wacky Bellini, I nearly fell off my chair—it felt like such a choice!” says Breer, explaining they got away with its vintage fabric because the dark textured print could stand up to spilled juice, crayons, and Play-Doh. Kaye lives to host and entertains weekly: “I didn’t want to have to rearrange furniture every time friends came by,” she says in the sitting room, where a Mario Marenco sofa recovered in a cognac Maharam fabric flanks a pair of ’70s Italian corduroy-covered lounge chairs. “Now I can have 40 people over and we can all hang out comfortably.” On a typical Saturday afternoon, she may throw an impromptu pool party. A dozen friends steadily begin to arrive, wading in the azure pool while their kids scoot around the allées lined with foxtail agave and candelabra cacti or climb into the treehouse-like jungle gym. Lou hands out princess dresses from her fourposter bed upholstered in Breer’s “Damn Chic” apricot and marigold fabric, as Van emerges from his Christopher Farr wallpapered nursery. The evening ends on the family room’s Gae Aulenti marble cocktail table: “I’m not going to tell you to have a dance party on yours, but my kids may have dance parties on mine,” Kaye confesses. Part purposeful design and part problem solving, Breer and Kaye’s cross-pollination of ideas was perfectly symbiotic. “Being surrounded by this worldly patchwork of pieces makes it feel as though they’ve been here forever; I hope to pass many of them down to my children,” Kaye says. “Two years ago, I would have said I was a minimalist. Now, I’m far more eclectic—maybe even venturing toward maximalist!” THE PRIMARY BEDROOM IS OUTFITTED WITH PARACHUTE’S CANYON BED IN FAUX SHEARLING. CLARE GRILL PAINTING; HEAD SCULPTURE BY CARMEN D’APOLLONIO; PENDANT LIGHT BY LINDSEY ADELMAN; CIRCA 1969 ITALIAN MURANO GLASS FLOOR LAMP BY CARLOS NASON; OUSHAK RUG FROM LAWRENCE OF LA BREA. ART: CLARE GRILL/M+B, LOS ANGELES.
“I needed to leave my safe beige world behind and get funky by bringing on an expert who’d push me out of my comfort zone.” LOU AND VAN AT PLAY IN A BEDROOM. BESPOKE UPHOLSTERED BED BY SALLY BREER WORLD; E&KO. MINI FLOWER TABLE; VINTAGE MIRROR FOUND ON ETSY; PARACHUTE BEDDING.
design notes THE DETAILS THAT MAKE THE LOOK Making the furniture exactly the right scale allowed the rooms to feel intimately proportionate rather than gargantuan.” —Sally Breer POND MIRROR; $449. FERMLIVING.US TERRE OLIVE GREEN VELVET SPHERE THROW PILLOW; $50. CB2.COM CLOUD COTTON ROBE; $109. PARACHUTEHOME.COM ORGANIC RESORT TOWELS; FROM $29. PARACHUTEHOME.COM STANDARD TABLE; $2,950. EANDKO.COM TOGO FIRESIDE CHAIR BY MICHEL DUCAROY FOR LIGNE ROSET; $4,150. LIGNE-ROSET.COM ORGANIC CORDUROY DUVET SET; FROM $469. PARACHUTEHOME.COM LOU’S ROOM FEATURES A VINTAGE TOGO CHAIR AND OTTOMAN, A PAINTING BY KATHERINE BRADFORD, AND A MILTON & GOOSE PLAY KITCHEN. A 1940s CHAIR BY ELIAS SVEDBERG STANDS IN THE CORNER OF THE NURSERY.
PRODUCED BY MADELINE O’MALLEY Being surrounded by this worldly patchwork of pieces makes it feel as though they’ve been here forever; I hope to pass many of them down to my children.” —Ariel Kaye TILE COFFEE TABLE; $2,600. NICKEYKEHOE.COM VINTAGE THUMB POT BY STAN BITTERS; $3,850. ALCHEMYWORKS.US BRIMFIELD FABRIC; TO THE TRADE. SCHUMACHER.COM TRYST SIX CHANDELIER; TO THE TRADE. PAULMATTER.COM ABIGAIL BALL TABLE LAMP BY FOLK FOR REJUVENATION; $529. REJUVENATION.COM MARENCO SOFA BY MARIO MARENCO FOR ARFLEX; FROM $8,530. THEFUTUREPERFECT.COM MYRNA SCONCE; $6,500. LADIESANDGENTLEMEN STUDIO.COM CLOUD COFFEE TABLE BY LOUISE LILJENCRANTZ; FROM $7,990. THEINVISIBLE COLLECTION.COM AGRA RUG; FROM $4,975. ARMADILLO-CO.COM IN THE OFFICE, THE CURTAINS AND DAYBED ARE OF THE SAME SCHUMACHER FABRIC. TILE COFFEE TABLE FROM NICKEY KEHOE. INTERIOR: LAURE JOLIET. ART: KATHERINE BRADFORD. MASON SALTARRELLI/TURN GALLERY. JOHN PENNY/NFS. CHANDELIER: ANKUSH MARIA. CHAIR: LIGNE ROSET. POT: ANA ROSS. STANDARD TABLE: JASMINE CLARKE/E&KO. ALL OTHERS COURTESY OF THE COMPANIES.
HISTORY MAJOR THE MERRY MÉLANGE IN THE LIVING ROOM INCLUDES A CUSTOM SOFA COVERED IN A ROSEMARY HALLGARTEN WOOL, A PAIR OF JOEL OTTERSON CHAIRS, A 19TH-CENTURY JAPANESE LACQUERED TABLE WITH ADAM SILVERMAN SCULPTURES, A SERGIO MAZZA PENDANT LIGHT, A JOEL STEARNS CARDBOARD CHAIR NEXT TO A KUENG CAPUTO MARBLE STOOL, AND A RYAN BELLI ILLUMINATED WALL SCULPTURE. ARTWORKS ABOVE FIREPLACE BY JUSTIN BEAL AND MARY WEATHERFORD (FRONT).
TEXT BY MAYER RUS PHOTOGRAPHY BY YOSHIHIRO MAKINO STYLED BY AMY CHIN The LA home of Oliver M. Furth and Sean Yashar is a case study in the ART: ANNE LIBBY/NIGHT GALLERY. © MARY WEATHERFORD/GAGOSIAN. JUSTIN BEAL. STUDIO FURTHERMORE. marvelous marriage of old and new
146 ARCHDIGEST.COM erhaps it’s the 1960s Jansen Louis XVI–style lyre-back chairs admiring their own comely reflections in the louche-glam 1970s mirrored dining table. Or the rare 1985 Philippe Starck chair—a welcome reminder of the designer’s early, mad genius— poised nonchalantly beneath an unimpeachable Noguchi paper lantern in the primary bedroom. Or maybe it’s the antique Louis XV fauteuil upholstered ever so daintily in the same Sister Parish linen that covers the walls and daybed of the sitting room. Connoisseurs of great design will have a difficult time selecting a favorite vignette among the plethora of sensational moments at the Los Angeles home of AD100 designer Oliver M. Furth and brand strategist Sean Yashar. Within a classic 1950s California canyon house perched in the hills above Hollywood, the inveterate collectors have marshaled an astonishing array of objects and materials in ensembles that highlight shared aesthetic genealogies while forging connections among disparate times, places, and styles. In short, there’s an embarrassment of riches. “This house represents the same design conversation we’ve been having since our very first apartment together. It’s not a preconceived idea about one particular style or aesthetic. We’re trying to stimulate dialogues between the artists, makers, and objects that we love and champion,” says Yashar, founder of the LA-based consultancy The Culture Creative. “The house incorporates things we came to the relationship with, things we’ve acquired together, and things we commissioned specifically for this project. I’ve been buying furniture since I was 16 years old, like a crazy person,” Furth adds. “But we didn’t want a decorative arts museum. The focus is always on livability— creating rooms where we can live comfortably and graciously with great things.” Consider the kaleidoscopic living room, a perfect encapsulation of the couple’s penchant for mixing high and low, old and new, rugged and refined. The heady brew encompasses a mica-clad table by Jean-Michel Frank, an 18th-century P OLIVER M. FURTH (LEFT, WEARING FAYE TOOGOOD), SEAN YASHAR, AND MURPHY THE RED POODLE. TABLE BY GER C. BOUT, BRONZE COAT HOOKS BY DAVID WISEMAN, AND LOUIS XV CHAIR. ART: DAVID WISEMAN/WISEMAN STUDIO. © WADE GUYTON/MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY. ALEX HAGENTORN/JEFF LINCOLN ART + DESIGN SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK.
STOOLS BY MICHAEL TAYLOR, KATIE STOUT, AND TANYA AGUIÑIGA SURROUND A DAN JOHNSON TABLE IN THE CERAMICS GALLERY, WHICH FEATURES WORKS BY BEATRICE WOOD, ANDREA ZITTEL, ALEX REED, AND OTHERS, ALL ARRANGED ON A CUSTOM DISPLAY UNIT BY WAKA WAKA. VINTAGE ETTORE SOTTSASS FLOOR LAMP AND KWANGHO LEE HANGING LIGHT SCULPTURE. LIMITED-EDITION POSTER BY WADE GUYTON.
THE DINING ROOM IS OUTFITTED WITH A 1970s MIRRORED TABLE, JANSEN LOUIS XVI–STYLE CHAIRS, AN ETTORE SOTTSASS SIDEBOARD, A CAMPANA BROTHERS CHAIR, AN ANGELO LELLI CHANDELIER, GLAZEDCORK WALL COVERING, A FABIEN CAPPELLO PLANTER THROUGH AGO PROJECTS, AND CUSTOM PATCHWORK CURTAINS BY CHRISTOPHER WROBLESKI STUDIO.