In This Bachelor Pad, the Design Is as Impressive as the Sneaker Collection
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As a young collector moving into his first home, Ryan Lee wanted far more than an interior designer—he wanted a collaborator, someone from whom he could learn about collectible design to the same degree he appreciated the 100-odd pieces in his burgeoning art collection.
After a meteoric rise at RXR Reality (he was promoted to senior vice president of investment), the 30-year-old real estate wunderkind cofounded Lee Group Holdings with his father, a former architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. While he knows his way around a balance sheet, Lee has a passion for art that goes far beyond its value as an asset class; he serves on the Trustees Council for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and was recently appointed to the board of trustees at the Brooklyn Museum.
When he purchased this unit at 40 Bleecker, a luxury building in New York’s NoHo neighborhood with residential interior design by Ryan Korban, a tip from his broker led him to his ideal collaborator: the ELLE DECOR A-List firm of Nicole Fuller. “One thing that really stuck out about Nicole’s portfolio was that each project felt very unique,” says Lee. “You could tell she really catered to the client’s taste.”
Ryan Lee and Nicole Fuller
Homeowner Lee with interior designer Fuller. “He wasn’t looking for just a decorator,” says Fuller. “He wanted someone who was art-centric and had their finger on the pulse in that business, who was well traveled, who was worldly. There were a lot of boxes that he wanted to tick off. He wanted to have an experience with someone, not just get his apartment furnished.”
Living Room
The chandelier is custom by Frederik Molenschot and the cocktail table is by Vicenzo De Cotiis; both are from Carpenters Workshop Gallery. The sofa is by Willo Perron; the vase is by Floris Wubben from the Future Perfect; the drapery fabric is by Maharam and the paintings are by Rashid Johnson from Hauser & Wirth.
Living Room
The chair is by Studio Giancarlo Valle. The console is by Baker McGuire and the painting is by Brice Guilbert from Pace Gallery.
Dining Room
The painting is by Julia Jo from Charles Moffett. The vintage bench is from 1stDibs.
Kitchen and Dining Room
The kitchen was left untouched and features Miele appliances and a book-matched stone hood and backsplash in statuary marble. The dining table is by Lee F. Mindel, and the chairs are by Studio Giancarlo Valle in a Pierre Frey fabric.
Dining Room
The small watercolor at left is by Nicolas Party from Karma gallery. The painting is by Jiang Cheng from Tara Downs. The candlesticks are by Achille Salvagni, and the vintage bar cabinet is from 1stDibs.
Powder Room
The powder room, which is enveloped in the same honed white statuary marble seen in the kitchen, is the one room that does not feature art. Custom lighting designed by Schwinghammer Lighting.
Home Office
The Wolf of Wall Street–inspired home office features a custom mirrored desk and console, a table lamp by Christophe Côme from Cristina Grajales gallery, and a pendant fixture by Apparatus. The artwork is by Ivy Haldeman from François Ghebaly gallery.
Home Office
In the office, the bookshelf is by Ettore Sottsass, and the painting is by Aglaé Bassens from Hesse Flatow.
Primary Bedroom
The primary bedroom features a photograph by Wolfgang Tillmans from David Zwirner and a wall work by Adam Pendleton from Galerie Max Hetzler. The bed is by Willo Perron, the bedding is from ALT for Living, and the blanket is by Hermès. The shagreen nightstands are from France & Son, and the table lamps are from Achille Salvagni.
Primary Closet
The primary bedroom features a shoe closet dedicated to Lee’s collection of sneakers, which he amassed throughout middle school and high school by getting paid in store credit at a local sneaker shop.
Entryway
The long entry hallway is defined by a custom Siberian marble shelf that was originally supposed to be cantilevered. When the piece proved to be too heavy, legs were added and touch-latch drawers were installed along the bottom for additional shoe storage. This is also where Lee keeps slippers for guests to wear throughout the apartment. The gallery hang above the marble shelf features works by Anne Buckwalter and Izzy Barber, among others. The painting at the end of the hallway is by Ivy Haldeman from Tara Downs.
The goal was to be able to rotate through a selection of art—Lee has roughly 25 pieces on display at any given time, with the rest in storage—on a calming backdrop of whites, grays, and neutrals. His first pieces—including a watercolor by the artist Nicolas Party, from Karma Gallery—mingle with blue-chip acquisitions from the likes of Rashid Johnson and Wolfgang Tillmans alongside a mix of vintage and contemporary design.
“With Ryan, [designing] was a great tennis match,” says Fuller. “I would say something and then he would go down this rabbit hole of research, and then we’d go to dinner and we’d talk about it, and then the next day we’d be in a totally different place.”
While collectible design was foregrounded in their conversations, Lee, who loves to cook and whose parents often visit, wanted to be able to have people over without “feeling like I live in a museum.”
Fuller was right there with him. “I said to Ryan, ‘Your home should not be precious whatsoever,’” says Fuller. “The more expensive the piece, the more you should be able to use it. Sit on your De Cotiis coffee table, put drinks on it. You know what I mean?”
The two-year process had its ups and downs, of course: a custom chandelier from Frederik Molenschot consumed months of hand-wringing. They couldn’t shut down the street and remove the windows to crane it in; the super got wind of and foiled a plan to saw the piece in half and reweld it in the apartment. Eventually the piece was “lightly bent” to fit into the building’s elevator and reshaped in the living room. Lee even took a seat on his condo board to help smooth things over with the other residents—and to pave the way, of course, for them all to be able to live with great art and design.
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