This Park Avenue Apartment Is Brimming with Personality
It’s hard to imagine how inspidly cookie cutter this Manhattan apartment used to be. To be fair, the apartment, which is located in a 1925 neo-Renaissance-style building, boasted all the accolades of a Park Avenue gem (the world’s fourth most expensive street): views of Central Park, newly renovated window finishes, state-of-the-art kitchen appliances. Just nothing special.
That is, until interior designer Georgia Tapert Howe stepped in. “Really, it was just a white box,” says the designer, who was given permission by its owners—a couple with two children and a penchant for pattern—to enter the apartment with reams of wallpaper options and paint swatches. “There wasn’t a single surface I didn’t touch,” Tapert Howe declares.
Tapert Howe’s aim was to work within the footprint established by its original architects, Electus D. Litchfield and Rogers a century ago, to transform the family’s five-bedroom residence into a sophisticated mix of already acquired artwork and newfound objects—Something that reflected them.
While Tapert Howe has been operating her eponymous design firm in Los Angeles for more than a decade (after cutting her teeth at design firms Haynes Roberts, Mica Ertegun, and Martyn Lawrence Bullard), the homeowner had known her personally for years and had long appreciated her ability to combine classical elegance with a modern twist, long-distance logistics aside. “I have always admired Georgia’s style and the joy and fun she brings to spaces,” she explains.
The designer’s signature sleights of hand—in this case, an artful pairing of yellows and greens with edgier patterns and textures—courses throughout the 4,000-square-foot space with softness and soul. Still, the atmosphere is decidedly unfussy. Guests are greeted at the entrance just off the elevator vestibule by a bold yellow wallpaper and, further in, a squiggly-backed chair sits perched beside a fish-eye mirror. A similarly imaginative three-legged baby-blue lacquered table—a 1stDibs find—acts as a spirited counterpoint to the kitchen’s cream-hued cabinetry. “We wanted our home to feel warm and welcoming, not too precious since we have young children, but also for it to be interesting and elevated,” the homeowner tells ELLE DECOR.
In the dining room, Tapert Howe had an unbridled decorating moment when she bedecked the entire back wall in an Ananbo mural. The verdant, tropical scene, painted by artisans for the French brand, transports diners to a scene far removed from the concrete streets of New York just beyond. Meanwhile, the living room, with its lime-washed walls and vintage teal-green terrazzo table, evokes the elegance of classical forms and is a testament to Tapert Howe’s deft hand with pattern play. Further in, a wood-paneled library punctuated by varying shades of brown and tan is a moody differentiation with a sophisticated edge. “I’m obsessed with that balance,” Tapert Howe says.
After taking a trip to the green-on-green-on-green powder room—where a traditional Twigs Pheasant wallpaper is brought back to the 20th-century with the Future Perfect’s avant-garde Palm Pendant—the primary bedroom is a welcome palate cleanser. Here, Caba Company’s sand-toned ivory-tile wallcovering adds texture to the creamy room that is a jaunt to ancient Rome—with an ultramodern edge. “It really needs those layers to feel cozy,” the designer adds.
Kitchen
In the banquette just off the kitchen, a table from 1stDibs is surrounded by Nickey Kehoe chairs.
Kitchen
The cabinets were given a new treatment, awash in Farrow & Ball’s Elephant’s Breath. The pendants are from Stahl and Band, the stools are from Nickey Kehoe, and the hardware is from Prushkin.
Elevator Vestibule
The elevator vestibule is a joyous vignette, awash in Brier and Byrd’s Artichoke wallpaper. The vintage console from 1stDibs is complemented by a Lulu and Georgia mirror.
Entry
The entryway features a mirror and green vase from KRB, and the sconces are from 1stDibs.
Living Room
A cozy seating arrangement is made of a cocktail table from Odyssey with a custom parchment top, a stool from Martin and Brockett in a Rose Uniacke yellow velvet, and a pair of vintage wood armchairs in a Soane pinstripe. The custom green chair is in a Pierre Frey mohair, the sofa is in a cream Pierre Frey linen, and the curtains are of a Claremont linen with embroidery from Penn and Fletcher. The custom bar in the back is lacquer and oak.
Living Room
A Dale Goffigon photo overlooks a vintage terrazzo table from Harbinger. The chairs are from 1stDibs, and the wall treatment is lime wash by Fantastic Finishes.
Living Room
A custom banquette in Le Manach fabric lines the opposite end of the living room, accented by a vintage clam chair, vintage cocktail table from the Southloop Loft. The custom side table is in burl wood, the sconces are by Hector Finch, and the carpet is from Fayette Studio. The pillow is in Zak+Fox fabric with Samuel & Sons trim.
Library
In the library located just off the living room, custom swivel chairs upholstered in de Le Cuona fabric surround a custom ottoman table upholstered in Anne Kirk fabric. The rug is by Marc Phillips.
Library
The sofa is by Restoration Hardware, and the pillows are in a George Spencer bouclé fabric.
Family Room
The custom sofa is the statement piece in this very blue family room—swathed in George Spencer fabric and punctuated with George Spencer pillows. The custom ottoman is upholstered in outdoor bouclé fabric, the lamps feature Fermoie shades, and the chairs are by Stahl + Band, all against a Holland and Sherry wallcovering backdrop.
Dining Room
In the dining room, a Ananbo wallpaper creates a lively verdant scene against the custom oak dining table. The vintage chairs in a green Mohair are from Lavinder Textiles, the light fixture is from Blueprint, the curtain fabric is from de Le Cuona, and the jute rug is from Lawrence of La Brea.
Powder Room
Every Manhattan apartment needs a jewel-box moment, and this retro-meets-modern space is just what the doctor ordered. A dynamic Twigs Pheasant wallpaper breathes life into the small space, joined by a vintage Italian mirror from MA +39 and more modern fixtures like a Hector Finch sconce and a Palm Pendant from the Future Perfect. The trim paint color is Farrow & Ball’s Bancha.
Primary Bedroom
In the primary bedroom, the Caba Company parchment ivory tiles wallcovering add texture to the neutral-toned room. The nightstands are by J. Pickens, the lamps are by Danny Kaplan, and the carpet is by Holland & Sherry. The Roll & Hill bench is upholstered in Hodsoll McKenzie fabric.
Son’s Room
In the son’s bedroom, Ottoline Wallpaper covers the walls with matching Ottoline window fabric. The custom bed is upholstered in Holland & Sherry linen. The nightstand is from Crate & Kids, the light fixture is from Blueprint, and the bed throw is by Roller Rabbit.
The apartment’s most challenging limitation came in the question of how to get a nine-foot dining table up 14 flights of a prewar building’s curved, three-foot stairwell. “It truly was a matter of fitting a square peg in a round hole,” Tapert Howe recalled. It simply couldn’t be done. Tapert Howe however came up with a resourceful way to accomplish the task without having to crane it in: “We made the dining table on-site,” she explains.
She booked a flight for Los Angeles–based furniture maker Jason Pickens, who carried the table up the stairs, plank by plank, alongside his furniture-making tools, converting the dining room into a makeshift furniture shop. “Honestly, I have PTSD from the whole situation, it was such a nightmare,” she says. “But with an amazing team and talented and creative furniture makers we made it all work.” Ultimately, it’s the client’s favorite space in the house. “Our special time as a couple and as a family is always around the dinner table,” she adds. “Those are the moments I look forward to every day.”
And it’s a good thing because, Tapert Howe half jokes, “that table is never leaving that apartment in one piece.”
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