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Townhome in stylish monochrome
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A decade ago, South African-born interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield fell in love with his five-floor townhouse built in 1869 because of its impeccable address in the heart of the Upper East Side in Manhattan and the eye-dropping Italianate facade.
His purchase proved it right. Forbes Magazine recognized the 10065 zip code as the most expensive address in America a year ago.
“I like the fact that the house has 3.6-meter ceilings in the principal rooms, which is very rare,” the designer said. “Also, it has a very deep courtyard garden, which I use constantly for parties and promotions. It’s also convenient to exercise my dog, Mr Willoughby.”
The designer was recently in Shanghai to promote his coffee table book “Artistic License,” about his use of art in interior design.
To make the 510-square-meter house fit a 21st century lifestyle, the designer installed an elevator. He extended the ground floor and the second floor, pushing out the two south rooms, essentially establishing a grander reception area and more comfortable library.
Bradfield also designed a roof deck, which is great for summer entertaining.
“Although I love the architecture of the mid-19th century, and was very respectful of the exterior, I did not want to live in a period home.” Bradfield said.
“All the interiors have a decidedly 21st century point of view. My work is predicated, to a large extent, on the use of contemporary art, and I was looking to create a foil for my collection. As I entertain a great deal, I needed space for receptions that can, on occasion, number to as many as 400 guests.”
The key to Bradfield’s designs is “functional opulence,” for which he has drawn inspiration from the Orient, African Primitivism and Art Deco. The work incorporates fine art and antiques with modern materials and high tech accessories, attaching the same sculptural value to utility objects as to important pieces of art. The look, drawn from the 20th century, results in comfortable and elegant environments, he said.
“For most designers, their private residences become laboratories for the evolution of their taste. My own home embodies my most adventurous ideas, and resolves them into a cohesive whole that is recognized as ‘Bradfield style’,” he said.
The drawing room is perhaps the most audacious statement, Bradfield said. “Everything here is about surprise. The room reflects my infatuation with the 1940s — the decade of my birth. But, I was not trying to recreate a period room. I wanted to capture our moment in time. If someone were to look back at this room in the future, they would absolutely know it was designed in the first decade of this millennium.”
The room’s palette spans the subtle colorations of an oyster shell — from silver and gray-blue to pearly white. A deeply cut pile rug swirls with graceful, Gilbert Poillerat-inspired gray foliage underfoot. An extravagance of silk taffeta curtains, quilted Chanel-like at the bottoms, drapes luxuriously from the Neoclassical moldings. They are designed to puddle heavily on the floor — they’re reminiscent of ball gowns — and very voluptuous.
Two 19th century French side tables, finished in matte white with silver trappings, bracket his Dorothy Duke sofa. Acrylic wingback chairs and a “Clear Conscious” low table add Hollywood flair. Custom Ruhlmann-inspired chrome sconces shed light that is amplified by a huge panel mirror set into dove white sculpted paneling.
The library-cum-media room is designed mostly in monochromatic silver. The designer extended the room by 3.6 meters, creating a raised seating area defined by a tufted and fringed, U-shaped built-in sofa in pale gray. A crown molding with platinum disks encircles the room. The exceptions to the monochromatic scheme are accents of brilliant blue that derive from an Yves Klein coffee table of acrylic filled with vivid cobalt-blue pigment.
The master bedroom telegraphs a well-dressed serenity. Low-slung furnishings, tufted white leather doors and a tufted gray Ultrasuede headboard give the room a 1940s Hollywood star dressing room air.
The soothing silvery grayness of the room is interrupted by discreetly stunning modern art: Milton Avery’s flesh-toned “Pink Dunes,” Kenneth Noland’s 105-inch long “Untitled” acrylic and Niki de Saint-Phalle’s somewhat brighter “Magic Bird.”
Bradfield said he enjoyed using his acrylic furniture collection in the rooms. Apart from being a very sophisticated material, he said, he loves the transparency and reflective glamour.
“Most of the furnishings in my home are either antique, period, or custom-made from our company workshops. Everything is designed to meet the highest standards of scale and quality,” he said.
“Scale, balance, innovation and joy are combined to make a space lively and welcoming. The library is the heart of my house. It is where I entertain close friends and spend time with my dog.”
Bradfield describes his work as creating luxurious residences and offices for an international clientele. His projects have included the restoration of the Maryland mansion of the late King Hussein of Jordan and he recently completed design work on Hollywood director Oliver Stone’s New York residence.
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