Happy Tuesday! Did you guys have a good weekend? Today I am thrilled to share another tour of the Kips Bay Decorator's Showhouse, located at 125 East 65th Street here in New York. The showhouse is open to the public through June 1st, and proceeds from the ticket sales benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. If you're in New York, you must see it. The sheer size of the townhouse alone is worth the $40 ticket (it's 10,600 square feet and on the market for a cool 26.8 million). But the extravagance and beauty each designer poured in to the rooms is what I find truly remarkable. Last week I shared images from the top floor, and today we'll move down to the 3rd floor, featuring Susan Ferrier of McAlpine's moody master bedroom, Scarpidis Design's black marble bathroom, and Robert Stilin's art-filled sitting room. When you climb the stairs to the 3rd floor of the home, immediately on your left is a large open living space filled to the brim with artwork, collectibles, and punchy seating created by Robert Stilin:
{Image via the Well Appointed House}
Robert designed this room with a well-traveled, savvy client in mind. While most designers covered their walls in either a decorative wallpaper or bold paint color, he left the walls in a white Venetian plaster so that the art could do the talking. His PR agent told me that Robert wanted the space to feel relaxed and comfortable, so there are several casual seating arrangements throughout the wide room. Ironically, I sat down in Robert's room during the Kips Bay press night for one second- before quickly catching the glance of a docent that reminded me sitting down is strongly frowned upon within the showhouse. Oops!
I loved this cheeky piece by Maynard Monroe:
A sunny view of the right side of the room, including a marble fireplace and a Georgian chandelier modified by Eve Kaplan:
Built-in shelving on the wall you enter the room from hold design books, interesting sculptures, and smaller works of art:
Situated directly across from Robert's living room is Susan Ferrier's master bedroom that she calls "Moonlight in the Forest." Susan is an Atlanta-based partner of the design firm McAlpine and explained that her room honors the warmth of the earth and the secrets it holds. McAlpine's website explains:
"Archeological artifacts, and textures inspired by them, excite the eye while calming layers of drapery in deep green wool and silk velvet envelop the room. Sensual without being overly feminine, the room includes natural, dry textures such as fossil and wood, as well as luxurious surfaces like hide, lacquer, brass and polished stone."
Susan decorated the windows with a chic Holland & Sherry rich green wool and added an embroidered trim on the leading edge of each panel:
Nestled between the bedroom and sitting room is Scarpidis' dreamy black marble bathroom:
Principal of Scarpidis Design, Yorgos Scarpidis, was at the residence when I visited and spoke with a few of us about his bathroom. He created the tub on the left with the spout in the middle, so that two people could enjoy the tub sitting at each end across from each other. While it appears to just be a soaking tub, the space is also equipped with two shower rain heads above, which you can see in the image below. Yorgos added in a retractable shower screen that comes down from the ceiling above and would enclose the space so that water couldn't escape in to the rest of the bathroom. The black marble from the bath enclosure continues on the cantilevered sink counter. Chic drawers built underneath the counter sit flush, while a fuzzy stool next to the bath provides a soft juxtaposition to the cool marble:
To read more about the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse, go here.
To view my tour of the 4th floor, go here.
XOXO,
Sam