In Brooklyn Heights, we worked closely with longtime friends and collaborators to restore an 18th-century wood-frame house. It was stripped back to its bones and rebuilt by CTK Architecture with carefully preserved architectural details—original hardware, moldings, doors, and wide-plank floors—setting the tone for an interior that balances restraint with the drama of a multitude of large-form artworks. We guided the furnishings into the streamlined modernism of postwar France and Italy, placing pieces by Bernard Govin, Pierre Jeanneret, and Jean Prouvé to complement the couple’s growing art collection. Paintings by Cecily Brown, Ann Craven, and Dike Blair animate the spare rooms, reinforcing our approach to creating spaces that support both art and life without competing with either.
This is the only time I can get behind all white walls. But also because it’s Billy Cotton. When art is the star and it calls for white walls to really make them pop. I REALLY love the contrast of the dark furniture against the white. Drama! Photos: Stephen Kent Johnson.