This Impeccably Curated New York Aerie Layers Warm Woods with Seriously Stylized Furnishings

Steven Harris Architects, the firm of Rees Roberts’s partner in life and a frequent collaborator, oversaw the architectural work, while Deborah Hancock, an interiors consultant and former partner at Rees Roberts, served as the project’s lead designer. To add distinctiveness to the “warm European midcentury vibe” she says the clients were seeking, bespoke elements were used throughout, down to the hardware that artist Mig Perkins fashioned for the doors.

That custom tailoring starts in the entry, where the walls are clad in elegantly gridded oak paneling, the floors are a cream-colored stone, and the distinguished furnishings include a pair of elegant Gino Sarfatti wall lights that are mounted opposite Adriana Varejão’s arresting crackled-plaster painting Red Square. In the adjacent gallery hall, where a Tracey Emin neon artwork glows on an oak-paneled wall facing a Fromental geometric wallpaper, leather-wrapped doors with porthole perforations à la Jean Prouvé open to the library-like dining room.

Surrounded by olive green bookshelves, the custom dining table with a rosewood-veneer top accommodates an intimate party of four as comfortably as it does a group of ten, with guests seated in vintage Dan Johnson chairs cushioned in claret-hued upholstery. Overhead, a vintage brass-and-glass chandelier adds serious pizzazz.

In the spacious, light-filled living room, that role is played most prominently by an Anish Kapoor concave mirror sculpture in eye-catching cobalt blue mounted above the black marble fireplace. Furthering the room’s artful vibe, a Naomi Feinberg marble sculpture stands on a pedestal nearby, while a Josef Albers painting—a green-and-black composition from his iconic “Homage to the Square” series—hangs between the windows. “Green is my favorite color,” the wife says, which made her choice easy.

Anchoring the room’s main seating area, a custom L-shaped sofa by Jouffre is grouped with rare Osvaldo Borsani lounge chairs and a sculptural armchair by Achille Salvagni, who also designed the strikingly faceted, gemlike cocktail table. A pale rug with a raised geometric pattern provides soft texture underfoot.

The living room is also outfitted with a wall-mounted bar inspired by Italian bar carts from the 1960s and ’70s. “During that period, there was a dialogue of inspiration between designers in Italy and Brazil,” Rees Roberts says, “and our clients enjoyed the feel of refined entertaining that the bar denotes.” The piece, covered in custom-stained and lacquered vellum, is lined in antiqued mirror with recessed lights so that “the interior glows at night,” says Rees Roberts.

The apartment has no shortage of such glamorous moments, not least in the understated primary suite, a study in muted elegance with its walls of reeded oak and its expanses of mirror. In the primary dressing room, a sconce with a geometric-patterned frame, by Simon Rawlings of David Collins Studio, hangs above a jewelry cabinet covered in black shagreen, made by Kifu Paris.

Despite the apartment’s elevated array of furniture, objects, and art, its overriding aura remains welcoming and unpretentious. “Establishing a true essence for a home is fundamental,” says Rees Roberts. “It’s about creating a place that feels well lived, comfortable.” And, of course, beautiful.

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Fall Issue under the headline “Mix & Match.” Subscribe to the magazine.