The Apartment, Part III

Although being published out-of-sequence, this post will be the third of a series to show how an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment has been furnished by different owners.  This shows the current incarnation, as decorated by interior designer David Kleinberg as his own residence.  Except for the images noted as being from DKDA, the photographs are by Eric Piasecki for Architectural Digest.


Another view of David Kleinberg's Living Room.

David retained the Living Room's handsome paneling but painted it cream and white to provide a more contemporary background.  The suspended spiral light in the first image was designed by Swiss architect Max Ernst Haefeli in 1937.


The end of the Living Room.

David uses the end of the Living Room as a library.


The Entrance Hall.
Image:  DKDA.

In the Entrance Hall, the barrel vault ceiling remains but the recessed downlights of the previous owners are replaced with a new linear light designed by David's firm, DKDA.  Also, the smoked glass mirrors are removed.


The Dining Room

David uses the coromandel paneled library as his Dining Room.  The rug is made from squares of cowhide.


The Master Bedroom.

A custom-made bed is the dominant feature of the Master Bedroom.  The walls are upholstered with the same striped fabric as the curtains.  The mirrored shutters from the previous owners remain.


David Kleinberg's Dressing Room.

Folded shirts and sweaters are stored on shelves in the oak Dressing Room.


The Bathroom.

In the Bathroom, the striations of the marble provide pattern and color in the otherwise primarily white space.  The iron chair from the 1930s was designed by Jean-Charles Moreux.


The Study.

The walls of the Study are covered with upholstered linen panels decorated with nailheads.  Vintage armchairs by Edward J. Wormley are upholstered in leather.


The Kitchen.

The Kitchen shimmers with cabinet doors and appliances of stainless steel.  Countertops and backsplashes are Calacatta marble.  The floor is faux wood tile from Ann Sacks.


The Breakfast Area of the Kitchen.

A Breakfast area features a classic modern Saarinen table.

David Kleinberg.
Image:  DKDA.

More of David's work may be seen in the book TRADITIONAL NOW: INTERIORS BY DAVID KLEINBERG available at a considerable discount here.  Part II of The Apartment which shows the Robert Denning decoration of the previous owners may be seen here.  Part I will be shown in a future post.

The Apartment, Part II

The apartment's Living Room as decorated
by Robert Denning for Marlene and Spencer Hays.

First, it must be explained that The Devoted Classicist has been planning for quite some time to do a series of posts on a particularly attractive Manhattan apartment and how it has been furnished by different owners.  A recent post by blogger, author, and speaker extraordinaire, Jennifer Boles on The Peak of Chic presented the apartment as furnished by what we will call the first owner.  So this, the apartment as decorated for the second owners, is being published out of sequence for this blog, but it will be a logical sequence in the end, hopefully.


The barrel-vaulted and mirrored Entrance Hall
is lined with paintings and drawings by Utrillo,
Ingres, Forain, Pissarro, and Matisse.

The apartment first came to the attention of The Devoted Classicist when it was published as the residence of the current owner, David Kleinberg, a friend and former co-worker at Parish-Hadley.  (A preview of Part III of this series featuring David's décor may be seen in a previous post here).  David had mentioned that it had earlier been decorated by the firm, Denning & Fourcade, his former employer.  These photos by Durston Saylor appeared in the September, 1994, issue of Architectural Digest which reveal the interior design implemented Robert Denning.  (Vincent Fourcade died in 1992 and Robert Denning in 2005).


The Library walls are paneled with elements
of a coromandel screen, repurposed by
the previous occupant.

At the time, the apartment was a pied-a-terre for Nashvillians Marlene and Spencer Hays.  (Selections from their art collection were exhibited at the Musee d'Orsay this summer.  Although the museum text associated with the exhibition reports that their New York apartment was decorated by Renzo Mongiardino [who died in 1998], these photos, showing a décor very much in the style of Denning & Fourcade, would indicate that his involvement with the Hayses would have been later).  The AD article noted that Marlene Hays had Robert Denning in mind during the two years she searched for a suitable apartment for displaying their art and entertaining.  Of the decorator she said, "At first, I thought some of his ideas were crazy, and I'd wonder.  All these mirrors for example.  But they turned out to be a perfect setting for our pictures.  What he suggests always works."


A drawing and a gouche by Pissarro
are displayed on an Empire table in a
corner of the Library.

The 15 x 30 foot Living Room needed lightening and brightening, according to the article, to create a proper background for the art.  Denning repainted the framework of paneling a slightly different green, gilded the moldings, and upholstered the inset panels with printed linen from Brunschwig & Fils who also supplied the tapestry border on the ceiling, a hold-over from the previous occupant.  Two nineteenth-century Savonnerie rugs were cut to cover the floor as a foundation for the mix of Biedermeier, Empire, and Regency furniture.


Jules Emile Saintain's La Menagere, 1866,
hangs over the secretaire a abattant in
the Master Bedroom.

Just as memorable of a room is the Library, paneled with a cut-up black and gold cormandel screen by the previous owner.  Denning added his signature touches with the ceiling upholstered in a floral fabric and a Belle Epoque style light fixture featuring three elaborately pleated and ruffled silk shades.


The bed in the Master Bedroom was made
from a pair of four-poster beds from the
Delano estate.

The Master Bedroom features an eight-poster (!) Louis XIV style bed created from twin beds that Denning refashioned and provided with fringed hangings.  The walls are covered with a Cowtan & Tout chintz and the windows have a yellow striped taffeta festoon blind, a lace shade, and mirrored shutters.  "Rich fabrics soften the master bedroom," says Denning in the article written by Aileen Mehle.


Small sculptures by Maillol and Daumier
are displayed on shelves in the hall
outside the Dressing Room.

The Dressing Room has walls covered in a Clarence House chintz and a ceiling (not visible in the photo) upholstered in a mustard colored moire to conform to the pyramid shape.  The adjacent hall has concealed doors in the form of bookcases faced with false books.

Parts I and III, showing the decoration by the previous and the subsequent owners will appear in future posts of The Devoted Classicist.

Albert Hadley's Home Office Furnishings

When the late Albert Hadley closed his office as of November 1, 2010, and "officially retired" from his career as an interior design legend, he set up a home office in his Manhattan apartment.  He continued with just a few, select, last projects there until he joined his sister in Nashville last December.  Items from the apartment and his house in Southport, Connecticut, along with a cache of his famous sketches, were the subject of three sales recently on the on-line shopping venue One Kings Lane.  With the thought that readers of The Devoted Classicist would appreciate seeing some of these pieces up close, a selection follows.  Mr. Hadley followed Billy Baldwin's philosophy (paraphrased as "It's not what you have, but how you use it") for his personal decoration, not always using the most precious objects but rather some simple, inexpensive pieces (though premium priced on OKL) to achieve his fresh decor.

Mr. Hadley's desk in the East 63rd Street office during my tenure at Parish-Hadley was a large table of his own design with legs of scrolling straps of distressed gilt iron and a top painted to resemble squares of parchment.  But it is no surprise that he would end with this simple 1970s table with an H-stretcher and legs of white painted steel designed by Mark Scharillo.  Mr. Hadley often used wool felt intended to cover billiard tables as a table cloth for writing tables and that appears to be the case here, as a more usuable surface than the black lacquered top.

This standing lamp from the 1950s was a gift from his mentor Van Day Truex and among his favorite possessions.  Useful as well as stylish, it sometimes made an appearance in his often-changing Parish-Hadley office and was a favorite of mine as well.

To compliment the standing lamp, a set of six German ebonized sidechairs from the 1930s had their seats upholstered each in a different color of silk.  Variations on this model, a simplified verson of the classic klismos chair, were often chosen by Mr. Hadley for projects throughout his career.

I cannot related anything about the story behind his acquiring the bronze falcon by Geoffrey Dashwood on his desk, but I am sure he appreciated the Art Deco architectural form of it.

In contrast, he no doubt also appreciated the contemporary baroque decoration of the small vase used as a pencil holder.

Despite his great appreciation of the antique, Mr. Hadley was a great patron of young contemporary artists.  This abstract painting by Mark Scharillo from the 1980s had previously hung in Mister's Southport weekend home between a pair of windows.  When the artist later saw the installation, it was said that he had joked it was painted for that location.

Wood sunburst mirrors were an accent that often appeared in Parish-Hadely interiors and this contemporary version by Mark Scharillo held a place of honor in the apartment.

Perhaps only aspect of the collection that The Devoted Classicist failed to fully appreciate was Mr. Hadley's patronage of large photographs by Dennis Krukowski.  The photos from 1983 documented the urban artist Richard Hambleton's grafitti-like paintings on exterior walls of buildings in lower Manhattan.  This and another also in the sale had hung prominently but in the more private areas of the Parish-Hadley offices on East 63rd Street during my tenure.

"Personality" chairs were another favorite of Mr. Hadley that appeared in almost every project in some form or another.  This unique, sculptural Regency period hall chair was purchased from antiques dealer Barry Sainsbury in London.

This rendering is another favorite of The Devoted Classicist, a 1946 depiction of an interior by the legendary decorator Dorothy Draper by John Marsman.  In the East 63rd Street offices of Parish-Hadley during the 1980s, it had been part of the decor in the office of Mr. Hadley's talented assistant, the late Tice Alexander.

In this Elle Decor cover, the rendering is shown installed in the Guest/Sitting Room of the apartment mounted on the bulletin board.  Leaning below is a gouache on canvas profile portrait of another legendary decorator, Elsie de Wolfe, dated 1926.

The sadness of the dispersal is balanced by the joy that must have come to the buyers.  Surely all these furnishings have found much-appreciated new homes.

The photos of the furnishings are from the offering by the members-only site, One Kings Lane.  The photo of Mr. Hadley's home office previously appeared in a tribute written by Thomas Jayne.

Kissingers at River House

"Los Kissinger en su casa de Nueva York" is an article torn from a magazine The Devoted Classicist found while going through an unlabeled file recently.  Although the article is unmarked, there is no mistaking that it is from Hola! magazine.  It probably dates from the 90s, when I first discovered the popular periodical from Spain and used it for Show & Tell readings to cheer up a very ill friend.  The magazine's format is simple, but tried-and-true, with at-home interviews accompanied by as many as a dozen snapshot-like portraits with a wide angle lens that also manages to get in plenty of the decor.

Nancy and Henry Kissinger (seated).

Nancy Kissinger is a member of the Board of Directors of the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, located in a handsome, landmark, 1927 Federal Revival townhouse designed by McKim, Mead & White;  it was donated by Margaret Rockefeller Strong de Larrain, Marquesa de Cuevas, in 1965.  The article marks the ocassion of Mrs. Kissinger being that year's chairperson of the fund-raising gala that honors the Gold Medal award winners that have been recognized for their contributions to the betterment of relations between the United States and Spain.  (Dr. Henry Kissinger was one of the honorees in 2005, and recently-in-the-news newlywed H.E. The Duchess of Alba in 2008).  But before the photos of the Kissingers' apartment, some background on the famous building, River House.

One of the most prestigious apartment buildings in Manhattan is the 26 story River House located at 435 East 52nd Street.  And it is among the most exclusive buildings, with the co-operative By-Laws reportedly prohibiting the building's name or address in real estate sale listings.

The courtyard entrance of River House.

Located on the bank of the East River, its relatively secluded location (Greta Garbo lived across the street) on a dead-end street with entrance through a private courtyard allowing limousines to pull up to the door is a considerable selling point.

A vintage view of the Reception Hall of River House.

Past the doorman and the Foyer is a long gallery Reception Hall that overlooks the Fountain Court (as seen in the first image) and the East River beyond.  Mirrored panels of verre eglomise waterway scenes by Jan Juta, 1895-1990, are featured in the space decorated by Ernesta Beaux.  (For more on these two talents, and a better look at one of these murals, see the Aestheticus Rex blog).  Marble Art Deco versions of classical fluted pilasters flank the murals and give visual support to the cornice decorated by alternating moons and stars.  The original scheme had creme cast plaster gulls on a pinkish-brown ceiling above the Beaux-designed rugs in tones of brown, lemon yellow, henna and gray to compliment Directoire Revival and Empire/Beidermeier Revival furnishings.

Watercolor renderings of the river landing from the original sales prospectus.

A river landing was another original feature, but it lasted only until the FDR Drive was constructed in 1934.  The River Club, limited to 400 men and women from New York and 200 from other states, is an original amenity that still exists with an indoor swimming pool, two indoor championship tennis courts, ballroom, oyster bar, dining room, and 26 suites for out-of-town members and guests.  In addition to the separate 52nd Street entrance, there was previously an entrance from the river landing, and there is an elevator entrance from the River House lobby.

The Lounge at the Indoor Swimming Pool of the River Club.

A vintage view of an indoor tennis court at the River Club.

The entire building, including the River Club, was designed by William Lawrence Bottomley, the principal of the architectural firm Bottomley, Wagner, & White, and built 1929-32.  River views, privacy, and natural ventilation were all carefully considered for each of the 64 simplex (one story), duplex (two story), and triplex (three story) apartments, varying from 8 to 17 rooms. 

A typical floor plan of River House.

A very unusual feature is the interlocking plans of the "E" and "F" duplex apartments which have the public rooms of the apartment on the lower floor on one side of the wind and the private rooms on the opposite side above, allowing for variations in exposure.  Also, the ceiling heights vary, higher in the entertaining levels and lower in the bedroom levels. 

Floor Plans for the tower apartments and the "E" and "F" duplexes.

Tower apartments with exposures on all four sides start on the 17th floor.  The top of the building was originally a triplex with private terraces, but it was later divided to two apartments, a duplex and a simplex above.  (That duplex was famously owned by Susan and John Gutfreund in the 1980s, with a number of so-called "bad neighbor" incidents reported in the tabloids including the hoisting of a 22 foot Christmas tree up the outside of the building via a wrench mounted on their upstairs neighbor's terrace).

View from a penthouse terrace at River House.

Those living outside the big urban areas often find the concept of a co-operative building difficult to understand.  In the briefest of terms, a purchase involves shares in ownership and the right to occupy a specific apartment.  It also means that a potential buyer has to be approved by the Board, and rejection requires no explanation.  In a well-publicized lawsuit, Gloria Vanderbilt sued, claiming that she was not even allowed an interview.  Others who reportedly were turned away were Richard Nixon and Diane Keaton.

Henry Kissinger has lived in River House for decades and is always mentioned whenever there is a list of residents, so The Devoted Classicist is not compromising any confidences here.  It is a guess that this is an "E" duplex by interpreting the photos, but it is only a guess, and nothing is known about the decorator.  Considering the owners' wealth, education and exposure, the Living Room is remarkably unfinished.  Perhaps when it is filled with people, the flaws are less noticeable.  The scraggly potted orchids, and bunches of dried hydrangeas, inexpensive decoration, would indicate that at-home entertaining is infrequent.  The presence of at least four crystal ashtrays might contradict that, however.

Despite the over-use of green, this writer would have considered window treatments that were the same color as the walls, letting the Bessarabian rug be the major colorful pattern, and added throw pillows.  Also, the room would be improved if art could play a bigger role.  The lacquered and inlaid pieces do add a richness, however.  The original 6-over-6 double hung windows have been replaced with single pane tilt-turn sash that unfortunately give big expanses of darkness at night.

This writer, influenced by former employer Sister Parish, favors black candles, too, but does not display them without first burning the wicks briefly.  A manila clasp envelope on the left cabinet, presumed to be a late nineteenth century Boulle revival pair, appears in a previous shot.

Although the two-panel screen mounted on the wall above the canape is not objectionable, a stronger piece of art would help distract from the "legginess" of the furniture.  Just guessing, it looks like there is seating for at least 21 in this room, which is good;  a Living Room should seat, at the very least, the same number as the Dining Room.

Again, it is not that the furnishings themselves are objectionable; it is just an uncomfortable arrangement.  It is hoped that this rare, un-styled look into a celebrity interior was appreciated from a socio-anthropological and decorative point of view.  Do the readers have any suggestions for the Kissingers for a little home improvement?

The color vintage photos of River House are from THE WORK OF WILLIAM LAWRENCE BOTTOMLEY IN RICHMOND by William B. O'Neal and Christopher Weeks, University Press of Virginia, and the black & white photos are from THE ARCHITECTURE OF WILLIAM LAWRENCE BOTTOMLEY by Susan Hume Frazer, Acanthus Press, available here.   The photos of the Kissingers in their River House apartment are from HOLA! magazine, available here.

One Sutton Place South



A view from the Entry Vestibule to the Gallery Foyer and Dining Room beyond of an apartment at One Sutton Place South, Manhattan, with improvements by John Tackett Design.
Photo by Jaime Ardiles-Arce for Architectural Digest.

 It is always satisfying to see good architecture hold its value, and that is certainly the case with an apartment in a Manhattan building designed by architect Rosario Candela, 1890-1953.  Although some of Candela's commissions were for middle-class buildings, he is now best remembered for his grand apartments that are among the most expensive and sought-after today.  No. 1 Sutton Place South was designed by Candela in association with Cross & Cross for Henry Phipps Estates and completed in 1926.


A vintage view of One Sutton Place South, Manhattan.
Photo by Wurts Brothers, collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

 The brick, free-standing, apartment building is handsomely embellished with limestone detailing.  But the most distinctive exterior feature is a colossal arched, inset porte cochere entrance that allows autos to pull right up to the front door, eliminating the need to cross the sidewalk.  For many security-conscious residents, this is a valuable feature.

A vintage view of the entrance to One Sutton Place South, Manhattan.
Photo by Wurt Brothers, collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

An original feature was a garden overlooking the East River, with an indoor tennis court underneath and a private dock for yachts.  These features were destroyed when the FDR Drive was constructed along the river, but a garden was rebuilt in 1939 on top of a deck covering the drive, with a fifty year lease to the building at $1 per year.  Although the occupants of the building generally avoid publicity, the plans by city and state agencies to retake the garden and build a quarter-acre public park were met with public legal resistance.  After several years of litigation, reports in February, 2011, announced a resolution was near, but The Devoted Classicist has not been able to learn if there has been an outcome of the $10 million compensation lawsuit.  (The residents have agreed not to comment on any part of the issue).

A typical floor plan of One Sutton Place South, Manhattan.
Image from THE NEW YORK APARTMENT HOUSES OF ROSARIO CANDELA AND JAMES CARPENTER by Andrew Alpern, Acanthus Press, New York City, 2001.

In the original plan, there were 33 apartments of 12 or 13 rooms, both simplex (one floor) and duplex (two floors).  When all but crucial construction stopped during World War II and the demand for housing was critical, several apartments were subdivided in 1941 and a few since that date.  However, the co-op board no longer allows subdivision.  The apartment improved by John Tackett Design is in the "A" line, although the floor plan is altered slightly from the typical floor shown in the image above.

A view from the Gallery Foyer in the Library (shown on the original floor plan as a bedroom).
Photo by Jaime Ardiles-Arce for Architectural Digest.

The clients' former Central Park West apartment had been decorated by Tom Britt for the Mister and his wife during a previous marriage.  Those furnishings were re-installed in this apartment but the new Lady of the House soon set about changing it to her liking and Britt was no longer actively involved by the time of the John Tackett Design improvements although some decorating vestiges remained.  The scope of work for the Foyer involved adding architectural interest while preserving the marbleized painted walls.  The addition of mouldings to create a paneled effect provided a route for electrical conduit to be channeled into the masonry walls for sconces on each wall, requiring only the minimum of touch-ups.  The existing steel jambs were kept but embellished and pedimented overdoors were added to frame the new mahogany doors.  A new plaster cornice was added here and in some other rooms as well.

The Dining Room (shown on the original floor plan as the Living Room) with the sideboard similar to ones in the White House.
Photo by Jaime Ardiles-Arce for Architectural Digest.

In the Dining Room, the curtains visible in the first photo were destroyed in an accident, leading to the new design by John Tackett that was featured in the March 8, 2011, post of The Devoted Classicist.  The sideboard was said to be designed by Stanford White for The White House.  Similarites to those in the State Dining Room can be seen in the image below, painted white and gold by Stephane Boudin of Jansen for his decorating scheme for the Kennedys. 

The State Dining Room of the White House as decorated by Stephane Boudin of Jansen.
Photo from the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library.

The plaster cornices for the apartment improvements were provided by Hyde Park Mouldings, but all the doors and millwork were custom made to the specifications of John Tackett Design and executed by the general contractor I. Grace Company.

The color photographs of the apartment are from the magazine Architectural Digest with subscriptions available here.   More about the architect Rosario Candela can be read in THE NEW YORK APARTMENT HOUSES OF ROSARIO CANDELA AND JAMES CARPENTER by Andrew Alpern, Acanthus Press, NYC, 2001, available here.  The White House image is from DREAM HOUSE, THE WHITE HOUSE AS AN AMERICAN HOME by Ulysses Grant Dietz and Sam Watters, Acanthus Press, NYC, 2009, available here.  More about the decoration of the Kennedy White House can be learned through DESIGNING CAMELOT;  THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE RESTORATION and JANSEN, both by James Archer Abbott available here.