This Architectural Gem Enticed New York Transplants to Call Connecticut Home

Leaving Manhattan was the right choice for a couple and their two children during COVID. The family members rented a house in suburban Connecticut, thinking it’d be temporary, but liked the area and decided to look for something permanent. In the town of Ridgefield, they found an exceptional English-style manor built in 1911 by the lauded Yale-trained architect and urban planner Grosvenor Atterbury. The 8,500-square-foot, three-bedroom house also featured 3½ acres of gardens by Warren Manning, who landscaped the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Times being what they were, the house-hunters got the place for a relative song.

The client couple had worked with Miami-based Sanchez+Coleman Studio before, so returned to copartners Chris Coleman and Angel Sanchez to upgrade the Connecticut residence and make it more family-friendly. Many of the changes were cosmetic: paint, furniture, art placement. The kitchen, however, a room Coleman calls “ground zero of the house,” was treated to a more comprehensive overhaul. Sanchez+Coleman took down the upper cabinets and installed white subway–tiled backsplash and quartz countertops. “Removing them modernized and opened up the room,” Coleman notes, explaining that an existing full-height cabinet, which stands near the breakfast nook, offers ample storage to make up for the jettisoned overheads. The firm also stripped down the original island, a sad mahogany monolith with turned pilasters, to a more rectangular shape and painted it a vibrant French blue. Several fireplaces also got a major do-over, the originals being large stone affairs—“very Flintstones,” Coleman jokes—receiving blackened-steel cladding or inserts or, for the one in the kitchen, an all-new tile hearth.

As for décor, the palette switches from blue-accented to anchored in black, white, and greens, woven through with grays. The owners already had a large collection of modern and Latin American art; some pieces were brought in from storage, others from their homes in Manhattan and Long Island. “The polka-dot painting was a starting point for the scheme,” Coleman recalls. That canvas, by Thomas Downing, hangs on the largest wall in the house, above the den’s sprawling olive-velvet Rodolfo Dordoni sectional. It was also Coleman and Sanchez’s idea to place a Will Insley black-and-white grid artwork somewhat irreverently behind the main bedroom’s headboard, where it leans on the floor and extends almost all the way to the ceiling.

Although some rooms—the den, for instance—are darker, moodier, and read as more “adult,” the abundant curves and soft surfaces suit young children, too. Likewise, the custom sage-hued carpet that pads the den and the living room is an indoor/outdoor construction—easy to keep clean. The abundance of metal finishes throughout, of which Coleman is very fond, is less fragile than lacquer or wood, and also timeless, he concludes: “It survives all trends.”

Walk Through the Connecticut Home Designed by Sanchez+Coleman Studio 

BONTEMPI CASA THROUGH 360 ROOM: TABLE (DINING ROOM). 

MILIA SHOP: CHAIRS. 

FRANCE & SON: ARMCHAIR (DINING ROOM), ROUND SIDE TABLE (LIVING ROOM).

THROUGH 1ST DIBS: PENDANT FIXTURE (DINING ROOM), FLOOR LAMPS (DEN, OFFICE), TABLE LAMP (BEDROOM). 

NOBILIS: WINDOW-SEAT FABRIC, PILLOW FABRIC (DEN).

VITRA: ROUND TABLE. 

LUUR: COFFEE TABLE. 

KELLY WEARSTLER THROUGH LUMENS: SCONCE.

WEST ELM: OTTOMANS, PLANTER (DEN), NIGHTSTAND (BEDROOM). 

MINOTTI: SECTIONAL (DEN), SOFA, WOOD-BASE COCKTAIL TABLE (LIVING ROOM). 

HOLLY HUNT: BACK PILLOW FABRIC (DEN). 

NOOM: CHAIRS (KITCHEN). 

LUMENS: PENDANT FIXTURE. 

JARRETT FURNITURE: TABLE BASE. 

CHELLA TEXTILES: BANQUETTE FABRIC. 

SHADES OF LIGHT: PENDANT FIXTURES. 

BALLARD DESIGNS: STOOLS. 

ARTE: WALLCOVERING (LIVING ROOM).

CASA QUIETA: MARBLE COCKTAIL TABLE. 

KRAVET: CUSTOM RUG. 

DESIGNERS GUILD: PILLOW FABRIC. 

KATHY KUO HOME: CONSOLE, WOOD SIDE TABLE. 

ZINC THROUGH ROMO: HEADBOARD FABRIC (BEDROOM). 

PAYNES GRAY: DESK (OFFICE). 

TOM DIXON: CHAIR.

MILTON & KING: WALLCOVERING. 

VAUGHAN: CEILING FIXTURE. 

AREA THROUGH HOLLY HUNT: CEILING WALLCOVERING (STAIR). 

FLOS: PENDANT FIXTURE.

Ghislaine Viñas Creates a Calm Yet Vibrant Getaway in Palm Beach, Florida

With the constant drama of crashing waves right outside, creating a beachfront home that feels restful can prove surprisingly challenging. But New York–based interior designer Ghislaine Viñas ran with that sense of theater at this 3,900-square-foot ground-floor condo in Palm Beach, Florida, artfully drawing in the colors and movement of the water visible at every turn through floor-to-ceiling windows.

This is Viñas’s second project for the clients, the first being their Manhattan apartment. (A third project is also underway.) The owners, a married couple with two teenagers, wanted a getaway where they could relax and spend time with relatives, many of whom live in the area. Because of their past collaboration, Viñas was able to nail the brief right out of the gate. “They wanted a feeling of joyfulness and relaxation—but in an energetic sort of way,” the designer says. Comfort, she adds, was paramount. She also knows the clients to be modernists with an abiding love of midcentury furniture; the wife grew up with Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs, Eero Saarinen Womb chairs, and many other iconic pieces in her childhood home. And because this is a beach house, everything had to be easy to upkeep. “It’s supposed to be a stress-free living environment—it’s not supposed to be fussy!” Viñas says.

Although the living area’s coffered ceiling was deemed worthy of preservation, one element original to the 1980s condominium that absolutely needed to go was the “hideous” dark-cherry woodwork in the kitchen and bathrooms, which felt very heavy and contrary to the open and airy atmosphere Viñas was aiming for: “We cleaned out everything and created a fresh, white, invigorating space.” She left stonelike ceramic-tile floors in some rooms, including the living area, but specified white-ash planks for the three bedrooms and installed new baseboards and architectural lighting throughout. She also opened up the kitchen to the public areas and added an eating bar with high stools—perfect for breakfasting, lunching, and general hanging out. Shaker detailing on the cabinetry doors echoes the gridlike coffers overhead. “It’s not a look-at-me kind of project, so the little details are important,” Viñas explains.

As for the palette, the clean white base is spiked with serene oceanic blues, soft corals, and moments of terra-cotta, plus Viñas judiciously placed more intense accents throughout. The wife loves bold hues, especially when they jump from warm to cold tones. Viñas accomplished this chromatic sleight of hand by letting artwork and a few carefully chosen pieces do the heavy lifting. For example, the custom-colored yellow poufs in the living room and a series of hanging lamps in the octagonal entryway, the rainbow shades of which were woven using recycled soda bottles as a sort of armature.

Just below that fixture, the classic Saarinen laminate-top pedestal table was a natural choice given the wife’s love of the classics. It softens the room’s hard edges, as do the round ombré rug and custom crescent-shape wall-mounted consoles. “The repetition of circular forms is very pleasing and relaxing,” the designer observes. Ditto the pair of paintings by Ludwig Favre that Viñas describes as “other-worldly underwater-y”: fantastical compositions of tropical leaves mixed with flashes of bright color.

Comfort was taken to what some might call an extreme: The clients asked to test-drive every chair and sofa before they agreed to live with it. (The Egg chairs, of course, didn’t need to interview for the position.) Wherever possible, Viñas used performance fabrics for seating upholstery, many from her own line for HBF Textiles. The L-shape sectional in the living room—substantial and deep enough to provide plenty of room for family gatherings—is clad in her Sister Solid polyester-acrylic, while dining room chairs sport her Sir Stripe-a-lot Sunbrella.

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In the middle of the apartment, Viñas created a cozy media room, which can be shut off with glass doors to provide privacy without skewing cavelike. Two walls are dressed in another of her designs, Wild Thing for Flavor Paper, a tropical-leaf motif that can, in certain colorways, be quite wild indeed. Here, though, Viñas specified a custom shade—a subdued sand—which allowed her to introduce riotous pattern without overwhelming the smallish space.

The primary bedroom started with the view; namely, “how the color of the ocean changes all the time as the sun hits it,” Viñas reports. “And how, when the sun goes down, it transforms from green to blue in a really beautiful way.” She pulled those hues into the carpet (Vestry Street, one of her designs for Aronson’s) and lounge chairs (upholstered in a blue-and-coral stripe) and even the ombré walls, which transition from soft blue to white. “The room has a beautiful tranquil feeling,” she says, stating the obvious.

Although everything is done with great subtlety, the overall effect is quite striking, a sophisticated yet unpretentious take on the prototypical beach house. “It is definitely the kind of place,” she notes, “where, when you walk in, you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m here; it makes me feel good.’”

george beaver: general contractor/builder

custom cabinetry: woodwork

aronson’s floor covering: custom rugs (living area, primary bedroom, entry, media lounge)

republic of fritz hansen: egg chairs

designtex: fabric (living area)

Property Furniture: poufs

Knoll Textiles: fabric

ligne roset: sectional (living area), sleeper sofa (media lounge)

hbf textiles: sectional fabric (living area); chair fabric (dining area)

interiors by laura: custom head-board fabrication (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

nectar: bed bases (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

febrik: bed and headboard fabric (boy’s bedroom)

the rug company: custom rugs (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms, entry)

cappellini: cabinet (dining area)

moroso: chairs

edelman leather: seat leather

dualoy leather: arm strap leather

material through scandinavian spaces: table

romo: headboard fabric (girl’s bedroom)

serena and lily: hanging chair

cowtan and tout: cushion fabric

zero through global lighting: sconces

flavor paper: wallpaper (girl’s bedroom, media lounge)

rich brilliant willing: chandelier (kitchen)

i colori through stone source: backsplash tiles

Design Within Reach: stools

richard schultz through knoll: chairs (patio)

acdo álvaro catalán de ocón through for me lab: lighting pendants (entry)

knoll through design within reach: table

regeneration: credenza (primary bedroom)

calico: wallpaper

rh: platform bed

perennials: upholstery

knoll through evensonbest: bench

herman miller through design within reach: lounge chairs

Janus et Cie: fabric

lekker home: side table

louis poulsen through ylighting: table lamps

kvadrat: curtain fabric

vitra: lounge chair

david sutherland: fabric

lepere: side tables

collector nyc: ustom consoles (entry, hall); custom coffee table (living area); custom bedside tables (primary bedroom); custom mirror (hall)

artstar; scad artsales: artwork