A Vibrant Manhattan Apartment Turns The Wow-Factor All The Way Up
Artworks by Robert Townsend (left) and Marilyn Minter (right) frame the entrance to the den. A rug by Anthony Monaco Carpet & Textile Design grounds custom furnishings including a chair and sofa, both wrapped in Pierre Frey cotton velvets.
"When someone is a collector, an interior comes out so much more interesting. It has personality before the design even starts,” reflects Anthony Baratta of the Upper East Side apartment he and firm partner Erick Espinoza crafted for longtime clients. With a view to showcasing the couple’s dynamic and ever-expanding art collection, as well as their fearless personal style, the residence, set within an inconspicuous 1940s building, had to first be stripped to the studs in order to be reborn as something far more fabulous.
Home Details
Interior Design:
Anthony Baratta and Erick Espinoza, Anthony Baratta LLC
Home Builder:
Tony Wala, Simply Elegant General Contracting LTD
The clients—two women with a love of color, pattern and European design—were passionately involved in the project, with one homeowner stewarding the architectural transformation alongside general contractor Tony Wala. Reimagining the space from scratch allowed for a gracious home office, a separate den off the living room, an expanded kitchen courtesy of absorbing the former maid’s quarters, bespoke storage (the hallway has three closets for shoes alone) and compelling points of transition throughout. See: gracefully arched case openings, peep-through lucite shelves to display a prized collection of Italian and American art glass, and, not to be upstaged, a moon door connecting the living and dining rooms. A whimsical request from the client, Baratta and Espinoza channeled a sleek ’70s vibe in their interpretation, cladding the feature in sycamore wood veneer with a high-gloss finish.
The clients’ irrepressible ideas—many torn from design magazines and presented to Baratta and Espinoza in paper form—flood the residence. Other star examples include the dining room’s geometric, 3D-effect painted floors, the office’s color-blocked shelving unit replete with a built-in desk and the kitchen’s showstopping tiled ceiling. Featuring a Gio Ponti design from the ’40s, the geometric blue-and-white tiles were sourced through an Italian tile fair and painstakingly installed to flush perfection. They join a bevy of interesting surface treatments and materials throughout the home, including custom-mixed terrazzo floors, waxed Venetian-plaster walls and glossy lacquered casework, which together lend a bold and fashion-forward bent to the architectural canvas.
A view from the dining room through the sycamore veneer-clad moon door takes in a Ross Bleckner artwork framed by Charles Edwards sconces atop the fireplace. The ottoman boasts an appliqué top by felt artist Holly Johnson and legs finished by Osmundo Studio.
Leading off the dining room, resin-based terrazzo floors flow from the wet bar through the kitchen. A black-and-white Diane Arbus photo complements the lacquered cabinetry topped with polished granite counters. The chrome tap is Kohler.
Tiles from Ceramica Francesco De Maio line the ceiling and backsplash of the kitchen, where glossy cabinets mimic the La Cornue range. The breakfast nook features a diner-inspired banquette, a Mecox table base with a custom top and an antique Venetian-glass chandelier.
“There are very contemporary design elements in the architecture, which led us to approach the interior design in a very streamlined way as well,” explains Espinoza of the ensuing decoration. “Nothing is too fussy. There are lots of clean lines, solid blocks of color and simple Italian forms.” Crucial to the brief was finding use for the many custom furnishings built just 10 years ago for their prior—and notably, all-pink—Manhattan apartment. “We love seeing the beautiful pieces our clients really invest in evolve and continue on in their life cycle,” says Espinoza. Adds Baratta, “Good design is good design. Why get rid of beautiful things?”
And so, rather than starting over, existing pieces were lovingly cataloged and reinterpreted before being paired with choice new acquisitions selected to enhance the modern mood and punchy palette of black and white popped with yellows, blues and pinks. In the living room, a previously lacquered, scroll-shaped coffee table was transformed with silver-leaf cladding and a bright blue underbelly. The primary bedroom’s plush tufted bed frame was wrapped in a jazzy new lipstick-pink felt. And a freestanding kitchen island designed to resemble an elegant chest was refinished and topped with a cerulean lava-stone countertop. “It’s almost as if the whole collection matured and grew up a little,” reflects Espinoza.
The couple’s remarkable assemblage of art, which includes works by Cindy Sherman, Marilyn Minter and Ross Bleckner, to name a few, adds a top layer of panache, elevating the residence to one-of-a-kind—as well as a movable canvas that continues to excite. “We just love to collect. We’re limited on wall space now to the extent that we’re hanging things on doors,” laughs one homeowner, to which the other adds, “You can’t be afraid to lean into what you love.” It’s a sentiment the designers are inclined to agree with: “There’s not a person on earth that has this interior,” says Baratta. “We all got to create something completely fun and completely custom here. I love that these clients want individuality and don’t care what other people think, because that is when design gets exciting.”
The primary bedroom walls and windows are wrapped in a Quadrille textile installed by Maison de France Interiors. Above the bed wrapped in a Thibaut fabric hangs Kelly Reemtsen art. The armchairs are a custom Anthony Baratta LLC design.
Floors painted in a geometric motif ground a Deco Revival dining set lit by a Venini chandelier. Art by Cindy Sherman, Pablo Picasso and Helmut Newton (left to right) hang on walls clad in Japanese silver-leaf squares from Studio Zen Wallcoverings.
A view from the dining room through the sycamore veneer-clad moon door takes in a Ross Bleckner artwork framed by Charles Edwards sconces atop the fireplace. The ottoman boasts an appliqué top by felt artist Holly Johnson and legs finished by Osmundo Studio.
Leading off the dining room, resin-based terrazzo floors flow from the wet bar through the kitchen. A black-and-white Diane Arbus photo complements the lacquered cabinetry topped with polished granite counters. The chrome tap is Kohler.
Tiles from Ceramica Francesco De Maio line the ceiling and backsplash of the kitchen, where glossy cabinets mimic the La Cornue range. The breakfast nook features a diner-inspired banquette, a Mecox table base with a custom top and an antique Venetian-glass chandelier.
The office is a study in geometry with its desk and shelving unit fabricated by general contractor Tony Wala and Stark Carpet rug based off a Pucci scarf. A bespoke armchair sits at the desk lit by a Murano-glass lamp.
The primary bedroom walls and windows are wrapped in a Quadrille textile installed by Maison de France Interiors. Above the bed wrapped in a Thibaut fabric hangs Kelly Reemtsen art. The armchairs are a custom Anthony Baratta LLC design.
The blue tones of the Stark Carpet rug flow into the primary bathroom, which features mosaic tiles from Complete Tile Collection, a lacquer vanity and a mirror from Mirror Image. Rodney Smith photographs flank the doorway.