A Fresh Eye for Old Rooms
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In January 1997 a recently divorced investment banker arrived at the office of Cullman Kravis to discuss with Elissa Cullman the task of decorating his new apartment overlooking Central Park. Cullman didn't know it, but she was already hired. "He had followed our work for many years," she explains, "and came to the interview with a stack of our clippings dating back to the mid-eighties. No one had ever walked into my office like that. He'd decided that if he ever bought an apartment in the city, he wanted us to do it."
His decisiveness didn't stop there. He told Cullman he would defer to her on aesthetics and allow flexibility in the budget. There was, however, one condition: The apartment had to be finished by Thanksgiving. That meant Cullman had less than a year to execute a major renovation of a ten-room prewar apartment and do a wall-to-wall decorating job.
The apartment suffered from a number of problems—space-wasting built-in cabinetry, and paneling that gave the rooms a cramped feeling. "It was also a mishmash of period styles," says Cullman. "There was a Baroque entrance hall with a massive faux fireplace. The dining room was Adamesque, with overdone plasterwork; the living room was Georgian and the bedroom Louis XV."
The plan was to clean up, reshape and refine the architectural details and unify the individual spaces to create a sense of continuity. For this, Cullman turned to John B. Murray, an architect with whom she has done several projects. The job was to be his last for the firm Ferguson Murray and Shamamian before striking out on his own. "Fortunately, we didn't have to knock down walls or rearrange rooms," he says. "The bones of the apartment were relatively correct, and that enabled us to take a sizable portion of what we already had and make it better."
The entrance hall had wall panels covered with murals and red damask. The good news was that fluted American black-walnut pilasters framed them; they were retained and stained a deep mahogany. The new wallcovering, a pale, neutral fabric, complements the richness of the columns and the arches. Cullman envisioned the entrance as a gallery for displaying the owner's collection of American samplers and needlework. "We had to work with the pilasters, and it was difficult to figure out how to highlight them," she says. "We made templates for each one and arranged the lighting to give the samplers a glow."
The rust tones in the existing marble floor helped set the palette for the rest of the apartment. "It became the dominant color for the living room carpet," Cullman points out. "I selected terra-cotta for the walls in the library. There's also yellow in the entrance hall floor, so that was carried into the dining room. I wanted a flow of color from room to room."
Unlike many prewar apartments, which have a proportionate amount of graceful architectural details, this one had, in some places, too much. The dining room ceiling and walls required significant editing to make a less cluttered and more open space. Ornate plasterwork was stripped away and replaced with a classical chair rail. Murray removed built-in cabinetry that weighed down the room and drew the eye away from the park view. To accommodate Cullman's preference for draperies that reflect the organization of the window system, he enclosed the radiators so the room's three windows would have balanced units under them. "The cabinets with the setback allow the draperies to fall in a way that looks gentle and uncontrived, when in fact the whole treatment is very well thought out and contrived," says Cullman.
The living room still had its black- walnut paneling, "but its surface was totally dead," she recalls. "It had no burnish and was almost a green hue." She engaged a wood finisher with whom she has worked for many years to restore the fine woodwork and intricate hand-carved details. The wood's renewed luster provides a dignified framework for the explosion of color in the Sultanabad carpet. Cullman wanted the room to be both comfortable and a suitable setting for the client's collection of nineteenth-century American art and antiques. The traditional blue and rust in the Oriental rug lend the room warmth and are a historically correct accompaniment to the mixture of American and English pieces.
Cullman and the owner shared a fanaticism for light. "Because of the paneled walls, lighting was extremely important," she observes. "The pictures were carefully arranged so that they were lit properly. The drapery poles were gilded because gold catches the light." She opted for venetian blinds in the room and throughout the rest of the apartment. They are, in her experience, the most functional way to regulate natural light and still preserve the views.
How to create space for the owner's varied interests was high on the list of priorities. One of several collections, for example, is his extensive assemblage of travel folios and books. Designer and architect, therefore, reworked a room of diminutive dimensions to serve a double purpose. The resident wanted the room, which adjoins the master bedroom, to also be his personal office. Murray removed two poorly placed closets to fashion an alcove for the books and maps; a graceful arch separates the niche from the main sitting area. "The study proves the point," says Cullman, "that in any renovation, it's all in the details." She kept the décor simple and used a blend of taupe and other neutral shades on walls and upholstered furniture to adhere to the concept that the room would be the owner's inner sanctum.
Cullman chose pale blue, gray and oatmeal for the master bedroom. "The owner and I thought the bedroom should have a tailored look," she says. The designer covered the walls in hammered silk with a geometric grid that echoes the motif of the wool sisal-weave carpet. She concentrated more on textures than on patterns, however. Herringbone silk was selected for the bed treatment and chenille for the skirted chairs and ottoman.
By contrast, Murray constructed an elaborate bath. "It required some intense design work," he explains. "It had long, narrow dimensions and a single natural light source. Originally the bath was beyond an arched dressing room, so we took that and made it all one area." To open up the space visually, he installed a vaulted ceiling, using three antique bell-jar lanterns for illumination. The addition of mirrors and glass shelving also aids in the illusion of space and distributes the room's light.
Due to the limited time and the level of architectural work that was needed, the project was more than a substantial challenge. It was also a lesson in teamwork that included Cullman's senior design associate Allison Babcock, Murray's associate Reginald Thomas and a number of expert craftspeople. "There was a phenomenal collaborative spirit," says Cullman.
Teamwork, however, is but one element that goes into a successful design experience. For Elissa Cullman, the Before and After process begins the minute she walks through the door. "Clients are often instantly turned off by a place," she says, "because of the existing décor or condition. It's helpful for them to take a designer and architect to a space while they're still deciding whether or not to buy it. A professional team will be able to tell immediately what they can achieve and whether that will match their clients' goals." In this apartment, the goals were not only met but surpassed.