To design this grand Park Avenue duplex, AD100 designer Julie Hillman assembled an exceptional cast of artisans from around the world, including a British artist known for his three-dimensional works in mirrored glass, a French textile specialist who hand-weaves wall panels, and an Italian sculptor whose functional pieces have otherworldly shapes. The exquisitely detailed results speak for themselves.
“I really love doing things that I haven’t seen before,” says Hillman. “Everything was like a 20-step process. At one point we thought, Why couldn’t we have made this a little easier? But it was, in the end, really, really worthwhile.”
In the home’s central gallery, a custom metal-and-glass door and a 1940s geometric pedestal table by Siegfried Pütz contrast handsomely with the original marble floors and curved staircase.
Another side of the newly paneled living room is decorated with a bespoke mirrored coffee table made by Sam Orlando Miller and vintage bronze-and-parchment sconces by Felix Agostini. The painting above the mantel, selected for the clients by Hillman, is by Richard Prince.
The clients, a New York City couple with three children, implicitly trusted Hillman to reinterpret the classic bones of their 5,600-square-foot apartment and create a sophisticated home tailored to both their social and family life. “From our initial conversation with Julie, it was clear she heard our goals,” says one of the homeowners. “And she has an extraordinary eye.”
Hillman worked alongside Ferguson & Shamamian Architects on the property’s comprehensive yet respectful renovation. One of the bigger alterations happened in the kitchen, where a former laundry room and bathroom were turned into a spacious breakfast corner with a resized window. “We really tried to open up that back space and get more light in,” says Tom McManus, the architect who led the project. “That was really important to the client, who wanted the apartment to feel more fresh.” Overall, however, the original floor plan remained untouched. “It was an excellent layout, very proper, with the bedrooms upstairs and a living room, dining room, and library downstairs, each with a fireplace,” says Hillman.
A view of the dining room from the central gallery. The painting, by Keith Haring, was brought over from the clients’ previous home.
This powder room, set behind a black arched door by the entrance, has a daring look: black patchwork walls from Mongiardo Studio, an Isabelle Sicart Mirror, a vintage Jean Perzel suspension lamp, and vintage gilded sconces by Hervé Van Der Straeten.
To avoid having a dining space that looked “like a conference room,” Hillman commissioned two tables with sculptural pedestals from Italian artisan Mauro Mori. Casters hidden beneath their bases allow them to be moved easily. The custom chandelier was made by Milanese lighting company 6:AM and is composed of clear and matte glass in varied shades.
Her quest to furnish every single room with special pieces began at the private elevator landing, with a custom metal-and-glass front door inspired by sliding doors Hillman had seen at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan. The geometric piece, which had to allow light to pass between the vestibule and the apartment beyond but also follow strict safety requirements, was fabricated by Neil Wainland.
Past the entrance, the central gallery’s original marble floors were preserved, creating a dialogue between classic and modern styles. Beneath the gallery’s curved staircase, outfitted with lean new railings, is another geometric form: a 1940s pedestal table by German sculptor Siegfried Pütz. Nearby, an arched black door opens onto a daring powder room with textured black walls, an ebony marble sink, and gilded sconces by Hervé Van Der Straeten.
One of the bigger alterations happened in the kitchen, where a former laundry room and bathroom were turned into a spacious breakfast corner, complete with a resized window. The table, with a granite top and glass-and-bronze base, is by Eric Schmitt.
In the kitchen, Hillman paired dramatically veined marble with herringbone wood floors and painted cabinetry, a balance she says helped convince the clients to embrace the stone’s unusually strong pattern. The pendants are vintage Adolf Loos pieces.
For the generously proportioned living room, Hillman chose seating of varied shapes so conversations could either flow across the space or stay within intimate pockets. “For me, it’s about having a room where 20 people could sit in, or two people could sit in,” she says. She paired a vintage Swedish wood-framed sofa with an André Arbus daybed with glass feet on one side of the room, anchoring it with a monumental Ingrid Donat bronze coffee table, and on the other side, a series of rounder, more cosseting sofas arranged around a mirrored table by Sam Orlando Miller.
The dining room’s similar amplitude presented a challenge. To avoid having a space that looked “like a conference room,” Hillman commissioned two tables with robust sculptural pedestals from Italian artisan Mauro Mori, which can be pushed together or separated depending on the number of guests (casters hidden beneath their bases allow them to be moved easily). This flexible arrangement called for an oversized chandelier that nearly spanned the room, commissioned from Milanese lighting company 6:AM and composed of clear and matte glass in shades ranging from ochre to smoky gray.
Hillman’s emphasis on craftsmanship becomes especially tactile in the library, where Anjou-based textile artist Anne Corbière wove silvery-bronze metallic thread into panels specifically for the walls. The bronze coffee tables, in a custom finish, are by Gloria Cortina. The artwork is by Richard Serra.
Hillman transformed what had been a grand upstairs foyer into a family room, designing the low, built-in sofa to follow the walls and create a more relaxed gathering space between the bedrooms. The pequi wood coffee table is by Hugo Franca.
The designer’s emphasis on craftsmanship becomes especially tactile in the library, where Anjou-based textile artist Anne Corbiere wove silvery-bronze metallic thread into fabric panels made for the walls. Her work appears again upstairs in the primary dressing room, this time embroidering cashmere for a series of closet doors, each slightly different from the next.
For Hillman, bringing so many individual voices into one home made the project especially expressive. “I work with these artisans that have a point of view,” she says. “It’s really a collaboration.” The apartment may have strayed far from the easy route, but that seems precisely the point.
Hillman came across this 1910 secretary by chance and immediately found a home for it in the primary suite. A ceramic vessel above gives the piece enough scale for the nearly 11-foot-high room. The bronze and crystal pendant are by David Wiseman, and the low tables are by Franck Evennou.
In the primary suite’s dressing room, weaver Anne Corbiere embroidered cashmere for a series of closet doors, each deliberately slightly different from the next. The parchment desk, a custom piece, was made by Simon Orrell, and the selenite island was designed by Hillman and fabricated by Nicolas Mongiardo.
A second primary bathroom with a masculine stone, a steel-and-leather stool by Michael Boyer, and a cast bronze sconce by Hector Esrawe.
