It may occupy a piece of landmarked Manhattan real estate, but the apartment architect Sam Mitchell and designer Kevin Isbell created for a young professional in Nolita’s Police Building is anything but unapproachable or overdone. Dating from 1909, the Beaux Arts–Edwardian Baroque edifice had been home to the New York City Police Department for 60-odd years before it was converted to residences in the late ’80s. Though largely unchanged since the conversion, the apartment had abundant space, windows facing east and west, and a charming terrace. More than anything, it needed to be something a first-time homeowner could grow into.
Home Details
Architecture: Sam Mitchell and Kevin Enright, Mitchell Studio
Interior Design: Kevin Isbell, Kevin Isbell Interiors
Home Builder: Brendan Brew, John Hummel & Associates
Styling: Benjamin Reynaert
Once the dated millwork and walls of bookcases were cleared away, the focus was on making several judicious tweaks to the layout, borrowing space from the dark and awkwardly proportioned dining area to create a pantry and laundry room. Working with project manager Kevin Enright and general contractor Brendan Brew, Mitchell redefined the space with a curved wall that conceals the utility areas while echoing the building’s muscular exterior architecture. Since there was no way to obscure the living area’s massive columns, Mitchell and Isbell played them up with overscale fluted cladding. With Enright and Brew, Mitchell also drew up a plan to raise the dropped ceilings and add graceful plaster moldings to delineate the two seating groups below. “Lining the room with low horizontal bookshelves made it look cool instead of ordinary,” Mitchell says. “It’s a great way for the owner to put art on display without overcommitting to it.”
As the architecture was coming together, Isbell turned his attention to the palette and furnishings. The client had just made her selections from what he calls his “decorative Rorschach test”—a box of fabrics that guides his design concept—when he found a “high ’90s” sectional that he knew would sing once reupholstered in green velvet with a contrasting blue edge. More vibrant touches are found in the kitchen’s azure zellige tiles and the primary bedroom’s warm blush tones. “The client wanted the apartment to be open and airy—not overly decorated,” Isbell says. “Now it has a continental European feel.” Mitchell agrees, “Design had not been on her radar, but I think we delivered the same sophistication she has in her professional life here at home.”
Millwork in Benjamin Moore’s Pink Damask with inset Phillip Jeffries grass-cloth panels swathes the primary bedroom. The pendant is The Urban Electric Co. and the lounge set is Folke Ohlsson.
Tour The Home Below:
The living room’s postmodern sectional is wrapped in Malabar velvet. The Herman Miller coffee table and Arteriors pendant echo its bold curves.
Former NYPD headquarters house this chic apartment, where Herbert Matter prints frame the entry to a bold blue kitchen. Cabinetry by CJS Millwork Inc. joins a zellige tile backsplash from Country Floors.
An Arhaus table with vintage Roland Rainer chairs fills a dining nook wrapped in a Carleton Varney ticking-stripe fabric. The chandelier is Visual Comfort & Co.
Millwork in Benjamin Moore’s Pink Damask with inset Phillip Jeffries grass-cloth panels swathes the primary bedroom. The pendant is The Urban Electric Co. and the lounge set is Folke Ohlsson.
“The architecture is so handsome that nothing needed to be added to the terrace,” notes architect Sam Mitchell. A modern outdoor dining set fills the space.
