First Look: Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse, Presented by NYC&G

To complement the home’s gray and white façade, Serhiy Mshanetskiy of Brooklyn Heights Gardens filled the window boxes with cascading silver-hued Dichondra, variegated ivy, and asparagus fern, then punched things up with pink Calandiva, purple Kalanchoe, and white cyclamen—all “softened,” the designer says, by silver lace fern.

“I love the challenge and restrictions of an older garden and decided to embrace what was there instead of ripping it all out,” says Matthew Bromley of Bromley Landscape Design, who channeled the Gilded Age by placing topiary boxwoods in Pennoyer Newman planters that feature replicas of friezes in J. P. Morgan’s art collection. Meanwhile, the steel sculptures by Jack Howard-Potter, set amid ornamental cabbage and kale in varying shades of purple, provide a contemporary counterpoint.

Designer Judi Schwarz and her colleague Jennifer Lewicki endeavored to bring some unexpected elements into the garden-level study, starting with a large-scale black-and-white digital print of the Brooklyn Bridge. Further setting the scene is dramatic uplighting, a cozy grouping of green leather and houndstooth club chairs, and a clever closet-turned-bar. The paint and the wallpaper is from Ressource House of Paints and the Switch plates are from Forbes & Lomax.

Mikel Welch Design crafted a functional, yet welcoming entertaining area by combining contemporary furniture from Room & Board with antique and vintage accessories and walls painted Abysse, a moody blue-gray shade from Ressource House of Paints. “I wanted the space to feel cozy from the moment you walk in,” Welch says. “This is a place for family and friends to enjoy conversation and a couple glasses of wine.” The Uline Bottle Chiller and the Liebherr Wine Reserve are from AJ Madison.

For the living room, designer Justin Scott opted for an autumnal color palette with “a little 1970s glamour thrown in,” he says. The focal point (and Scott’s favorite piece) is Archizoom Associati’s iconic Safari fiberglass sectional sofa. “I wanted to have a little fun, and that piece lends great impact. Showhouses are an opportunity to flex your muscles.”

While designing the dining room, Brooklyn Heights resident Harry Heissmann dreamed up a backstory for the home, imagining that it was once the property of a sea captain, passed down through the generations. “I incorporated antique, vintage, and contemporary pieces in order to make the furnishings look like they were collected over time,” he says. The jumping-off piece for the room: a floral-and-snail-print fabric from Tillett Textiles that Heissmann had recolored and made into a wallpaper. The ventless fireplace is from Hearth Cabinet and the switches and outlet covers are from Forbes & Lomax.

For their showhouse debut, Brooklyn residents Amanda Jesse and Whitney Parris-Lamb of Jesse-Parris Lamb transformed a formerly dark kitchen into a bright open space, built by APEX projects, while introducing bold elements like a hand-stenciled “area rug” and a backsplash of terra-cotta tile. “Our concept is a bridge between the history of the home and the young family we envision living there,” Parris-Lamb says. The Dacor appliances were provided by AJ Madison. The switches and outlet covers are from Forbes & Lomax, the backsplash tile is from Walker Zanger and the paint is from Ressource House of Paints.

“I’m very inspired by Palm Beach and wanted to bring its airy and fun quality to Brooklyn,” says Kim Tomasino, a first-time showhouse participant who decked out the home’s powder room with Meg Braff Designs’ graphic Brighton Your Pavilion wallpaper, rattan and bamboo accents, and a wall-to-wall sisal carpet.

Designer Isabelo Satori embraced the “cavernous-like quality” of this room to create a space where one can “disconnect from the city.” In doing so, Satori implemented a monochromatic palette of deep pink, choosing a flat finish on the walls and ceiling and a lacquer application on the bookcase, which is accented with bleached-cane panels. Artwork by Sam Still and Shepard Fairey graces the walls, and a Hans Bergström pendant light illuminates chic chairs upholstered in a cashmere-mohair fabric.

For their first showhouse effort, Rebecca Ascher of Ascher Davis Architects and Mahwish Syed joined forces to conceive a boudoir fit for “a modern-day goddess,” according to Syed. The space’s walls feature a dazzling ombré treatment, transitioning from blush pink to emerald green paint from the floor to the ceiling, an effect that “makes the room appear taller,” Ascher says. A green pendant light resembling a chain necklace and a marble-topped vanity add to the glamour.

A black-and-white color palette ties these three spaces together, from a Phillip Jeffries linen on the dressing room’s walls to a charcoal plaster finish in the bedroom to the bathroom’s wallpaper, inspired by vintage neckties. One of the highlights, in addition to the canopy bed that business partners Dan Barsanti and Chris Desmone of Barsanti Desmonedesigned, is the room’s wide-plank floors, which the duo brought back to life by stripping and oiling them. Meanwhile, a simple Élitis lace highlights the windows, still boasting their original glass.

The bathroom’s wallpaper is designed by Irwin Feld from Irwin Feld Studio. The tile is from Walker Zanger.

Having recently moved from nearby Cobble Hill to Durham, North Carolina, firm principal Dana Waldron of Murphy Waldron Interiors was eager to get her hands on the 1820s landmark she used to walk by while living in Brooklyn. “It’s a stunning piece of architecture, and I wanted to pay homage to it,” says Waldron, whose favorite piece in the room is an 1830s Biedermeier daybed. “The space is intended to be a place where people can hang out and talk.”

“We don’t often use these colors in our client work,” firm founder Jessica Williams of Hendley & Co says of the “masculine palette” that includes blue and green accents and a two-tone custom wall treatment featuring gray and maroon paint. “We wanted the room to seem like it had been dipped into a maroon glaze.” Vintage pieces—from walnut-and-brass barrel chairs to a mahogany hutch to a 1920s Swedish rug—are joined by baskets, blown-glass spheres, and other accessories from the firm’s design shop in Newburgh, New York.

Conceived by mother-daughter design duo Denise Rinfret and Missy Rinfret Minicucci of The Rinfret Group, this petite, pink-accented blue-and-white sitting room is “very Nantucket-ish,” says Rinfret, who adds that “we’ve done classic with a twist, adding materials like Lucite to keep the space looking current.” An 18th-century French daybed is joined by a shagreen desk, sisal and Aubusson rugs, and contemporary artworks that serve as “little surprises.”

Kim Tomasino Interiors also decorated the children’s bathroom, where walls are sheathed in Schumacher’s playful two-tone Fish School fabric. “The colors are so fun and speak to all kids,” she says. “And it’s a nice departure from the typical blues and greens you might see.” The tiles are from Walker Zanger and the light switch is from Forbes & Lomax.

Decorator Rodney Lawrence transformed a guest bedroom into an art collector’s retreat, selecting a large modernist tapestry by Jan Yoors to hide a door bisecting the largest wall. “Because the room is small, I needed to gain as much wall space as possible,” he explains. “The tapestry became the focal point and inspired the color scheme of black, yellow, and smoke,” deftly achieved through both an ombré wall covering from Trove and a Warp & Weft rug that recalls a charcoal drawing.

The switches and outlet covers throughout the home are from Forbes & Lomax

Dan Barsanti and Chris Desmone of Barsanti Desmone designed the men's shaving area in the master bedroom. The vanity/sink and rose gold cups are from Thompson Traders.