When gallerists and art collectors Christy and Chester Murray, who specialize in figurative and Abstract Expressionist painters, were building their new home in Quogue, they knew that highlighting their art collection was the most important directive. Accordingly, the Quogue Gallery founders insisted on two crucial components: high ceilings and white walls. “Our passion for art is never-ending,” Christy says, “and we have found that white walls consistently work as our go-to palette.”
After she and her husband commissioned architect Stuart Disston to design the home, Christy took on its decoration, devising a plan that called for multiple shades of white: on the walls, in the rugs, and in the upholstery fabrics on the (mostly) custom furnishings. As the natural light works its way through the house every day, she comments, “White is ever-changing.” The couple and Disston have collaborated before. A decade ago, Chester recounts, Disston proposed that they establish an art gallery in the same village building that houses his architectural practice, Austin Patterson Disston Architecture & Design. And then a few years later, as the Murrays embarked on a search for the right locale for their new house, Christy describes having “an unexpected inhale and exhale” moment when she and Chester first saw the property with views of a pond and protected wetlands busy with egrets, blue herons, ducks, and osprey. “We knew immediately that Stuart would design a home embracing this serene, natural habitat,” she says.
Disston, who has previously worked with the couple on other projects, not only fashioned soaring 12-foot-high rooms appropriate for accommodating artwork (even the hood over the stove serves as “wall space” for art), but he also incorporated a stunning architectural statement: an arresting suspended bridge that spans the front entry, which is set with old cobblestones. “The bridge bifurcates the primary wing from the rest of the house,” Disston says, adding that “there’s a lot of character here that reflects the homeowners. Good clients understand what they’re asking for because they know how they want to live.”
Architect Stuart Disston of Austin Patterson Disston Architecture & Design sited the house to maximize vistas of a pond and protected wetlands.
Sandro Chia’s Woman with Plant is a focal point of the entry hall, which features a cobblestone “bridge” that connects the two primary volumes of the house.
The living room and open kitchen include ample custom seating pieces and, on the counter, a Patricia Udell bronze.
A sculpture by Menashe Kadishman sits on a Le Corbusier table in the dining area. The Opera chairs are by Casamidy.
A family heirloom needlepoint paying homage to Picasso is displayed on the upper foyer wall.
Taureau, a 1963 Le Corbusier lithograph, hangs on an opposing wall in the upper foyer.
Another family heirloom needlepoint in the shape of an abstract rug is displayed on the gallery walkway floor.
A pair of Diabolo planters by Willy Guhl sit outside the primary bedroom’s French doors.
A corner of the primary bedroom includes a pair of Le Corbusier lithographs, a rug and curtains from Jen Going Interiors, and a Judy Ross pillow.
In the common room on the second floor, a sculpture by Nol Putnam sits on a table made by Robert Remer of Opiary. Judy Ross pillows line the Sherrill Furniture sofa.
Throughout the home, close attention to structure is immediately evident: Thick beams line the ceiling in the open kitchen and living room, while multipaned French doors, windows, and clerestories cast shadows that further emphasize the architecture, fostering, as Christy says, a sense of “understated drama.” Views of myrtle and sculpted pathways from the kitchen window, she adds, suggest “a Matisse cut-out.”
The home’s prevailing white palette is unassuming, yet impactful, with texture playing an important role in the furnishings and accessories. “Texture catches light, casting subtle shadows and changes in a room,” says Christy, pointing to patinated-iron side tables, artifacts and sculptural items on consoles and coffee tables, and the “woven” metal armatures of dining chairs. “And the color white has many different faces and personalities. It allows forms and lines to emerge.”
The rooms have been arranged so that every work of art the couple chooses to display—be it on canvas, paper, or plinth—stands out in full relief. Throughout, Christy has created vignettes that are art assemblages in themselves: a pair of framed Le Corbusier lithographs beside a sinuous settee, ledges that double as display areas, sculptural pieces whose forms echo the consoles and tables on which they rest. While many of the furnishings are new, Christy emphasizes, “We also have the good fortune of owning items collected from our travels and, of course, heirloom pieces that have been handed down. These are our most cherished artifacts—the authentic, grounding elements in any room.”