Friends doing business together is often a situation to avoid. But when Ashley Darryl was commissioned by her longtime friend, and now client, to design all the rooms of a spacious 1936 Greenwich house, every element related together perfectly and their friendship endured, if not strengthened. “My friend, my client, really let me take the reins with this,” says Darryl. “It’s the kind of relationship and project a designer dreams of. She recognizes my taste, which is the same as hers.”
She and the client both hail from Texas, and there is something about that state and its culture that translates for its natives anywhere they go. “We both wanted and envisioned the interiors to be like something you’d see in a great Texas home, but also be upscale and comfortable in a way that you’d only see in a home on the East Coast,” describes Darryl, who established her namesake New York–based firm in 2014. One of her first projects as a nascent interior designer, in fact, was to furnish the then-rental Manhattan apartment that this client had occupied with her husband (the couple has since had two young children).
It’s a story with which we are all now familiar—a couple that flees New York for elsewhere during Covid. In this case, the client moved with her husband and children to her native Houston for a spell, before returning to a rental house in Old Greenwich and, eventually, the purchase of this five-bedroom Georgian-style home in one of the town’s leafiest neighborhoods. Upon moving in here, the client told Darryl to start all afresh. Indeed, so many people, upon re-emerging post Covid, also reimagined how they would live anew.
In addition to abundant natural light, the reconfigured family room is illuminated by a leather-and-brass chandelier from Ralph Lauren. An Avery Boardman custom sectional is finished in a Pindler fabric.
In the kitchen, an Urban Electric lighting fixture hangs above the RH breakfast table, while Ann Morris pendants illuminate the island and rattan-and-steel bar stools from Blend Interiors.
A vintage Murano glass lighting fixture from 1stDibs and brass hardware from Waterworks imbue the butler’s pantry/ bar with a sense of glamour.
The mudroom’s cushions are fitted with a durable fabric from Schumacher.
A Ralph Lauren chandelier, a pair of table lamps from Mecox Gardens and Visual Comfort sconces keep the sunroom aglow in the evening, while a Homenature sofa offers seating alongside a David DeSantis coffee table.
In the living room, a Lawson-Fenning sofa is upholstered with a Kerry Joyce velvet, while chairs from 1stDibs wear a fabric from Holly Hunt, and the John Opper artwork is through Berry Campbell.
Phillip Jeffries’ Fuji Weave wallcovering is used in the primary bedroom; bed linens are from Matouk.
In a guest bedroom, a Ralph Lauren lamp through Circa Lighting tops a nightstand from Made Goods.
As part of the renovation of this 1936 residence, Brooks & Falotico architects replaced all of the windows and shutters.
Prior to Darryl’s work finding furnishings, accessories, lighting fixtures and paint colors for the home, the clients commissioned New Canaan architects Louise Brooks and Christopher Moran, of Brooks & Falotico, to repair aesthetic damage that had been done to the house earlier. “We were brought in to renovate an entire wing that had been renovated 15 years ago,” says Brooks, “essentially to correct all the ills.” Among the most dramatic change she and Moran made was to perform what Brooks calls, “a strong gut renovation as opposed to a total gut.” An awkwardly placed staircase and support column in the family room was removed and replaced, while decorative paneling was added, and a mudroom and butler’s pantry was created. “We even made the family room smaller,” explains Moran, “as a way to make it warmer and to bring down its volume. By reducing its size, we were able to dramatically expand the kitchen, where the family spends much of its time.”
Darryl, meanwhile, was delving into paint charts. “I’m going to admit that I tried something like 100 paint colors in the family room until I found a hue that would work in the bright light that fills the space,” notes Darryl. She refers to the gray/beige/greenish color she and the client settled on as “greege.” Recognizing that the wife loves all things green and her husband blue, Darryl accommodated the request by infusing various rooms with those shades. A deep blue casts the butler’s pantry in an inviting mood, where guests of the couple are encouraged to mix their own drinks at the frequent gatherings they host, while deep greens appear throughout the primary bedroom.
But Darryl had a different strategy for the all-season sunroom, defined by a graciously arcing bay window. “I discussed with the client the idea of using a chocolate paint on the walls, white for the trim, and a light blue on the ceiling as a way to soften the light that comes in and helps creates the idea of still being outside when, in fact, you’re not.”
For the “big reveal,” Darryl filmed with her phone her client/friend coming into the almost-finished interiors. Most of the words uttered by the client are “Wow” and unspellable gasps of delight. “I told her that I think this is my best work yet,” says Darryl. “I feel like this really shows my taste and my sense of design because the client allowed me to choose and to create this beautiful dream house.”
