Feature: Barefoot on the Park
September 1, 2007
They were a modern family moving into a Park Avenue residence that didn’t function as they needed it to," says architect Hal Goldstein of the problem he was commissioned to solve. Indeed, the interior of the residence he was referring to had been designed to suit the more formal lifestyle of another era—a time that preferred children to be seen and not heard and when everything happened behind closed doors.
Goldstein and his business partner, Mark Janson, run Janson Goldstein, a New York–based architecture and interior design firm known for its modernist work. Their portfolio includes stores for luxury brands such as Armani Casa, Salvatore Ferragamo and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as upscale residences in New York and elsewhere.
The clients, a sophisticated young couple with two small children, purchased a gracious 4,000-square-foot apartment that was in desperate need of an update. "It hadn’t been touched for who knows how long, but the fact was, the layout was appropriate for us," says the wife. They entertain often and appreciated that "it was a typical prewar space, with the private and public spaces laid out logically," she says. Most appealing though, was a warren of small rooms off the kitchen that could be reconfigured into a living area for the children. "We probably wouldn’t have bought the apartment if the floor plan had ended at the kitchen," she says, "but those extra rooms meant we could make it work very well for the family."
Goldstein had collaborated with the couple when he remodeled
their
previous home on the Upper West Side. For the Park Avenue project, says
the wife, "We set out to make a great family apartment with old-school
charm,
but updated with clean, modern lines." She was the ideal client,
says the
architect, "specific about what she wanted but always open to
ideas."
So they sat down together and worked out what to do. "There was
a
formality to the layout that we didn’t want to mess with—what we did was open
it up, so that it flows," says Goldstein of his approach to the
interior
architecture. "We enhanced a few of the proportions, making
minor tweaks here
and there." In the master bath, for example, a wall
was moved a mere 12 inches.
Small expansions and contractions like
this, he says, "made all the difference
in the world between spaces
functioning and not functioning." Goldstein replaced
the flooring and
cleaned up the walls—removing trims, moldings and wood paneling
throughout.
The living room and adjacent library, situated just off the entry hall, received an update as well. "It was more of a traditional library closed off from the living room and we opened it up by creating generous pass-throughs," explains Goldstein. Although the apartment lacked sweeping views of the park, an abundance of natural light flooded through the windows and there was plenty of wall space for displaying the couple’s art collection, including works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Joan Mitchell and Roni Horn. "I’ve been collecting photography since I was 13, when my parents, who are also collectors, gave me my first picture," says the wife. One wall in the living room, however, remained purposely devoid of art. Here, the architect set the fireplace in a long, horizontal rectangle of travertine marble that acts as a subtle backdrop for objects the owners placed in front of it. An architectural light strip illuminates the bare wall from above.
"Hal and I chose classic, comfortable furniture," says the wife of the mix of contemporary, antique and vintage pieces throughout the apartment. Some of these were designed by Janson Goldstein for the project; others were collected over time by the couple. The wife also asked Goldstein to incorporate Japanese elements into the interiors. "My parents were obsessed with Japan—and modern architecture—which has influenced me," she explains. One of the ways Goldstein delivered was by having a Japanese craftsman fabricate sliding shoji doors for the master bedroom wardrobe.The children’s bedrooms are tucked behind the living room, down the hall from the master suite. To the right of the entry hall is the dining room, an open area that leads to the kitchen and playroom. "We like to entertain," says the wife. "My family lives in Texas, my husband’s in Philadelphia, and everyone comes to us for holidays. We needed a dining table and a space that could seat everyone comfortably."
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