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The Hudson Valley region of New York has become something of a design mecca, thanks to its ever-burgeoning creative scene. One consistent staple in this arena is the Kingston Design Showhouse, which just opened its third showcase to members of the public. This annual effort spotlights the myriad design professionals, makers, and manufacturers who call the region home. And while this year has brought with it its fair share of challenges, founder and participating designer Maryline Damour of Damour Drake, a Hudson Valley–based design and construction firm, tells AD PRO that about 50 decorators applied to be a part of this year’s showcase.
“The pandemic has not impacted our creativity; in fact, I think everyone appreciates the opportunity to come together in a safe way and create something inspiring, especially in these times,” she adds. Below, AD PRO walks you through each room of the 4,000-square-foot Italianate Gothic home. For those hoping to visit its interiors, which will remain on view until December 13, tickets can be purchased ahead of time online.
Entryway by Ana Claudia Schultz Design
Creating a sense of escape was important to designer Ana Claudia Schultz, who undertook the transformation of the front foyer and hall for this year’s show house. To bring the outdoors in, Schultz papered the walls in an abstract mountain print from Fromental. The carpet mats from Liza Phillips evoke the nearby Hudson River, which is visible from the property. Overhead, a gold leaf and blue ombre chandelier from Currey & Company is representative of sun and sky.
Textures in the space were equally intentional, Schultz tells AD PRO. She adds, “The vestibule has a plaster finish on the ceiling also representing the sky. The textures of the plasterwork have an organic quality representing nature.”
Dining Room by Hendley & Co
In the home’s dining space, Hendley & Co of Newburgh, New York, turned to locally sourced items and decorative painter Mark Turner to bring a gleefully unexpected layer to the room’s design. “We wanted to create the illusion of being within a painting, a very large nod to Rothko,” says owner Jessica Williams. The team selected a palette that “celebrates the rich harvest-like tones in the leaves, sunset, and landscape found in Hudson Valley this time of year.”
Kitchen by Lava Interiors
“As with all my projects, I began by looking to the architecture for design cues,” Meg Lavalette, founder of Lava Interiors, explains. Given the home’s Italianate design origins, Lavalette drew inspiration from the countryside homes of northern Italy in her selection of a warm and elegantly earthy plaster for the walls. “It was important for me to balance the overall romantic Old World intent with more masculine contemporary elements,” says Lavalette, who specifically cited the ebonized white oak cabinets, the art within black and white frames, and the sleek Waterworks fixture as examples of this effort.
The designer eschewed cabinet hardware, instead choosing integrated pulls for the custom cabinets, which were created by Rowan Woodwork. “The integrated pulls in the cabinets modernize the kitchen and allow the faucet to be the stand-alone piece of jewelry in the room,” she says.
Sitting Room and Roof Deck by KD Reid Interiors
The joint sitting room and roof deck outfitted by designer KD Reid feels like a modern treehouse. “My favorite part was framing the outdoor deck like a work of art,” Reid says, noting that the entire design concept was inspired by the home’s mountain and lake views. In the gathering area, a petrified wood console table anchors a mix of natural and organic materials, which mimic local flora. A closet transformed into a reading nook offers an idyllic place to curl up and escape. To transform the space, Reid partnered with From The Source, Organic Modernism, Angloraj Antiques, Perch Objects, and OT-TRA.
Sunroom by Krishna Fitzpatrick
“My vision for the space was, above all, a space one would want to linger in, lounge in, ponder in,” says Krishna Fitzpatrick, a creative director and designer who sums up her sunroom design scheme as “Daisy Buchanan meets ’70s Malibu.” It was the light pouring in from the floor-to-ceiling windows that inspired the direction of Fitzpatrick’s neutral modern design scheme, with its comfortable blend of organic colors, forms, and textures.
Soft earth-toned rugs placed atop a stormy-toned floor painted in Sabre Gray by Benjamin Moore were additional highlights, as were other thoughtfully sourced pieces. The shearling sling chairs were designed by Taylor Forrest, while a pair of textured lamps by Currey & Company flank a credenza by Christopher Kurtz. The knot sculptures are by Bartleby Objects, a multidisciplinary design studio out of Brooklyn, while the coffee table, mirror, and wooden side table were created by SinCa Design of Connecticut. Finally, the abstract wall covering is a handpainted wallpaper from Fromental.
Library by Patrick Ryan’s Office
For designer Patrick Ryan, the chance to transform a drab library space was an opportunity to create a serene escape apart from the rest of the house where one would want to “settle in and lose track of time.” Soft textiles in the form of throws, velvet pillows, and sheepskin coverlets complement the mood of the room.
Elsewhere, bold, hard-lined furniture and accessories, like a funnel-head side lamp and the ebonized red cedar patchwork veneer side table by Kentaro Takashina, ground the coziness. Dressing the room involved styling shelves with 750 vintage books, on loan from Half Moon Books in Kingston. The main furniture pieces—a zero-gravity chaise recliner by Fn Furniture in Kingston and sofa by Fern Handcrafted—work in accord with the coffee table by J.M. Szymanski, a piece inspired by Noguchi and created of raw steel.
Home Office and Classroom by Damour Drake
Inclusion was a driving tenet of the work in the home office and classroom environment designed by Maryline Damour, founder of design and build firm Damour Drake. The room, created along with senior designer Mel Jones, centers on a child’s desk and chair set that the company created with New York Heartwoods. The goal of the scheme, according to Damour, was “to provide a dedicated space for children learning at home in tight quarters.” Lush textures and patterns define the room, notably the use of bold, pistachio-hued Harlem Toile De Jouy wallpaper by designer Sheila Bridges, which is “a perfect backdrop for a diverse and inclusive room,” notes Damour. Another highlight of the space is a custom artwork by Rowan Willigan, which was inspired by Corita Kent—a Catholic nun, teacher, artist, and social activist. Of that piece, Damour reflects that she wanted something that would “celebrate people who should be more known in history.”
Listening Room by Jennifer Salvemini
For Jennifer Salvemini, there was only one option for the small room at the end of the hall, and that was to create an immersive escape that invited relaxation, meditation, and orchestration. Its moniker, the Listening Room, features wall-mounted vintage speaker boxes for channeling a track list; the neon clouds affixed to the ceiling invite one to zone out in a sonic shavasana. The style scheme exhibits various tonal and visual representations of sound waves throughout the room, says Salvemini, who collaborated with Anthony Fatato, Mudcloth and Lace, Nancy Geaney, Samuel Moyer, Foley and Cox , Doye Studio, Liora Manne, and Lite Brite Neon to dress the space. Of the result, Salvemini enthused in a statement: “This room is a literal trip. It’s a portal. Magic!”
Bedroom by Ariana S. Winston
“As a Kingston native, it was tremendously meaningful [for me] to come back and design something so personal in the town where I grew up,” Ariana S. Winston, who transformed an auxiliary room with great lines into a cozy bedroom, told AD PRO. “With its stunning view and incredible angles, it’s where I would want my bedroom to be.” The autumnal colors of fall dictated the vibe, explains Winston, who developed a richly textured neutral palette for the interior, with an energy she calls warm, layered, and timeless. The windows created anchor points for the interior, in which the designer mixed vintage furniture, such as a pair of Korean chests and a Napoleon-style chair, with more modern forms and off-the-shelf pieces. Collaborations include a custom Kat Howard woven installation suspended over the bed, a custom-colored straw rug from Aleman/Moore, and a dramatic draped ceiling treatment of delicate, sheer wool from Holly Hunt.
Lounge by This & That
Being assigned the basement of the show house was a mental hurdle for Matthew Marchese of This and That, a marketplace for collected vintage and modern wares. “When I first saw the room, I had a sense of disconnect between the other designers,” Marchese says to AD PRO. “They were all upstairs with windows boasting natural light. I was in a dark basement.” The upside? One, no distractions, and two, knowing that a challenge to his comfort levels could produce striking results. Palette and purpose drove the direction of the room, says Marchese, who formerly worked as a personal chef and in the world of fine dining. Baptizing the spot as a go-to speakeasy, Marchese married high- and lowbrow elements—think Dom Perignon adjacent to the refined yet abrasive mirrored side table made by Fernando Mastrangelo, which is topped with vintage geometric glass. In this monochromatic space, the small details are everything.
Sculpture Park and Gallery Spaces by Cross Contemporary Partners
Jen Dragon of Cross Contemporary Partners, an art representation, advisement, and curatorial company, selected works from local artists for the home’s outdoor sculpture park and two attic-floor gallery spaces. “It was essential to have artworks that would sit well under the grove of 100-year-old maple trees,” Dragon says of the outdoor gallery, which features sculptures by Kurt Steger, Stuart Farmery, and Eileen M. Power. “All three use color in their work that transitions well from the late summer greens to fiery autumn hues,” she adds. Indoors, Dragon transformed two small gallery spaces on a third-floor landing with works by Millicent Young, Kurt Steger, Stuart Farmery, Martin Weinstein, Wendy Klemperer, Stewart Nachmias, and Dion Yannatos. The lighting is by Progress Lighting.
Stone Ridge Landscapes
In a time of COVID-19, when outdoor space is more prized than ever, Stone Ridge Landscapes decided to adopt a two-pronged approach to bring function and form to the home’s plein air dining area. According to project manager Ricardo Castro, the goal was about introducing an outdoor extension of the 19th-century show home and “merging of softscape and hardscape to create an outdoor living space that emphasizes our clients’ diverse and unique personality.” To do this, pavers and ancillary building elements comprise the hardscape foundation, framed by the softscape components in the form of ornamental tall grasses, Creeping Jenny plants, and lavender. Herzog’s Home and Paint Centers also provided contributions.
