A Luscious Pied-à-Terre with A Sense of Humor

San Francisco-based designer Ian Stallings describes his client, 47-year-old technology transactions lawyer Darryl Chiang, as an old-fashioned gentleman. “He always wears bespoke suits with a pocket square and cuff links,” he says. “In a world of T-shirts and jeans, he stands out in the best possible way.”

Stallings had emphasized his client’s dapper style when he first worked with Chiang on his San Francisco house, creating a home that was modern and neatly tailored with lots of blue and gray—much like his client’s suits, which Chiang has custom-made on London’s Savile Row. But Stallings’ design for Chiang’s Manhattan pied-à-terre required something a little different. “I’m the son of immigrants from China who lost their home,” Chiang explains. “My yearning for some sense of rootedness and my realization that I am American made me appreciate Western traditional architecture, and it also made me want a home that would evoke New York in the prewar period.”

Now married, Chiang had offered to paint the walls of his former bachelor pad to help his wife feel at home. But after mulling it over, he says, “she kept an open mind to experiencing Ian’s original vision—another reason I know I’m with the right partner!”

–Jorge S. Arango