Historic Details And Modern Elegance Define This Upper West Side Apartment
Intricate plasterwork and coffered oak paneling. Marble mantels and mosaic tiles. Herringbone floors and pocket doors. Upon taking stock of the architecture within her clients’ new apartment, Maureen McDermott’s mission was clear: Let the bones sing while bringing a refined approachability to the decoration. It’s a natural modus operandi for the designer, whose Hamptons-based practice has earned a reputation for crafting casual yet sophisticated interiors. In fact, McDermott had already delivered her brand of dressed-down elegance to the couple’s Southampton vacation home and, accordingly, earned their implicit trust.
For this primary residence, a mint-condition apartment set within a prestigious Beaux Arts building on the Upper West Side, McDermott was excited to balance livable warmth with a cosmopolitan spin befitting the grandeur of the architecture and address. “The project was a great opportunity to channel an elevated lifestyle—to indulge in glamorous textiles and objects that have a finer aesthetic to them,” she says. To achieve this, McDermott, along with senior designer Lauren Clarkin, curated a scheme that feels collected over time and across continents, bringing together a tight edit of fine antiques, sculptural lighting and thoughtful contemporary pieces.
Home Details
Interior Design: Maureen McDermott and Lauren Clarkin, Winter McDermott Design
Styling: Katja Greeff
The living area—designed for relaxed evenings spent among family and friends—synthesizes their approach with a serpentine sofa covered in blush velvet that mingles with Guillerme et Chambron’s iconic Grand Repos chair. Meanwhile, contemporary twin oak credenzas influenced by early 20th-century Swedish design flank the original fireplace, bringing heft and hand to the feminine assemblage.
The designers were also spurred to mix old with new in a more personal sense and happily reconceived several of their clients’ favorite pieces. In the dining area, for example, an embossed marquetry table was given new life when paired with a celestial-inspired chandelier composed of spun brass. Appreciating the sinuous silhouettes of the couple’s existing dining chairs as well, the designers purchased several more before reupholstering the entire set in a luxe gray mohair. In the great room and throughout, McDermott and Clarkin prioritized pieces with curved lines to soften the rectilinearity of the rooms.
To balance the den’s unabashedly period wood-paneled framework, the pair commissioned a plush sectional (perfect for cozying up with a good book or movie) wrapped in an inviting cream-colored boiled wool. “The fabric keeps the nicest, most tailored shape,” Clarkin notes. “There’s absolutely no pull to it, and it feels like the most luxurious version of felt imaginable.” Slim-armed swivel chairs dressed in a whimsical print, a silk-blend rug in a smoky hue and a gleaming chandelier fit with amber glass globes honor the environs with apropos richness while still feeling au courant. Freshness similarly defines the primary bedroom, where layers of soft neutral textures blend and fade away, once again allowing the architectural detailing to shine in deference to the treetop views of Central Park.
The apartment’s ambience of lush, warm quietude is perfect for these clients, who treat their home as a serene retreat within the bustle of the city, one they especially enjoy sharing with their young adult children. “It feels like another world up here,” muses McDermott of the dwelling, which has certainly delivered on a cultivated point of view. “You could be anywhere—Munich or Paris or New York.”
