2015 Winners
- Architecture
- Bath Design
- Builder Recognition
- Garden Design
- Interior Design
- Kitchen Design
- Product Design
- Small Spaces
Glenn Gissler Design
Glenn Gissler Design
During the past 20 years, Glenn Gissler has designed and supervised numerous renovations to this Central Park West apartment. Deeming the kitchen a “used and abused” space, Gissler installed durable porcelain floor tile, granite counters for the generously scaled island, and custom Bilotta cabinetry featuring porcelain enamel panels and polished steel frames. An antique farm table and 19th-century English chairs foster a sense of warmth. “The room is a machine-age-modern take on kitchen design, with great color and material choices,” says judge Alan Tanksley.
Carol Kurth Architecture
Carol Kurth Architecture
This single-story house in Westchester County is a repository for a notable collection of modern art—and a work of art in itself. Architect Carol Kurth incorporated generous swaths of indigenous stone and cedar, along with glass, to create a home that appears seamless with its natural setting, and also added elegant horizontal overhangs that foster a passive solar effect. Judge Sandra Nunnerley comments on the “good massing of architecture” that makes for a “nice and clean” residence.
Janice Parker Landscape Architects
Janice Parker Landscape Architects
This 117-acre property in the Hudson Valley had been everything from a farm to a nursing home to a camp. Janice Parker’s goal was to transform multiple sites into one parcel for a private residence, the owner of which is a dedicated gardener. In addition to preserving views and installing a 50-foot infinity pool, she created an outdoor room defined by boxwood hedges and planted a rear fountain garden with perennials. Judge Alan Tanksley raves about the project’s “traditional luxury.”
Glenn Gissler Design
Glenn Gissler Design
There is artwork to behold at every turn in this 11-room apartment in a prewar Upper East Side building. The clients, collectors of mostly 20th-century American art, furniture, and decorative objects, as well as French 1940s neoclassical treasures, wanted Glenn Gissler to accommodate their collection while creating livable interiors. Gissler carefully positioned furniture and artwork throughout, devising a layout redolent with a careful mix of eras and textures. Judge Alan Tanksley says it in one word: “Love!”
%20100vw,%201058px%20/){kind=link}
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Drew McGukin Interiors
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Drew McGukin Interiors
Despite their charm, original bathrooms in New York brownstones often reflect their eras. Drew McGukin dramatically reconfigured the small master bath in his clients’ East Village home, which he thinks of as “having one foot in the past and another in the future.” McGukin installed a glass shower with a door that opens on the diagonal and a pedestal double sink with shelves. Judge Shawn Henderson calls it “very pretty and classic.”
The Matisse Bench
The Matisse Bench Andrew Darwin Fine Furniture Designing and Crafting
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
The Matisse Bench
The Matisse Bench Andrew Darwin Fine Furniture Designing and Crafting
This homage to Henri Matisse by Andrew Darwin Fine Furniture Designing and Craftingis fashioned of teak, a glowing backdrop for a canvas of inlaid leaves.
Chateau Weitzner Limited's
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Chateau Weitzner Limited's
Made exclusively in Japan, Weitzner Limited’s sophisticated wall coverings are constructed of fine rayon and viscose yarns. The graphic patterns and subtle coloring create a neutral, yet refined look.
Hand-Block-Printed Wallpaper Adrienne Neff Design Services
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Hand-Block-Printed Wallpaper Adrienne Neff Design Services
Adrienne Neff Design Services’ environmentally friendly Uzu wallpaper, named for the Japanese term for “swirl of water,” incorporates universal symbols of growth, rejuvenation, and renewal.
Stiletto Daybed Naula
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Stiletto Daybed Naula
Thin, sleek, and modern, this daybed by Naula is equal parts sophistication and comfort, rounded out by a luxurious Wenge frame and midnight-blue upholstery.
Haver & Skolnick, Architects
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Haver & Skolnick, Architects
The owners of this 11-room Central Park West duplex wanted their apartment to be a contemporary setting for their collection of modern paintings and glass. Neutral cream-colored walls serve as a backdrop to a carefully curated selection of modern furnishings that both complement and contrast with the elaborate architectural detailing of the 1907 Beaux Arts building. “A clean, cohesive project, with nice details,” states Tara Seawright.
Sateen Bed Set Lexington Company
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Sateen Bed Set Lexington Company
Lexington Company specializes in fabrics that seem abstract from a distance, but are really subtle florals, stripes, or weaves up close.
Alisberg Parker Architects
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Alisberg Parker Architects
Although Alan Tanksley likens this Tudor-style space in Westchester “to a staff kitchen in a great manor house,” it’s used daily by a family that likes to entertain. In keeping with the house’s Tudor lines, Alisberg Parker painted the cabinets white to establish a contrast with the dark wood floors and the cerused oak woodwork in the adjacent great room. Extra points: two islands—one for casual dining, the other for food preparation—as well as a custom-designed hood that references Tudor forms.
BergDesign Architecture
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
BergDesign Architecture
The owners of a Greenwich Village loft wanted their kitchen to be as much about storage as display. Indeed, while some of their plates and glasses are showcased on open shelving, artwork takes center stage here, too. White lacquered cabinets and polished Calacatta gold marble on the island provide striking contrast to the concrete-and-plaster backsplash and the rough-sawn-oak flooring.
Foz Design
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Foz Design
One challenge presented in a loft is the demarcation of certain spaces. Foz Design’s solution for delineating the kitchen in this Flatiron loft was to install a dropped walnut ceiling interspersed with recessed lights and sound-system speakers—all of which match the cabinetry, since there was no allowance for drilling into the existing concrete ceiling. Wall brackets serve as open shelving, and a clever “knee” wall behind the sink and range houses plumbing and electrical lines.
Game Table John Lyle
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Game Table John Lyle
This shagreen, bone, and lacewood game table by John Lyle is equipped with shagreen-lined chips and cups as well as cast-bronze chessmen. Pull-out drink trays finish off the look.
Max Dylan Sofa for Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman Barry Goralnick
%20100vw,%20768px%20/){kind=link}
Max Dylan Sofa for Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman Barry Goralnick
Metal legs—of nickel, brass, or rose gold—support this “blended modern” sofa by Barry Goralnick, which features a state-of-the-art electric port or outlet, positioned where the customer chooses.
Dale Cohen Design Studio
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Dale Cohen Design Studio
Designer Dale Cohen insists she was not “looking to re-create a period interior” for her client, a middle-aged gentleman living in an apartment in a historic Emery Roth building. In the library, Cohen preserved the original cabinetry, but updated it by adding a “French polish” to the wood and carrying the paneling onto the walls, while the whole of the apartment is lit with new and vintage lighting fixtures. The finished result has a “beautiful flow,” remarks Tara Seawright, while judge Shawn Henderson acknowledges its “nice design layers.”
Lori Margolis Interiors
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Lori Margolis Interiors
“Glam” is how judge Alan Tanksley responds to Lori Margolis’s design for a large Park Avenue apartment, while Shawn Henderson cites the “very pretty elements” used throughout. Circular brass coffee tables and mirrors, vintage Italian 1950s hanging pendants, and a sweeping custom daybed in the living room make for a restrained panache.
Conte & Conte
%20100vw,%201080px%20/){kind=link}
Conte & Conte
When landscape architect John Conte toured this Armonk property, he was confronted with a blank lawn, something that seemed anathema to the early-20th-century estate overlooking Long Island Sound. Known as the Ledges and Soundview Manor, it featured everything a major European-style spread should have, except a formal garden. Accordingly, Conte created outdoor rooms defined by walled hedges, formal axes, and a sunken rose garden with custom-made wrought-iron arches.
Barry Goralnick
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Barry Goralnick
Even the owner of this private garden on the Upper West Side—a best-selling author—couldn’t have written a happier ending. To create what judge Shawn Henderson describes as a “calm and balanced space,” Barry Goralnick removed old wood decking and pavers and constructed a teak wall around the garden in the center, hanging a 12-foot mirror to extend the area visually while concealing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning units.
Sean Jancski Landscape Architects
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Sean Jancski Landscape Architects
The owners of this residence in Rye envisioned a place with unimpeded views of Long Island Sound and a backyard and pool as livable as the rooms within. Working in consort with Keller/Eaton Architects, landscape architects from Sean Jancski made expert use of the relatively flat coastal site, positioning the rectangular pool off-center to preserve the views and configuring a dense grouping of outdoor furniture off to another side.
DHD
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
DHD
It’s not often that a master bathroom can be called “glamorous and moody,” as judge Alan Tanksley describes this space in a Tribeca loft. Rather than minimize the 18-foot ceilings in the bathroom, DHD decided to exploit the height. A double set of windows is enhanced by a Hollywood-esque flourish of draperies, while a vigorously patterned geometric floor further energizes the room, as does a floating vanity defined by minimalist hardware.
Gail Green Interiors
%20100vw,%20720px%20/){kind=link}
Gail Green Interiors
“Keith Haring was my inspiration—notably his ceramic tile collection Games of Fifteen,” says designer Gail Green, who was tasked with creating this powder room for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House. The graphic pattern, a maze of forms that are both abstract and figurative, is used on a wall, the floor, and as a decorative frieze. The space is further defined by a decidedly modern and unexpected water closet from Kohler Veil and a mirror that is back-painted in an arresting shade of red.
Carol Kurth Architecture
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Carol Kurth Architecture
Carol Kurth wanted to create a “hotel at home” feel for this master bath in a Westchester residence. The original space was gutted and reorganized, with a spacious skylight cut into the ceiling and a picture window inserted above the sculptural, freestanding bathtub so that the room is flooded with light. The result: A room deeply connected to nature but removed from it, and intimate enough for a two-person glass-walled shower.
Foz Design
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Foz Design
It’s a common goal: A New York City couple wants their weekend home to serve as a tranquil retreat. For this Saugerties residence, Foz Design chose a palette that included wood and locally quarried stone, referencing mid-20th-century modernism while making a distinctive architectural statement. A guest wing contains four bedrooms and remains linked to, but independent of, the house via a glassed-in hallway. Judge Tara Seawright says that the home’s “warm wood exteriors evoke Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, creating a relaxing first impression.”
Mitchell Studio
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Mitchell Studio
A prior gut renovation of this duplex in a Rosario Candela building on Park Avenue had left it devoid of its once-elegant detailing. Part of Mitchell Studio’s role was to reintroduce that lost grandeur, while updating the apartment for a young family. The original Candela staircase was retained, and doors were added throughout first-floor rooms to improve traffic flow. A dense agglomeration of servants’ rooms was transformed into an eat-in kitchen and family room, and second-floor bedrooms were reconfigured, particularly the master suite and its mirrored dressing area and balcony. Judge Shawn Henderson notes the project’s “nice, classic detailing.”
Wellbuilt Company
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Wellbuilt Company
The client was well aware of the dramatic scale of this Chelsea duplex, while also noting its lifeless character. Wellbuilt Company’s goal was to create a contemporary, open-plan living space, infused with sunshine and increased definition. Sheer drama starts at the entry, with a double-height span that captures natural light from existing industrial skylights. Judge Sandra Nunnerley refers to the finished space as “kind architecture,” with details that include an outdoor staircase that leads to a roof terrace.
Marcia Tucker Interiors
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Marcia Tucker Interiors
Most college students studying fashion live in cinderblock dorm rooms. But Marcia Tucker’s client, an international student, wanted her downtown one-bedroom to function as a calm oasis that would serve her creativity. The designer chose a black-and-white palette, accented by warm wood hues, and custom-designed built-ins to solve the client’s storage needs. Surprising details include a wall-mounted headboard composed of squares of black leather and an office-area wall clad in reclaimed barn wood. “Spacious, proportionate, perfect,” says judge Tara Seawright.
Glen Gate Company
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Glen Gate Company
The moment the owners saw this Bedford Hills home and property, they envisioned an infinity pool, preparations for which began with the removal of a line of trees, thereby opening up views to an expansive valley beyond. The chief building blocks are hand-hewn bluestone slabs, whose forms and colors are further enhanced by minimal plantings around the pool itself.
DHD
%20100vw,%201080px%20/){kind=link}
DHD
“Clean,” “architectural,” “warm,” and “beautiful” are among the adjectives used by the judges to describe this kitchen design in an Upper West Side townhouse. DHD seamlessly integrated it with the dining area, installing a coffered ceiling set with strategically positioned spotlights, which in turn create a certain glamour and grandeur.
BergDesign Architecture
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
BergDesign Architecture
What had been a disjointed three-bedroom Greenwich Village apartment has been transformed into a sophisticated open loft, significantly changed by relocating the master bath, which has been scaled to serve the needs of the homeowners. Now it’s a resort-like space, with shower walls composed of raw slate and teak flooring, as well as a white oak vanity with bronze hardware, a custom-designed steel transom, and raised marble sinks. It has “a sexy vibe,” Shawn Henderson says.
CoCo Console Table Cliff Young
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
CoCo Console Table Cliff Young
Cocobolo wood frames the caramel and onyx insert in this console table by Cliff Young, which is backlit with dimmable LEDs and features a hand-carved base.
Opacic Architects
%20100vw,%201240px%20/){kind=link}
Opacic Architects
The challenge for the architects of this new home in Scarsdale was to create a spacious residence that respected its more modestly scaled neighbors. Principal Radoslav Opacic reduced the visual heft of the home by using shallow-pitched, broad roof lines and red cedar eaves, and built it on two axes—an east-west one for public spaces and a north-south one for private areas. Judge Alan Tanksley admires the house’s “references to the architecture of Greene and Greene. It’s organic, mannered, and livable,” he says.