Cohabitation inevitably means compromise, especially when both parties already have well-defined styles and their own homes filled with beloved furnishings. Eager for a space that reflected them both, an entrepreneur and his female partner sought outside help to design their first place together, a late-18th-century townhome in D.C.’s Kalorama/Embassy Row area.
Left to his own devices, the entrepreneur would love nothing more than to fill the space with his extensive collection of vintage furnishings by iconic designers such as Ico Parisi and Charlotte Perriand. Yet while his partner appreciated the aesthetic, she naturally wanted their new home to reflect her as well. “She thinks that I’m a collector in the worst sense of the word – someone who likes to acquire things with, as she’ll say, reckless abandon,” he admits. “She’s more of a minimalist.”
Noting their shared intellectual approach to collecting, a dealer had introduced the entrepreneur to interior designer Nestor Santa-Cruz, who agreed to broker a sort of design détente for the couple, creating a visual language that unites their things in a comfortable way while allowing them to continually rotate in pieces as their collection evolves.
For both Santa-Cruz and his client, the designer’s history, philosophy and intentions are as compelling as the object they created. “We lead our lives wanting to hear stories,” the client describes. “I like to understand how these designers came to be and what sorts of things were happening in their lives when they were working on certain pieces or designs.”
“It’s almost like we were friends before we met,” Santa-Cruz adds.
Even though the townhome had recently been renovated, Santa- Cruz made strategic modifications to streamline the traditional abode, simplifying overly decorative draperies and eliminating chair rails and graphic wallcoverings. In addition, he had the walls painted in neutral hues and layered patterned area rugs over the traditional wall-to-wall carpeting.
To furnish the space, the designer cherry-picked pieces from the couple’s respective residences, as well as from the many important pieces the entrepreneur had stored in a warehouse. While Santa- Cruz is a longtime collector himself with countless books and design catalogs in his reference library, he explains, “He knew more about modernism and Scandinavian design than I did. The line between designer and client blurred.”
To ensure the space reflected both parties, Santa-Cruz wove in pieces by classic, midcentury American designers to which she gravitated. In the living room, for example, a sofa by Florence Knoll anchors a seating area that includes chairs by noted designers such as Poul Kjærholm, Gio Ponti and Carlo Mollino.
In the same spirit, Saarinen chairs covered in complementary green fabrics surround a round table by Kjærholm in the formal dining room. “The collection was heavy on Scandinavian pieces, and it needed balance,” Santa-Cruz notes.
The designer also made space for pieces she had already collected. Adding a white Carrara marble top to one of her cabinets, for example, gave it a midcentury flair that perfectly complemented the heady mélange in the front foyer. And her vintage 1970s bedside tables live easily alongside a walnut-and-cane George Nelson bed in the guest bedroom. “You don’t know whose aesthetic it is,” Santa Cruz describes.
The result thrills the couple, who appreciate how the layered mix of pieces from different designers and eras create a sense of eclecticism that’s as comfortable and approachable as it is sophisticated and beautiful. A world traveler, the collector believes that for the first time in his life, “my home is an even nicer environment than any hotel I’ve ever stayed at. The overall result is more unique, in a positive way, than either one of us would have accomplished by ourselves.”
Photography by Erik Kvalsvik.
For more from Nestor Santa-Cruz, be sure to check out earthy, soulful exploration of this D.C. home, as well as his contribution to the 2020 Aspire House: McLean.
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