A Manhattan apartment imbued with a bold, English country aesthetic
In some apartments in Manhattan, a desirable view might include an interesting neighbouring building, a nearby rooftop dotted with trees, a sight of Central Park or simply the sky. Space is at a premium in New York and any one of these features is a treasured commodity, so it is a unique feeling to step into an apartment that spreads across most of the 84th floor of a Park Avenue building, with Manhattan sprawled at your feet in nearly every direction. The East River, the Empire State Building, Central Park and even the Statue of Liberty are all there, framed by elegant french windows and doors fronted by dramatic curtaining and upholstered window seats – all fit for a large country house.
In 2019, the owner of this flat contacted Miles Redd and David Kaihoi, partners in New York design studio Redd Kaihoi, to talk about her plans for the 5,500-square-foot apartment. They reviewed images of the space, which was raw sheetrock with concrete floors, to discuss the kind of architecture and decoration she admired and imagined she would want to live in. ‘Our client envisioned going from a cold cement shell with massive plate glass windows to something she described as “English country”. This was a huge leap, as the basic language of the building was beyond contemporary,’ Miles recalls. ‘We realised that she essentially wanted to create a house within a house.’
Soon after that meeting, the pandemic hit and the world paused, but the owner did not, engaging Mexican architect Jorge Loyzaga, who specialises in classical buildings and restoration. He set about recreating the shell of a European-style country house, which was then dropped, much like the elements of a stage set, into the vast space.
Jorge’s daughter, Sophia Loyzaga, a partner in her father’s practice Loyzaga, describes their thorough study of the apartment. ‘The interiors are almost entirely covered in hand-carved boiserie panelling, crafted in the 18th-century French style. The woodwork was made in Mexico by skilled artisans and transported to New York, accompanied by a master carpenter to oversee the delivery and explain the assembly. The design was conceived to make the interior feel like a historic residence, and this meant adapting to the building’s structural and technological requirements, while preserving a classic look. A key challenge was the building’s movement due to wind. It sways subtly every 11 seconds, so expansion joints and small gaps had to be included in our design to allow for that motion.’
In 2023, with the interior architecture complete, the client called Miles and David to invite them to visit to discuss the decoration. David describes stepping out of the lift into the renovated space as ‘surreal’. Gone was the floor-to-ceiling glass, and vast expanses of white wall had been replaced with panelling, windows, doors and even tented ceilings, providing a background to the interiors. ‘The client had taken the first big step towards realising her vision and we could now get to work on the decoration so she could move in as quickly as possible,’ explains David.
The owner was incredibly knowledgeable and had strong opinions, making the process of the project collaborative. She was living in London and was well versed in English interiors, but was keen to work with someone who could execute the details required in such an expansive space. ‘She wanted a traditional, layered look,’ says David. ‘The backgrounds were in place, including paint colours – we just built the rooms around them. It was a designer’s dream.’
The drawing room in the centre of the apartment opens to the north onto an entrance hall, library, main bedroom and bathroom, and the sitting room. To the south end of the drawing room is a dining room, foyer and kitchen, which in turn leads to a red-lacquered television room and two more bedrooms. Miles and David’s desire for each room to have its own atmosphere was helped by influences from a variety of respected interior designers. The drawing room nods to Henri Samuel and Geoffrey Bennison, while the red lacquer walls of the television room are pure Albert Hadley, and the dining room has a feeling of early Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. ‘It is a mix of all the references swirling in my mind. Not one specific house, but a pastiche of all of them,’ says the owner.
And it was the scale of the rooms that allowed Redd Kaihoi to introduce items that require more space than most New York City apartments can typically manage. ‘Our recipe for the project was to create many seating areas, with art and books and soft upholstery alongside a selection of English and continental furniture, with some fabulous curtains and rugs,’ says Miles. A huge antique Persian Mahal rug, which Miles had seen and admired at Christie’s three years earlier but did not have a suitable project for at the time, was acquired for the drawing room. ‘It was bought by a dealer and sent away for restoration. Then this project came up and the rug came back and we found it at Galerie Shabab. Such a stroke of luck,’ he says.
The bookcase in the drawing room was bought for a song through Stair Galleries in New York from Henri Samuel’s own Paris hôtel particulier. The apartment’s proportions could handle it. ‘We were fortunate in that way,’ says David.
The trick to furnishing a flat like this is to play with that scale, but Miles and David made sure to introduce smaller moments of comfort and ease, too. A cosy dining room with a round antique table and gingham chairs is flanked by upholstered banquettes on either side of the fireplace. ‘The green check fabric makes the room feel almost like a conservatory with a view of the clouds,’ says Miles. Multiple seating areas in the large drawing room are connected by the use of a Schumacher bottle-green silk velvet on sofas, and chairs in a Brunschwig & Fils linen.
Miles and David say that the extraordinary views over Manhattan were considered in each room’s floor plan and, as the apartment is so high up, they employed another trick to establish something that a house usually has – a sense of the outdoors. ‘We used a lot of indoor plants to soften the space and give a contrast to the metal and steel outside,’ says Miles. The final result? An extraordinary homage to an English country house in the sky.
Redd Kaihoi: reddkaihoi.com | Loyzaga: loyzaga.mx
Nicole Franzen1/3A chandelier sourced from Christie’s serves as an elegant centrepiece above the English Regency mahogany table and Chippendale chairs covered in Pierre Frey’s ‘Amalfi – Carreaux’ cotton in olive. They pick up on the green tones of a Khotan rug and curtains in Lee Jofa’s ‘Chinese Lantern’ linen.
Nicole Franzen2/3Bed hangings and curtains in ‘Oleander’ linen by Jean Monro, lined with Kravet silk taffeta and trimmed with Samuel & Sons’ ball fringe, contribute to the classic country-house feel. Beside the bed, an English silver column lamp stands on a Dutch Rococo-style burl elm tobacco table, bought at auction.
Nicole Franzen3/3The clean lines and pared-back monochrome palette ensure the focus is on the extraordinary view, framed by one of only two picture windows that have been retained in the apartment, and the sculpture that appears poised to take flight over the city.
