Incollect Magazine - Issue 8

G il Schafer is renowned as one of the foremost residential architects of today, designing houses of classical elegance that “live modern.” In this, his third book, he shares the stories of eight remarkable residences and how they evolved. From initial design briefs to historical sources of inspiration, the thought processes, practical considerations, and site conditions that shaped the final outcomes are described in detail. Illustrated with lush photography of the exteriors, interiors, and surrounding landscapes, along with site plans illustrating how everything flows together. Included are insightful anecdotes about his clients and how their histories, lifestyles, dreams, and evolving lives drive design considerations. In the introduction to this new book, Gil poses the question, “What is different about this book?” He answers that with a story about a change in his own life — his later-in-life first-time role as husband and stepdad, and how that “glorious mess” that is family life has deepened his understanding of how people live, how they use their homes, which in turn has made him a better architect. As grand as these houses are, they all share a sense of comfort, charm, and welcoming warmth that is the hallmark of a truly great home. For Gil Schafer and family, his fortunate clients, and as we can experience in these pages, this is “Home At Last.” Incollect Magazine 91 Home At Last: Enduring Design for the American House by Gil Schafer III with Mark Kristal Photography by Eric Piasecki © Rizzoli New York, 2024 rizzoliusa.com and Amazon ENGLISH SPEAKING A 2022 Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, McKim, Mead & White Award winner, this new stone house was inspired by 18th and 19th-century classical houses of the English countryside. Local fieldstone ties the house to its rural Hudson Valley, New York location. Photo by Eric Piasecki HOME AT LAST Gil’s former bachelor apartment in New York City’s Greenwich Village on the parlor floor of an 18th-century townhouse with thirteen-foot-high ceilings. Over 20 years ago when Gil first purchased the renovated apartment, he restored it to classical 1840s vernacular, with Ionic columns, 3-panel, faux-grained mahogany doors, and recessed crown moldings. A refreshed design scheme with subtle updates gave the room a lighter, more contemporary feeling while keeping most of the original much-loved furnishings and the traditional envelope intact. A massive neoclassical mahogany bookcase was designed by Gil for the space and next to it, appropriately, is an antique leather library chair. The English Regency breakfast table is home to a large fig tree, which enjoys abundant natural light from the pair of French doors nearby; the table is paired with a 19th-century leather- seated wooden chair. A large-scale antique lantern underscores the vertical aspect of the room while adding reflectivity. The dramatic mantel with a bold carved Greek key frieze was designed by Gil and custom- fabricated in the ancient scagliola plaster technique to mimic marble. Hanging above, a circa 1960s work on paper by Jack Sonenberg. The diamond-patterned sisal rug is layered with an Iranian flatweave carpet sporting boldly graphic stripes; similar motifs in the pillow, ceramics, and artwork gently nudge the room into a more nuanced aesthetic. Gil, his interior designer wife, and their two children now live in a new apartment in New York City. Photo by Eric Piasecki