Raised by two aesthetes in an historic 1899 home in Hartford, Connecticut, Audrey Rose Smith had an art-filled childhood. Her father was a preservation architect, and her mom ran an artwork gallery, so their residence was continuously hosted by artists and their work. It is solely logical that Audrey later turned a gallerist herself.
It additionally makes the sense that she swiftly falls in love with a fellow inventive. Solely eight months after assembly Ecuadorian photographer and designer Vicente Muñoz, the pair collectively bought their prewar Clinton Hill residence in Brooklyn. They married quickly after, partnering in matrimony in addition to actual property with out trying again.
Eight years later, the couple has cultivated a tight-knit and like-minded group within the neighborhood. Flip-of-the-century buildings by architects like William Tubby, Montrose Morris, and Ebenezer L. Roberts pepper the streets the place they continuously run into pals and colleagues. “It appears like an artwork world sitcom,” Audrey quips. “The farmers market is actually thrilling.” —Morgan Goldberg
“I consider a home as an advanced machine during which one thing new breaks down on daily basis: a lamp, a faucet, a lock, an electrical socket, the boiler, the fridge…. However after we can overlook in regards to the accountability of steady upkeep, we really feel completely happy. Then the opposite aspect of the coin, against the tasks of possession, is sheer gratitude.”
That was the pondering of Álvaro Siza, the good Portuguese architect who, on the age of 89, continues to encourage a youthful era. Of their area, design duo Eugenia Rolando and Federico Patacchiola of Paros Architettura—a pair in life in addition to at work—begin from these very phrases to create subtly ingenious locations.
A chief instance of their work is Casa Costantino, a small however elegant Rome residence. The constructing, a Nineteen Sixties construction within the Ostiense district, is a stone’s throw from the well-known Garbatella space. The 700-square-foot residence is all trendy, and because of Paros Architettura, it has been reworked from an outdated household residence filled with reminiscences right into a light-flooded setting with a recent really feel. —Ludovica Stefan
Stéphane Monnet and Jeroen Dijkstra both have good luck, good timing, or just the great sense to know when one thing simply feels proper. Once they had been residence searching in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Stéphane was searching for out distinctly European environment—since he was transferring from Toronto—and so they discovered them in a one-bedroom property, downtown. “With all of its prospers, big home windows, and open areas, it was an ideal match,” says Stéphane. “It was already snatched up, however that deal fell by way of on the final minute.”
Set inside a constructing from the Eighties, dealing with a busy road on one finish and a verdant courtyard on the opposite, their residence has been not too long ago restored to replicate what existed means again when. Intricate crown molding sprawled throughout the ceilings whereas wainscoting lined the decrease half of the partitions, and that artistry was painted in shades of inexperienced to distinction the white in between. Home windows stretched over their contrasting out of doors views, and loads of gentle streamed in. The couple additionally had a non-public balcony to share, in case they ever wished a more in-depth have a look at the birds, whose nice track woke them within the morning. —Kelly Dawson