Noel Jeffrey: The Transformative Power of Design
Posted on Dec 2, 2008 by Donna Sapolin
Written by Donna Sapolin
Like many interior designers, New York-based Noel Jeffrey of The Jeffrey Design Group focuses on creating schemes that express the needs and tastes of his clients. And so, he is more comfortable speaking in general terms about the types of clients he has than about a signature style. “We do both modern work and traditional work, and our traditional is far from pure,” he says. “We readily mix 18th-century pieces with 20th-century ones.”
“But all the interiors we create are high-luxury and high-quality because, without exception, our clients demand that.”
For Jeffrey, quality derives from the use of luxurious fabrics, top-notch craftsmen who ply their craft meticulously, antiques acquired from the very best dealers in New York and Paris, and fine art collections-which are often already in the possession of the homeowners who engage him. Jeffrey’s work, comprising inventive custom pieces along with an infusion of unexpected antique pieces, has played a defining role in the evolution of the city’s design character. For that reason, author Judith Gura included rooms Jeffrey created in her recently-released tome, “New York Interior Design-1935-1985″-rooms located in the previous apartment of the couple whose residence is shown below.
When Jeffrey took on the interiors of the latter-a 3,200-square-foot Upper East Side Manhattan unit-he imported wares from the first project into the second. But, the pieces work equally well in their new setting-bearing testimony to the timeless dimensions of his work.
Jeffrey embellished the architecture of the living room, adding new beams to the ceiling to create a more symmetrical design. Working with a paint contractor whom he has used for many years, he coated the walls and ceilings in a single neutral tone–in order to show off the significant late 20th-century artworks collected by the owners, he says. But he gave the ceiling a high gloss finish.
“I wanted it to be very reflective to make the space feel larger,” he says.
Differently patterned rugs divide the room into two distinct sections and bring colors seen in the paintings (for example, the Kenneth Noland canvas at left) down to floor level.
A mix of furnishings with sculptural forms complements the vertical Beverly Pepper sculptures in the room. Among the furnishings: an Art Deco-inspired chair in a light gray wool designed by Jeffrey in the late 1970s and seen in the Gura book; a Louis XVIth chair; a glass and gilded bronze coffee table designed by Bagues in the ‘20s and ‘30s; a custom velvet sofa that Jeffrey modeled after a Jansen piece; and a round custom ottoman dressed in a gray silk fabric that is edged in a dark gray bullion fringe.
Jeffrey designed the sofa situated on the other side of the living room in 1979. It is upholstered in a black cut-velvet damask that harmonizes beautifully with the Milton Avery painting hanging above. Two early 19th-century French Empire chairs wearing charcoal gray leather accompany a mahogany table, which Jeffrey designed for the same client’s prior residence.
The designer enhanced the shell of the dining room by upholstering the walls in a neutral-toned silk and adding a large circular element to the ceiling. “The architecture of the building is not great,” says Jeffrey.
“We thought the ceiling was too low so we created this round component, which is slightly higher than the main surface. When illuminated it conveys the feeling of a skylight.”
Beneath the new overhead fixture, The designer placed a late 18th-century Louis XVIth dining table surrounded by eight Karl Springer black lacquer chairs. The set-up is a classic example of his irreverent blends of new and old pieces.
The room’s four sconces are antique crystal Bagues designs. The Japanese screen in the corner purchased from Ariane Dandois (once one of the most important dealers in Paris, says Jeffrey) not only contributes a loftier scale but also echoes the dark tones of the chairs, thereby bridging the dining set to the late 19th-century mahogany-and-marble sideboard.
The headboard Jeffrey designed for the master bedroom spans the space between twin custom mirrors, adding a lyrical visual rhythm to a wall upholstered in gray silk. The headboard frame is fashioned in cream colored silk rather than wood and is demarcated from the gray silk main body by golden nailheads.
An Art Deco desk and chair, which outfitted the couple’s prior place, stand at the left side of the bed. On the right side, a small chest does double-duty as a nightstand. The identical 1940s-inspired mirrors and the Poillerat wrought-iron lamps beneath them provide a dose of symmetry to the composition. It is a lesson in harmony achieved through geometry-the lamp’s circular shades counterbalance the vertical rectangles of the mirrors and the headboard’s curvaceous horizontal linearity. Pale carpeting and neutral walls form a soothing shell for the furnishings.
.
.
To shape a home in New York’s Trump Towers for a twenty-something art dealer, Jeffrey joined two apartments, lined the floors in limestone tile, and gave the walls a Venetian plaster treatment. “The objective was to shape a neutral background that could showcase extremely important works of art,” says the designer.
In an area located just outside the dining room, Jeffrey placed a custom limed- oak console topped in back granite. Above, a Calder lithograph picks up the surface’s dark hues as well as those of the flanking side chairs, which are upholstered in a gray and black fabric.
The same chairs outfit the adjacent dining room table-a mahogany English Regency model topped with a Calder stabile. A stained limed oak built-in provides storage and enriches the room’s stark black and cream shell, a gallery-like setting, that highlights the Miro painting and Manzu sculpture.
What are you up to now?
We’re extraordinarily busy. We’re doing two townhouses on Manhattan’s west side. One is for a young couple in their thirties, which will be very edgy modern with colorful furniture and some white and black touches. The other one is for a couple in their forties, and it is much more traditional with some modern thrown in. We’re designing two additional apartments for couples in their thirties who are starting families. Both are big renovations and will be filled with the highest quality 20th-century furniture-ranging from the Art Deco period through to the 1940s and 1950s.
We’re also doing a Palm Beach house project that will mix Art Deco pieces with high-quality 1950s furniture and a Long Island-based one that will be very colorful, very opulent, and very traditional. It will blend mid-‘20s and ‘30s pieces with 18th- and early 19th-century French pieces.
How do you approach a project?
When I meet the client and have an interview I find out what they like and then I run with it. Most everybody knows what he or she likes. I embellish on their preferences and give them an education in the process. At the end of a project, my clients are not the same people they were when they went in.
What do you like most about what you do?
The most fun part is the design process. That is 15% of what we do. The rest is about making it happen, which is very difficult. Shopping for antiques is quite enjoyable for me. I have to find very spectacular things. Since my projects are very different from one another, I get to see furniture in all different styles. Visiting these places that sell art and furniture makes for a very interesting life for me; my days are very varied.
.
RESOURCE LIST
UPPER EAST SIDE RESIDENCE
Sofa fabric: J. Robert Scott, Art above sofa: Milton Avery painting, Art on right wall: Hans Hoffman painting, Bronze sculpture on coffee table: Fernando Botero, Fabric on Deco lounge chairs: J. Robert Scott, Sofa fabric: Larsen, Throw pillows: Clarence House fabric; J. Robert Scott fringe, Coffee table: Malmaison Antiques, Ottoman fabric: J. Robert Scott; ottoman bullion: Passementerie, Guiltwood Fauteuil: Clarence House, Art on left wall: “Chevron” by Kenneth Noland, Art to the left of window (TOP): Imogen Cunningham photo, To the left of window (BOTTOM): Edward Weston photo, Tall sculptures on right: Beverly Pepper, Leather upholstery on mahogany armchairs: J. Robert Scott, Roman shades fabric: J. Robert Scott, Sofa fabric: J. Robert Scott
DINING ROOM: Wall upholstery fabric: Clarence House, Sconces: Nesle Inc., Art above server: David Smith, Sculpture on dining table: Henri Laurens, Chandelier: John Rosselli
MASTER BEDROOM: Headboard: Henry Chan Upholstery, Headboard & dustskirt fabric: Clarence House, Wall upholstery fabric: Old World Weavers, Desk chair fabric: J. Robert Scott, Iron table lamps: L’Art de Vivre, Mirrors: APF Framemakers, Custom night table: Ambience
MASTER BEDROOM SITTING ROOM: Chairs & ottoman: Jonas Upholstery; Fabric: Lee Jofa, Lumbar pillow: Lee Jofa, Photograph on wall between chairs: Robert Maplethorpe, Carpet: Patterson, Flynn & Martin, Floor lamp: Lorin Marsh, Round table: Antique
MANHATTAN RESIDENCE
DINING ROOM:
Custom designed NJI bar cabinet: Greg Gurfein, Wall upholstery fabric: Stroheim & Romann, Chairs: Artistic Frame, Art above bar cabinet: Alexander Calder, Chairs: Artistic Frame, Fabric on dining chairs: J. Robert Scott, Dining table: antique, Art on back right wall: Joan Miro
Photographs by William Waldron.
Beautiful use of the space. Wonderful design integrity.