![\"Estimated](\"https:\/\/www.elledecor.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/clock-regular.4ddebeb.svg\")
3 min read<\/p>\n3 min read<\/p>\n
Above: A view of the dining room, with paintings by Rashid Johnson.<\/p>\n
A former carriage house on the Upper East Side with an unmistakable red brick fa\u00e7ade has a story to tell. Once renovated by the architect Fran\u00e7ois de Menil, and inhabited by legendary art dealer Larry Gagosian, it then underwent yet another transformation at the hands of architect and designer Nicolas Schuybroek<\/a> in collaboration with Matteo Fraticelli (of FROM Architects<\/a>). From the moment he saw it, Schuybroek recognized the home\u2019s potential\u2014or, rather, he intuited that the house had more to say.<\/p>\n \u201cArchitecturally, it had strong bones and a quiet confidence, but it was frozen in a very specific moment of 1990s New York,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was glamour but also fatigue, as if it had lived intensely and then paused.\u201d<\/p>\n The living room of an Upper East Side townhouse designed by Nicolas Schuybroek with architect Matteo Fraticelli. Sofa and armchair by Jean Roy\u00e8re; rattan armchair by Franco Albini for Bonacina 1889; floor lamp by Ingrid Donat; end table by Diego Giacometti. On the pillar, paintings by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (left) and Tomma Abts (right).<\/p>\n Schuybroek, who launched his Brussels and Paris-based practice in 2011, is known for pairing crisp lines with sumptuous textures to create dynamic spaces, inside and out, that are at once sharp, warm, and inviting. His work includes projects in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and runs to hotels, retail spaces, residences, and even a line of objects. Transforming this house in New York presented a particular challenge, he says.<\/p>\n The dining room table and chairs are by Jean Prouv\u00e9, and a bronze sculpture by Sherrie Levine hangs over a bookcase by Charlotte Perriand. Artworks by Wade Guyton; porcelain sculpture by Jeff Koons.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m less interested in comfort as a constant than in comfort that is discovered.\u201d \u2014Nicolas Schuybroek<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the outset the house asserted itself through proportion, light, and sequence. It was never meant to disappear behind art or furniture but to engage actively with them,\u201d he says. \u201cI saw it as a musical score, because its structure already contained rhythm, pauses, and moments of intensity. Our task was not to overwrite it but to interpret it: adjusting tempo, sharpening silences, and introducing new harmonies.\u201d<\/p>\n A set of white armchairs and sofa by Pierre Paulin and rattan armchairs by Janine Abraham and Dirk Jan Rol surround a cocktail table by Max Ingrand. Lamp by Pierre Guariche; artwork by Danh Vo.<\/p>\n To accomplish this, Schuybroek brought in light and dark travertine marble, Douglas fir, and leather to create an atmosphere that was by turns calm and intense. \u201cI\u2019m less interested in comfort as a constant than in comfort that is discovered through progression,\u201d Schuybroek says. \u201cThe materials function as emotional registers within a clear spatial sequence, rather than as decorative elements.\u201d<\/p>\n The placement of each work of art came out of a dialogue between Schuybroek and the home\u2019s owner. \u201cWe spoke less about visibility and more about resonance\u2014where a work could breathe, where it could hold tension, where it might quietly surprise,\u201d Schuybroek says. \u201cArt was never treated as an endpoint; it actively shaped circulation, proportion, and moments of pause. The house became a shared composition between architecture, art, and lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The downstairs living room features a sofa by Carlo Scarpa, a stool and chair by Charlotte Perriand, and a cocktail table by Ado Chale. Custom Venetian terrazzo flooring; artwork by Howardena Pindell (left) and Emmi Whitehorse (right).<\/p>\n Now light enters the living room through the home\u2019s original square windows\u2014an echo of Pierre Chareau\u2019s famed glass block house in Paris, the Maison de Verre (built between 1928 and \u201932)\u2014as well as via large skylights, \u201creworked as incisions\u2026 Their role goes beyond illumination. They are tools that modulate perception, breaking the severity of materials with ephemeral geometries.\u201d This task is shared by the rounded forms of the furnishings, which include pieces by the French greats: Pierre Paulin, Jean Roy\u00e8re, and Jean Prouv\u00e9.<\/p>\n See Inside This Revamped NYC Carriage House \u201c[This project] is exemplary in its refusal to be spectacular,\u201d Schuybroek insists. \u201cIt reflects my interest in restraint, emotional sequencing, and architecture as a psychological experience. It\u2019s about creating intensity without noise, richness without excess. If there is a signature here, it lies in the pursuit of quiet complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Genevieve Walker.<\/p>\n![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9f7a4cfe-9a33-4df7-9f7d-6c2c26a434b0.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Adrian Gaut<\/p>\n![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dfd44eb8-f2b0-4ec6-81b5-da27b818f825.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Adrian Gaut<\/p>\n![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0173c667-8624-4630-889c-729c016d0ee8.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Adrian Gaut<\/p>\n![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1e24726a-24e1-484e-8deb-dc136ede78d0.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Adrian Gaut<\/p>\n![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ac56b203-50e6-409b-b9f1-290db163f5ed.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Open Gallery![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.elledecor.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/arrow-right.7440adc.svg\" "\\"Black"){kind=icon}
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