{"id":173874,"date":"2025-09-22T11:48:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/173874\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:48:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:48:17","slug":"this-west-village-home-blends-english-character-with-townhouse-charm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/173874\/","title":{"rendered":"This West Village Home Blends English Character with Townhouse Charm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florals and chintz. Sleek and modern. Traditional and comfortable\u2014not all designers can easily move among different aesthetics. But decorator Benjamin Vandiver, whose projects range from modern bachelor pads<\/a> to bows and florals<\/a> for LoveShackFancy<\/a> founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen, is one of the rare designers with a chameleon-like approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled for a while because, I was like, ‘I don\u2019t think I have a point of view,’\u201d Vandiver, the self-taught, New York-based designer says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think that\u2019s why I do what I do. I\u2019m genuinely moved by all of these different styles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vandiver’s early interest in style was forged in his grandmother\u2019s Kentucky home. \u201cHer house was always put together very well,\u201d he says. \u201cIt didn\u2019t grace the pages of ELLE Decor but it was actually really good. I think that just having been surrounded by that [style] at her home gave me the basic framework for what a home should feel like. I can see her in my work right now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"benjaminJoshua McHugh<\/p>\n

Among the first pieces of furniture Vandiver found for the project were the Jacques Adnet oak cabinet and the antique accent chair from Stephan\u00e9 Olivier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"benjaminJoshua McHugh<\/p>\n

The curtains are of a Pierre Frey fabric and the sconce is by Rose Uniacke.<\/p>\n

Vandiver brought that perspective to a recent project, a townhouse in Manhattan\u2019s West Village owned by Olivia Scanlon, founder of luxury personal styling agency, Luminaire<\/a>, and James Davies, founder of the Berkshires wellness retreat The Thyme<\/a>. The couple wanted to bring the home up to date with a gut renovation. <\/p>\n

Vandiver recognized Scanlon’s design sensibilities instantly. \u201cSo much of what I do is my intuition,\u201d he says. \u201cI wish I had some grand formula, but I don\u2019t… I understood her and my instincts were right.\u201d
<\/p>\n

The feeling was mutual. “Benjamin’s brilliance comes from the fact that he is a soul-seeker,” Scanlon says, “so the tenderness and care which comes through in the house is a direct result of him really understanding people and us.”<\/p>\n

She continues: “He’s deep and intuitive, so he manages to translate every detail of a space into a reflection of your inner self.”<\/p>\n

After presenting the couple with a board full of color schemes and fabric swatches, Vandiver moved his office into the townhouse’s parlor level. He worked there until the project was complete.<\/p>\n

The scheme they landed on was a blend of neutrals and brighter colors. \u201c[Scanlon] wanted calm and relaxing, but didn\u2019t want off white,\u201d Vandiver said. That led him to Joa\u2019s White from Farrow & Ball, a muddy beige color on the walls and jute rugs from Sacco throughout the house. He brought in other colors like saffron, rust, and emerald green through furniture, fabrics, and marble countertops. <\/p>\n

\"benjaminJoshua McHugh<\/p>\n

The kitchen counters are topped in a green stone.<\/p>\n

Vandiver also nodded to the family’s English heritage throughout the house, with reclaimed oak floors and skirted Nickey Kehoe sofas in the living room. \u201cI kept the curtains classic and as English as I could,\u201d he says. Vandiver also maintained the townhouse charm by keeping the original fireplace mantels and preserving the wall panels in the stairwells. <\/p>\n

One of Scanlon and Davies’ favorite parts of the renovation was the garden level music room with lime-washed walls and vintage furniture by midcentury stars Joe Colombo and Afra and Tobia Scarpa. “James is an audiophile so the room was designed around the custom speakers by OMA and the need to create an environment where the space would encompass these rich listening experiences,” Scanlon says. “I love how much depth there is to that room. It\u2019s poetic.”<\/p>\n

Vandiver added: \u201cThey\u2019re a young family, so we wanted to bring some freshness to this townhouse.\u201d Another youthful touch? When the family needs to retreat for television time, the upstairs family room acts as a cozy escape, with furniture covered in a floral print by Michael S. Smith for Jasper.<\/p>\n

But the highlight of it all, Vandiver recounted, was seeing Davies after the first night in the house. He had tears in his eyes as he said, \u201cI didn\u2019t know that I could feel like this at home.\u201d <\/p>\n

Take A Look Inside This West Village Brownstone\"benjaminOpen Gallery\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florals and chintz. Sleek and modern. Traditional and comfortable\u2014not all designers can easily move among different aesthetics. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,6837,103737,229,874,88,982,873,103736],"class_list":["post-173874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-c69542a1-c27d-4d0c-b64d-0139c99eaaa3","tag-design","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-locale-us","tag-shorttitle-a-west-village-townhouse-gets-a-fresh-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}