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4 min read<\/p>\n4 min read<\/p>\n
Above: In the living room a pair of chairs and a sofa covered in a Zak+Fox wool surround a custom cocktail table. Chandelier by F&C Osler; vintage side table by Ettore Sottsass; artwork by Reggie Burrows Hodges. The casement windows and mantel are original to the home.<\/p>\n
For decades Billy Cotton lived in a little apartment in Chelsea. \u201cIt was like part of my skin,\u201d he says. Like his homes in the Hamptons and Miami, the apartment was restrained, almost spare. \u201cI was a bit beauty-starved in my own environment,\u201d says the designer, who for a while considered residing in Paris, where he had once lived, working at the flea market.<\/p>\n
He found beauty closer to home in 2023, in the form of a third-floor apartment in a 19th-century Gramercy Park townhouse. Just a stone\u2019s throw from such Edith Wharton\u2013era landmarks as the National Arts Club and the Players Club, it was a space that could cradle his collections of books, 6th-century BCE Greek pottery, and George III mahogany furniture. With his partner Aaron Cator, an auction specialist in postwar and contemporary art, Cotton created a sanctuary where they could also entertain.<\/p>\n
![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/aaf6cf41-fa0a-4279-abee-0df33144b5a8.jpg\" "\\"Interior")
Frank Frances<\/p>\n
A view from the dining room into the living room in a prewar building on Gramercy Park, New York City, which was designed by Billy Cotton. An antique Venetian pendant hangs over a table topped by antique damask and a vase from Withington & Company. Wallpaper by Zuber and door frame paint by Farrow & Ball.<\/p>\n
Impressive casement windows in the living room look out onto the city\u2019s most mythic keyed park. \u201cBecause of this spectacular apartment that we\u2019re in, we get to experience the park from here, which is amazing,\u201d Cotton says.<\/p>\n
In his professional life he is known for marrying purity with character for creative clients including Cindy Sherman, Lisa Yuskavage, Andy Cohen, and Lily Allen, as well as for spots like the white-hot downtown restaurant Bridges, and for a line of fabrics, wallpaper, lighting, and furniture for Soane Britain. Cotton entered the pop cultural canon in 2025 when Allen sang about their collaboration on her album West End Girl: Billy Cotton got sorted \/ All the furniture ordered \/ I could never afford this.<\/p>\n
![\"Cozy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1dac721e-5d5a-4867-8a7a-b0249c09cbe4.jpg\" "\\"Cozy")
Frank Frances<\/p>\n
The bedroom features a custom bed covered in Porthault linens and black silk by Dedar. Sconces by Galerie des Lampes; antique chandelier; walls in a Loro Piana green striped velvet; artwork by Joe Bradley.<\/p>\n
The apartment boasts the serious furniture and art one would expect from a design-art power couple, including a monumental Victorian cut glass chandelier (brought in after another was deemed too small), works by contemporary artists such as Reggie Burrows Hodges, 17th-century paintings on octagonal panels, and an original carved marble mantelpiece.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were very, very upset by this idea that you\u2019d have a bedroom that does not have a lot of windows.\u201d \u2014Billy Cotton<\/p>\n
More surprising is the giant flat-screen TV. It\u2019s a nod to reality for the designer, who likes to crash out with Cator on the custom rolled-arm sofa upholstered in beige Zak+ Fox wool to watch Heated Rivalry or Real Housewives. For the otherwise erudite couple, there\u2019s no point in hiding the television away, since they love curling up in front of it on the rare occasions they\u2019re both home. \u201cIt brings us joy,\u201d Cotton says.<\/p>\n
![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/be1ed8c6-e72b-40d1-b212-ef199f51c949.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Frank Frances<\/p>\n
The kitchen\u2019s high gloss Sapele wood cabinetry and black granite floors can be seen from the dining room. An antique bonheur du jour desk is adjacent to the entry.<\/p>\n
The process of bringing everything together is the result of an ongoing dialogue between Cotton and Cator, both of whom are immersed in aesthetics in their day jobs. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly talking about taste, what we love, what we reach for and what we don\u2019t reach for, and how we define that for each other,\u201d Cator says.<\/p>\n
One point of brief contention was the art in the living room. After placing the rather mysterious and murky Burrows Hodges painting near the fireplace, Cator was excited to hang a similarly contemporary work on the prime real estate of the largest wall facing the park. But Cotton had other plans for that spot: 17-century panels depicting a Maltese shipwreck that were more Bridgerton than Basel. Cator has come to love them.<\/p>\n
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/87f4f892-c4ad-4d13-b149-6ad51e4708fa.jpg\" "\\"Antique")
Frank Frances<\/p>\n
An antique George III mahogany cabinet stands by a hinged window that allows light into the bedroom. The pair of octagonal 17th-century paintings are from Oliver Garland of Old Antiquarium Antiques.<\/p>\n
In its previous incarnations, the tiny kitchen had a Carrie Bradshaw\u2013ish lack of amenities, but Cotton wanted to be able to cook occasionally, so he conceived of a ship-style galley with narrow, efficient appliances and perfectly fitted lacquered mahogany cabinetry. A friend, the lighting designer Nathan Orsman, installed discreetly glowing illumination.<\/p>\n
When the couple\u2019s friends come over for pasta dinners (nothing too ambitious\u2014the kitchen is still limited), they sit in the dining room, which is lined with Zuber maritime toile wallpaper that Cotton tried to persuade clients to use for years. Now it anchors pieces like a tiny, haunting painting of strawberries by Max Xeno Karnig and a small ceramic by the queer Ugandan artist Leilah Babirye (which the couple agree is the most precious piece in the house).<\/p>\n
![\"Coffee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/70c06a6b-82e8-40aa-981c-93249b08c899.jpg\" "\\"Coffee")
Frank Frances<\/p>\n
The living room\u2019s cocktail table is topped with books, a silver box from Mantiques Modern, and an Egyptian bronze ibis from the 7th century BCE.<\/p>\n
Although Cotton\u2019s focus is on designing residential projects for families, his love for hotels inspired the cosseted, luxurious bedroom. Lined in Loro Piana emerald-green embossed-stripe velvet, the windowless room has a privacy that echoes one of his more viral projects: the former Brooklyn townhouse of Lily Allen and her former partner, actor David Harbour, with its controversial womblike, pink-upholstered primary suite.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were very, very upset by this idea that you\u2019d have a bedroom that does not have a lot of windows,\u201d Cotton says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s interesting, because I really love sleeping in a room that is dedicated to sleep.\u201d Although the room lacks natural light, Cotton created a clever workaround: a little dollhouse-esque cutout opening to the living room, with its expansive windows.<\/p>\n
Look Inside Billy Cotton\u2019s Gramercy Park Apartment![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/7e29e231-0a62-467a-9eaa-1ccba9bc8438.jpg\" "\\"Interior")
Open Gallery![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.elledecor.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/arrow-right.7440adc.svg\" "\\"Black"){kind=icon}
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\u201cI do sort of want to live in a hotel. Don\u2019t we all?\u201d says the designer. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of like my recreation.\u201d He proclaims his love for Villa d\u2019Este on Lake Como and the Lanesborough Hotel in London.<\/p>\n
Although designers and collectors are known for tinkering with personal projects over the span of their lifetimes, both Cotton and Cator consider the apartment done\u2014for now. \u201cIt\u2019s in a beautiful finished state,\u201d Cator says.<\/p>\n
So, will Cotton stay here for 25 years, as he did in Chelsea? \u201cI\u2019ve stopped having expectations,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThe older you get, the idea that you can plan for very long changes.\u201d<\/p>\n