Popular in the Southwest region and California, Spanish colonials are not a style you see very often around Westchester County, which is one of the reasons this particular house is so special.
Built over 100 years ago, the home features a lot of tile and stucco, materials that are prominent in Spanish-style homes. “We needed to modernize the home, but I wanted to stay true to the roots,” says Greenwich-based designer Andrea Sinkin. “I read textbooks on historical Spanish colonial homes and looked at thousands of pictures to understand what elements were authentic and what were not.”
An update under consideration was whether to lighten up the woodwork with paint or stain, but the homeowners and designer ultimately chose to leave it as is. “I’m very glad that we [kept] the original dark stain because it allowed us to have the stucco walls highlighted with contrast and show off the beautiful bones,” Sinkin adds.
One of the most striking features in the home is the massive and gracious living room with its wraparound balcony. Sinkin describes it as both inviting and quite regal. “When the [homeowner] originally texted me to ask if I was interested in helping her with the house, she sent me a picture of the living room and my heart went pitter patter,” says Sinkin. “All the dreams that you have as a little girl looking up at a balcony in a grand space like this suddenly flooded my mind.”
The team built this table and custom bench—it feels like a beautiful restaurant.
Because the room is so large, the designer divided it into sections. Back-to-back sofas allow for intimate seating by the fireplace, and Sinkin created a more relaxed and informal seating area on the opposite side where the kids play piano and games. “I always see a hub of activity with their family,” says Sinkin. “They play puzzles and games and do homework on that table.” Although the family moved into the home with quite a bit of furniture from their apartment in the city, the furnishings cool hues didn’t work in this space, which needed more warmth to pull together all the wood tones. All the furniture except the piano and sideboard are new, many were custom designed for the space. The living room’s fireplace is original, and the team did not change one thing about it. However, that is not the designer’s most cherished part. “My favorite moment in the living room is the back-to-back sofas with the console table between them and the two cordless lamps, as well as the beautiful, massive Talia chandelier from Visual Comfort,” says Sinkin.
Sinkin is especially fond of the Emerston Jasper Quartz countertops in the kitchen. “They are gorgeous and very durable, and we ran them up the back wall rather than adding tile,” she says. She also used an ogee edge, which she says is “so sexy.”
The kitchen was renovated in the 90s, but the layout was not working for this family of four which includes two young, very active kids. It was closed off from the rest of the home, you could not socialize in it, and there were a lot of blind corners that were unusable. “The moment I stood in the kitchen and looked at this boisterous, fun family with lots of friends and a busy life, I knew the kitchen had to be removed and walls taken down.”
The design team drew the new kitchen plans by hand and specced out cabinets, details, tiles, and finishes.
“The kitchen was open to the rest of the home, which has all of the historical elements,” says Sinkin. “We were very specific with wanting antique mirror and mesh insets for the cabinet doors. It was very important to me and the homeowners that the kitchen respected the history of the home and felt modern but also worked with the traditional elements around it.”
When the dining room was relocated to the front of the house, it became a moodier, more intimate space.
She says she also loves the corner pantry and the café-style dining table. “I wanted to give them a small, intimate dining table to sit together for family meals and we were able to do that with this bistro table and truly maximize the space,” she adds.
The banquette is custom from Century with fabric from Kravet. Where the kitchen meets the family room the designer chose “chunky, cushy barstools” that feel like living room furniture for even more seating options.
Off the kitchen is the mudroom, which was dark with paneling and and a wall of hooks that looked messy. “It was important for me to give them plenty of storage and places to put items so it would function, but have it be hidden away,” says Sinkin.
She chose Schumacher wallpaper to pull together the terra cotta tile that was original to the home and soft sage green for the woodwork.
“The paper is whimsical and joyful,” says Sinkin. “You can’t possibly look at it and be in a bad mood!” She used pink grasscloth on the ceiling as well to play off the wallcovering.
As part of the layout changes, the family and dining rooms swapped places. “The original family room was in the front of the house, which was dark with two small windows,” says Sinkin. “Then on the back of the house, they had this gorgeous sun-filled dining room.”
The new family room is light and airy with two walls of windows and is open to the kitchen thanks to the removal of a wall. The fireplace with its original historic tile ties the room to its grand past. “We used nubby texture roll tapestry fabric for throw pillows and for the cornice (fabrics from Holly Hunt) and a custom ottoman from Lexington,” says Sinkin of the family room choices. “The lighting (from Visual Comfort) is also a big important element in this space. I wanted it to be modern and warm.” To lighten the space, they also painted the trim in Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray.
Once the team relocated the dining room to the front of the house, it created a much moodier and more intimate space. The arched doorways are what “designers dream about” according to Sinkin. The eye-catching wallpaper is a mural from Thibaut.
One of the first items Sinkin selected for this room was the green Burlwood sideboard which is “unusual and special.” Everything in this space is new including the dining room table and custom chairs.
The magic continues upstairs in the primary bedroom, where the team closed up a Juliet balcony and reconfigured the built-ins, which were too shallow, giving the couple a lot more storage.
The new family room, which now opens to the kitchen, is light and airy with two walls of windows
The wife, who is Indian, wanted her heritage to be woven through the house and Sinkin found beautiful artwork showcasing places in India for both the primary bedroom and the dining room. She used the couple’s original bed, but added wallpaper, lighting, a rug (which they were able to get as a remnant), new window treatments, bedding, and nightstands. “The Thibaut wallpaper beautifully accents the millwork to make it pop and the room really does feel delightfully inviting and functional at the same time,” she says.
Because the home has historical features, Sinkin wanted the furniture and accessories to feel collected over time, as opposed to predictable sets. “It was important to have a feeling of old and new with a lot of the more traditional metal work elements and woodwork. Everything works together in a beautiful orchestra and sings in harmony.”
The Design Team
Designer: Andrea Sinkin
Project Manager: Ariel Carsen
Director of Finance: Kelly Grant
Special Clients and Project Liaison: Deanna Scopino
Contractor: Juliano Paladini, Paladini Construction
Countertops and Backsplash: Precision Stone
Wallpaper Hanger: Robert Anthony
Rugs: Turabyian and Sariyan of Greenwich
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