Interiors & Renovation

The Insider: Unique Furnishings Lend European Flair to Family's Bed Stuy Rental

Art and unique furnishings set against a backdrop of high-ceilinged rooms with original millwork provide drama — no renovation required.

Photo by Chris Mottalini

by Cara Greenberg

10/31/2024 0

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Brooklyn has attained a new level of sophistication, now that Crina Arghirescu Rogard’s architecture and design studio is here. Raised in Budapest and educated in Milan, then based in Paris for a few years before relocating to New York and working in the office of renowned designer Adam Tihany, Arghirescu Rogard now lives with her family in the upper triplex of a Bed Stuy brownstone, which she has furnished in a chic and arty way.

Because their home is a rental, Arghirescu Rogard’s architectural interventions had to be delicate. “I didn’t have a chance to play with the layout, like I do for most of our projects, but I had the permission of the owner to remove millwork enclosures and different storage solutions” that had been used to partition the space, she said. “We weren’t tearing down walls.”

High-ceilinged rooms with original doors and moldings provide some of the drama. The rest comes from a curated assortment of vintage and contemporary art, furnishings, collectible design, and housewares acquired over the years in connection with Arghirescu Rogard’s work and travels. “It’s a collection of fun pieces that I sourced or that came from designers we collaborate with,” she said. One of these was Gaetano Pesce, associated with the radical Italian design movement Memphis, who died earlier this year. “I came across his work while doing an upstate project, and had the opportunity to meet him and visit his workshop. There are Gaetano samples and reminders throughout the house.”

Other frequent collaborators are Liz Collins, an accomplished Brooklyn-based textile and multimedia artist; Liz Hopkins, who works in resin; and Minjae Kim, an avant-garde Korean artist now based in New York.

The entry hall is a mini-gallery, with resin and plywood wall sconces by Liz Hopkins, a crocheted ceiling pendant by Hamimi Design Collective, a group of a female artisans Arghirescu Rogard encountered in Morocco, and a rope-wrapped newel post by Nathalie Sann Regnault.

The front parlor serves as workspace for Arghirescu Rogard’s team. She created the totem of storage boxes, which holds office supplies. Form takes precedence over function in this case. “We take them off one by one” when access is needed, she said. “Every day we’re scrambling.”

The coffee table is a resin piece by Liz Hopkins, with an integrated hideout for Arghirescu Rogard’s cat. The puzzle-like green chair is the work of Memphis-inspired contemporary woodworker Brendan Timmins.

Other pieces in the front parlor include Joe Colombo’s upholstered fiberglass Elda chair (top photo), a 1960s design, and a black resin dining table by Liz Hopkins, surrounded by two-tone birch chairs by Raini Home, crafted in Brooklyn.

BOOKSHELVES WITH TABLE PAINTING AND WOOD CHAIR

A second resin table by Liz Hopkins in the rear parlor, where the kitchen is located, fits together with the one in the adjacent room to make a larger surface when needed.

Open shelving on the kitchen wall was one of the additions Arghirescu Rogard was able to make. The wall art is a vintage mixed-media piece, artist unknown. It was found at Holler & Squall, late of Brooklyn Heights, now online, which was also the source of the unusual chairs.

Ceramic pottery, dinnerware, and glassware were mostly acquired on visits to Portugal.

DOUBLE DOORS WITH FOOT SCULPTURE AND WHITE GLOBE STANDING LAMP

Arghirescu Rogard removed a millwork closet to open up the space between the two main rooms on the second floor.

The red Umbo bookcase in the primary bedroom is an historic piece by Kay LeRoy Ruggles, an American inventor and designer of the mid-20th century. The oversized foot is the foam UP7 chair, designed in 1969 by Gaetano Pesce, a leading light of the Italian Radical Design movement. The leather sling chair by the window was sourced from Anthropologie.

In the family/media room, Arghirescu Rogard reupholstered a Mister sofa by Philippe Starck, a vintage piece, in green and pink. The Raku coffee table is her team’s own design, its ceramic top inspired by Japanese crackle glaze, its base hammered bronze. Several Raku tables of different sizes can be combined for a custom design.

[Photos by Chris Mottalini]

The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

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