{"id":267703,"date":"2025-11-14T16:50:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T21:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_project&p=267703"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:44:43","slug":"new-york-art-deco-town-house-greg-natale","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/new-york-art-deco-town-house-greg-natale\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sumptuous New York Town House Takes Center Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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November 14, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Peter\u00a0Webster<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Anson Smart; Styling: Mariana Marcki-Matos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Sumptuous New York Town House Takes Center Stage<\/h1>\n\n\n

Australian designer Greg Natale<\/a>\u2019s stylistic evolution could be viewed through the lens of American movies. He established his reputation with a bold, contemporary take on Hollywood Regency\u2019s high-contrast glamour. Later, he refined his approach by reimagining the sleek sophistication of streamline moderne for today. But it\u2019s a slightly different movie-informed sensibility\u2014the art deco era as refracted through 1970\u2019s European cinema\u2014that seems to pervade his eponymous firm\u2019s recent makeover of a narrow 19th-century town house in New York. Not literally\u2014with one or two exceptions, nothing in the 3,330-square-foot residence dates from the prewar period\u2014but as a poetic infusion from the sumptuous 1930\u2019s world evoked in the films of Bernardo Bertolucci, Luchino Visconti, and other masters of historical lyricism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project\u2019s continental aura came with the brief from repeat clients Leticia Francini and Stephen Ninnes, Australians who had acquired the four-story, mixed-use property on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side as an above-the-shop pied-\u00e0-terre. The ground-floor retail space would become a white-box studio for their Art With Love Foundation\u2014an organization with outposts in Brisbane, Australia, and Florence, Italy, that offers free workshops in Renaissance painting techniques. The couple, who have homes in both countries, called Natale with the assignment while\u2014as the designer reports\u2014\u201cThey were in Paris eating at maximalist restaurants like Mondaine de Pariso.\u201d They wanted some of that color, pattern, and layering in their new American bolt-hole, telling him, \u201cWe have this green and pink vision in our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg Natale Gives A New York Gem A Hollywood Makeover<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"living
In the living room of a New York town house renovated by Greg Natale, a wallpaper\nmural based on Wassily Kandinsky\u2019s 1935 painting Deux points verts<\/em> is one of the few\nperiod-specific cues informing the 3,330-square-foot residence\u2019s European art deco\u2013era ambience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"brick
Only 12\u00bd feet wide, the 19th-century brick building has new exterior steelwork, including\nthe doors, windows, and balcony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Natale obliged by painting the rooms\u2014both walls and ceilings\u2014in a rich palette of blush, plum, and terra-cotta, paired with greens that range from deep and muted to light and breezy. Colorful shades of veined marble\u2014Calacatta Viola, Rosso Levanto, Verde Alpi\u2014are deployed just as expressively, not only on floors, walls, countertops, and a fireplace but also in framing nearly every portal and door. The lavishly detailed stonework was facilitated by the clients\u2019 close relationship with an Italian quarrier and fabricator near their Forte dei Marmi villa; the company cut all the marble there before flying masons over for an installation that took several months. This included an exterior intervention: the reinstatement of a historically appropriate double street entrance\u2014two doors, defined by fluted limestone pilasters, leading to the art foundation and the residence, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the flooring is engineered oak in a herringbone pattern of Natale\u2019s design. The paint, marble, and wood create a vivid yet warmly welcoming interior envelope, made even more intimate by the modest scale\u2014the brick building is only 12\u00bd feet wide. The town house had been renovated in the \u201970\u2019s, and Natale retained the general layout but stripped it down to the studs. \u201cBecause they\u2019re not living there full-time, they just needed a sitting room, a kitchen, and a dining room,\u201d notes the designer, who placed the living spaces on the middle level, sandwiched between a pair of two-bedroom floors\u2014enough to accommodate the couple\u2019s five adult children when visiting New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"living
The style is suggested through color, shape, and texture, not provenance\u2014evident in the sinuous curves of Gianfranco Frattini\u2019s 1971 Sesann sofa and ottoman, the plush sheepskin upholstering Arnold Madsen\u2019s 1944 Clam armchairs, and the floral profusion of Anna Bonino\u2019s custom paper pendant fixture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Energizing, room-expanding mirror paneling appears throughout, most notably as an art deco\u2013inflected arrangement of bronze- and smoke-hued rectangles in the dining area\u2014the only space with a white ceiling. Natale uses that blank canvas for another period flourish: a starburst molding centered on an \u201980\u2019s Murano-glass chandelier that\u2019s like a modern take on Italy\u2019s flowing Liberty style. But it\u2019s a couple of murals that set an overt \u201930\u2019s- and \u201940\u2019s-European tone: An embroidered linen-and-silk riff on Henri Matisse\u2019s Jazz cutouts runs the length of the second-floor hallway, while one side of the living room is spanned by a wallpaper blowup of Wassily Kandinsky\u2019s 1935 painting Deux points verts, a work in which rectilinear Bauhaus meets biomorphic surrealism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The furniture\u2014vintage and contemporary pieces, most of them Italian\u2014echoes that potent mix. \u201cEven though I\u2019m a bit of a maximalist, my foundation lies in minimalism and plain lines,\u201d Natale acknowledges. \u201cSo I look on a project like this through a clean, modernist lens.\u201d Ergo, the living room\u2019s Gianfranco Frattini \u201970\u2019s Sesann sofa\u2014an expanse of sybaritic softness constrained by chrome tubing\u2014faces the Daliesque profile of Shawna and Matt Heide\u2019s concrete-framed Iris mirror above the elegantly simple Verde Alpi fireplace. Overhead, a custom Anna Bonino pendant fixture\u2014a constellation of paper-flower globes\u2014blossoms like festive fireworks. A similar playfulness animates the dining area, where the multicolored chandelier finds a counterpart in the painterly swirls of Dirk van der Kooij\u2019s recycled-plastic Meltingpot table, surrounded by Juliana Lima Vasconcellos\u2019 Giraffe chairs, their triangular backs suggesting constructivist sculpture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft Hues Give This Town House A Rich Glow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"powder
Alesia Sirokina\u2019s Bauhaus-inspired Exhibition sconce illuminates the powder room. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"dining
The dining area\u2019s vintage Murano glass chandelier surveys Dirk van der Kooij\u2019s Meltingpot table and Juliana Lima Vasconcellos\u2019s Giraffe chairs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Italian rationalism<\/a>\u2014strongly influenced by constructivist ideas\u2014is evoked in the complex inlaid-marble pattern on the main bathroom\u2019s shower wall. In the adjacent bedroom, a touch of art deco Japonisme surfaces in Mehmet and Dimonah Iksel\u2019s hand-painted White Blossom wallpaper, inspired by Edo-period art. It backdrops another Daliesque silhouette\u2014Vincent Darr\u00e9\u2019s Neofutur headboard, its witty, asymmetrical outline a prelude to the residence\u2019s coup de th\u00e9\u00e2tre: the dressing room. Connected to the bedroom by a trio of marble-encrusted portals, the windowed space is raised a few steps, with a lacquered, altarlike cabinet at its center. Sculptural slabs of marble, cut into surreal shapes, project from the sidewalls like totemic sentinels, creating open closets. \u201cThe client asked that the room look like a shop,\u201d Natale explains, but it could just as easily be a movie set awaiting Dominique Sanda or some other \u201970\u2019s screen siren to make her entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside the Home’s Theatrical Makeover By Greg Natale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"brick
The original double entry was reinstated, serving a public painting studio and the residence,\nrespectively. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"guest
A guest room\u2019s \u201970\u2019s Lido lamp by Peill & Putzler tops a nightstand, also vintage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"sage
Gabriel Hendifar\u2019s Trapeze wall fixture complements the kitchen\u2019s Calacatta Viola\nmarble backsplash and countertop. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"hallway
Channeling Henri Matisse\u2019s cutouts, a hallway\u2019s mural in embroidered linen\nand silk overlooks engineered oak\u2013herringbone flooring of Natale\u2019s design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"main
Created and installed by the Forte dei Marmi, Italy\u2013based supplier of the stonework\nthroughout, the main shower features an abstract marble inlay reminiscent of rationalist art.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"corner
Umberto Riva\u2019s fiberglass A.D.A. lamp, on a vintage burl-wood side table, accompanies the living\nroom sofa. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"main
Inspired by Japanese Edo-period art, Mehmet\nand Dimonah Iksel\u2019s hand-painted White Blossom wallpaper cocoons the sleeping area in the main\nbedroom, while the other walls and ceiling are painted a sympathetic shade of terra-cotta.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"soothing
The unifying hue of the walls, ceiling, Giulio Iacchetti Arcom nightstand, and Verde Alpi windowsill lends serenity to a second, dormered guest room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"guest
Achille and Pier Giacomo\nCastiglioni\u2019s Viscontea pendant hangs above Campbell-Rey\u2019s Folding Ribbon hand-knotted wool rug in the first guest room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"bathroom
Its bathroom features Pole and Circle, another\nSirokina sconce.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"dressing
Open closets with sculptural marble-slab dividers line the main dressing room,\nwhere Lorenza Bozzoli\u2019s Pirouette armchair joins a custom island cabinet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
PROJECT TEAM<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

GREG NATALE:<\/strong> RENEE ALAM; GEORGA GOODWIN. MONDO MARMO ITALIA: <\/strong>STONEWORK. VECTRA CONSTRUCTION:<\/strong> GENERAL CONTRACTOR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRODUCT SOURCES<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FROM FRONT PAPIERS DE PARIS: <\/strong>WALLPAPER (LIVING ROOM). TACCHINI:<\/strong> SOFA, OTTOMAN, LOUNGE CHAIRS, LAMPS. DAGMAR:<\/strong> ARMCHAIRS. CONCRETE CAT:<\/strong> MIRROR. CRIZU:<\/strong> CUSTOM PENDANT FIXTURE. NORDIC KNOTS: <\/strong>RUGS (LIVING ROOM, BEDROOM 1). GIOBAGNARA:<\/strong> STOOL (LIVING ROOM), BENCH (HALL). SQUARE IN CIRCLE:<\/strong> SCONCES (POWDER ROOM, BATHROOM). KOOIJ:<\/strong> TABLE (DINING AREA). THE INVISIBLE COLLECTION:<\/strong> CHAIRS (DINING AREA), HEADBOARD (MAIN BEDROOM). SOHO HOME: <\/strong>BED (BEDROOM 1). FLOS: <\/strong>PENDANT FIXTURE. APPARATUS:<\/strong> SCONCE (KITCHEN). IKSEL:<\/strong> WALLPAPER (MAIN BEDROOM). MARTINELLI LUCE:<\/strong> TABLE LAMP. ORN\u00c4S:<\/strong> BENCH. ALLIED MAKER:<\/strong> PENDANT FIXTURE (MAIN BEDROOM), CEILING FIXTURE (HALL). DE GOURNAY: <\/strong>WALLPAPER (HALL). DESIGN WITHIN REACH:<\/strong> HEADBOARD (BEDROOM 2). MYHOME COLLECTION: <\/strong>NIGHTSTAND. STARK: <\/strong>CARPET (BEDROOM 2, DRESSING ROOM). LORENZA BOZZOLI DESIGN:<\/strong> CHAIR (DRESSING ROOM). THROUGHOUT THROUGH 1STDIBS: <\/strong>VINTAGE FURNITURE AND FIXTURES. KOHLER CO.:<\/strong> SINK AND SHOWER FITTINGS. TONGUE & GROOVE:<\/strong> ENGINEERED OAK FLOORING. BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: <\/strong>PAINT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n