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The renovated Greenwich, Connecticut
home of Allison and Warren Kanders
as it appeared in Architectural Digest, 2001. |
In 1997, Warren Kanders bought a handsome Colonial Revival house in Greenwich, Connecticut, that was featured in an
Architectural Digest article from 200l. Allison Smith had quit her job as a coordinator at Comedy Central and they married at the Metropolitan Club in New York City in June, 1998. Warren Kanders is the Executive Chairman of Black Diamond, Inc., a company that manufactures and supplies armored military vehicles as well as other safety products for defense, homeland security, and commercial markets; He is also President of Kanders & Company, Inc., a private investment firm. In addition, since 2011 he has owned, in partnership with hotel investor Alan Kanders, the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut (a John Tackett Design project with Mariette Himes Gomez for the original owners to be featured in a future post).
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Homeowners Warren and Allison Kanders
with their son William in the 2001 issue of
Architectural Digest. |
Working with architect
Oliver Cope to extensively renovate and expand the house,
Mica Ertegun of
MAC II was hired as interior designer with the results featured in
Architectural Digest in 2001. Now, the house has been published in
Architectural Digest again, still with the Kanderses as the clients, but with interiors redone by
Joe Nahem of
Fox-Nahem Associates. Warren Kanders is now on the Board of the Whitney Museum and the homeowners wanted contemporary art to play a larger part in the décor. The aspect that interests
The Devoted Classicist is that he would not have been sure which pictures were from a 1990s design and which were from a concept 12 to 15 years later. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just interesting.
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Mica Ertegun (left) who designed the interiors in 2001,
and Joe Nahem (right) who redesigned the interiors in 2013. |
Take a comparative look, room by room, and see what you think, Devoted Reader. The text in the article stated that the owners now wanted a "Cutting Edge" interior to compliment their contemporary art collection.
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The rear of the Kander home in Greenwich
as it appeared in Architectural Digest, 2001. |
The landscape was done by Peter Cummin and Claudia Levy of
Cummin Associates in Stonington, Connecticut, one of the most respected landscape architecture firms in the country.
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The Entrance Hall as decorated by
Mica Ertegun, 2001.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
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The Entrance Hall decorated by Joe Nahem
as it appears in 2013.
Photo: Fox-Nahem Associates |
In the Entrance Hall, the flooring is wood with insets of tile painted to resemble sandstone, according to the magazine text, reminiscent of Bill Blass's Sutton Place apartment Entrance Hall floor (a project MAC II was associated with). The sconces and Irish mirror are replaced with art and the lantern is replaced with a contemporary glass dish. The new chairs flanking the fireplace appear to be contemporary versions of a classic klismos model. The 1920s table by the windows remains.
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The Living Room, 2001.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
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The Living Room, 2013.
Photo: Fox-Nahem Associates. |
In the Living Room, traditional furnishings are mostly replaced with intentionally independent pieces giving allusions to different Twentieth Century movements to compliment the contemporary art.
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The Dining Room, 2001.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
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The Dining Room, 2013.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
The walls of the Dining Room remain with a dark glaze although in a different color, but the furnishings are artisan-made rather than antiques. The Nordic chandelier from the Chateau de Groussay auction is replaced with a specially made hanging light by David Wiseman. Fox-Nahem designed the table and chairs with replace the antique Irish table and the northern European versions of Louis XVI chairs with custom stenciled fabric (also from the Bill Blass apartment).
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The Bar, 2001.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
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The Bar, 2013.
Photo: Fox-Nahem Associates. |
A room off the Gallery that has a full bar is referred to as the Bar. It changed from neutral warm with some antiques to neutral cool with all contemporary furniture.
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Master Bedroom, 2001.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
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Master Bedroom, 2013.
Photo: Fox-Nahem Associates. |
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Master Bedroom, 2013.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
The Master Bedroom also changed from warm traditional neutral to cool contemporary neutral. Of particular note is the custom made bed fabricated from Corian.
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Allison Kanders, 2013,
in her Fox-Nahem living room.
Photo: Architectural Digest. |
According to
The New York Observer, the Kanderses have bought a $17.8 million Manhattan townhouse at 16 West 12th Street and are relocating from Greenwich, Connecticut, to Greenwich Village. Whether or not they will keep both as a Town and Country arrangement, it is not known. In any case, the 'before' photos of the townhouse and the floor plans may be seen on the Observer link; perhaps the 'after' will appear in Architectural Digest in the future.