Decorating & Design
November 3, 2021
Welcoming Spaces From Designer Shawn Henderson’s New Book
New York designer Shawn Henderson’s work is quiet and full of confident grace, writes co-author Mayer Rus in the forward to this new book, Shawn Henderson: Interiors In Context (Monacelli, 2021). The book reveals his designs for city townhouses, lofts, historic farmhouses, country estates, modern mountain and beach retreats and Shawn’s own West Village apartment and upstate New York country home. Growing up as one of six children whose parents ran a popular tavern, hospitality is key for this designer, and these are places designed to welcome friends and family. Let’s take a look.
In Shawn’s West Village apartment, he pairs favorite mid-century designs by Danish masters. “I placed a set of Ole Wanscher chairs and a Kaare Klint sofa around a Hans Wegner table. The Scandinavian theme is amplified by a mid-century Swedish hanging light and Gunnar Nylund ceramic lamps. The rosewood folding screen is vintage and the art is a handwoven work by Dougall Paulson.”
For a modern Aspen retreat, floor-to-ceiling windows offer awe-inspiring panoramas across the wooded valley to the snow-capped peaks of the Elk Mountains. “Against this backdrop, I didn’t want the room to feel overly decorated or cluttered, so I decided to go with big gestures like a 7-foot diameter cocktail table and generously scaled seating pieces by my studio.”
In the dining room, beneath a commanding multipaneled work by Tacita Dean, graceful Italian chairs from the 1950s surround a table by the contemporary French designer Martin Szekely, under a lighting fixture by David Weeks.
In this Greewich Village townhouse, Paul Evans chairs are set around a Silas Seandel table and there’s a custom corner banquette for informal lounging. Artworks by Tom Keyes and Mark Titchner hang by the fireplace.
In the parlor stair hall, a Cindy Sherman photograph is joined by a Jansen-style sofa and slipper chair. The chandelier is by Bec Brittain.
In this West Village apartment Shawn created a separation between the living and dining areas with a freestanding, semicircular divider in cypress that doubles as a small buffet.
“The textural variety of the fabrics and other materials adds a richness and warmth to the crisp modern architecture.”
The mountainside location of this newly built ski-in/ski-out house at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana has spectacular views.
A classic Hans Wegner chaise longue in a corner of the principal bedroom.
“For this pied-à-terre in New York City’s West Village, I had the luxury of working with one of the chicest couples on the planet.” A Sean Scully painting is installed behind an Edward Wormley sofa for Dunbar in the living room.
A Julian Schnabel painting has an outsize presence in the compact dining room, which is centered on a table and chairs by Poul Kjærholm set beneath a large Jean Perzel ceiling light. At one side of the space, a pair of sconces by Serge Mouille surmounts a Jacques Adnet sideboard.
This Connecticut country house dates to the early 1700s, with additions both historic and contemporary. “The homeowners and I weren’t interested in a slavish reproduction of a classic Colonial house. Instead, we wanted a more nuanced scheme that embraces American archetypes along with elements of Scandinavian design and contemporary pieces closer in age and sensibility to the clients’ art collection.”
This homestructure straddles the High Line, the popular public park and greenway built on a historic elevated rail line. “My design responds not only to the taut, modernist lines of Juul-Hansen’s building but also to the colors and energy of the park below and the clean aesthetic of the homeowners.”
Shawn’s own country home in Hillsdale, New York “reflects my personal tastes, my sensibility as a designer, and also a bit of nostalgia for summers spent at my family’s camp in the Adirondacks.” The living room epitomizes the American/Scandinavian interface in the decorative juxtaposition of an American wingback chair and furnishings by Kaare Klint, Frits Henningsen, and Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist.
Architectural details of the historic house — rough-hewn beams, original wood floors and Craftsman-like wall paneling — were either preserved or recreated in places where they’d been stripped away over the years.
Wyolah is a three-story Greek Revival house country estate constructed in 1836 for an Irishvdoctor, and sprawling over 100 acres. The parlor is outfitted with an ensemble of 19th-century furnishings, including a French campaign daybed and an English crystal-and-bronze chandelier.
In the bathroom, full-height glazed tile walls have a period flair and bathes the space in a cosmetic rose glow.
Stephen Kent Johnson
Shawn Henderson: Interiors In Context (Monacelli, 2021)
Shawn Henderson