New York native Martin Scorsese could not have chosen any other city to settle down.
Two decades ago, Architectural Digest featured in one of its issues the director’s newly designed apartment, and today we’re feeling reminiscent of that classic and vintage design.
When trying to choose a place to settle, Scorsese stated that “I’m a die-hard New Yorker, but I’ve spent my life making movies and living on location. When I was ready to make a home for myself, I didn’t know what style of living in Manhattan would make me feel most comfortable. (…) I certainly wasn’t going back to Elizabeth Street. But where did I belong?”. And finally, Martin Scorsese understood that he belonged in a classic townhouse in the Upper East Side.
His designer at the time, Karen Houghton, mentioned that Martin Scorsese had an “austere, almost monastic sensibility” and, most importantly, that “all his possessions had a personal meaning for him”. The Eames chairs that the director had in his previous apartment surely made it into the “personal meaning” list, seeing as he made sure to bring them with him.
Additionally, the decoration of each floor in the apartment was thought according to its function. For example, the first-floor dining room opens to the garden, which Scorsese wanted to have “a provincial country feeling”; and the fourth-floor study is the director’s lair where he works, reads, listens to music and screens films.
In the living room, we can see Renoir’s Le Carrosse d’Or from 1953 and 19th-century Japanese stirrups from actor Ken Takakura.
There are also original movie posters, of films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Aviator. We can also see in plain sight a N. Brodsky’s 1937 graphic image for La Grande Illusion.
Interior designer Karen Houghton mentions that the research for The Age of Innocence inspired the decor in this room, which ended up having “a greater feeling for Victorian pieces and antiques”. Above the circa 1850 English desk are 19th-century Japanese prints from Akira Kurosawa.
In the dining room, next to the 1870 french dining table, is on display Bernard Lancy’s poster for Les Enfants du Paradis, which has a special meaning for the world-class film director.
Images Source: Architectural Digest
SEE ALSO: 5 Vintage Living Rooms Designs by Martin Brudnizki
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