the client - Robert Couturier

Kitchen Magician
The spare kitchen (this
page) features custom
white lacquer cabinetry
and a bone china Aloe
Bud light fixture by
Jeremy Cole. The table
and Arne Jacobsen
Ant chairs are the
client’s own. A study
in subdued orange
hues, the living room
(opposite) includes pairs
of Vladimir Kagan chairs,
Jacobsen Egg chairs,
and Paolo Buffa stools
in front of the fireplace.
Merete Rasmussen’s
Blue Twisted Loop
and a trio of brasstopped Bell tables by
Sebastian Herkner offer
extra panache. See
Resources.
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cottagesgardens.com
month 2014
THE CLIENT
Designer Robert Couturier decorates a
Brooklyn brownstone for a very important
person—his own lawyer
BY CINDI COOK | PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN KENT JOHNSON
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“I didn’t try to
convince David or
his wife to like
anything I put forth.
My biggest mission
was to translate
their desires”
I
t’s said that word of mouth is the best advertising for any business—whether you’re looking
for an attorney or a designer. But for decorator Robert Couturier and his lawyer, David
Berger, referrals weren’t even necessary when
it came to doing business together. Berger
had been looking to upgrade the decor in his
four-story Cobble Hill townhouse, so he knew
exactly the man to call. “David has been my
attorney for a long time, and we are quite close,” says Couturier.
“The entire design process was a wonderful experience.”
Like many of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, Cobble Hill has
evolved over the past several decades from charming to a little
tattered to charming again, bustling with the energy of residents both new and well established, including Berger and his
wife, who moved here long before the recent wave of hipsters
did and have raised their two children in the home. So when
the two men decided to work together on the project, it was
easy to come to terms on the desired end result. “When David
explained what he wanted, he didn’t have to make me understand,” says the designer. “There’s no pretense with him. He
didn’t impose anything on me, and I didn’t try to convince him
or his wife to like anything I put forth. My biggest mission was
to translate their desires.”
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It was virtually impossible for Couturier not to fulfill his
end of the deal. The native Parisian with the utterly fashionable last name got his start studying the decorative arts at the
City of Light’s legendary École Camondo. “It was an incredibly
good education,” says the designer, who landed in New York
in the late 1970s and worked for Adam Tihany before launching his own company in 1986. During the past 35 years he
has built a formidable, multifaceted portfolio of design projects,
including a country home in Hampshire, a penthouse apartment in Atlanta, a flat in Gstaad, and a winter house in Vero
Beach—each one different from the next, but all embodying his
trademark luxurious, yet unpretentious, aesthetic. Couturier’s
career really took off when he was just 32, after the British billionaire Sir James Goldsmith asked him to design La Loma, the
Modern Family
In the family room (opposite
top), a felt rug from Stephanie
Odegard Collection anchors
a leather and wire ottoman
from Property and a Hans
Wegner Shell chair; a Fortuny
fixture hangs above. A Morentz
Artichoke fixture brightens
the office (opposite bottom),
which includes an Epigram
carpet from Tai Ping, an
holiday 2014
Eames desk chair, and Vitsoe
built-in desk and wall units.
In the dining room (this page),
Marcel Wanders Venus chairs
surround an Eero Saarinen
table topped with Arabescato
marble. Adding further contrast
are Arne Jacobsen Swan
chairs and a pair of bronze
bookcases with wood shelves
and parchment-covered lower
cabinets. See Resources.
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Urban Oasis
Like many properties
in Brooklyn, the Berger
residence includes
a rear garden (left),
where a Mortar side
table from Tucker
Robbins sits between
two chaise longues.
The master bath
(below) features Carrara
marble and teak, with
a custom floating
vanity designed by
Couturier. Sandy, the
family’s Labrador
retriever, relaxes
on an Ochre sleigh
bed in the master
bedroom (opposite),
underneath an Arctic
Pear chandelier, also
from Ochre. The
Artifort Tulip lounge
chair and ottoman are
by Pierre Paulin; the
Karl Springer chrome
bench is covered in
a Schumacher ikat
print in Indigo. See
Resources.
tycoon’s estate on 25,000 acres in Cuixmala, Mexico. “I was a very
young man,” recalls the decorator, describing the palatial home that
took 2,000 workers to complete over several years. “I had no idea of
the magnitude of the job.”
While the Bergers’ townhouse is far less grand, Couturier
approached the project with the same care and attention to detail
that he applies to any commission. Though decorating is always top
of mind, the designer says he’s “more interested in the architecture of
a place than anything else.” The Cobble Hill house dates from the
1860s and features a bevy of “beautiful old spaces,” but in order to
meet his clients’ directive of creating airier rooms and letting in more
light, he took many of the walls down to the studs, including those in
the kitchen, where he installed bright white lacquer cabinetry from
floor to ceiling. An inset marble server featuring a George Nelson
clock, a Jeremy Cole Aloe Bud light fixture, and Arne Jacobsen Ant
chairs make the space look like anything but a period piece.
In virtually every corner of the home, Couturier has created
tantalizing juxtapositions, such as pairs of Vladimir Kagan lounge
chairs and Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs framed by silk curtains in the
living room—all in varying shades of orange, offsetting a traditional
tapestry rug underneath. Berger had inherited several pieces of
furniture from his father, an Austrian immigrant, which Couturier
retained, along with the home’s glamorous fireplace mantels. “I’m
all about equal opportunity!” the designer jokes.
Overall, the project took eight months to finish—a relatively short
time for the amount of renovations that were made. But Couturier
insists that the challenges were few. “When you like people, you tend
to differ less with them and accept their tastes a little more easily. We
kept things as clean and simple as possible.” ✹
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Though decorating is always top of mind,
Couturier says he’s “more interested in the
architecture of a place than anything else”
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