The Heart of The Matter

Marie Aiello and Paul Boardman get in touch with the 1950's heritage of their house in Bronxville, New York

Dan Shaw -- Interior Design, 2/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

When you walk into Marie Aiello and Paul Boardman's freshly decorated house, you immediately think how lucky this designer-architect couple were to find such a well preserved example of mid-century modernism in the New York suburb of Bronxville—chockablock as it is with late 19th-century Tudor-style houses. After a short conversation, however, you realize that the pair made their own luck. "The house had an interesting spirit, but it was a sorry sight when I first saw it," Boardman says, referencing the initial discovery made by him and his ex-wife. Aiello adds, "I was nervous about how we were going to save it."

As she explains, the house was inspired by the Case Study Houses of her native California and completed by Frederick G. Frost, Architects, circa 1953. Frederick G. Frost himself lived there for a time before selling to Christ Church Bronxville, which turned the structure into an improbably chic rectory. When Aiello and Boardman first toured the 4,900-square-foot interior decades later, though, its good bones were obscured by jalousie windows, dark cedar paneling, and black vinyl floors.

The house needed more than cosmetic work, but the couple took care to ensure that the result of their efforts looked like a house untouched by the last half century. "You don't know what is from the '50's and what is from today," Aiello says with justifiable pride. Boardman, who practices under the name Canvas Collection, respected the integrity of the architecture while nonetheless improving on it. "We changed the roofline significantly," he says. "We made three-dimensional changes, but it couldn't feel patched together. We had to address the lack of volumetric interest."

A wide screened porch, which had interrupted the southern window wall, made way for a bigger, fan-shape glassed-in dining pavilion embraced by the garden. "There's an Asian vibe to this house, a sense of transparency, and I thought a Japanese fan shape would be a nice gesture," Boardman says. In the same Eastern spirit, he and Aiello replaced a planter beneath the foyer's open staircase with a gurgling fountain. Of the shoji screens that used to run through the living area, however, there remains only a memento mori, four worn ceiling tracks.

It was never questioned that the freestanding fireplace would stay, never mind that its massive copper hood could have come right out of an old Sunset magazine devoted to chalets. "It's iconic and eccentric, and I love things like that," Boardman says. "My biggest challenge was to make it function, so it didn't smoke out the house. Then we dusted it off, polished it, and wrapped it up in foam during construction."

Marie Aiello Design Studio's tasks were to decorate around the fireplace without condescending to it, to organize the open spaces on all four sides, and to warm the interior without overwhelming the architecture. It's the furniture program that makes the house so comfortable for both entertaining and family life. (Boardman has three children from a previous marriage.) Using seating, tables, and rugs, Aiello defined virtual rooms, all of which have names.

"I call this the formal dining room," she says, pointing to the pavilion's round slate-topped table and vintage rosewood T-back chairs. The informal dining area, meanwhile, flaunts a large oval Eero Saarinen table and Norman Cherner seating.

The library centers on a pair of squared-off striped lounge chairs facing each other on a leather rug, set in front of a wall of original Douglas fir bookcases. "Adding the white glass behind lightened them up," she notes. A 1930's baby grand piano provides a transition between the library and the den, which has a Danish modern teak table with nesting chairs set on a round sheepskin rug. The living area's Edward Wormley sofa faces two Paul McCobb armchairs on a patchwork cowhide rug.

Husband applauds wife: "It was not easy to define the furniture program." While connecting the large area's components was crucial, he continues, "There are spaces where you can curl up and read a book by yourself."

Although the paneling looks original, 40 percent of it is new. "Marie and I came up with a custom stain with a reddish undertone that's just perfect," Boardman says. "We had six guys here sanding for two whole weeks." Opening the house to the outside, he replaced the jalousie windows with steel-framed ones that "keep the elegant proportion of the sash," he explains.

The synchronicity of the couple's sensibilities is evident from how each approached the wall of windows in the family room. On the exterior, Boardman added a brise soleil to diffuse the morning sun and create a vertical contrast to the house's horizontal profile. Inside, Aiello hung sheer linen panels on eight sliding tracks to allow multiple configurations. The panels keep the neighbors from "watching us in our pajamas," she says, but still let the light in.

In the master bedroom, the essence of simplicity, the beige linen curtains can stay open most of the time, since the view is of the garden. When they are, the trompe l'oeil wallpaper makes it seem as if the trees are casting shadows on the walls, giving the room a romantic, Garden of Eden quality.

Aiello's favorite thing in the house is not visible to guests: the deep, shallow drawers that Frost built into the hall closets. "I absolutely love them," she says. "It's where I keep all my linens." In his day, however, the storage was for blueprints.

Photo by Elizabeth Felicella.

Project Team

Maria Laddomada: Marie Aiello Design Studio. Maggie Marrone Architects: Architect of Record. Jonathan Landscaping: Landscaping Consultant. Polar Air Conditioning: Mep. Finish Systems Int.: General Contractor.

Product Sources

From Front through Ralph Pucci International: Chandelier (Foyer). Herman Miller: Chair. Through Baxter & Liebchen: Sideboard (Foyer), Side Tables (Living Area), Cubes (Library, Family Room), Chairs (Pavilion), Sideboard, Daybed (Den), Mirror, Dresser, Chairs, Desk (Bedroom). Interfaceflor: Carpet Tile (Foyer, Kitchen). Through Hamptons Antique Galleries: Chairs (Living Area). Through Noho Modern: Sofa. Through Pieces: Pillows. Madara Designs: Custom Cocktail Table. Rug Company: Custom Rug. Bergamo Fabrics: Pillow Fabric (Living Area), Striped Chair Fabric (Library). Martin Patrick Evan: Custom Rug (Library). Nienkamper: Club Chairs. Christopher Hyland: Solid Chair Fabric (Library), Daybed Fabric (Den). Donghia: Side Chair (Library), Wallpaper (Bedroom). Amerifab: Custom Table (Pavilion). Ozeki & Company: Lanterns (Den, Bedroom). Knoll: Table (Dining Area). Cherner Chair Company: Seating. Through Neven & Neven Moderne: Chair (Family Room). Poggenpohl: Custom Cabinetry (Kitchen). Dupont: Counter Material. Wolf: Range. Hansgrohe: Sink Fittings. Design Within Reach: Stools (Kitchen), Bed (Bedroom). Dolma: Custom Rug (Bedroom). Throughout Crittall Windows: Custom Windows. Stone Source: Floor Tile. Lightolier: Can Lights.