Putting Down Roots

A certain building in the Flatiron district is rumored to have housed the New York office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950's.

Annie Block -- Interior Design, 9/1/2010 4:59:00 PM

A certain building in the Flatiron district is rumored to have housed the New York office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950's. Today, the list of visitors is much starrier, with the likes of Anne Hathaway, Sienna Miller, and Michelle Williams flocking to the Marie Robinson Salon, founded by the colorist extraordinaire after she defected from Sally Hershberger Downtown. But design aficionados will be equally impressed by sightings of James Huniford getting his hair cut there.

His firm, Huniford, was in charge of transforming the 5,000-square-foot space. At the crucial hair-washing station in back, images by a fashion photographer lend a muted dreaminess. On a wall in the airily residential waiting area, he created a livelier art installation by mounting portrait drawings on separate clipboards and hanging them in rows. The mustard-yellow tufted banquette below them faces barrel chairs upholstered in slate-blue velvet. That color is picked up in the wash of the oak flooring. Just don't call it a blue rinse.

Photography by Mantis Evar.