Inside a Dutchess County Home Where Midcentury Modernism Meets Japanese-Inspired Architecture
At the beginning of 2020, interior designer Brygida Michon and her spouse, Neil Rajpal, experienced just moved back again from Paris to New York, and ended up searching for a tranquil dwelling absent from household outside of the metropolis. Considering the fact that they were being commonly heading up to the Beacon spot to hire a cabin for the weekend, they made the decision to look for there. When they laid eyes on The Falls, a 1960s midcentury modern household with Japanese architectural influences, they right away fell in enjoy.
“As soon as we walked into the dwelling, the gentle was extraordinary,” Brygida recalls. “The dwelling has whole flooring-to-ceiling windows all all around, and there are a lot of skylights. We to start with saw it on a late September afternoon, and the light was just so amazing. It just about felt like it was aspect of the design and style of the dwelling.”
The home blends numerous textures, including stone floors, cedarwood walls, and curved wood beams. Brygida and Neil ended up fully commited to preserving the exclusive character of the house, significantly its harmonious relationship to nature. “We did not want to consider away from the architectural intention of the property,” Brygida says. “We attempted to maintain renovations to a least and aim on home furnishings, creating positive to respect what was currently there, while introducing to it in a way that we assumed would enhance the present design and style of the property.”
As an inside designer for more than a ten years, Brygida has typically labored in luxury retail areas, working with shoppers including Chanel, Kith, MAC Cosmetics, and Dior. But she’s normally been drawn to residential interiors, too. “I grew up in Europe, and was surrounded by French modernism,” she suggests of her layout influences. “The perform of persons like Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe was a [touchstone] through my scientific studies and my vocation.” She also picked up inspiration from her time working with Editions de Parfums by Frederic Malle. “A lot of my recent style and design aesthetic and inspiration arrived from doing work with Frederic,” she claims.
Brygida enjoys mixing design and style elements, and contrasting parts from various time intervals. She relied greatly on classic, leaning into exceptional finds from suppliers through upstate New York. “It can be overwhelming to dive into vintage. And mainly because I was carrying out this all through [height of] the pandemic, selections were also constrained in phrases of checking out physical locations.” 1stDibs was one particular on line useful resource that Brygida leveraged in the style method, though neighborhood classic outlets became her go-tos. “I invested hrs and hrs at Newburgh Vintage Emporium [in the Hudson Valley], and mates would come stop by and aid me look!”
These days, the household is also full of original Man Ray artwork, which possesses an fascinating backstory: The past owner’s spouse and children owned an artwork gallery in Brussels, and Person Ray was a person of the initially artists they signed. Brygida and Neil were being ready to obtain a lot of the artwork, and the operator even gifted them a exclusive piece. “In addition to the artwork that we purchased, she gifted us with a bronze template that was applied to build a few of Male Ray’s lithographs. She mounted it on the slate backing, and it is now hanging near the kitchen,” Brygida explains. “I continue to keep in touch with her to this working day.”
For the reason that of the couple’s target on executing minimal renovations, Brygida refused to renovate the bathrooms. “I experience like everyone’s very first intuition is constantly, ‘These bogs are 50 several years aged, you have to renovate them.’ And, I mentioned, ‘Absolutely not. They are remarkable,’” she suggests. “They come to feel so old Hollywood…you have the type of Hollywood lighting higher than the mirrors, and you will find a enormous pink bathtub in a person. I’m not finding rid of it as extended as it will work!”