East Avenue

East Avenue

details

This home in Rochester’s East Ave. Preservation district has many distinctive features, which was the perfect ‘not-so-blank-slate’ for my client’s collection of period furniture and décor. The original servant’s kitchen was divided into work areas including the servant’s eating area. My clients were serious foodies and planned on spending a lot of time here for cooking and casual entertaining. The house was Tudor Style and my clients wanted an English Style kitchen. The space was redesigned to look as if it could have been original to the house yet accommodates a modern lifestyle with amenities such as a built-in circular banquette and peninsula with counter seating. Selection of reclaimed hickory for the floor gave the room a timeless feel.

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The room I had the most fun designing was the new master bathroom. One must walk through the TV room, furnished in gorgeous Art Deco pieces by George Leleu in order to get to the new bathroom. My clients wanted a period bathroom in the Art Deco style and in response, I created a stylized version of the Empire State Building in the shower and then added a touch of color with the Waterworks deco motif border.

Another highlight of the project was working with the art department at Stark Carpet to custom design a runner for the main stairs and throughout the second floor hall. The main stair ties into the formal entry called the Octagon Room which functions as the central hub to other wings of the house. My husband, Rick Muto was commissioned to paint the dome of this room with a 360 degree landscape. The detail picture also shows some of the exquisite original architectural details of the house.

Desiree Tarantini