Projects

1890 farmhouse with 2 pavilion addition of master bedroom suite and living room. Glass enclosed "breezeways" between structures. A separate two story garage with artist's studio. Shelter Island, NY.

For years, interior designer Rhea White and architect Steve Schappacher lived and worked in Manhattan and spent weekends on Shelter Island. But once they were on the island, they found it increasingly difficult to leave. The summer before they became permanent residents, they spent only seven or eight nights in the city, so "we decided to refocus and move to the island full time." Their new house, which dates from the 1920s, was originally a single-room cottage with a stone fireplace. Added onto over the years, it had become an agglomeration of not particularly attractive little buildings and enclosed porches. Schappacher and White ended up demoing about 50 percent of it, while trying to maintain the integrity of the component parts. Then they expanded it, creating a nonlinear layout that they say they probably wouldn’t have done had they started from scratch, and turned the freestanding former garage into their office. Furnishings in the kitchen and throughout the house tend to hew closely to a chic, stark palette of black, white, and taupe. Deeply layered textures, from nubby linen fabrics to the hand-scraped floors, make up for the lack of color. "Our friends are such a colorful cast of characters already," White says, "that we don’t want our house to compete with them." HC&G, Sept 2016

Located in one of Shelter Island's earliest settlements this 1904 farm house includes a full renovation, addition, custom swimming pool, pool house, and site planning. Using reclaimed materials as well as modern pieces, the home and its grounds are imbued with layers of history together with today's amenities. The grounds include outdoor dining and living room, with wisteria covered pergola and a 17-foot freestanding fireplace created with vintage brick. Shelter Island, NY

Renovation of Heights ranch, interiors, furnishings and pool.

In the former American Express warehouse building, TriBeCa, NY two spaces were combined into a 3000 sq. ft. residential loft. The design evolved from the local warehouse history, materials, and forms of the existing spaces. Materials were selected that have age or been aged. Materials such as: chemically teated steel wall panels, zinc, new steel baseboards to reflect existing metal capitals, custom metal lighting at vaulted ceilings, wired glass at bath door/partition, and stained fumed oak. The kitchen incorporates custom center pivoting windows that open to a pantry located behind the length of the kitchen.

Garment District warehouse conversion new residential loft. Hell's Kitchen, NY

Loft renovation in Dietz Lantern Building. TriBeCa, NY

Former button factory loft conversion with custom furnishings. Hell's Kitchen, NY

Birdhouse Exhibition & Auction to benefit the Peconic Land Trust