MUTUAL FEELINGS
When it came to decorating their dream home, celebrity designers nate berkus and jeremiah brent discovered a new harmony between their styles
New York City is the backdrop for a light, bright and cleverly renovated duplex
For a certain segment of new York society, having a Fifth avenue address means one thing: upper Fifth avenue – that gilded corridor lined with gracious limestone edifices overlooking Central Park. But there is another patch of Fifth that has an equal yet quite different cachet. It’s the beautiful stretch just above Washington square Park, where the avenue begins and the surrounding prewar buildings are prized by those who seek elegance, but also cherish the vitality, diversity and cultural heritage of greenwich Village. When interior designers nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent set out to find a new home, lower Fifth was at the top of their list. ‘This neighbourhood has a unique magic,’ says nate, who rose to fame as oprah Winfrey’s home-design guru while overseeing a busy interiors firm. When he and Jeremiah began dating a few years ago, nate was based in new York. Jeremiah and his burgeoning design business, meanwhile, were in Los angeles. after getting married two years ago and celebrating the birth of their daughter, Poppy, they had to choose where to centre their lives. The answer was
easy. ‘We knew we wanted to have a family and that we wanted to raise our child in new York,’ nate says. Finding a threebedroom in a prewar doorman building in this area, however, can require some luck.
One place they saw early in their hunt was a two-bedroom duplex penthouse with a terrace. ‘We loved the views and the apartment,’ Jeremiah recounts, ‘but it had a strange layout.’
Indeed, it sat on the market for months. That’s when good fortune struck: the owner of the one-bedroom place next door opted to sell. ‘We couldn’t stop thinking about the apartment, believing we were meant to live there,’ Jeremiah says. ‘and then, suddenly, we were able to create the home of our dreams.’
Anyone who has survived a renovation with a significant other knows the stress of navigating the countless decisions involved. now imagine both of you are acclaimed decorators with different styles. and yet this is the story of two lives and two visions uniting to achieve something transformative and triumphant. ‘The energy we discovered while working on our home together is unlike anything else,’ Jeremiah notes. ‘We do our best work when we are together.’
While one wouldn’t exactly call nate a maximalist – his focus is on crafting sophisticated yet welcoming interiors – he admits his ‘instinct as a designer was always to add more. one more piece. one more table. one more object on top of that table.’ Jeremiah, by contrast, prefers more pareddown environments. ‘until I met nate my mantra was, “unless a piece is beautiful or functional, get rid of it,”’ he says.
‘The energy we discovered while working on our home together is unlike anything else’ Jeremiah Brent
In envisioning their apartment, nate and Jeremiah agreed that they didn’t want a sterile design showcase; they wanted a home to live in as a family. ‘In all of my work, I look at a house and think about the moments that will happen there, the moments we all long to create and where we’ll create them,’ Jeremiah says.
For him, that special spot is the sunny living room, where a worldly mix of mostly
vintage furnishings – spacious 1960s chairs, a brass cocktail table with smoked-glass top, a 1970s sofa seemingly designed for slumping – is inviting as well as stylish. ‘I love the light in here,’ he says.
Nate, for his part, is especially fond of the master bedroom, which is a subtle study in neutrals, with a vintage low table and floor lamps adding softly shimmering brass accents.
Something the couple agreed should be a focal point in the home is a handwoven photograph of Joshua Tree national Park by photographer Fernando Bengoechea, nate’s former partner, who passed away in 2004. ‘That work is central to nate’s life,’ Jeremiah says. ‘so we put it in the centre of our house: Poppy’s playroom.’
Adds nate, ‘everyone should be able to sit in a room with pieces that spark memories. a home is a vessel for stories and memories.’
The two designers consider their home as a great gift. ‘The day we closed the deal on the apartment,’ Jeremiah says, ‘we were walking through Washington square, and I remarked to nate, “We have to treasure this.”’
Nate looks at him and says, ‘great design is like great love: you trust your gut.’