Sam Cochran Tours a Designer’s Delightful Home

Pizza Party

A picture, so the saying goes, tells a thousand words. But images alone can’t ever capture the full experience of a home, as I was reminded when editing our recent story on the Manhattan apartment of AD100 designer Shawn Henderson. Beautifully photographed by Stephen Kent Johnson and expertly written by AD contributing editor David Foxley, the article captures the project’s essence within the succinct constraints of three printed pages—showcasing the home’s myriad vignettes and unpacking Henderson’s sophisticated style. And yet I was still surprised upon entering the space for an impromptu pizza party following an evening of gallery hopping in Lower Manhattan.

For starters there was the flow. Far from any ordinary layout, the living, dining and kitchen areas unfold in a kind of continuous loop, with a central volume breaking up each space—balancing privacy and connection. That meant I could discreetly shovel more slices onto my plate (and into my mouth) while Shawn and his equally dapper partner, Pino Fortunato, mixed martinis for guests that included John Derian and AD PRO Directory designers Analisse Taft-Gersten and Noam Dvir. The kitchen, though open, felt out of sight—a blessing in a modestly scaled space. And then there were the details. That central volume… What I had thought was wood paneling was in fact faux-boiserie wall treatment, a clever vestige of the former owner. Had it not been for the martini, I might have been tempted to climb the ladder into the sleeping loft, a cocoon of bright blue. But I did indulge my voyeuristic inclinations with a tour of their bedroom, which—though I knew it to be cloaked in charcoal wool—struck me as even more luxurious and relaxing than I could have ever anticipated.

All in all, I was delighted by the oversize sense of discovery that pervaded every corner of the home. Take it as proof that whereas pictures do indeed reward close inspection, there’s nothing like the real thing. And nothing like pizza.

—Sam Cochran, Global Features Director, AD

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