Extended Family

As COVID highlighted the need for family togetherness, one Ramsey woman responded by tearing down her home and rebuilding to create a special place for multiple generations to share. For the homeowner’s parents, who are nearing 90, it meant selling their longtime residence in Rockland County. But homeowner Stephanie’s team of designers managed to make young and old feel right at home in Bergen with a style reflecting the family’s vacations in the Hamptons.

Three generations—Stephanie, her parents and her school-age daughter—were off to a good start in 2021 as they gathered under one roof, enjoying an aura of sun-kissed beach days.

With the benefit of a gut-job renovation plus a 1,500-square-foot addition, each generation would have its own space. Expectations ran particularly high for the kitchen, where the family members would come together. Yet Stephanie felt confident in her team, made up of Anthony Passanante of Anthony Albert Studios, Alexandra Schuetz of A. Sloan Design and Spencer Cosgriff of Sterling Ridge Contracting.

The goal was to have the project done in a year. “I heard all the horror stories—and I have to say that I had the dream team,” Stephanie recalls.

In her design, Schuetz steered clear of “beachy beachy” and gravitated to a coastal transitional style, which the kitchen reflects with abaca rope pendants by Palecek over the quartz island and the natural stone—Taj Mahal quartz—countertops.

Passanante recalls how the influx of gold-tone highlights drew inspiration from the supersized hood that his crew at Anthony Albert Studios crafted by hand. “That was kind of the starting point,” he explains, “and then we worked all the other hardware and the faucets by California Faucets off the hood, so everything coordinated.”

A distinctive touch is how the ivory python leather-effect banquette connects to the quartz island.

Don’t mistake the glow and warmth for real gold—that would break the bank. It’s satin brass that’s making a statement in this stylish yet functional kitchen. Even the island chairs by Palecek get in the act with gold-hued nail heads on ivory python leather-look fabric.

“I was a little nervous that it was going to be a bit too fancy,” Stephanie admits. “As soon as we got those pendants in there, I immediately got the feeling of softness, that coastal feel.”

To unite the room’s varied elements, designers looked to the blend of marble in the chevron backsplash by Mediterranean Tile, where twin brass sconces by Visual Comfort add a little glam. “It had some warm yellows that pulled the brass in,” Passanante says. He notes that there’s no molding around the windows to spoil the streamlined effect. This backsplash climbs all the way to the ceiling—so grand, Schuetz adds.

With the custom transitional cabinets, designers shunned stark white and turned to light, earthy tones, with a subtle variation for the island. For contrast, the hardwood wide-plank flooring is a deeper oak. Instead of the big farmhouse table Stephanie wanted to avoid, the designers took a path less traveled with banquette seating abutting the island. The homeowner didn’t want diners to focus on the 48-inch Wolf stove. Built to please, both the island and the banquette highlight breathtaking views.

It helped that the designers had the luxury of new construction, which afforded them 450 square feet they could shape like a blank canvas. “My idea was to keep it fresh and open,” Passanante says.

More masculine in effect than other spaces in the home, the main bathroom sports a reeded custom vanity in hickory and a geometric natural stone floor.

A more masculine vibe awaits in a main-floor bathroom, with reeded custom cabinetry in a walnut-stained hickory. Venetian bronze elevates the fixtures, and Schuetz mixed metals for interest with brass and bronze sconces by Visual Comfort on the full-size mirror.

The shower here mixes Venetian bronze fixtures with Carrara marble.

For a pop with flooring by Mediterranean Tile, Schuetz says, “We did a natural stone and a wooden blend (also stone) in a beautiful octagon,” in harmony with the shower floor.

The year’s wait was worth it for Stephanie and her clan.

“I’m very blessed,” she says. “We’re three generations living in one house, and it couldn’t be any better.” She credits her “dream team” for making all this a reality as her family mixes the delights of every new day with memories of Montauk.