For its 50th year, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is shaking things up.
The beloved designer showcase and fundraising event is for the first time ever taking place in Downtown Manhattan, at a Greenwich Village townhouse currently on the market for $16.5 million. A slate of 21 designers and architects have transformed the property into a hodgepodge home that includes their personal inspirations and signature touches. Opening on September 30, the Show House is open to the public through October 19.
Ben Pentreath was in charge of the drawing room, which draws inspiration from classic English interiors.
Marco Ricca
Debuting in 1973, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House benefits the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, a nonprofit that serves more than 11,000 children in the Bronx with afterschool and enrichment programs. The Show House sees some 15,000 visitors every year, and since its inception, the event has raised more than $30 million for the group. In recent years, it’s even expanded outside of New York, with editions in both Palm Beach and Dallas.
“This event is more than a showcase of top design talent, it’s our biggest fundraising event of the year,” Daniel Quintero, the executive director of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, said in a statement. “The amount of dedication from each designer and our sponsors is truly remarkable. Each team shares our vision of making this year’s Show House the most impactful one yet.” The chairpersons for this year’s event include Jamie Drake, Bunny Williams, Alex Hampton, and Andrew Torrey.
Jamie Drake’s garden terrace takes design cues from 20th-century icons like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Marco Ricca
The turn-of-the-20th-century Greenwich Village residence spans about 9,000 square feet over six levels. There are up to eight bedrooms along with nine bathrooms, seven wood-burning fireplaces, a private garden, and an elevator, among other amenities. Each of the rooms throughout the house has been transformed by the suite of designers who have participated this year, including the likes of Corey Damen Jenkins (who took on the formal dining room) and Vicente Wolf (who was tasked with zhuzhing up the salon).
A walk through a decorator show house is a feast for the eyes. They’re basically fun houses for design lovers. However, the experience can also be a bit overwhelming, as each room has a distinct theme without any pretense of overall cohesion. That’s all part of magic, though. And, whoever ends up buying the downtown property may very well see something they like and opt to involve one or more of the designers to complete their N.Y.C. dream home.
Click here to see all the photos of this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House.
Marco Ricca
Authors
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Tori Latham
Tori Latham is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. She was previously a copy editor at The Atlantic, and has written for publications including The Cut and The Hollywood Reporter. When not…