Wurster Revival

Presented with the challenge of updating a 1939 design by William Wurster, Butler Armsden let the client’s travels — and, most importantly, the things they’ve brought back from them — serve as inspiration and influence. The architects’ pared-back palette of oak, charcoal-gray concrete, and black metal comfortably frames the clients’ sizable and diverse collection of paintings, craft objects, and art, leaving room for each space of the house to have its own distinct character. In the kitchen, a translucent sliding partition reminiscent of Japanese shoji creates a class pantry against the north-facing windows, defying the notion that a pantry must be dark, while a trunk-sized sink of rich wood makes the bathroom an immersive space.