How Designer Heide Hendricks Brought Character, Color, and Story to a Lackluster Modern Manhattan Penthouse

Perched on the 44th floor of a new-build high-rise in Carnegie Hill, this spacious penthouse offers a cinematic sweep of Manhattan’s skyline – a panorama that is both awe-inspiring and, at times, dizzying. ‘On a very windy day, you can feel the subtlest sway,’ notes Heide Hendricks, co-founder of architecture and interior design studio Hendricks Churchill.

The owners – a young couple with three small children – had lived in a similar high-rise during the pandemic, an experience that left them with mixed feelings. ‘They had grown tired of the monochromatic palette and minimal furnishings,’ says Heide. ‘When they found this apartment, they were wary of repeating the aesthetic. They approached us because they were ready to take a risk and explore uncharted territory.’

Heide and her husband, Rafe Churchill, are known for creating soulful, richly layered interiors where color, pattern, and antiques combine with quiet confidence. This project posed a new kind of challenge.

‘Most of our work involves historic buildings – the kind of spaces that come with their own narrative. This apartment lacked that sense of story,’ Heide explains, adding, ‘I realized we had to begin by inventing one – and for me, that started with the walls. They became the foundation for everything else.’

Rather unexpectedly, the transformation began in the kitchen, where Heide introduced a spirited strawberry-motif wallpaper by Jennifer Shorto. ‘Aside from a statement brass cooker hood, the kitchen was all white – sleek Italian cabinetry and acres of marble. The walls were the only surface I could challenge,’ she explains. This bold gesture set the tone for the entire apartment, with the coral tones of the wallpaper unfolding into a palette of soft, enveloping pinks.

The kitchen island was painted a pretty shell pink, echoed in the adjoining sitting room and dining area, where the walls are finished in a gentle blush tone. ‘If a room is in the same sight line, I always like to carry over at least one color from one space to the next – otherwise it can feel like you’re ricocheting around like a pinball,’ advises Heide. She wrapped the ceiling in the same warm tone ‘to help visually lower it’ and painted the baseboards in a deeper, dusky rose to ground the space.

The apartment’s horseshoe-shaped layout revolves around a central, windowless entryway, which is accessed directly via two elevators. Here, Heide embraced its intimacy. ‘We chose a saturated pink with an almost velvety quality and lacquered the elevator doors in a high-gloss burgundy. I like the idea of entering a moodier, almost theatrical space before stepping into all that light.’

Vintage finds are hallmarks of the Hendricks Churchill vernacular, woven through this project with their signature fluency. A midcentury Danish sofa anchors the breakfast nook; a rosewood shelving unit lends gravitas to the study; and a whimsical painted cabinet in the dining room, sourced via a favorite antiques dealer, brings a jolt of joy. ‘It came with stories,’ Heide says. ‘That’s what I wanted – pieces that felt lived-in and unexpected.’ Balancing the patina of age is a smattering of contemporary designs, including a black walnut dining table selected, says Heide, ‘because it will only get better over time.’

In the sitting room, a pair of 1950s Italian wing chairs have been upholstered in a sweeping floral linen – a nod to the botanical motifs that recur throughout the apartment. The walls in the twin daughters’ bedroom are paneled with a riotous Josef Frank floral fabric, which at once enlivens the space and gently tempers the drama of those towering windows. The main bedroom is a tranquil reverie, where exquisite chinoiserie wallpaper is paired with a cloud-like bed that seems to float above the city below.

Despite its lofty elevation, the apartment now feels grounded – not just in color and character but in the warmth of family life. The drama of the skyline remains ever-present, framed by vast windows and shifting light, but it’s softened by soul: the grain of an antique cabinet, the brushstrokes of an abstract painting, the way a blush-toned wall glows in the late afternoon sun. ‘We wanted it to feel casual and lived-in and cozy,’ says Heide. ‘A place that could capture both the energy of the city and the rhythms of daily life.’