The beauty and magic of a window display is something of a fantasy… It’s an invitation to step inside.’ So says Robert Rufino, who started his career as a young window designer in the prestigious New York department store Henri Bendel. It’s a quote that could well be ascribed to his own, very inviting, home.
Sitting room: An elegant tabletop tableau displays a plate and lamp that Robert has owned for decades. Plaster lamp, Giacometti. Plate, Fornasetti
Robert uses menswear fabrics to decorate his interior spaces. The esteemed style and design editor and consultant (currently contributing editor to Frederic magazine) lives in a supremely elegant apartment, the entryway of which is upholstered in a menswear plaid. It’s one of several intriguing embellishments he has chosen for a home design that’s gratifyingly devoid of trends.
‘Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to the sorts of amazing houses, royal castles and beautiful apartments that make me think I might change one thing or another when I get home,’ he explains. ‘But the minute I open the door to my own little world, I realize I want it not to feel trendy, but to feel like me.’
Entryway: Paper-backed wool fabric, usually reserved for men’s suiting, envelops the hall and is separated from the main living space by a pair of woolen curtains. ‘Steel’ door treatment by Fresco Decorative Arts. Plaster ceiling light, Stephen Antonson
Robert had been living in a small studio on New York’s Upper East Side when, some 17 years ago, he decided a bigger, but still modest home was required. His estate agent showed him this pre-war apartment in a quiet, upscale neighborhood, just steps from Midtown Manhattan, which was yet to hit the market. ‘Half the floors had been torn up and the whole place was in a rather sorry state but I was immediately enchanted. It had an old-world quality about it that I loved,’ says Robert.
Robert refers to his now transformed apartment as his ‘Gentleman’s Salon’. It’s compact and immaculately considered, even down to the doors, some of which have been stripped to reveal timber that has been given a steel-like finish, while others have been lacquered in multiple coats of luxurious, deep reddish-brown. ‘The Connaught Hotel, which I visited on my very first trip to London, in my twenties, had doors just like these. Mine took seven weeks to complete and are works of art in themselves,’ explains Robert. ‘They cost a fortune, but are worth every penny.’
Black polished plaster walls and stainless-steel work surfaces are seamless and fuss-free. ‘I cook very little, but when I’m here alone I’ll make a big salad and popcorn without salt or butter,’ says Robert. Wall and door treatment by Fresco Decorative Arts
In the streamlined galley kitchen, walls have been finished in black Venetian plaster, buffed to an almost mirror sheen. ‘It was all white units with gray walls when I moved in. I hated those white cabinets. In fact, I really don’t like to see ugly things at all,’ says Robert. To this end he enlisted the help of a friend to scribble a loopy design in wax crayon onto some of the windows to obscure a less than lovely view.
While a calm palette of neutrals, spiked with the occasional animal print, envelops the sitting room, Robert has chosen what he calls ‘Brooks Brothers blue’ for his bedroom. In fact, it’s a Farrow & Ball shade that’s a dead-ringer for the blue-stripe shirts he wore throughout his youth. ‘People love this color. It’s nostalgic and very soothing in a bedroom,’ he says.
Sitting room: Robert bought the set of 18th-century copperplate snake engravings by zoologist Albertus Seba at Shapero Rare Books in London. Coffee table, Ralph Lauren. Set of Elsa Peretti Bone candlesticks, Tiffany & Co
For the man whose sartorial dress sense (he’s been on the International Best Dressed List twice) suggests that a great suit is just as relevant as a great sofa, it’s clear that daybeds are an important part of Robert’s design landscape. ‘I’ve slept on the French daybed in my living room practically all my life,’ he says. ‘I bought it for my first apartment and its use has changed over the years, but I’ll still spend the occasional Sunday there, reading or napping.’
Bedroom: The Asian side table was bought when Robert was in his twenties. ‘I grew up in Chinatown and Asian accessories and furnishings have always been a part of my interiors,’ he says. For a similar bedside table, try Shimu’s red lacquer square trunk. Mulberry Home Shetland Plaid, Jane Clayton, is a similar headboard fabric
Part of a collection of treasured items that have accompanied Robert from home to home, the daybed reflects just one moment in a collector’s lifetime. Chairs bought in the 1970s while working at the legendary Henri Bendel reflect another. A pair of marble-topped jewelry display tables from his time, many years later (as vice-president of creative services) at Tiffany & Co, yet another. Each piece tells the story of a long and celebrated life and career dedicated to creating beauty.
Bathroom: A 1960s Slim Aarons signed photograph hangs here, as well as a small snakeskin telephone table. ‘It’s vintage, of course… all part of my world,’ says Robert.
‘Everything in this place I have collected, acquired or been given,’ he says. ‘It’s well edited, don’t get me wrong. To make it work, I edit, edit, edit. And I have learned not to bring in new stuff. As you get older, you don’t need a lot. You just need to be surrounded by the things you love.’