Here's a novel way of describing that "walking into your future home and falling in love with it" moment: "My grandmother used to tell me that when she tried on a dress that was right for her, she would feel her chest flush," photo shoot location agent Andrea Raisfeld tells Elle Decor. "I felt that way when I walked into this house. It was like an Upper West Side prewar apartment with high ceilings and plaster walls. You could see past the carpeting, the heavy window shades, and the dog crates in the kitchen." She and her husband, photographer William Abranowicz, who shoots for magazines like ED and Architectural Digest, acquired it when their third child was born, in the interest of cutting down his commute time. ("It was as close as I was willing to get to the city," he says.) Before they got their hands on the Westchester Country ranch house, and put it through what ED describes as an "18-year renovation," with the help of local architect Holly Ross, it had been gradually added on to by the last owners over the course of four decades. Raisfeld and Abranowicz had it overhauled at much the same pace, which, according to Ross, involved a "great dialogue between the three of us."
↑ Left: The floor in the entry hall is made up of encaustic tiles inset into wood planks. The wallpaper is by Schumacher, and the chair was found in a dumpster. Right: The master bedroom, which the couple had renovated early on in their extended revamp, has a cathedral ceiling inspired by a thirteenth-century Swedish church. The chandelier is a flee market find, and so is the bench, which is covered in blankets purchased during a photo shoot in Bolivia.
↑ The cabinet in the gallery was found at an auction and topped with a miniature aviary full of stuffed birds. Photos, a few of which are by Abranowicz, line the wall, joined by Audubon prints, an Angelo Filomeno embroidery piece, and at least three sets of antlers. Head to Elle Decor for more on the home.
· House Tour: The Jaw-Dropping Result of Result of a 18-Year Renovation [Elle Decor]
· All Printed Page posts [Curbed National]
· All Bedford, N.Y. coverage [Curbed National]