What could be more satisfying than living in an environment that eloquently expresses your personality, values, and tastes with bespoke perfection? Cover star Adwoa Aboah’s thoughtful words above would be music to the ears of any interior designer. In Aboah’s case, that designer is the Swedish-born, London-based AD100 talent Beata Heuman, who helped the actor-activist-model craft her happy place in a Victorian-era town house in west London. “We wanted something theatrical but still cozy and calm,” Heuman notes of the creative collaboration.
This issue features several other city dwellers who enlisted skillful designers to help them achieve their personal visions. James LaForce and Stephen Henderson are those rare New Yorkers who enjoy the luxury of a vast apartment, and they wisely hired Ryan Lawson (“He was great,” Henderson declares) to help them finesse a space that can accommodate both large-scale entertaining and intimate dinners for two. In LA, Ariel Kaye, the founder of minimalist home furnishings brand Parachute, landed the ideal house in which to raise her two young children (near the beach and close to her parents) but confesses, “I needed to leave my safe beige world behind and get funky by bringing on an expert who’d push me out of my comfort zone.” Kaye got exactly what she wished for from designer Sally Breer, who found her client “incredibly open-minded, brave, and trusting.”
Finally, AD visits two other California dwellings whose owners, Abigail Turin in San Francisco and Oliver Furth in LA, are both design professionals and conjured their respective dream homes exactly to their personal specifications. “Architects are like shoemakers,” laughs Turin. “We never quite get around to our own projects.” But when they do, the results are thrilling.
Amy Astley’s letter appears in AD’s October 2023 issue. Never miss an issue when you subscribe to AD.
