
January 19, 2025Words like spare and restrained aren’t what first come to mind when describing Darren Henault’s richly layered, rooted-in-tradition interiors. The New York City–based designer, who calls himself a “king of pattern on pattern on pattern on pattern”—yes, that was four patterns!—is known for his artful combinations of not only pattern but also color, form and texture. “All of that,” he says, “means comfort and depth to me.”
And so, when a longtime client asked Henault to create a home in Manhattan’s West Village that she wanted to feel “soothing, quiet, consistent, without major flair,” as the designer recalls it, he knew he would have to rein in his most exuberant impulses a shade — or three.
The project involved combining a pair of side-by-side early-20th-century townhouses, and the client turned to Henault for help. He had previously done another townhouse for her where “every room was like a fantasy and we really let it fly,” he says. Here, “she wanted the spaces to be more meditative, with few distractions.”
The renovation ultimately took several years and involved multiple architects and contractors, as the plans went through a series of iterations. While the landmarked facades of the five-story buildings could not be altered, the interior were gutted, staircases replaced, electrical systems updated and new flooring, walls and architectural details installed throughout.
The biggest structural change involved extending the parlor level of one of the townhouses some 15 feet at the back, creating a larger, light-filled living room with a conservatory-style glass enclosure overlooking the garden.
The upper floors contain several bedrooms, offering plenty of space for the family and guests, although the home doesn’t serve as a primary residence. “The major focus from a design standpoint was to create living and dining areas where the client would be able to entertain stylishly.
To that end, one of the two street-facing parlors was transformed into a reception foyer in which, Henault notes, “you can hang seventy coats.” Wraparound paneling lacquered in a glossy French blue provides a spirited welcome, while the space is simply but elegantly furnished with pieces like an Edwin Lutyens mercury ball chandelier, a pair of Soane Britain barrel-back armchairs and a custom carpet with an Art Nouveau–inspired pattern.
Henault outfitted the other front room as a cozy den lined with paneling in a faux-bois finish that mimics honeytone oak. A contemporary Buddhist-themed work by Tibetan artist Gade is mounted above the A&R Asta neoclassical fireplace, while astrological etchings from the client’s collection hang in neat pairs around the space. A Fortuny silk light fixture adds delicate panache overhead, suspended above a custom sofa and a pair of curvy, velvet-clad 1940s Jules Leleu armchairs from Maison Gerard.
Between the chairs is a vintage cocktail table with a base of interlacing, sinuous strands of gilt-iron. “The table honestly isn’t anything of particular value,” says Henault, noting that the client “will happily put something worth five dollars next to something that costs five hundred thousand if she likes it.”
The space that perhaps best encapsulates the spirit of the home’s decor is the living room, where an austere, black-and-white abstracted landscape by Ron Kingswood commands one wall, in a space otherwise filled with dusty earth tones.
Here, plush seating mingles with sculptural accent pieces like a 1960s industrial-chic Georges Geffroy table with intertwining aluminum legs acquired from Liz O’Brien. Although the room is pared down by Henault’s usual standards, the overall effect is hardly minimalist.
“The client’s idea of a clean aesthetic is not a modernist idea of clean,” he says. “She still wants sumptuousness. She still wants texture.”
Henault upholstered the inviting sofa and lounge chairs — distinguished by gently undulating armrests — in solid Loro Piano cashmeres and covered a 10-foot-long ottoman, which also serves as a coffee table, in a horsehair with a subdued stripe. The cream-color curtains are the same Holland & Sherry satin-weave wool used in different hues for window treatments throughout the home.
“While the room may be relatively monochromatic,” says the designer, “every single thing you touch is a particular texture. It’s very tactile.”
He did permit himself some pattern play with the room’s accent pillows and bespoke carpet. The latter, he says, is based on an Arts and Crafts design, dramatically enlarged, to give it more of a contemporary feel.
“The construction, design and quality of textiles is all innate to me, and it’s important to me,” notes Henault, whose family owned textile mills in Rhode Island and Massachusetts when he was growing up. “I spent one summer in the weaving department. I spent one summer working in the finishing department, learning about hand. Another summer, I worked in the dye labs, learning about color.”
A passion for craftsmanship and materials is part of what impelled him to found Tent, a shop offering a range of antique, vintage and contemporary furnishings, including a collection of his own designs. Located in New York’s Hudson Valley, near Millbrook, where he and his family have a home, Tent can also be found on 1stDibs.
Henault launched the shop not long before wrapping up this project, which incorporates a number of standout vintage pieces, notably the dining room’s Carlo Bugatti cabinet, a tour de force of late-19th-century cabinetmaking. Thoughtfully balancing old and new, the space also features contemporary artworks by Lita Albuquerque and Jacob Hashimoto, as well as a table with a lustrous jade-green top that Henault commissioned from resin specialists Atta Studios.
The table sits on a darkened-steel X-form base by metalworking maestro Tom Faulkner, who also crafted the svelte modern chairs distilled from Art Nouveau forms. Keeping with the theme, the rug was custom made by Doris Leslie Blau using a blown-up Art Nouveau pattern that the client admired.
Downstairs, on the garden level, Henault cultivated a looser, more kid-friendly vibe. The family room, which he calls “the crash spot,” is anchored by an L-shape B&B Italia sofa in vivid mix-and-match solid and striped upholsteries, complemented by an assortment of throw pillows, some with lively floral embroideries. Playful Dave Eggers drawings of animals accompanied by witty text are casually tacked to the wall behind.
“I love the fact that the art is unframed and sort of randomly hung,” says Henault. “We made the space feel more relaxed, including with the nineteen-twenties Art Deco Chinese rug, given that it’s off-kilter, not a uniform pattern.”
On the same level, there are two kitchens, one for more casual family use, the other tailored for an in-house chef. Henault outfitted the breakfast area with a vintage wooden table and chairs acquired at auction in Paris, the latter featuring quirky metal tubing details and riveted leather upholstery. An industrial-inspired Urban Electric pendant hangs above, while a large artwork by Katrin Korfmann enlivens a nearby wall.
When it came to the bedrooms, the client wanted to keep things fairly simple. Henault inserted a few flourishes, however. The beds are custom upholstered in cozy monochrome fabrics, while the nightstands are Henault’s own designs from his Tent collection. The same bespoke settee turns up at the foot of several beds, albeit covered in different colorways of a zingy Carleton V Chinoiserie linen.
Here again, the curtains are a Holland & Sherry wool —”good texture, a tiny bit of sheen and super quiet,” says Henault — with each bedroom featuring a different-color trim or, in the case of the primary, an exquisite custom-embroidered garland detail.
Texture and sound-dampening are paramount, as they are throughout the home. “It’s almost more sensory than it is visual,” Henault says of the entire home. “Walking around, the spaces feel really multidimensional. It’s all very enveloping.”