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Max Kim-Bee

Marshall Watson Dreams Up a Toile de Jouy Fantasy for Textile Historian Jill Lasersohn

This 600-square-foot Manhattan pied-à-terre is a veritable work of art.

February 24, 2023

“It’s sort of a city mouse-country mouse story,” says empty-nester Jill Lasersohn of the New York City pied-à-terre she and her husband Jack purchased after raising their two children in the sun-and-salt-air Xanadu otherwise known as the Hamptons. “But we did a switcheroo, because the city is our vacation.” The plug-and-play allure of Manhattan was irresistible to the textile historian, whose museum-quality collection of centuries-old fabrics inspired an eponymous line of romantic (and occasionally cheeky) toiles for Schumacher. And the right jewel box of an apartment presented the opportunity to be an ideal showcase for them—not to mention a design laboratory for dreaming up new ideas. 

The space they landed on, though, wasn’t quite the “five-star hotel suite” of Lasersohn’s imagination. “It was a complete wreck,” says designer Marshall Watson, who reinvented the diminutive 600-square-foot apartment. “It was an 80-year-old space that had never been renovated and never properly considered.” It was also dark, cramped, and boasted little architectural detail. But it was in a prewar building that gave Lasersohn the old-world vibe she craved, and the location, on a tree-lined Upper East Side street, was irresistible.

All appearances to the contrary, textile historian Jill Lasersohn’s apartment doesn’t get much natural light for most of the day, so decorator Marshall Watson layered in plenty of lamps, sconces, and old-school track lighting hidden behind a beam and camouflaged in the same shade as the ceiling. Watson and Lasersohn found the Louis XVI bergères at auction and the Directoire writing desk is from Lasersohn’s own collection. Chatelaine Paisley pillows and Vanderbilt Velvet pillows by Mary McDonald, window- seat cushion in Corneille Velvet, all by Schumacher.

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“We redid every single molding, every single wall, and every single door. It’s basically a brand-new apartment,” says Watson. “The largest challenge was to expand the space as much as possible with every trick in my sorcerer’s book.” Watson is being modest, because the tricks he pulled could fill a whole library. He gave the space more integrity with paneled moldings, some of which he mirrored to give the minuscule living room abracadabra grandeur as they reflect sunshine and expand the space. Then he made the most of the meager UV rays that make it past the windows by painting all the walls a high gloss: “It reflects what little natural light there is and gets refracted in the mirrors, so the apartment itself shimmers.”

The diamond pattern in the Les Losanges Toile from Lasersohn’s Schumacher collection echoes the checkerboard floor in the foyer and helps disguise its small proportions; Watson and Lasersohn purchased the Empire mirror at auction.

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Cue the artful layering and the careful calibration of scale. “In a small space you’re close up to everything, so you notice every detail,” says Watson. “The proportion of the furniture was paramount.” Elegant late 18th-century silhouettes were a natural choice. “I’m a big fan of neoclassical lines,” says history buff Lasersohn. They found a pair of Louis XVI bergères with glinting, gilded frames at auction, and Lasersohn pulled gleaming 18th-century mirrors and a Directoire writing desk from storage. The custom sofa is a lesson in decorating legerdemain. “A sofa in a small room needs small arms,” says Watson. “Fat arms waste space.” A thin profile and wide seat create a cushy perch with a minimum of space.“A single cushion on the seat makes it look even broader and more luxurious,” the designer adds. He also worked his magic on the floors: “Wall-to-wall to carpet further blurs boundaries. Area rugs can shrink rooms and make them look cluttered, especially in a traditional environment.”

Lasersohn loves the 17th-century Dutch portrait in the living room for the lace ruff its subject wears—she collects lace from that era, so purchasing it counted as research, she jokes. The custom sofa is covered in Venetian Silk velvet by Schumacher. Sconces, Vaughan.

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 “When you open your eyes in the morning and see these gorgeous figures flitting in the air above you, it’s magic.”

- Jill Lasersohn
  • In the primary bedroom, the red-and-white toile on the throw pillow dates back to 1785; Watson echoed its tone in the lampshade. Bed, Frontgate. Side table, Chelsea Editions. 

    Max Kim-Bee
  • Lasersohn’s Chariot of Dawn Toile Panel Set for Schumacher is based on an 18th-century toile de Nantes, itself inspired by a 1614 fresco painted by Guido Reni in Rome—and both from eras in which anything neoclassical was the toast of the town. 

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As for the fabrics, Lasersohn was understandably well versed—and opinionated: “Our house in the country mines classic Colonial Americana, so I wanted this to be more sophisticated and buttoned up, just like how I dress differently when I am in the city than when I’m out East.” Sumptuous, glittering silk velvets supply a rich depth; Watson gilded the lily by upholstering the foyer walls in a graphic toile from Lasersohn’s Schumacher collection. Nailhead-trimmed leather on the front door helps muffle the comings and goings from the building’s busy entrance hall outside.

In the bedroom, branches of the tall, sculptural canopy bed reach nearly to the ceiling. “You feel that the room is a foot taller than it is,” says Watson, which gave him leeway to install a king-size bed without making it seem like the room is bursting at the seams. The pièce de résistance is a bold mural wallpaper, also from Lasersohn’s Schumacher collection, which was re-created from an 18th-century toile de Nantes, but blown up for a decidedly modern effect. “We placed it so that the figures themselves would peer over the bed,” says Watson. It’s truly the stuff of Lasersohn’s dreams: “When you open your eyes in the morning and see these gorgeous figures flitting in the air above you, it’s magic,” she says. Consider us spellbound.

Les Scenes Contemporaines wallcovering from Lasersohn’s Schumacher collection is based on a traditional Oberkampf toile but boasts a playfully 21st-century twist: Look closely and you’ll see its figures sporting earbuds, denim jackets and combat boots. Range, Bertazonni.

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  • Watson cloaked kitchen cabinetry in a juicy black shade to slim down its profile, while brass pulls and cremone bolts give it some extra sparkle. Backsplash tile, Walker Zanger.

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  • Lasersohn’s a sucker for bibelots—busts, candlesticks, bowls—and furnished the apartment with three carloads she drove in from East Hampton. Stargaze wallpaper by Schumacher on ceiling.

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See More Web-Exclusive Photos

  • An antique tole peinte bouillotte lamp illuminates the office nook.

    Max Kim-Bee
  • “Like a jewel box, every detail is observed,” says Watson.

    Max Kim-Bee
  • Groupings of antique prints and silhouettes fill the entry hall.

    Max Kim-Bee
  • Brass accents warm up the bath, which features Schumacher’s Hydrangea Drape wallpaper.

    Max Kim-Bee
  • “It feels like you’re actually living in a piece of art,” says Watson of the bedroom.

    Max Kim-Bee
  • “During Napoleon’s time, wallpaper won over the new aristocracy—they often depicted exotic travels and world discoveries,” says Lasersohn. “Chiaroscuro effects also dominated—as with this Chariot of Dawn mural!”

    Max Kim-Bee

    An antique tole peinte bouillotte lamp illuminates the office nook.

    Max Kim-Bee

    “Like a jewel box, every detail is observed,” says Watson.

    Max Kim-Bee

    Groupings of antique prints and silhouettes fill the entry hall.

    Max Kim-Bee

    Brass accents warm up the bath, which features Schumacher’s Hydrangea Drape wallpaper.

    Max Kim-Bee

    “It feels like you’re actually living in a piece of art,” says Watson of the bedroom.

    Max Kim-Bee

    “During Napoleon’s time, wallpaper won over the new aristocracy—they often depicted exotic travels and world discoveries,” says Lasersohn. “Chiaroscuro effects also dominated—as with this Chariot of Dawn mural!”

    Max Kim-Bee

THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE WINTER 2023 ISSUE OF FREDERIC. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE