City Slicker

It had to be fate. For two decades, the owners had lived in Manhattan searching all the while for just such a lair. Costs for high-ceilinged rooms awash with light, though, were astronomical, never mind buildings with great water views. Then the couple, owners of a Pawtucket-based fashion jewelry company, stumbled upon Riverfront Lofts. “When we heard this landmark building had previously been a jewelry manufacturing company, we had to live here,” says one half of the pair. The enticing location—less than ten feet from the country’s second fastest moving river, the Blackstone— along with the prospect of being surrounded by an incredible community of artists, sealed the deal. 

Envisioning a SoHo-like enclave with as few walls as possible to maintain the openness, the new owners turned to New York interior designer John Bardsley for help in customizing their new address.

Bardsley, who first got his feet wet in the design field working for big names like Ralph Lauren and Mark Hampton, heads his own New York City firm. Having previously rehabbed the owners’ New Jersey beach house, he was familiar with their tastes and their preference for a sophisticated Asian-inspired decor. His clients’ wish list for Pawtucket, not surprisingly, called for a neutral backdrop to showcase a burgeoning art collection (“Think of the putty white—not creamy or buttery—walls in a gallery,” Bardsley says), contemporary but also comfortable furnishings and room for the treasures they’d accumulated on their travels.  We’re not talking mundane mementoes either, but rare finds such as antique dragon sculptures and delicate accoutrements from exotic locales including Singapore and Hong Kong. Fortunately, the airy place lent itself exactly to just such a scheme, both spatially and aesthetically.

A strategy was shaped: public spaces would occupy the upper level, while the master suite would take over the lower. “My clients were fantastic about editing,” says Bardsley. “We would whiz drawings back and forth and every so often, I’d make a trip to Rhode Island to see how we were doing.”

Since the bath, sans door and devoid of distracting details, is set to the rear of the lower level opposite the entry stair wall it feels private and removed. Once again, the sharp contrast of dark and light enhances the grown-up drama. Frosted glass panels guard the sybaritic walk-in shower, and twin sinks atop a marble counter see to grooming efficiency. But it’s the deep soaking tub that’s the main event. Sited in its own niche and surrounded by a gallery-like grouping of striking photogravures—“The Awakening Portfolio” by Eikoh Hosoe—the free-standing tub is a luxe world unto itself. 

In the end, between their showroom in Manhattan and crisscrossing the globe for business, the busy owners may not have as much time here as they’d like. Still, when they are in residence, they’re content not just with the successful roost they’ve forged but also with the city. “We’re very passionate about Pawtucket and the great community we live in,” they tell us. “We’ve never felt in a home the way we do here.” Of course, the reverse is also true. How fortunate for the old building to have found present-day guardians, who while appreciating its past, have eased it so thoughtfully and beautifully into the present.

Clean Slate

“You don’t find this amount of space every day,” says Linda Dewing, project coordinator at Riverfront Lofts. The building’s last remaining unfinished unit, the loft (below) is a spectacular 5,000 square feet. Today’s units sell from about $222,000 to $599,000, the price of this bare bones beauty. How much it costs to shape the shell into a home will depend on what the owners plan. That’s also true for buyers purchasing finished lofts. “Costs for customizing range widely, anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000,” Dewing says. “It’s just like a house. If you want additional walls or an extra bath, that will ultimately affect the cost.”

Two years passed from the initial sketches to completion. How the living space would function on a daily basis was equally as important as how well it would look. The wide open airiness of a loft is enticing, but wrangling that kind of acreage down to a comfortable, human scale can be a challenge. Architects and designers incorporate a variety of details — textures, color, fabrics, the building’s physical details — to wrap a loft’s living area around the life of the homeowner.

In this case, with no glitzy chef’s arena to attract attention, no glaring shifts of color, the focus remains on its architecture and the owners’ appealing collection of photography, artwork and Asian antiques. Hefty exposed rafters and heating ducts painted white to mimic the walls and ceilings underscore the loft’s utilitarian aspect and add an air of cleaned-up modernity. These owners, in fact, were the only Riverfront residents to paint their exposed pipes and ducts. The ghostly disguise allows the bulky systems to recede and opens up the loft’s boundaries.

Exposed brick interjects warmth and texture, preventing the pared down space from coming across as too sterile. The existing oak flooring is sanded to a rich, natural sheen and ingenious partitions serve a dual purpose; orderly storage for serious shoe lovers on one side, a handsome headboard on the other.
The oversize windows celebrate nature; finding such a stunning panorama in a city landscape is not something the men take for granted. In fact, their private domain seems to fairly grab the river and pull it indoors.

An abundance of natural light is one of the primary reasons these residents, like many others, have flocked here. The elimination of unnecessary walls and doors allows the dreamy light to filter beyond the sleeping zone unobstructed into the bath. In fact, so subtle is the transition from bedroom to bath, the two appear to flow seamlessly together like, well, water.

“At times when the weather is inclement and the river is rushing, there’s this amazing sound,” says one of the owners. Relaxing in the tub or stretched out reading in the Le Corbusier chaise, he barely notices that it’s like background music, soothing the senses.        

To Get the Look

• The entry’s artichoke light by Louis Poulsen, from Lee’s Studio, New York, sells for about $6,000. Find similar fixtures at Design Within Reach, Providence, starting at about $6,000. Major Electric, Pawtucket, carries modern, if less famous, chandeliers in the same vein beginning at about $200.

• Become a collector. Lacquer boxes and antique braziers from Takashimaya in New York, are objets d’ art. Look for affordable accents similar in flavor at Olde China Trader, Bristol, Re Orient, Warwick and Pan Zhai, East Providence.

• Le Corbusier’s classic chaise with its chrome frame can be ordered through Design Within Reach in leather or cowhide for $2,400 to $2,900. Or contact risdlworks, Providence, for information on artist Alex Roskin’s eye-catching steel, laminated ash and leather model starting at about $500.  

• Start your own cost-effective and comely photography collection. AS220 in Providence stages regular photography exhibits. Depending on the artist showcased, you can expect to find works ranging from $40 to $400. 

• Our homeowners chose luscious Jim Thompson silks for pillows. Mimic the result with silk shantung (about $20.95 per yard for a solid, $37.95 for an embroidered version) from the Fabric Connection, Middletown. 

Since the bath, sans door and devoid of distracting details, is set to the rear of the lower level opposite the entry stair wall it feels private and removed. Once again, the sharp contrast of dark and light enhances the grown-up drama. Frosted glass panels guard the sybaritic walk-in shower, and twin sinks atop a marble counter see to grooming efficiency. But it’s the deep soaking tub that’s the main event. Sited in its own niche and surrounded by a gallery-like grouping of striking photogravures—“The Awakening Portfolio” by Eikoh Hosoe—the free-standing tub is a luxe world unto itself. 

In the end, between their showroom in Manhattan and crisscrossing the globe for business, the busy owners may not have as much time here as they’d like. Still, when they are in residence, they’re content not just with the successful roost they’ve forged but also with the city. “We’re very passionate about Pawtucket and the great community we live in,” they tell us. “We’ve never felt in a home the way we do here.” Of course, the reverse is also true. How fortunate for the old building to have found present-day guardians, who while appreciating its past, have eased it so thoughtfully and beautifully into the present.

Styling by Nicole A. Hogarty