MODERN ROMANCE
When the homeowners requested color in the master bedroom, Tolomeo selected a large-scale Clarence House Chinese toile, juxtaposed with unfussy white duck from Hinson & Company for the chair and ottoman. Anglo-Indian tables were found at a flea market.
PAST PRESENT
Clubby touches in the living room include a vintage Chesterfield sofa, 1820s console, and ancestral portraiture.
MODERN ROMANCE
An antique gilt-and-ebonized convex mirror reflects the elongated four-poster that Tolomeo designed to play off the room's traditional elements.
PAST PRESENT
A Formica Parsons table gets Brunschwig & Fils Chinese Leopard toile on hosts' chairs and Osborne & Little tweed on the others.
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nj colonial

Gerald C. Tolomeo creates a modern stage for English classics in Saddle River
Type: 
Interior Design
Author name: 
Gerald Charles Tolomeo LTD.
Type: 
Produced By
Author name: 
Betsy Marx
Type: 
Text
Author name: 
Sallie Brady
Type: 
Photography
Author name: 
Peter Margonelli

The notion that a house is never “finished” rings true for the owners of this Dutch Colonial in Saddle River, who have spent 18 years fine-tuning their four-bedroom home with the help of designer Gerald C. Tolomeo. Collectors of portraits and equestrian paintings, English furniture, silver, and Chinese porcelain, the empty-nesters look to Tolomeo to help them create a streamlined setting for their discoveries. The designer’s first step was to create a clean backdrop for old things, using Benjamin Moore’s White Dove on the walls and walnut stain on the wood floors. He swapped existing upholstery for rich velvets, cottons, and linens from Hinson & Company; jacquards from Old World Weavers; and some splashes of whimsy from Grey Watkins and Brunschwig & Fils. Contemporary pieces, such as the entertainment room’s orange-lacquered cocktail table, add balance to 18th-century secretaries and tall-case clocks, and bare windows reveal views of the couple’s apple orchard. A sense of history prevails, but life, and change, goes on.

Resources:

Gerald Charles Tolomeo Ltd., design & decoration, 105A W. 78th St., NYC 10024; 212.768.1660; gctolomeoltd.com. All custom window treatments were by Angela Corizzi, 31 Sixth Ave., Clifton, NJ 07011; 973.772.5330. Upholstery was by Master Interiors, 1500 Main Ave., Clifton, NJ 07011; 973.253.0785. (pages 84–85) Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com. Hinson & Company, 979 Third Ave., Suite 732, NYC 10022; 212.688.5538. Old World Weavers, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1002, NYC 10022; 212.355.7186; old-world-weavers.com. Grey Watkins at Stark Fabric, 979 Third Ave., NYC NJ COLONIAL (Pages 84–87): Gerald Charles Tolomeo Ltd., design & decoration, 105A W. 78th St., NYC 10024; 212.768.1660; gctolomeoltd.com. All custom window treatments were by Angela Corizzi, 31 Sixth Ave., Clifton, NJ 07011; 973.772.5330. Upholstery was by Master Interiors, 1500 Main Ave., Clifton, NJ 07011; 973.253.0785. (pages 84–85) Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com. Hinson & Company, 979 Third Ave., Suite 732, NYC 10022; 212.688.5538. Old World Weavers, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1002, NYC 10022; 212.355.7186; old-world-weavers.com. Grey Watkins at Stark Fabric, 979 Third Ave., NYC