Inside a West Village Townhouse Fit for a Culture Savant

Kathryn Romeyn

Most people lack the patience to search more than four years for the perfect home for their growing family. They’d eventually settle. But most people are not Marlies Verhoeven, who cofounded the global arts club the Cultivist. The Belgian-born CEO wanted a West Village townhouse—she and her husband, Jacco Reijtenbagh, couldn’t get used to apartment living—with a traditional exterior and modern interior that would gel with their contemporary art collection. “It wasn’t going to be something transitionary, it was something that would convey some of our values we grew up living in townhouses in Europe,” she says of their vision, adding that outdoor space was equally important.

First encountering this 1899 edifice, like every piece of art Verhoeven acquires for their robust collection—with its works by David Hockney, Mel Bochner, Jonas Wood, Mary Corse, Cecily Brown—left an indelible impression. As it happens, the home was one of the very first they saw; green to the market, they didn’t act fast enough, and it sold to other buyers. During the course of their ensuing search, they visited some 70 others. (“We can’t walk around the village on any street without having seen at least one or two houses,” she laughs.) But nothing compared. So Reijtenbagh found the buyer of their perfect place from years earlier, took him to coffee, and made a deal.

A large “fiery” canvas by Korakrit Arunanondchai, Untitled (History Painting), replaced another piece Verhoeven lent to a museum for an exhibition, an example of the way the townhouse continues to shape-shift with time and new acquisitions. The mobile-like chandelier is by David Weeks; Verhoeven fell in love with it at his studio and bought it on the spot, before they’d moved in. “I love that lamp, it’s incredible,” she says.

Before moving in they removed all the lighting and made all switches and fixtures flush with the ceiling and walls—an obsession of Reijtenbagh’s. “It’s things you might not even notice, but they were very important to us so the focus could really go to the art and the furniture,” says Verhoeven. It’s gallery-like in the sense that the entire home was designed for a range of artwork to be shown and lived with at its best, not for a particular piece to shine.

Important works from Verhoeven's studio visits for work mingle with fine furniture from America, Holland, and Europe, married in a way that’s not too precious but undeniably elegant. (Yet it’s outside, in their spacious backyard, with no art at all, that receives the bulk of the family’s attention and time.) Interior designer Kati Curtis helped distill Verhoeven’s thousands-of-pins-deep Pinterest board—“I had a very particular idea of what I wanted," the homeowner says—into a viable plan. Curtis hunted down specific additions and uncovered fun pieces her client hadn’t seen before, like those for the daughters’ playful bedrooms. The art guru’s vision: warm and livable, a little fun and different, and not too formal or cookie-cutter. “The art needed to take center stage, so you can’t work with crazy wallpapers,” says Verhoeven.

It was in her kids’ vibrant rooms that Verhoeven had fun going “a bit eccentric.” But the formal dining and living room epitomize her careful, patient, planned approach, as well as her proclivity for juxtaposing serious artwork with slightly whimsical pieces. Dan Colen’s Hippity Flippity!—a particularly meaningful feather- and tar-coated canvas that she feels is about seeing the beauty in hardship—hangs above a couple of giant Johannes Albers ballpoint pens. “We wanted to lighten it up to not take ourselves too serious,” says Verhoeven. “That’s how we approached all of this—because, you know, life is not so serious and nor should it be.”

Inside a West Village Townhouse Fit for a Culture Savant

The formal dining room in a West Village townhouse owned by Marlies Verhoeven and her husband, Jacco Reijtenbagh—who brought on interior designer Kati Curtis to help define the spaces—is an honest expression of Verhoeven’s approach to design. The Cassina chairs around the Curtis-designed, BDDW-fabricated walnut slab table are some of the many items shipped in a container from Europe. The Lindsey Adelman fixture felt unexpected at the time, but Verhoeven, cofounder and CEO of global arts club the Cultivist, says, “Now I see it in quite a few houses, which makes me cringe a little bit. I still adore it, but it’s definitely gotten way more popular than it used to be.” Artwork by Dan Colen, Johannes Albers (whose pens show they don’t take themselves too seriously), Mary Corse, and JR (whom Verhoeven became quite interested in after a Cultivist studio visit) completes the space.
The adults-only formal living room, with Jonas Wood’s Square Red Dot and a canvas by Belgian artist Harold Ancart, is where the couple hosts cocktails when they entertain. Years before they moved in, Verhoeven had hunted down the pair of Carlo Hauner chairs on 1stdibs, “before 1stdibs was really a thing,” she says. “I fell in love with them, especially the back view.” Curtis contributed an oft-used, functional, and fun green pouf from Moroso (“a stretch for them aesthetically!”) to the space overlooking the downstairs living room.
A large “fiery” canvas by Korakrit Arunanondchai, Untitled (History Painting), replaced another piece Verhoeven lent to a museum for an exhibition, an example of the way the townhouse continues to shape-shift with time and new acquisitions. The mobile-like chandelier is by David Weeks; Verhoeven fell in love with it at his studio and bought it on the spot, before they’d moved in. “I love that lamp, it’s incredible,” she says.
Mel Bochner’s Silence and Go Away add humor to the kitchen, where an Eero Saarinen table and Inoda+Sveje chairs provide a place for casual family dining. “When our kids say something that’s not meant to be said, we say, ‘That is a word that belongs on the wall, not in your mouth.’”
Mel Bochner’s Silence and Go Away add humor to the kitchen, where an Eero Saarinen table and Inoda+Sveje chairs provide a place for casual family dining. “When our kids say something that’s not meant to be said, we say, ‘That is a word that belongs on the wall, not in your mouth.’”
To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain is the title of Zhang Huan’s 1995 photograph that spoke volumes to Verhoeven: “It’s saying you can only control so much, and certain things don’t matter, you should let it go, which is great for a bedroom.” A particularly dreamy custom headboard was upholstered with channel tufting in a soft fabric with some sheen from Knoll Luxe’s Rodarte collection, paying homage to the influence of fashion in Verhoeven’s life and career.
Verhoeven and Reijtenbagh share an office featuring a custom BDDW desk with inlay “that’s really gorgeous.” A dash of nostalgia for Europe comes in the form of the tiny ceramic houses on a shelf, a collection he built while flying KLM in the ’80s and ’90s. “It was one of his childhood things to have a full set of these houses, and he does. It’s a little bit of home in that room that we love and adore.”
A globally inspired playroom for an international family. Verhoeven wants her kids to be aware of the rest of the world—and realize New York is just a little blip—so they worked hard to find a decal that would cover the sliding doors in the colorful space dotted with cheerful convertible blue chairs by Dutch designer Maarten Baas, a limited edition she found at Salone del Mobile.
Monkey, by Catherine Ledner, 2006, is a highlight of a daughter's bedroom, along with the custom-designed and -fabricated bed and the Katherine Rally Textiles drapes. The carpet, like the one in her sister’s room, was custom-designed by Curtis and made in Jaipur, India, of nontoxic hand-knotted cotton.
Monkey, by Catherine Ledner, 2006, is a highlight of a daughter's bedroom, along with the custom-designed and -fabricated bed and the Katherine Rally Textiles drapes. The carpet, like the one in her sister’s room, was custom-designed by Curtis and made in Jaipur, India, of nontoxic hand-knotted cotton.
Another daughter's bedroom centers around Panda Bear (Pink and White), by Rob Pruitt. “It’s just so fun and so perfect for a kid’s room, so it kind of drove the whole design of that room,” says Verhoeven.
Another daughter's bedroom centers around Panda Bear (Pink and White), by Rob Pruitt. “It’s just so fun and so perfect for a kid’s room, so it kind of drove the whole design of that room,” says Verhoeven.
“Even in the middle of winter my husband goes out there to barbecue,” says Verhoeven of their prized and frequently used backyard setup, which includes B&B Italia chairs and a living green wall. “The kids play out there in the snow. It’s a very important part of our home, and I’m aware of how lucky we are to have that in the city. I’m grateful for it every day.”
Verhoeven and her husband searched for years to find the perfect townhouse with an old, traditional exterior yet contemporary architecture inside, and it turned out to be one of the first they saw, this circa-1899 home in the West Village, with a spacious private backyard featuring living walls and a pair of hornbeam trees.
Verhoeven and Reijtenbagh with their children in the backyard, where the kids ride their bikes and play for hours at a time. “We spend most of our time there; it becomes an extension of the living room when we open the big sliding doors all the way,” says the CEO.
Verhoeven and Reijtenbagh with their children in the backyard, where the kids ride their bikes and play for hours at a time. “We spend most of our time there; it becomes an extension of the living room when we open the big sliding doors all the way,” says the CEO.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest