Tour a Designer’s Sylvan Hideaway With Personality to Spare

Juliet Izon
·7 min read

Business partners and married couple Everick and Lisa Brown have had a long time to hone their working relationship. The two first met in elementary school in Los Angeles, and attended school together all the way through high school. After they graduated, however, they lost touch for about two decades before reconnecting at a high school reunion. Soon, they were not only romantically involved, but L.A.-based Lisa also began running the business side of Everick’s interior design company, which is located in New York. The two carried on a bicoastal relationship for over a decade, before Lisa finally moved out to Yorktown Heights, New York, and into the stunning Shingle-style home where they still live today.

For Lisa in particular, buying and decorating the house was a leap of faith: She was still based on the West Coast when they purchased it about 10 years ago, which meant Everick was in charge of creating an aesthetic that suited both of them. “The collaboration was that she had to be happy; let’s cut to the chase,” Everick says with a laugh. “But I do think what makes a good designer—Christian Liaigre put it best, ‘There’s no such thing as a great designer; there are only great clients.’” Lisa demurs, however: “The opposite of that [phrase] is trust your designer,” she says. “When I see his work in our clients’ homes, it’s flawless; it’s perfect. If it’s not right, he sees it before anyone else. I always defer to his expertise, because I know that I’ll be happy in the end.” It also helped that the couple’s new home was the ideal canvas for Everick’s creativity.

The Shingle-style home was built in 1986, but the addition on the right-hand side was added 10 years later. The trim of the home is Benjamin Moore’s Hamilton Blue.
The Shingle-style home was built in 1986, but the addition on the right-hand side was added 10 years later. The trim of the home is Benjamin Moore’s Hamilton Blue.

Everick and Lisa fell in love with the four-bedroom, four-bath Shingle-style home because of its quirky beauty and thoughtful construction. It was designed by architect Barry Donaldson in 1986 as his own residence; the Browns were the first owners to move in after Donaldson and his wife. “They lived on the land for about three months, monitoring the sun, to figure out the positioning of the house,” Lisa says of the original siting. For Everick, who wanted a body of water on property as well as an elevated site, the over-six-acre plot provided him with both (there is a pond in the backyard). “Initially, we didn’t really know why we were attracted to the house,” he says. “But when we dug in and understood its origins—because it was very deliberate, having been designed by an architect who studied under the school of Shingle-style homes—it is both classic and modern in style. And that really is the epitome of what we are.”

As the home’s bones were basically flawless, the renovations they undertook were essentially all aesthetic: The couple did no major construction work until they redesigned their bathroom earlier this year. That said, they changed the color palette drastically from that of the previous owners. “The kitchen was Dartmouth green and the library was coral orange,” says Lisa. “Everything was yellow or powder blue or pink. Every room got painted.” But when former owner Victoria saw the home after the Browns’ work, there was nothing but approbation. “She said, ‘This is what this house was meant to be, because you can finally see all the beautiful architecture without all of the distracting paint colors,’” Lisa relates.

The family’s library has floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with mementos from Lisa and Everick’s many travels. The midcentury executive chairs and ebony-wood tulip table, both by Eero Saarinen, are paired with a leather tuxedo sofa from Roche Bobois Paris. Underneath it all is a Classic Rug Collection custom wool-and-silk rug.

For the redesign, Everick stuck to a mostly neutral palette with pops of warm tones. The couple’s bedroom, for example, is painted with Sherwin-Williams’s Elephant Ear, with Arhaus bedlinens in a mix of creams and grays. There are dashes of bright orange, however, in the custom-made striped throw pillows on the bed. A similar theme is echoed in the cozy library, which is outfitted with floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with mementos from the couple’s travels. Sherwin-Williams’s Folkstone, a gray with a hint of purple, covers the walls and shelves, while vintage Eero Saarinen chairs and a Classic Rug Collection custom wool-and-silk rug add lively pops of bright red.

But the couple’s favorite room is one they dub “the talking room,” or what most might call the living room. “It’s sort of our analog room,” Everick says. “There are no electronics except for the Sonos speaker to bring in music. It’s like sitting in a treehouse.” The large and sunlit space provides views of trees, and the furniture is arranged in, of course, conversational groupings. What is most striking about it is the mélange of styles: There is a vintage pleather armchair from a thrift store, but also an original Eames midcentury plywood screen. But somehow, because of the composition and color palette, it all works. The same can be said for the house as a whole: Everick drew from multiple streams of inspiration to fashion a house that is uniquely his and Lisa’s. And that, perhaps, is the true definition of what a great designer does.

Tour a Designer’s Sylvan Hideaway With Personality to Spare

Designer Everick Brown and his wife and business partner, Lisa, love to entertain, and their Yorktown Heights, New York, home’s large kitchen was a huge draw for them. It features a six-burner Viking range, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and fixtures by Kohler. The dining table, side chairs, and dining chairs are all Eero Saarinen, and the counter stools are from Four Hands. When you buy something through a retail link on Architectural Digest, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The elegant dining room features floor-to-ceiling raw silk drapes from The Shade Store, a pendant from Foscarini Lighting, and a custom walnut-and-stainless-steel table from Johnny Poux Design. Cisco Brothers designed the custom banquette bench and chairs in a cotton twill. The walnut sideboard is from Creative Elegance Furniture.
The family room is a cozy space filled with light. Note the Dutch door on the back wall, one of the couple’s favorite features of the home. The sectional, ottoman, and armchair are all custom-made by Picasero and paired with an Eero Saarinen Womb chair and matching ottoman. The custom wool-and-silk rug is from Classic Rug Collection and inspired by Gee’s Bend quilts. Leaning on the right wall is a hand-carved wooden door from Dogon, Mali.
The “talking room” is what the couple calls their living room. On this side of the space the focal point is the towering hand-carved palm wood floor lamp from Chista NY. The 3D painting is by J.E. Silverman and sits over a custom table with a glass inset, and rope chairs by Jens Risom. The midcentury plywood screen is by Eames.
On the other side of the space is a linen sofa by Verellen, a coffee table with a palm wood base custom-designed by Everick, and a pair of chairs: one vintage pleather from a thrift store, the other a custom leather from Cisco Brothers. On the far left is an antique Chinese rain cape and hat.
The couple’s bedroom is done in a palette of neutrals with a pop of orange. The silk platform bed is a custom piece from Richter Design and paired with bedlinens from Arhaus. Everick designed the striped throw pillows himself. The custom Corian-wrapped walnut nightstands are from Patrick Weder Design, topped with hand-carved palm-wood table lamps from Chista NY.
The main bathroom was the first renovation the couple made to the house. The hand-carved metal mosaic tile, soaking tub, vanity, and chrome hardware are all from Porcelanosa. The zero-entry shower with an infinity drain was a feature that Lisa had wanted for years.
The family’s library has floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with mementos from Lisa and Everick’s many travels. The midcentury executive chairs and ebony-wood tulip table are both by Eero Saarinen, paired with a leather tuxedo sofa from Roche Bobois Paris. Underneath it all is another Classic Rug Collection custom wool-and-silk rug.
The Shingle-style home was built in 1986, but the addition on the right-hand side was added 10 years later. The trim of the home is Benjamin Moore’s Hamilton Blue.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest