42 ARCHDIGEST.COM
W
hen Manhattanites are looking
for a weekend home, they
typically go one of two directions:
Jump into the high-octane social
swirl of the Hamptons or head
for the hills upstate. Born and
bred in the former camp, Evan Yurman wanted a
little quiet escapism when the time came
to plant roots of his own. “There are a lot of people
that you know here,” the chief creative officer of
David Yurman says of the historically artistic Catskill
Mountains where he and his wife, Ku-Ling, retreat
with their three children. “But you never see them.”
The couple spent years house-hunting before they
happened upon the perfect spot: an old bluestone
quarry (Evan quips that it wasn’t a very productive
one) perched on the side of a mountain with nearly
200 acres unfolding beneath it. The base structure
had originally been built as a commercial studio
for fine-art photographer Hans Gissinger and was
converted into a bachelor pad before the Yurmans
came into the picture. “It just wasn’t homey,” Evan
says, adding with a laugh, “We had to exorcise the
place.” Enlisting Moschella Roberts Architects, with
whom they also collaborated on their West Village
residence, they redesigned and expanded the existing
structure to fit their aesthetic and familial needs,
while adding a swimming pool and converting a barn
into a poolhouse. A 14-seat basement screening
room that was discovered only after they closed on
the property remains happily intact for popcorn-
fueled movie nights.
DISCOVERIES
1
3
4
1. IN THE LIVING ROOM,
A NOGUCHI LANTERN
HANGS ABOVE AN ARRAY
OF SCANDINAVIAN
MODERN SEATING.
2. DAVID YURMAN STAX
CUFF (DAVIDYURMAN
.COM). 3. KU-LING AND
EVAN YURMAN. 4. THE
PROPERTY’S ERSTWHILE
BARN NOW SERVES
AS THE POOLHOUSE.
JEWELRY: COURTESY OF DAVID YURMAN
2
