154 ARCHDIGEST.COM
© WALTON FORD
She and Catroux began by taking stock of the
London home to determine what to bring to New
York: all the art, for starters, including works by
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, and Rob Pruitt.
Her personal acquisitions began at the age of 16, when
Andy Warhol asked his then intern if she’d like to sit
for a portrait. When a bill arrived shortly thereafter,
her parents “nearly disowned me,” she recalls. The
Warhols can be found in the master bedroom, where
a Juergen Teller photograph of Marie-Chantal as a
young swan occupies another wall.
n the formal dining room, the only remaining
vestige from the Mongiardino days is an outré
English chandelier (its mate hangs in the
library). A large round lacquered table holds
court in the center, and on this particular
day is merchandised with stacks of children’s
clothing; racks of petite dresses form a bracelet all
around. “We’ve been using it as a showroom until we
move into our new space,” explains Marie-Chantal.
After making a name for her brand in England, she
is now focused on expanding her business Stateside
with a by-appointment showroom designed to feel
like an intimate salon. A store, too, is on the horizon.
When the dining room isn’t filled with her signature
angel-wing onesies, though, she entertains often. “I
like to host the way the Italians do. You can be in the
most beautiful palazzo, and they’ll have bread baskets
and big chunks of cheese, meats, and crudités and
bowls of pasta. You don’t have to serve
caviar all the time.”
The children’s quarters, located on
the top two floors, were decorated in
comfortable style by AD100 designer
Michael S. Smith. (“Catroux has no
interest in doing children’s bedrooms,”
Marie-Chantal explains. “And Michael
is a friend.”) Olympia, who will graduate
from NYU weeks later, is doing school-
work with a friend in the kitchenette off
a lofty lounge area under a large skylight.
“Do you mind if we go into your room, sweetie?” asks
her mother. “Of course not,” she responds before
warning, “It may be a bit messy.” Graphic gray–and–
white scribble paper wraps the walls, and perfectly
rumpled D. Porthault pink coeurs sheets cover the
bed. On the opposite end is a pristine white sitting
area with a large flat screen. It’s easy to see why,
although the 23-year-old has her own apartment
elsewhere in the city, she prefers to reside here.
A cool, creamy hue dominates the master bed-
room, accented only by blue-chip art and more
D. Porthault sheets—the same coeurs pattern as in
Olympia’s room, except in blue. “It drives my
husband crazy,” Marie-Chantal admits. “He hates
it.” She and Catroux reimagined what had been
her parents’ bedroom as a well-appointed dressing
room with wardrobe closets tucked behind French
doors. Her mother’s walk-through closet—complete
with the matriarch’s gilded initials in a fanciful
script—remains marvelously intact.
The second floor serves as the main entertaining
space. Curved sofas in a bouclé linen float atop a
geometric gray-and-black carpet in the living room.
Along the windows in the back of the room, she’s
installed cushions of an African textile, explaining,
“When I have dinners, I’ve noticed that Olympia’s
friends all sit on the windowsill.”
TEA AND COFFEE await in the library, where a
Vladimir Kagan sofa, François Catroux polar-bear
chairs in the style of Jean Royère, and a Lucite coffee
table rest on a casual striped rug. “This is my sister’s,”
Marie-Chantal says, pointing out the Alexandra
von Furstenberg table. “It’s big and bold. I love where
you can mix in different elements. Catroux always
told me, you can’t be too heavy on the upholstery. You
have to make a nice balance.” Christian Liaigre metal
bookcases featuring a curated selection of art and
photography tomes flank the fireplace, surmounted
by a Hirst dot painting. “I wanted to make it easier
to live with,” says Marie-Chantal, sipping a latte from a
Royal Copenhagen blue-and-white demitasse. “Little
accents from my husband’s Danish heritage,” she says
of the china. (Pavlos’s mother is the younger sister of
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.) “My mother and
I love to collect plates and serviceware, so even before
I met Pavlos, we had Royal Copenhagen.
“There’s lots of memories here,” she continues,
adding that she and her husband had their engage-
ment party in the house and brought their newborn
son Achileas—their third child—here from the
hospital. “With two of my kids going to university in
America, I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could
move back to New York for a while?’ I’m lucky to
have a good enough relationship with my children
that they don’t not want to have us around.” As if on
cue, Achileas appears in the hallway and graciously
extends a hand: “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“He’s starting university in September,” his mother
says, smiling. “I can’t believe it. I was in this house
pre-wedding, then marriage and small children, and
now with grown kids. It’s like a third chapter of
my life.”
“He has a specific style,
which I’ve always liked—not too
fussy, rich, or overwhelming,”
Marie-Chantal notes of Catroux.
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