The stately image of a sprawling 11,000-square-foot home with pillars, paned windows, and century-old masonry walls evokes historical nostalgia recalling days of hoop skirts, dumbwaiters, and carriages. It’s reasonable to assume that the interior of this former carriage house reflects the historical formality of the structure; however, when designer Lori Feldman reconstructed her Greenwich, Connecticut, home, she decided that her design would not be rooted in historical significance, but rather in function for her stylishly modern family.  Lori Feldman started her creative career path in textiles and later received a degree in design from the New York School of Interior Design. Running her own business—Feldman Design Services—since 1998, Lori specializes in turnkey service, preferring to create a cohesive design for a space from its inception rather than designing rooms independently.  When the Feldmans purchased their Greenwich, Connecticut, home in 2004, Lori knew that her full-service expertise was desperately required. The two-acre property, poised on the Long Island Sound, started as a 6,000-square-foot carriage house for the main property across the street. Subdivided as a separate property in the early 1900s, and ultimately frozen in 1940s decor, the renovation required more than a new coat of paint. “This house was a major, major project,” says Lori, who was actively involved in every step of the process. “We literally demoed the whole thing with the exception of the stone walls.” After a year of demolition, two years of designing, and about a year and a half of construction, the Feldmans were the proud owners of an 11,000-square-foot shingle-style home with five working bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and, in addition to the basic living spaces, an office, bar, library, playroom, gym, conservatory, design studio, home theater, and three-car garage.

With a love for open floor plans and professional experience designing lofts and townhouses, Lori created a spacious entertaining home by eliminating restrictive hallways. “I didn’t want a closed-in space,” says Lori. “All the formal designs we were taught in design school—that just doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t know if you can say people don’t design that way anymore, but people don’t live that way anymore.”  Lori decided which rooms would be most important to her daily life and positioned them in the house accordingly. The dining room and kitchen, toward which everyone gravitates naturally, literally became the center of the house, acting as a foyer. The living room was situated to face the backyard and the picturesque waterfront. “When I was designing it, I was making sure I could see the most beautiful aspects of the house,” says Lori, who did so by creating intentional vantage points in the open space.  To appreciate the natural beauty and views of the home, Lori chose a modern neutral color palette consistent throughout the house with the exception of the vibrant children’s rooms. Colors found in nature, such as soothing creams and browns, contrast with shiny dark mahogany and Brazilian cherry woods throughout the home. The natural palette is juxtaposed nicely by the family’s growing collection of more colorful contemporary artwork.        One of the most colorful pieces in the home, although still elegantly muted, is the stunning nine-foot chandelier suspended in the entryway. Pulling dusty blue and orange tones from one of the Tibetan rugs Lori designed for the house, her Dale Chihuly-inspired masterpiece was made in Murano, Italy, and shipped in pieces. “I put that together myself,” says Lori. “It was frightening—ninety-six horns, a nine-foot piece!”  Yet with the help of three assistants, Lori hand-assembled and determined the exact positioning for the individual glass horns, constructing a spectacular introduction to the home.