East Side Story

Multifaceted designer Achille Salvagni imbues a Manhattan townhouse with his signature understated glamour

- By Pilar Viladas

Achille Salvagni designs everything from houses, apartments and yacht interiors to furniture and lighting, but what they all have in common is an elegance and wit, resulting in spaces that are at once both impressive and welcoming. Salvagni who has offices in Rome, London and New York (and galleries in the last two) - has now also completed a renovation of a townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The 1870 seven-storey building, which had been divided up into five apartments, was purchased by a couple, who then hired Salvagni to transform it into a luxurious single-family home, with an exterior that hints at the understated opulence that awaits inside. The front of the house is clad in limestone, and Salvagni added two oval windows, flanking the entrance on the ground floor. The Italian-born designer took inspiration from the architecture of Piero Portaluppi, whose elegant Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan played a starring role in Luca Guadagnino's classic 2009 film I Am Love. 'A lot of the references are from the 1920s and 1930s, inspired by sophistication and simplicity,' says Salvagni.

But function does not take a back seat here. 'I wanted to make much more practical use of the space,' says Salvagni, who notes that, in many townhouses, kitchens are on the ground floor, primary bedrooms are above the living room, media rooms are in the basement. I reshuffled everything.'