Calico

Preserving the legacy of a design titan Athena Calderone recently completed her most ambitious project to date: the renovation of her Tribeca apartment. This wasn't just any loft; it was the former residence of Thierry Despont, the architect behind the Statue of Liberty restoration. Calderone navigated a delicate balance between honoring Despont's 1980s architectural bones and infusing her own signature warmth. The result is a masterclass in 20th-century design research, specifically focusing on the Art Deco movement. Monastic modernism meets historic craft The kitchen serves as the home's emotional and structural anchor. Inspired by a Le Corbusier desk, the island presents as a monastic, modernist form dropped into a historic shell. To manage the visual clutter of a working kitchen, Calderone collaborated with Amunil to engineer massive leaded glass doors. These allow the functional back-kitchen to vanish, leaving the island as a sculptural centerpiece during gatherings. This tension between industrial precision and old-world artistry defines the home's aesthetic. The datum line as a unifying force A consistent horizontal "datum line" runs through the apartment, connecting disparate rooms into a cohesive narrative. In the living room, Calderone worked with the Brownstone Boys to restore historic wood paneling that reinforces this architectural boundary. She intentionally breaks this line in the media room with vertical lacquer doors, a move inspired by 1930s French design. This play with geometry ensures that even as the home shifts from the public "portal" of the stone-clad hallway to private sanctuaries, the rhythm remains unbroken. Sustainability through archival reuse One of the most poignant design choices exists in the guest bedroom. After discovering the room's original fabric was sun-faded, Calderone sourced an identical bolt from the Despont archives. Rather than discarding the old material, she repurposed the weathered silk to upholster dining room chairs. This circular approach to luxury design proves that true style is found in the layers of a building's history, not just its new surfaces.