Mountain Lakes House

The new scheme is for a 6-bed, 6,500 sq ft property in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, which is part of a 4,000-strong lakeside community located within the Manhattan commuter belt.

The project also had an emotional aspect for Susan Knof, Founder and Creative Director of KNOF Design, as one half of the client couple is a long-time friend.

The scheme wasn’t just an interior for the couple, however, but also for their collective six children from their first marriages, as well their newborn baby son.

The project was a logistical challenge additionally for the design company Founder, who splits her work life between London and Miami. With additional current projects in London, Sofia and West Africa, this is something of an ongoing challenge for Susan Knof, solved by being very much on the ball in terms of time zones and also having a great international array of key suppliers and teams. Good communication is also key, of course, as well as, in this instance, the pre-existing designer-client relationship and knowing her friend’s tastes and style extremely well.

The interior’s brief was fairly minimal, with the couple entrusting Susan Knof with the creation of a scheme that would work with the property’s scale and dimensions, the family’s logistical requirements and their personal tastes, including “her” preference for French furniture and “his” for the lines and geometry of art deco.

The house is arranged so that it opens up immediately on entry into two formal rooms, with the formal living room to the right and the formal dining room to the left, both are clearly visible one from the other. The spaces were designed with a similar, linking palette of colour and materials, including strong blue tones, textured finishes and layering, as well as furniture with a distinctly luxurious feel. Subtle added glamour comes from dynamic, large-scale floral wallcoverings, metallic finishes in gold and brass and standout chandelier lighting.

Design: KNOF Design
Photography: Sean Litchfield