Sarah Zames never really thought of herself as a Tudor Revival person. The General Assembly founder—and her partner, Colin Stief, who joined the studio later—hadn’t considered renovating one until their longtime clients purchased a 1927 John Russell Pope creation in Larchmont, New York. But because this couple was a dream to collaborate with and the famed architect’s résumé was hard to ignore (think: The Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art), Zames and Stief decided to take the plunge. “I’ll be honest, going into this, it was not my favorite time period—it’s pretty heavy,” Zames admits. “But we did a good amount of research into it, and a lot of the elements to it are really playful, and there’s a lot of color, too.”
The design duo leaned into these lesser-known characteristics of the medieval-inspired architectural style while putting their own stamp on the house—and keeping as many original features as possible. They barely touched the red-brick storybook exterior, with its undulating slate roof shingles that wink at Pope’s personal residence in Newport, Rhode Island—The Waves. Inside, intricate stained glass windows, hand-hewn wood paneling, and handmade tiles date back nearly a century. “People aren’t making interiors like this anymore,” says Stief. “There’s just a craft and a materiality to the space that we really grabbed onto.”
Meticulous restoration and reproduction came into play with the elaborate plasterwork and timber flooring, and any new finishes were chosen with longevity in mind. “There was some deterioration and wear that just happens after a hundred years, so we need to get that to be as good as it was in the beginning,” Stief explains. “But, also, down the road, in another hundred years, we hope the house is still functioning well with our interventions. We tried to be very delicate.”
In the kitchen, for example, the original blush-colored wall tiles blend seamlessly with new contemporary floor tiles from Pratt + Larson and Heath Ceramics, arranged in a graphic pattern. Custom-captured cabinets, painted in earthy neutral Cord by Farrow & Ball, were modeled after existing cupboards in the butler’s pantry. “The kitchen, where we spend so much of our time, was the one space that called for a true update—so Sarah and Colin reimagined it to feel fresh yet true to the home’s original design,” the homeowner says.
The grand living room retains its original dark wood paneled walls and exposed ceiling beams, but a new rug—custom-made from John Russell Pope's plans—now defines its color scheme. “It was made for the space,” Zames shares. “If you look at the original interior renderings, it’s included in it.” To which Stief adds, “We built the palette for this room around the rug.” The blush pink of the Rose Uniacke fabric on the Pinch Garagh Sofas and the midnight blue of the Dedar fabric on the Art Deco side chairs were pulled from the custom textile.
Since the homeowners love to host, General Assembly transformed the adjacent sunroom into an intimate cocktail lounge with a two-toned oak bar and sculptural BDDW seating, and furnished the dining room with an extendable table that seats up to 16 people. “It expands to fit a crowd for long dinners that stretch into the night, which suits us perfectly,” the client says of the custom piece by Maine-based maker Bicyclette. “We’re happiest when the house is full—of food, laughter, and the people we love most. The house was built for entertaining and we are continuing that tradition.”
Upstairs, the primary bedroom reflects the home’s waterfront destination with pale blue-green limewash walls. Zames and Stief painted the ornate original moldings in the same oceanic hue, then brought in earthy pinks and reds with a Pinch Olivine Bed, Josef Frank armchairs upholstered in Soane Hydrangea Thread Linen, and a window seat cushion covered in Rose Uniacke Mohair Velvet. “Our bedroom feels like a private perch and is also very light in comparison to the rest of the house,” says the homeowner. “It’s almost the most perfect color we could have imagined!”
The harmonious union of soft blues, greens, pinks, and reds carries into the en suite (whose square Pratt + Larson tiles nod to the original rosy tiles in the hall bathroom), as well as the botanical-themed dressing room, two sweet kids’ rooms, and a guest room. Cropped curtains on wooden rods are also a throughline “as a less formal way to treat the spaces, a little less heavy,” explains Zames. It’s carefully considered details such as these that have recast the well-preserved historic structure as a modern family home.
