Adam Lippes Meets Gilded Age Splendor With Slipcovers, Sheers, and Animal Print in His NYC Apartment

Adam Lippes is part of that long line of American fashion designers who live as stylishly as any of their clients, a tradition that includes Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, and, of course, Ralph Lauren. Lippes has transformed numerous homes, and many have ended up in the pages of AD. There’s the farm in the Berkshires, which he still has, and a series of New York residences he has shared with his partner, Alexander Farnsworth, a cannabis entrepreneur. These have included a penthouse on lower Fifth Avenue, a Brooklyn Heights apartment, and a duplex on Washington Square Park, all of them featuring an abundance of sunlight, soft colors, floral fabrics, and a mix of antique and vintage pieces. “Interior design is such a passion for me,” the designer says. “It’s the most challenging creative act.”But fashion changes, and so do fashion designers. “I thought I would always live downtown,” Lippes says. “Then the pandemic hit. When we could finally go back to work, I needed to be in Manhattan. For a while, I stayed at the Four Seasons hotel. At that point, I was thinking maybe I might move full-time to the country. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure my business would survive.” But as his sales began to revive, so did his passion for the city. He had the opportunity to stay in an apartment uptown, “And as it turned out, I fell in love with the Upper East Side. So, I started looking. And, wow, did I take a big bite.”Alexander Farnsworth (left) and Adam Lippes At one end of the living room a bespoke sofa dressed in Dedar velvet with Samuel & Sons trim nestles into a gently curved wall with windows hung with custom embroidered sheer panels. Throw pillows made with 17th-century tapestry fragments. Lippes on the staircase, which is lined with wallpaper by Iksel Decorative Arts A 19th-century screen adorned with antique Chinese watercolors hangs in a guest room with walls covered in Schumacher’s Tortoise wallpaper. Other 19th-century objects include a desk and chair by Gabriel Viardot and a Chinese export gilt-wood, silk, and needlework lantern hanging above a Swiss jardiniere. Living room seating includes a bespoke sofa and chairs in slipcovers of a Rose Tarlow Melrose House linen surrounding an ottoman wearing a Scalamandré animal-print velvet. 18th-century side table by Jean-Henri Riesener. In the powder room, a 17th-century sink from The Marble Dog is skirted with a Taroni silk; ship chandelier by Baguès. Adam Lippes Vacances 24 BagAdam Lippes Manon DressSchumacher x Celerie Kemble Tortoise WallpaperCristallerie de La Villette Mont Joye Glass VaseIn the powder room, a painting by Frank Duveneck is illuminated by a Visual Comfort & Co. picture light. Blooming Fantasy wallpaper by Iskel Decorative Arts. The duplex apartment he found, on Fifth Avenue across from the Central Park Zoo, was in a mansion built for a coal baron in 1886, with interiors then considered to be among the most sumptuous in the city. Indeed, walking into the main room, with its richly carved and gilded wood paneling, marble-clad fireplace, tall arched windows, and heavily ornamented ceiling is to step back in time to an era even more opulent than our own. But the place had been vacant for more than a decade, he learned, and was in dire straits. “I immediately loved it,” says Lippes, but he hesitated. “I wasn’t sure I had another renovation in me.” Farnsworth, on the other hand, was not at all ambivalent. “I saw it for the first time on a horrible dark night in February, with the building encased in scaffolding,” he says. “Yet even then, I knew the place was incredibly special.”A close-up of the living room’s circa 1880 tôle and Meissen porcelain chandelier. In the living room an Egyptian-inspired bed by Jonathan Sainsbury stands in front of a 17th-century Brussels tapestry. Hermès Silver Ashtrays (Set of 6)Rumi Wallpaper by Iksel Decorative ArtsLa Carlière by Peter Copping Duchamps Haute CushionIn the entry, a painting by Friedel Dzubas hangs above an Empire chest by Jacob Frères. A Greek marble head is displayed atop a 19th-century marble stand from Jamb. A 19th-century neoclassical Northern European gilt brass and blue glass lampe à écran and Roman antiquities are displayed atop a chest in the entry hall. A diminutive kitchen opens off the living room. Though small, it boasts a sub-Zero Refrigerator and Viking Range. The fireplace surround is original and the 18th-century marble dog was purchased at Sotheby’s. The marble-clad kitchen has Kohler sink fittings and the window is covered with a custom embroidered shade. Viking Tuscany Dual Fuel RangeZoë de Givenchy x Adam Lippes Nénuphar Dinner PlateZoë de Givenchy x Adam Lippes Lace Charger PlateZoë de Givenchy x Adam Lippes Nénuphar Wine TumblerBut the renovation would be major—an update of all the mechanicals, the carving out of a small kitchen from what had been a pantry, and a complete redo of the lower level. And then there was the matter of dealing with that overwhelming main room. “My first thought,” says Lippes, “was that a grand space would need grand furniture.” He began scouting dealers and auction houses around the globe. “At one point I had so much furniture in here, it looked like I was an antiques dealer,” he jokes. “That’s when I realized I was going about it all wrong.”He was stumped. “I even considered painting all of that brown wood,” he says. “I was inspired by the Palm Beach house that Stephen Sills did for Aerin Lauder. I felt I needed the input of someone like Sills or François-Joseph Graf in Paris. I got very close to making that call.”In the primary bedroom, Bessie, a labradoodle, lies on a custom bed upholstered and curtained in a silk moiré by Hurel. In the dressing room, an 18th-century Italian chair pulls up to a dressing table wearing a skirt of silk taffeta by Hurel. Walls covered in Rumi by Iksel Decorative Arts. A circa 1785 George III painted secretary stands in the primary bedroom. The 1950s clock is by Cartier. Farnworth in the primary bedroom. 1950s Murano sconce above a painting by Alex Katz; Louis XVI Painted sofa. ART: © 2026 Alex Katz / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NYLippes ultimately decided both to embrace the grandeur of the room and at the same time, undercut it with comfort and ease. To execute his design vision, he reached out to Pilar Solchaga, who had worked as his fit model for years before turning to interior design. Out went many of the fancy items with their fancy provenance. In came low-slung white slipcovered seating and an oversized animal-print ottoman. A curvy gold sofa with Napoleon III–style trim sits beneath windows fitted with sheer panels embroidered by the same Indian atelier he uses for his dresses. Mirrors inset into the paneling now bounce light around the room. The neo-Egyptian bed from Jonathan Sainsbury is one of his early purchases that made the final cut. The late-19th-century chandelier, groaning under its bounty of porcelain flowers, was found in Paris. “It’s actually six feet tall,” Lippes says, “but in this room, it doesn’t look it.”A midcentury murano glass sconce hangs above a painting by Alex Katz in the primary bedroom. A 1960s Murano sconce hangs in one of the guest rooms. Coral object from galerie Wittmann Antiquités in Paris; vintage silver boxes by Bvlgari. Regency Franger Lit A La PolonaiseBois de Moiré Boudoir ShamVictorian Scent Bottle by Sampson MordanMaison Baguès Ship ChandelierThe lower level became three distinct spaces. The primary bedroom is like a cloud of seafoam green, the walls and windows and bed swathed in silk moiré. “It’s super peaceful,” he adds. “We feel like we live in the country.” One guest room is tented in a subtle stripe, the other is a shadowy retreat fitted with an 18th-century Chinese bed. All are linked by immersive scenic wallpapers by Iksel Decorative Arts.A guest room’s 19th-century brass canopy bed is cocooned by walls tented in a custom Taroni silk. A 1960s Murano sconce hangs above an 18th-century painted Venetian cabinet, and the reading light is by Visual Comfort & Co. Kadri coverlet; D. Porthault pillowcases. Meanwhile, Lippes’s business has thrived, with retail outlets opening in Houston, Palm Beach, and Osaka. In addition to leather goods and a tabletop line with Zoë de Givenchy, a jewelry collection is in the works. Plus, the renovation continues, with plans to fit out the outdoor spaces on the lower level for entertaining. “I’ve got a lot of balls in the air,” the designer says with a smile. “I’m definitely in my maximalism era.”This story appears in the September issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.