DesignNJ-OctNov2023_Digital issue

loved that architecture,” she says. “I come from a family of architects. I
was raised to love modernism. I just didn’t think I’d be able to find a house
like this on the East Coast. When we saw the house go on the market, we
weren’t really ready to move, but we bought it for the architecture. We
didn’t think we could find a better house.”
Though this was the home of their dreams, the Schafers wanted
to make a few changes. “The house in its original state had a very
different mood. All the floors were dark, heavy brown ceramic tile,
The living room has a neutral palette with hints of color. The artwork over the sofa,
which Schafer bought for her husband, is “Parade” by Tom Bostelle. The swivel chair
(foreground left) is a 1980s Steve Chase Swivel Soufflé Pouf Chair that she reupholstered.
The wood chair, refinished and reupholstered, is a Rag Chair by Bernt Peterson.
The table lamp is an original H-905 by Harold Weiss and Richard Barr for Laurel Lamp Co.
The console in a corner of the living room was originally a wall-mounted cabinet in the
primary bedroom. The large piece of driftwood was a beachcombing find. “I was doing
a beach walk at Sandy Hook,” Schafer says. “It just about fit in my Subaru Forester. It
wasn’t a safe drive home, but that piece was a design necessity.”
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