above: The kitchen’s White Dove cabinetry is paired with cane-back stools and Melrose pendants from Corbett Lighting, while a custom Melnik Metals hood and sconces by Arteriors complete the look. 

Regency Reinvented

This vibrant, stylish home reinterprets traditional glamour through the lens of modern family living

INTERVIEW WITH DANA FERRARO, MOLLY PATTON DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM LENZ/OTTO
STYLING BY JENNIFER OLSEN MACCARO

For readers that don’t know your story and how Molly Patton Design started, tell us how you got here.

Yeah, and honestly, it confuses people to this day.

Molly and I met in 2007 working at Health magazine in New York. She actually hired me. We worked on the marketing and events team, but we realized quickly that we had this shared passion for interiors. This was the Domino era when interior design blogs were first coming on the scene, and we were soaking it up.

She was a few life steps ahead of me. After she got pregnant, she moved to Fairfield and left that job. Once her daughter was born, she met this client in her baby group, and they became friends.

After the client asked for help designing her home, Molly unofficially started a company by taking on this project. She was running ideas by me, and I was straddling a corporate job and trying to help her on the side, working with her on the weekends.

Sadly, Molly got a pancreatic cancer diagnosis right after I had gotten married and moved to Connecticut. She was diagnosed in October and passed in February. I had no choice but to jump right in, especially with the status of some of these jobs, where things were ongoing.

After I had my son in 2016, I started doing this full time. So, in this house, we were revisiting my first solo design project.

What was the scope of this phase?
I’ve worked with this family for a long time. We just grew really close, obviously, with everything we went through together with Molly, and we’ve developed a friendship since then. But it started with just decoration of a few of her rooms in this house and has spanned years with different phases and projects.

And then the kitchen was the last, let’s call it, the grand finale. It was just dated, and they hadn’t done any renovations in this area.

This is the area that they live in the most, so we had to make this space and the mudroom functional. Previously, there was a homework room that nobody ever used. We made that a walk-in pantry off of that mudroom area.

Who lives here?
A family of seven: five children with ages ranging from three to 14. It’s a busy household, hence the two islands and the seven lockers.

This whole space was previously closed off and they wanted to open it up. This is the stretch of their home where everybody’s hanging out. It’s a big house with plenty of spaces for people to go, but this is where they all land.

What did they want for these spaces?
Function was definitely the priority. Everything—every surface—had to essentially be indestructible. Those counters are actually porcelain; heat resistant, stain resistant, all that good stuff.

And then the kitchen table, even though it has a wood top, we put glass over it just to give it an extra layer of protection. Everything is super durable.

The husband really enjoys cooking with the two younger daughters, which is really cute. One island became more of the prep island, with a space for two counter stools for the kids to sit. We designed that so the kids can help or if somebody wants to sit and talk while somebody’s cooking, they can. And then the island behind it is more of the eating and entertaining island.

But the client also has a more glam aesthetic. The other spaces in the house were more modern, so were trying to keep that consistent with the overall design of the house and marrying all those spaces together.

You’re known for your use of color and pattern. Does it feel like this was a departure for you, or is this just another facet of your design personality?
I did get my vintage rug in there [laughs]. But this is more her style, and for the style that existed in the house. We had to keep that consistent. And this is what I really love to do. I think if anything, it just shows range, right?

A home should always feel like the people who live there. No matter what, I always want my client to feel great when they walk in their house. And not like, ‘Oh, this is a Molly Patton-designed house.’

I also think the house has a kind of Hollywood Regency vibe. It’s not so minimal. The family room looks minimal, because the client didn’t want a lot of stuff in there for her kids to destroy. But the astronaut art in there feels like Regency with a little quirk, which is kind of the Molly Patton design mantra. I’m always adding that little element of quirk and unexpected element to a project.

How do they use this family room?
This is their main family space. It’s hard to tell, but those are two sectionals which are split, so you could walk through the space that way. She did not want a lot of pillows, and she just didn’t want stuff, because of the size of their family.

What was the gameplan for the mudroom?
We have seven lockers for seven members of the family, lots of sports equipment. The idea was to conceal as much as possible, and the doors have mesh inserts. The bottom portion is for all of the shoes. The top portion is for any kind of off-season gear, winter hats, gloves. And then the middle portion of each locker has a few hooks in it. Everybody has their own destination there.

And you were able to carve out this homework/desk spot?
It’s right off the lockers, and we took that space from the pantry. It serves as a drop zone to put all their bills and your mail, but it’s not front and center. It’s nice that it’s on the other side of this wall so you’re not staring at it when you’re in your kitchen.

This powder room is so fun. Tell us about that.
That Pierre Frey wallpaper is so weird and so cool. It was actually the client who was like, “No, weirder, weirder, weirder.” That kind of encompasses, her overall aesthetic, too; as you’re kind of dreaming of who this person is and how the rest of these spaces correspond. It was so fun.

What would you say was the biggest challenge with this project, if any?
The biggest challenge was just meeting all the needs for seven people. Porcelain wasn’t my first choice for the kitchen, but the client said no to natural stone. That was probably the strongest pushback. In the end, I love how the porcelain looks, ironically. It’s such a moment.

How would you describe your style?
I would say it’s collected, layered and unexpected.

RESOURCES:
Interior Design: Dana Ferraro, Molly Patton Design, Fairfield; mollypattondesign.com
Interior Architect: Arianna Thill, ACT Design, Westport; actdesignct.com
Architect: Donald William Fairbanks Architect PC, Southport; dwfarchitects.com
Contractor: Felix Savioli, Handyman Unlimited, Wilton; 203-750-9700
Kitchen and Butler’s Pantry Cabinetry: JJK Construction, Bridgeport; 203-224-0139
Stone: Alba Stone, Stamford; 203-658-8233
Wallpaper Installation: George Ruseski; 203-255-4992