Carriage House Renovation Embraces Restraint

Belgian architect Nicolas Schuybroek transforms a historic Upper East Side home with a focus on simplicity and emotional resonance.

Published on Feb. 15, 2026

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In a renovation of a former carriage house on the Upper East Side of New York City, Belgian architect and designer Nicolas Schuybroek breathed new life into the property with a focus on restraint and emotional sequencing. Working in collaboration with Matteo Fraticelli of FROM Architects, Schuybroek transformed the 1990s-era home by introducing natural materials like travertine marble, Douglas fir, and leather to create a calm and intense atmosphere. The placement of artworks by renowned artists was carefully considered to shape the home's circulation, proportion, and moments of pause, resulting in a shared composition between architecture, art, and lived experience.

Why it matters

This renovation project exemplifies Schuybroek's design philosophy, which prioritizes restraint and emotional resonance over pure comfort or spectacle. By thoughtfully integrating the home's architecture, furnishings, and art, Schuybroek has created a space that is both visually striking and psychologically engaging, offering a model for how historic properties can be sensitively updated for modern living.

The details

Schuybroek recognized the potential in the home's "strong bones and quiet confidence," but felt it was "frozen in a very specific moment of 1990s New York." To breathe new life into the property, he introduced natural materials like travertine marble, Douglas fir, and leather, creating an atmosphere that is "by turns calm and intense." The placement of artworks by artists like Rashid Johnson, Tomma Abts, and Sherrie Levine was carefully considered to "actively shape circulation, proportion, and moments of pause," resulting in a "shared composition between architecture, art, and lived experience."

  • The home was originally renovated by architect François de Menil and later inhabited by art dealer Larry Gagosian.
  • Schuybroek and Fraticelli's renovation of the property took place in the mid-2020s.

The players

Nicolas Schuybroek

A Belgian architect and designer who launched his Brussels and Paris-based practice in 2011, known for pairing crisp lines with sumptuous textures to create dynamic spaces.

Matteo Fraticelli

An architect who collaborated with Schuybroek on the renovation of the Upper East Side carriage house as part of the firm FROM Architects.

François de Menil

The architect who previously renovated the carriage house.

Larry Gagosian

The legendary art dealer who inhabited the carriage house after de Menil's renovation.

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What they’re saying

“Architecturally, it had strong bones and a quiet confidence, but it was frozen in a very specific moment of 1990s New York. There was glamour but also fatigue, as if it had lived intensely and then paused.”

— Nicolas Schuybroek, Architect (Elle Decor)

“I'm less interested in comfort as a constant than in comfort that is discovered through progression. The materials function as emotional registers within a clear spatial sequence, rather than as decorative elements.”

— Nicolas Schuybroek, Architect (Elle Decor)

The takeaway

This renovation project demonstrates how a thoughtful, restrained approach to historic properties can breathe new life into them, creating spaces that are both visually striking and psychologically engaging. Schuybroek's focus on emotional resonance over pure comfort or spectacle offers a model for sensitive updates that honor a building's past while adapting it for modern living.