“I had never lived in a loft before,” says actress and model Noelle Beck of the 3,000-square-foot apartment overlooking Union Square Park that she now shares with her husband, restaurateur Eric Petterson, and their two young daughters.
“At first, I was intimidated by the proportions,” says Beck, 28, who presently can be seen transforming her light brown hair to blond in a series of Clairol commercials airing nationwide. “But now I can see we may soon outgrow it.”
According to Beck, the eight years spent playing Trisha Alden MacKenzie, the “poor little rich girl” on the ABC-TV soap opera “Loving,” did little to influence her taste, which is decidedly romantic.
“I like furniture that makes a statement,” she explains of the bold array of oak furniture, gilded mirrors and life-size paintings around her. The loft’s expansive dimensions allow Beck and her husband to exercise their preference for antique furnishings. As she believes, the richness of detail provided by antiques represents time-tested style.
“I get a lot of my ideas from magazines and, on rare occasion, movies,” says the actress, whose mother ran an antiques auction house when Beck was a child. “I always do a great deal of legwork, looking at things, taking notes and pictures, then I drag Eric back.” Final purchase decisions, she says, “are always joint.”
For nearly two years, the family has lived in the apartment, which consists of a 500-square-foot room in the front with park views at one end and an exposed kitchen on the other, and two bedrooms in the back.
“I looked at a potential restaurant space on the first floor of this building about four years ago,” says Petterson. “This building had so many problems back then. I even walked around the space (that) is now our apartment. At the time it was quite raw, really a shambles, so it’s ironic to be living here now.”
According to the 35-year-old Petterson, he and his wife enjoy the bustling neighborhood surrounding Union Square because, “it feels young.” It’s also the locale of the three ultra-hip and long-lived eateries that Petterson co-owns: The Coffee Shop, the Southern-themed Live Bait and the open-air cafe Luna Park. “There has been a real business revival down here and many small boutiques have opened on the side streets,” Petterson says. “There is a good pulse, a good energy going.”
Furnishing the rented loft, which boasts 18-foot ceilings in most parts, proved no small task. “I figured out what worked best for me were a lot of small areas defined through the furniture,” says Beck of her greatest challenge, the large front room. “I wanted to make a living area, a sitting area and a dining area.”
She used furniture as a substitute for walls, which meant selecting pieces that were attractive from all sides.
The couple established the main living space with two overstuffed sofas upholstered, respectively, in gold-on-crimson and gold-on-gold brocade. Careful to maintain vistas across the room, Beck selected couches that were generous in width, not height. A leather armchair and ottoman fill out the grouping, which is centered by the age-old symbol of home, the hearth.
The fireplace is protected by an Art Deco fire-seat with a decorative ironwork grill support upholstered in navy velvet. Above the mantle, a late 19th Century American mirror, enclosed in a round painted frame of large lilac and yellow blossoms on a green ground, reflects views of a smaller sitting area staged closer to the front windows.
Let’s eat
The furnishings of the dining area began with two Gothic armchairs that probably date to the mid-19th Century and are highly sculptural in appearance.
“I knew I needed a large table to complement the end chairs, so I was thrilled to find this old library table,” says Beck of the massive dark oak table with hairy-paw feet that now anchors the space.
She bought the table in Lambertville, N.J. She often goes antiquing in New Jersey and rural Pennsylvania, she says, because the prices are more competitive than in New York.
A glass top custom cut to fit the planked top means that Beck never needs to use a tablecloth or place mats. “The wood is so rich and pretty,” she says, “I just want to see it all the time.”
A Gothic-revival sideboard set against the wall further defines the dining area. Its double-door front, which is centered by an open-mouthed gargoyle, is carved with the fruits of the sea on one door panel and the prizes of the hunt on the other. A long mirror hanging above the sideboard enhances the sense of abundance at mealtimes as it reflects food set upon the top.
The couple found four oak, Arts and Crafts-style side chairs to fill out the dining suite and an antique chandelier handcrafted in Provence to hang above the table. “I simply fell in love with its gorgeous colors,” says Beck. The chandelier’s decorative clusters of pears, grapes and apples give the impression of a hanging basket of fruit. Petterson adds, “It immediately makes you think about eating.”
Pulling it all together
In fact, the apartment is filled with an intriguing selection of lamps and chandeliers. “Proper lighting is what really helps pull spaces together,” says Beck.
When the family first moved in, there were overhead lights and track lights hugging the ceiling. “But I needed an 18-foot ladder each time I changed a light bulb,” says Petterson. “It was ridiculous and dangerous. We probably won’t live here forever, so we bought the chandeliers knowing that they may have to work in the next place we live.”
A multitiered chandelier decorated with cascading ropes of white crystal was purchased at Pall Mall, a shop in their neighborhood. Placed between the front windows, it hangs in front of an elaborate, gilded pier mirror.
“I wanted a chandelier that would emphasize the delicacy of the mirror,” explains Beck. At night, the shimmering light emitted from the lamp coupled by its refracted reflection recalls the lamp-lighted cityscape just beyond the window panes.
A tall standing lamp near the fireplace is another favorite of Beck’s. Its gilded columnar base features a creeping vine wrapped around its fluted dimensions. A table lamp set upon a round satinwood table near the sofas also has a vine-themed base and is capped by a pleated bell shade.
The Naked Ladies
Not only has the loft easily absorbed the couple’s selection of bold furnishings, but it also serves as an ideal backdrop for their intriguing array of large-scale wall hangings.
Among the couple’s more provocative acquisitions are a series of life-size, oil-on-board depictions of “exotic women,” which the pair refer to as “The Naked Ladies.”
“We probably overpaid for them,” says Beck, “but they’re so much fun, and when were we ever going to come across anything like that again?”
And, as with their unique lighting, naked ladies seem to be a recurring theme throughout the apartment. Dancing around the fire-seat grill are a group of forest nymphs. In the master bedroom, a matched set of night tables features a trio of nude female figures for their bases.
“I call them my mermaid tables,” says Beck, who purchased the stands in Bucks County, Pa., and had the round marble tops cut to fit the pair.
And sitting just above the bed in the master bedroom is a 14-foot-long painted sign board that once decorated a bar in Cleveland. It features a recumbent female nude attended by two chubby putti. The sign is one of a pair and its sister currently rests over the length of cabinets in the kitchen.
The Cleveland bar boards were purchased by Beck and Petterson at the Triple Pier Expo, an annual New York antiques exposition at which three of the old Hudson River piers are transformed into a selling arcade. Other Pier show prizes include “The Naked Ladies” and a pair of grillwork gates folded in a corner of the bedroom.
“We were browsing the show,” recalls the actress, who last year appeared on CBS’ “Central Park West,” “and the dealer selling them stopped Eric and asked if I was Noelle Beck, the actress. He said, `Tell her these gates used to hang outside her school, which had been Baltimore’s old Alcazar Hotel. They were saved during a recent renovation.’ “
Knowing that, she says, “I had to have them.”
Despite their romance with antiques, Petterson and Beck maintain that their apartment works as a family space.
“We want the girls to feel free to do what they want, to be kids,” says their mother. “After all, this is their home too.”
Indeed, the walls of a large playing alcove set in front of the bedrooms are covered with large-format photos of their 5- and 7-year-old girls. “Some people might walk in and say, `Aren’t you overdoing it guys?’ But we like to be surrounded by what we love and obviously that means our girls,” says Petterson.
Furthermore, the montage of school art projects and paper hearts and flowers taped to the apartment’s front door immediately informs visitors that they are not entering a formal decorator’s vision of a New York loft.
“I have never been a fan of things that are too designed,” Petterson says. “With the restaurants, I have always believed in creating a comfortable environment, one that feels like it’s been there for years. Noelle and I think that is the secret to decorating your own home as well.”
WHEN YOU’RE IN NEW YORK
Here are some of Noelle Beck and Eric Pettersen’s favorite New York area antiquing spots:
New Jersey
– Jim’s Antiques Ltd., 6 Main St., Lambertville, N.J. Broad range of Victorian furniture, 18th and 19th Century chandeliers and small decorative objects. Call 609-397-7700
– Rago & Rago’s sales at The Lambertville Antique and Auction Centre, 333 N. Main St., Lambertville, N.J. Broad range of 19th and early 20th Century furniture and decorative art. For catalogs, call 609-397-9374.
New York
– ABC Carpet & Home, 888 Broadway, New York. A seven-floor store packed with everything for the home. Call 212-473-3000.
– Annex Outdoor Antiques Fair, 6th Avenue, between 24th and 27th Streets, New York. Very eclectic–everything from 20th Century office furniture to grandma’s jewels. Those in the know come early for the good things or late for the bargains. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
– Fall Antiques Show at the Pier Passenger Terminal Piers, 12th Avenue between 52nd and 55th Streets, New York. Pretty pricey; all American furniture and decorative arts with an emphasis on folk and country. Usually held the last week in September. For information, call Sanford L. Smith & Associates at 212-777-5218.
– Pall Mall Inc., 99 University Pl., New York. Offers 19th Century French and English furniture and decorative arts. Call 212-677-5544.
– Triple Pier Expo at Piers 88, 90 and 92 on the Hudson River, New York. High in folk art and affordable antiques; great for browsing. March 1, 2, 8 and 9. Call 212-255-0020.
