Art Collector Renovates Southampton Home, Abandons Demolition Plans
An art collector renovates a Southampton home, preserving its value and showcasing unique pieces, instead of demolition.
A Southampton, NY, home renovated by Patrick McGrath features a Robert Longo drawing situated above a Marcel Breuer table and a pair of circa 1930 R.C. Coquery lounge chairs. Vitsoe shelving displays an Andy Warhol Brillo Box and a Jordan McDonald vase. These opening lines to Robert Frost’s 1920 poem “Fire and Ice” were the unlikely inspiration for a candle collection created by McGrath that launches this holiday season.
The foreboding reference point seems at odds with McGrath’s reputation for confident, approachable design that has won him clients ranging from New York City hedge-funders to Hong Kong antiquities collectors. “Patrick has great vision and direction,” says fashion designer Francisco Costa, whose brand Costa Brazil partnered with McGrath on the new candles. “He’s great at interpreting style—old and new—and bringing it together effortlessly.”
Southampton Home Transformation
For one of his latest projects, McGrath transformed a 1970s shingle home in Southampton’s Estate Section for a thirtysomething bachelor and art collector. The interiors had been “classic Hamptons floral,” he said, clashing with the client’s collection of contemporary works by Rashid Johnson, Vik Muniz, and Nate Lowman. The client had initially planned to raze the property and build a new one with architect Reinaldo Leandro, McGrath’s life partner.
“When I did the walk-through, I was like, ‘If you’re having people here, we need to redo the house, and whatever furniture we buy, you can obviously use later,’” McGrath recalled. Over 18 months, he refreshed the residence with vintage and new furnishings, repainted walls, replaced the fireplace, and installed textured carpets to shift the aesthetic toward contemporary. He also updated the kitchen and baths, and added a gym and cold plunge.
In the living room, McGrath anchored the space with bespoke sofas in silk, cotton, and raffia fabric, surrounded by Jean-Michel Frank end tables, a Pierre Jeanneret armchair, a Jean Prouvé daybed, and a 1930s French cabinet with straw marquetry fronts. The primary bedroom features a long Vitsoe bookshelf with an Andy Warhol Brillo Box and a Robert Longo drawing above, paired with black-and-white checkered R.C. Coquery lounge chairs and a Marcel Breuer table.
Career and Business Growth
The client was so pleased with the results that he announced, “Oh, I’m not going to knock down the house.” McGrath’s career began after moving to New York in 2005 to attend NYU, where he assisted designer Frank de Biasi and developed a fondness for 18th- and 19th-century furniture. He later helped oversee Giorgio Armani boutique displays before launching Studio McGrath in 2015 with Leandro’s encouragement.
“I started by helping out a friend who had bought a house upstate, and then another friend, and at one point I had, like, three jobs,” McGrath said. “I was using my PTO to do installs.” Business grew steadily, with most clients coming through repeat work or referrals. Last year, he opened a Manhattan showroom to expand his reach, noting, “Obviously, the market is not huge for young people buying 18th-century furniture.”
Exhibitions and Future Projects
Recent exhibitions include “Icons: Antiquities, Jean Prouvé and Bruce Weber,” which paired Weber’s photos with midcentury French design pieces. This month, McGrath opens a new Noho gallery with a show based on the Seven Deadly Sins. Next year, he will debut his first furniture line, a six-piece collection inspired by 19th-century Biedermeier style.
“Patrick has the most incredible vision and sense of style,” says Aerin Lauder, who recently bought a 19th-century French nursing chair from him. “I love making discoveries at his showroom, seeing his antique finds and custom products.” McGrath and Leandro are also renovating their new Upper East Side apartment, previously owned by legendary decorator Mario Buatta.
McGrath favors a restrained aesthetic over Buatta’s maximalism. “I’m interested in how to make the mix feel sexy,” he says. “It can very easily drift into pastiche, but to live with museum-quality pieces, that is really cool.”
