Adam Charlap Hyman
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? I would build a house into a cave on the Amalfi coast.
What are three words to describe your style? 1. Personal 2. Artistic 3. Confident
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? I redid it several times - my parents were very encouraging! Because I grew up in an old house from the 19th century I always wanted things that were modern and slick. My favorite iteration of my bedroom was all white with glass shelves to display my vintage toy car collection. Hilarious.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? An eye lamp by Nikola L - it was the first serious piece of design I bought and it really fits in anywhere because it is so intrinsically odd. I love it.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? I would die to see what Mongiardino would do with an art deco apartment. That would be fun. I also would have loved to let Ward Bennet work his magic on a colonial farmhouse.
No room is complete without an antique - something really old. People think of me as ________whimsical, but I am really more soulful, I think, I hope!
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement - orange flowers
An hors d’oeuvre platter - crackers
A bar cabinet - novelty items like funny cocktail napkins
A song for:
Dinner at home - Come on Home by the Lidjadu Sisters
Working at your desk - Electric Counterpoint III by Steve Reich
Going for a run - Freed From Desire by Gala
Biggest Vice? Desert twice a day :/
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? OMG I have a problem with Victorian Majolica.... it’s a nightmare.... just cheap enough to really become an issue but not cheap enough to not be an issue either.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? I usually wear black and navy blue and some kind of sweater over a polo. It’s not a uniform, per se, but it works at a construction site and at dinner in the evening. In a way it’s the opposite of my sensibility in that it’s so bland and purely practical. I would love to wear cool clothes.
Who is your star crush? Alain Delon
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?I would never carpet a bathroom but have a lot of respect for that kind of commitment.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Rooms by Derry Moore and Joe Holtzman - it would tide me over.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? I would love if people knew our firm as a real world-builder - smart, good quality, and enveloping.
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Fanny and Alexander
Book: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Scent: Vetiver by Dyptique
The fabric you always come back to: Sarafane by Decors Barbares
Dream project: To design a house and do all the decor for it from scratch - we haven’t gotten to do the full monty yet.
Meal: Cheeseburger and french fries
Drink: Water
Hotel: Waldhaus in Sils Maria
Travel Destination: Milan
Artist: My mom, Pilar Almon
A cause near and dear to me: Housing for homeless queer youth
Thing to collect obsessively: Anything with shells on it
Era in the history of design: Interwar modernism in France, Germany, and Italy
Museum: The Cooper Hewitt
Paint Color that always looks great: Nimbus - a grey from Benjamin Moore
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Trionfi_Mondo - all amazing cakes
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs in general, but no pets for me!
