Oscar Shamamian
photo by Lisa Romerein
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? I live in a loft in the West Village and am lucky enough to have a second home in Connecticut as well as a third domicile in Charleston. My next wish would be to sell all three and buy a mobile home.
What are three words to describe your style? 1. Classic 2. Modern 3. Nifty
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? My childhood bedroom was heaven for a young boy, but hell for my parents who had to enter the room very carefully. With two sets of bunk beds in a room shared by three roughhousing brothers aged three to seven, we could pretend that the beds were space ships, tanks, racing cars or really anything that could be weaponized.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? A fire extinguisher.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Llewellyn Sinkler (my wife) in collaboration with Albert Hadley (my former boss).
No room is complete without soundproofing.
People think of me as quiet, but I am really really, really quiet.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement Ribbons
An hors d’oeuvre platter Anything with eggs
A bar cabinet The lock
A song for:
Dinner at home Anything by Miles Davis
Working at your desk “Down the Line” or anything from the Rolling Stones “Exile on Main St.”
Going for a run Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”
Biggest Vice? Getting into a design groove and not being able to stop drawing until four o’clock in the morning.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? A dog
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes…they are modern versions of the classics.
Who is your star crush? The North Star.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Use heavily veined or colored marble.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? The Lutyens monograph.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Resale value.
A Few Favorites
Movie: Taxi Driver
Book: New York City Building Code
Scent: Fresh sawn lumber
The fabric you always come back to: Denim
Dream project: One with my favorite client, favorite interior designer, favorite landscape architect and favorite builder. (You all know who you are!)
Meal: Rack of lamb prepared by my older daughter Kittredge.
Drink: Gin…served à la Albert Hadley
Hotel: Hilltop Hotel (now defunct), Plymouth, MA
Travel Destination: Home
Artist: My youngest daughter, Chanler
Thing to collect obsessively: Houses
Era in the history of design: The Dark Ages
Museum: Guggenheim
Paint Color that always looks great: Dix Blue
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? All of the above…my three cats, Zeus, Iddy-biddy and Maguino, and the dog I’ll buy on my Ambien high…his name will be Chopper.
