When longtime clients asked designer Michael Cox to work on their third New York City residence, he agreed instantly. This was their eighth project together and the 12th one for the same family. “They have the typical Foley & Cox client profile," says Michael Cox of the couple, whose son is also now a client in the Hamptons. "He grew up in one of our interiors.“ Cox and Mary Foley founded their design company in 2002 (Foley retired in 2017), and 17 years later, the firm is still putting their trademark stamp—a mix of über-graciousness, deference to natural light and art, comfort—on residences around the world.
Cox likes to say that he graduated from “Polo University,” and continues, “I was always in the Ralph Lauren Home Division and involved in everything from retail to product to interior design; that’s where I got my graduate degree.” His time at Polo was well spent and he now works constantly with projects from the Bahamas and Hawaii to Monaco and Moscow to Austria and London. The majority of his clients are American, but, as he says, “they take us around the world.”
The office wall features a shelving unit by Design Frères and a ceiling fixture by Modulightor. The rosewood waterfall desk was sourced from Twentieth in Los Angeles. Among the books are works of art, including one work on the top shelf by Jockum Nordstrom, to the left, and a work by Nick Mauss, to the right. Other works are by Hiroshi Sugimoto and by Larry Bell, among many others.
For this project, the clients had been looking for about two years to find the right space. Their children were out of the house and they wanted a place to entertain and live with their extensive art collection. Having worked together many times prior, Cox says, "This was all about how they want to live, how they want to entertain, creating a space specifically for them.” The couple, with one foot in finance and one in the arts, found their dream apartment in an older commercial building, converted into brand-new residences with great views of Madison Square Park. They did some upgrades, like all-new bathrooms, and reconfigured a few spaces (they pulled out the laundry area, which was at the end of the kitchen, relocated it, and added more storage for all of their tableware).
This two-bedroom, two-bath was also designed to highlight their ever-evolving art collection. "This project was wonderfully eclectic with antiques and new design," comments Cox. "We also reused the 12 Ruhlmann chairs around the dining room table, which I had found for them two apartments ago. After 17 years of working together, we learn together and invest in furniture differently.”
When asked to describe his style, Cox says, the word is “appropriateness.” He elaborates, “We always ask ourselves: What drives the design on this project? Where is it? Is the property existing? Who is the client? And what's their lifestyle? All of this will drive the design.” Asked if Cox has a dream project? Without missing a beat, he says, “The Villa Josephine in Tangiers: I’d love to freshen that up. Is that specific enough for you?”