When Claire Maestroni and Giorgio Stefano drive around Litchfield and Fairfield counties, the houses that continue to make them slow down in awe are the more undistinguished split-levels and ranches they come upon. After many years of focusing their Woodbury-based design and building business, Voce Di, on the grander estates and properties in the region, it’s houses more modest in scale that hold for them the most potential for grandeur.
Such was the case with this Roxbury split-level from the 1970s. What it might have initially lacked in curb appeal, it now makes up for by “resembling a cool, sexy, loft-like space,” says Maestroni, following the couple’s transformative work on it. She and Stefano, her life/business partner, have found what they call a “design niche,” whereby they remake seemingly ordinary dwellings into extraordinary residences. “The work we did here for our clients, Costas and Niki Picadas, was actually quite straightforward and uncomplicated,” she says.
The two couples are close friends, and Maestroni and Stefano were hoping to lure the Picadases to their area. “They actually found the house for us,” says Costas Picadas, a prolific visual artist and noted interiors photographer (he shoots regularly for CTC&G). “I really like their style,” says Costas, “which you see in their design shop and in the projects they’ve completed. I’ve collaborated with them on many homes.”
While Costas and his wife, who works as an interiors stager and stylist, live much of the time in Astoria, Queens, they wanted a weekend house where they could both be creative in ways that the city may not allow. “I was an artist in Paris for 10 years before moving to New York and working there as an artist for 30 years,” notes Costas. “But when I’m in this house, it’s a totally different kind of creativity I experience. Here, I connect directly with nature, which makes for a different stimulation.”
Upon purchasing a 1970s-era split-level in Roxbury, homeowners Costas and Niki Picadas had the first floor reconfigured as one, large open space.
The living room melds effortlessly with the kitchen, which makes use of the home’s original cabinetry, now painted black. A cloud-like, cotton-fiber chandelier by Kenneth Cobonpue appears to drift over the space.
A custom dining table is crafted from reclaimed wood and stainless-steel pedestals.
The five-acre woodsy locale is visible through a living room window. Elements in the space include a white Four Hands armchair; a moss-colored velvet sofa and a leather-and-steel coffee table, both from Verellen; and a custom floor lamp made from old fishing nets.
An interior stairway leads to a downstairs guest bedroom and bath.
A guest bedroom is decorated with a custom steel ladder that appears as a kind of minimalist sculpture, while a Libeco throw blanket from Privet House tops the bed.
Closet doors in the primary suite are crafted from sea-grass screens.
The primary bathroom is furnished with a gray wood vanity and porcelain sink from Ikea.
Claire Maestroni and Giorgio Stefano of Voce Di are known for transforming split levels and ranches into contemporary residences.
The couple and the Voce Di duo worked in concert, agreeing to gut the interiors, remove walls that demarcated a warren of small rooms, and open the ceiling to the very pitch of the roof. Suddenly, a cramped interior with eight-foot ceilings became a 14-foot-high space vaulting over an open-plan living space. The house’s original beams were left intact but wired for canister lights and painted a neutral hue that keeps the whole of the house bright and cheerful. The property’s five acres of dense woods are visible out the windows, but an abundance of natural light fills every room.
“We’ve lived up here long enough to see that Litchfield attracts so many creative people—artists, like Costas, writers, designers, painters, those working in advertising and film,” says Maestroni. “They like the quiet, the non flashiness of Litchfield, and a pervasive feeling of privacy and community.” Costas cites the nearby former Roxbury studio/home of his favorite artist, Alexander Calder, as a reason he feels a special connection to the town.
The Picadases were exactly the kind of people for whom Maestroni and Stefano most like to design spaces. Maestroni admits that she and Stefano begin every project by assessing the art that clients own, rather than their furnishings. “Almost all of the art that was to hang in this house was by Costas, so we knew already his aesthetics and his colors.”
Both Costas and Niki were born and raised in Greece. “My wife and I like black and white because that’s what’s used in so many interiors in Greece, especially on the islands. I’m used to all-white rooms.” As Maestroni echoes,“We love black and white interiors because it allows for any kind of art to be shown and stand out.”
With four creative people working concurrently on redefining this house, every surface, lighting source, cabinet, banister and item of furniture was carefully considered. The expansive kitchen features a new, but seemingly weathered table supported by flanged metal legs. The cabinets are papered inside with a Japanese floral-patterned wallpaper. Elsewhere, a light shaped as a cloud seemingly drifts over the living room on its way to the kitchen, while another light composed of fishnets illuminates a corner.
“In every single project we work on, we try to include one-of-a-kind elements that bring soul and identity to a space,” says Maestroni.
