New Mexico Modern

When art director Charles Churchward made the decision to move out to Santa Fe, New Mexico, he sought a space that would counterpoise a career spent in the thick of New York chaos. In his roles as the design director of Vanity Fair and Vogue, Churchward has collaborated with a slew of famed photographers, artists and designers over the years. As a result, his own personal collection of paintings, pictures, and objects has grown to an impressive size.

"Having lived and worked in New York City as an art director for close to 40 years, I had collected a great deal of twentieth-century furniture," Churchward told Knoll Inspiration. "I sometimes would confuse my loft with a furniture showroom."

The exterior of Charles Churchward's Santa Fe home, built by architect Ralph Ridgeway in 2002. Image courtesy of Charles Churchward.

The art director's new abode in the New Mexican desert would thus require enough space to accomodate this amassed archive. Seeking a house that expressed openness and quality construction, he settled on a modernist, geometric design by Ralph Ridgeway, built in 2002 as the architect’s own home. Its angularity cuts the open landscape and its Rastra cement walls provide subtle complements to the natural palette of the desert. But most importantly, the glass doors, large openings and slatted roofs that perforate the home make it an ideal display case for an astounding array of art, photography, and furniture.

“When moving to New Mexico and into a powerfully designed house (with rooms!) I had to choose carefully what I could bring and how the furniture and art would work in the new space,” Churchward explained. “There was still a great mix of furniture and Knoll pieces acted as anchors for the many of the rooms.”

I had to choose carefully what I could bring and how the furniture and art would work in the new space [...] Knoll pieces acted as anchors for the many of the rooms.”

—Charles Churchward

The Pollock Arm Chair surrounded by modern art in the library. Image courtesy of Charles Churchward.

Containing art that spans categories and mediums, the house becomes grounded around classic Knoll furniture that exists in dialogue with surrounding works. In the library, every detail down to the waste basket represents a thoughtful, graphic brand of modernism. Off to one corner, the organic shapes of a  Pollock Arm Chair finds echoes in a Calder mobile hanging from the ceiling and a painting by Alexander Liberman (Churchward's mentor at Condé Nast) on the nearby wall.

Elsewhere in the home, another wall is packed with photographic prints by the likes of Man Ray, Annie Leibovitz, and Brassaï. The modernist lineage continues with a Laccio Side Table by Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer positioned in front, which serves as a rotating display of illustrated tomes, smaller sculptures, and more framed prints.

In the living room, designs by Florence Knoll include a Lounge Chair upholstered in a bold zebra pattern. Image courtesy of Charles Churchward.

In the living room, a series of Florence Knoll Coffee Tables bring with them a sense of order and balance, and Churchward adds his own touch to the Bauhaus-influenced designs with a trio of Florence Knoll Lounge Chairs upholstered in a graphic zebra print.

And amidst the salon-style displays of the owner's beloved pictures and pieces, a small foyer provides a minimalist offset. Underneath two photographic prints is a table inspired by Hans Bellmann's Model 103 Tripod Table, which the Swiss architect designed for Knoll in 1946. While Knoll ceased manufacturing the elegant design in 1961, variants have proliferated, and Churchward's glass-topped version picks up on the frosted glass doors next to it.

Outside is all vistas and light, while the interior somehow feels like I am still living in New York.”

—Charles Churchward

In the foyer, a table inspired by Hans Bellmann's 1946 tripod design for Knoll. Image courtesy of Charles Churchward.

"When one retreats to the country, one has to do it with style," Churchward wrote of his move in Architectural Digest. And in the art director's new home, there is care behind every decision that this retreat involved. The outcome is not a simple uprooting and replanting of Churchward's urban abode, but something entirely new—a steady synthesis of East Coast energy and desert serenity.

"Outside is all vistas and light," he said, "while the interior somehow feels like I am still living in New York."

All images courtesy of Charles Churchward.