Inside Josh Charles and Sophie Flack’s Creative Haven in Greenwich Village
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Some sofas are for sitting, others for lounging, but in the Greenwich Village apartment of actor Josh Charles and writer and jewelry designer Sophie Flack the sofa is often the backdrop for more energetic endeavors.
“We move the coffee table and deconstruct the couch cushions for forts, and our son Rocco uses it for daily pitching practice,” says Flack, a former ballerina in the New York City Ballet who wrote the novel Bunheads and is the owner of the socially conscious jewelry line Semper Augustus. “On weekends, we sometimes throw a picnic blanket on the rug and let the kids eat dinner at the coffee table while we watch a movie, or they like to put on dance performances. We give our sofa a lot of love.”
That playful spirit was a big reason why Flack and Charles—who is known for his Emmy-nominated turn in The Good Wife and has most recently starred in the FX series The Veil—reached out to their friend Lindsey Reese of bicoastal design firm and AD PRO Directory member Hines Collective after moving from a breezy loft to a 2,600-square-foot prewar apartment a few blocks away. “We were drawn to the open layout and east-west exposure, but the original apartment aesthetic felt a little too grown up for us,” Flack recalls of its stuffiness.
To loosen up the space, Reese removed the decorative moldings that weighed down the three-bedroom home’s ceilings and lightened the dark hardwood flooring; she also reconfigured some interior walls, improving the flow, and added custom millwork to establish a series of light-filled, multifunctional spaces that make sense for the family’s lifestyle. “The designers presented a cleaner look that appealed to us,” Charles adds. “I love the living room. We get this beautiful [reflected] light from the building across the street when the sun is shining. The open flow between there and the kitchen is where we spend a good chunk of our time.”
With Benjamin Moore’s Super White on the walls—which are adorned with artwork by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Michael Seif—the new layout gives the family plenty of room to unleash their imaginations while maintaining a sophisticated aesthetic that’s reminiscent of the iconic galleries and artists’ studios nearby.
“Versatility was the most important design feature,” says Reese of the dining room, where a custom banquette lifts to reveal storage for art supplies used to create everything from kids crafts to sketches for Flack’s candy-colored Prozac pendants, Wellbutrin cocktail rings, and SSRI bracelet charms, all highlighting and raising funds for social issues and mental health awareness. “It was important for the main spaces to feel cohesive and comfortable to use in a flexible way, whether for family activities, entertaining, work projects, or holidays, so we took any opportunity we could to give more than one function to an area in the home,” the interior designer adds.
While creative expression in all of its forms was often the guiding force in many of the spaces, so was comfort and ease. Reese incorporated low-profile furniture to enhance the home’s flow and maximize sight lines and airiness, as well as durable, high-performance fabrics like linen and wool to encourage a sense of elevated serenity. Antiques collected by the couple over the years, including vintage Italian movie posters and musician portraits (Josh is a huge blues fan), lend soul and a sense of age. Furnishings in wood and stone, like the Henning Kjaernulf razorblade chairs in the dining area and a pair of vintage Italian onyx lamps in the living room, balance the crisp white foundation with an infusion of warmth.
The combination makes for a home that is at once visually stimulating and exceedingly calm, fostering inspiration as much as relaxation. For all of their creative vigor, Charles, Flack, and their children sometimes find themselves cuddled in the primary bed (with their eight-pound Havanese named Zeus) or vegging out on the same sofa that served as a catcher’s mitt earlier in the day. Flack says, “After all the hustle and bustle, it’s so important to have a place to decompress.”
1/8Despite the curated aesthetic of the foyer, the room has another unexpected function: “We use the long entryway as a baseball pitching corridor,” says Charles, who is currently filming the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale.
2/8A sculptural wood chair by Paul Morehouse and a vintage Italian movie poster add texture in a hallway.
3/8Reese streamlined the kitchen to let the adjacent dining area shine but added custom millwork and storage to increase the functionality. The bar stools are by YLiving.
4/8“The built-in kitchen banquet made the kitchen feel warmer and more inviting than just having a table and chairs,” Charles says. Placed atop a wood table from Design Within Reach, stoneware sculptures by Andrea Marquis, purchased through Todd Merrill Studio, inflect the dining room with a dose of colorful whimsy. Razor blade chairs by Henning Kjaernulf offset the sleek lines of the custom banquette upholstered in a Perennials fabric.
5/8“Hines Collective designed the apartment to foster our kids’ creativity, largely inspired by how my parents raised my sister and me,” Flack says. “There’s a dress-up area, a toy closet, and an art area so the kids can pull out whatever they want and play independently.” Flack wears Mad Fine’s plated cubic zirconia Vote necklace, the Semper Augustus Wellbutrin cocktail ring, Gold Miso signet, and Miso-Mife pearl necklace.
Art: Michael Seif6/8The primary bedroom is a study in unruffled sophistication. Photographs by artist friend Michael Seif hang above a custom bed from Kalon Studios; the pendant sconces by Flos provide a sculptural counterpoint to the mushroom-shaped Emma Donnersberg nightstands. The ebonized wood armchair is by Carol Egan, and the lamp is by Ben & Aja Blanc, purchased from The Future Perfect.
7/8“We wanted something that was a little playful but that could also grow with her as she gets older,” Reese says of the daughter’s room, where a crisp white bed by Pottery Barn pops against the vibrant Design Life Kids wall covering. Found on Etsy, the vintage nightstands are topped with Anthropologie lamps and offer a traditional counterpoint to the sculptural fiberglass chair by Carol Egan.
Art: Keith Haring © Keith Haring Foundation8/8Upholstered in orange felted wool, the one of a kind bunk bed was “a leap of faith for Josh and Sophie,” says Reese of the hulking Perludi piece, “but once they were on board we were able to track down the last one of its kind and bring it home.” A dinosaur-themed wall covering by The Pattern Collective, Guillerme et Chambron side tables, and art by Keith Haring, a gift from Josh’s dad, round out the mix.
