Features: Show Space

An art-loving couple designed their home as they would a gallery — only more personal and party-ready

After 15 years of navigating the small, irregular rooms of a postmodern wedge of a townhouse in Queen Village, Rick and Ruth Snyderman needed to spread out — and so did their extensive art collection.

Both art dealers with their own galleries in the city, the Snydermans had amassed a collection of paintings, photography, folk and ethnographic art and contemporary crafts — glass, ceramics and studio-made furniture — that spanned four decades.

After 15 years of navigating the small, irregular rooms of a postmodern wedge of a townhouse in Queen Village, Rick and Ruth Snyderman needed to spread out — and so did their extensive art collection.

Both art dealers with their own galleries in the city, the Snydermans had amassed a collection of paintings, photography, folk and ethnographic art and contemporary crafts — glass, ceramics and studio-made furniture — that spanned four decades. Now they needed a place to show it off.

Equally key was space to entertain often and well, for both arts-related benefits and family functions. They found it all in the 19th-century china-and-glass-manufacturing warehouse in Old City that housed their businesses, the Snyderman and Works galleries. The building’s top floor was the blank canvas they had been looking for, the perfect spot for an airy city loft. In it, the Snydermans would build a gallery for two, their own private masterpiece.

Making the 1866 space liveable would take some work. To get started, the Snydermans tapped Fury Design, a Northern Liberties interior architecture and design firm, for a conceptual space plan they would use, along with input from other professionals, to develop the loft. The couple shared their wish list with Fury principals Eric Rymshaw and Jim Fulton: a high-performance kitchen, able to accommodate a caterer and a bar, but equally good for hosting Thanksgiving dinner; an open living area where guests can mingle while enjoying the at-home gallery; a library to house the couple’s collection of art books; storage space for artwork not on display; and a staircase to the roof, which enjoys a stunning view of downtown Philadelphia.

Fury envisioned a layout divided by layers of privacy: entertaining and socializing in the front of the loft, with a semiprivate space housing the library beyond it, and private bedrooms bringing up the rear, all connected by a main hall.

Long used to staging elaborate gallery shows, the Snydermans viewed the challenge of designing their new space in the same light. They presided over every decision, from the layout of rooms to the location and design of storage systems to the choice of materials and combination of colors and textures.

In John Orsini, general manager of EmJay Contractors in St. Davids, they found a creative partner who helped flesh out their vision with details. Joel Spivak, a draftsman associated with the architectural firm of Zimmers Associates in Philadelphia, created drawings that reconciled the couple’s wishes with local building codes.

Retaining elements of the building’s past was a priority in the loft’s design. The couple left ceiling beams and columns exposed and kept the original red oak floors. “We felt they were critical in establishing the intimacy of the space — these beautiful wooden elements … with their encompassing forms,” says Rick. In an alcove off the living room, a pulley from the old warehouse is a reminder of the space’s previous use.

For kitchen and bathroom inspiration, the Snydermans turned to Old City’s Teknika Design Group. To make the kitchen a high-functioning social hub, Teknika used stainless, professional-grade appliances and salmon-and-gray polished-granite countertops, which complement the Snydermans’ sculpted mahogany stools by Vancouver furniture maker Peter Pierobon. Teknika co-owner Roe Fierro suggested the second sink — a boon for two people who both love to cook and don’t want to get in each other’s way. The clean, contemporary design works to the Snydermans’ advantage, says Fierro, because “the main thing in the apartment is the artwork, so you don’t want anything to compete.”

So far, the kitchen has been a staging ground for everything from a cocktail party for some 40 guests of Philadelphia’s Headlong Dance Theater to a sit-down dinner for nearly 150 for The Clay Studio of Old City. “The arts have been very good to us, and we wanted to give something back,” says Rick.

It’s a fair exchange, because almost everything in the Snyderman home is a piece of art, from the paintings on the wall to the furnishings — even the staircase that leads to the penthouse. Made of wood treads without risers enclosed by a steel-and-glass balustrade, it seems to float on air. The Snydermans’ daughter-in-law, Gabrielle Shelton, a metal fabricator and owner of Shelton Studios in Brooklyn, designed and built it for them.

One of the few manufactured pieces in the loft is a sectional designed by Mario Bellini for C&B Italia (predecessor to B&B Italia) in the living room. The Snydermans purchased it from R 20th Century, their son Evan’s Tribeca gallery for postwar to contemporary furnishings, but added a personal touch: a chartreuse wool reupholstery job.

A few other midcentury pieces, including a black lacquered coffee table by Kazuhide Takahama for the Gavina Group of Milan (later taken over by Knoll International), are a testament to Evan’s power of persuasion. The Snydermans credit their son with challenging their assumptions about the quality of mass production. “They’ve always collected one-offs and crafts,” says Evan, “and never had the idea that 20th-century design could fit in. But we’ve proven that it works.”

In the library there are folk and ethnographic pieces, including masks from Mexico and Eskimo carvings. A table lamp by Philadelphia’s Harry Anderson is fashioned from garden hose. A floor lamp by Wendell Castle conjures a strange desert succulent. And Mexican Day of the Dead figures have been rigged to a shopping cart filled with illuminated glass fruit in a lighting sculpture by Warren Muller, luminary artist of Bahdeebahdu in Philadelphia.

The master bedroom’s centerpiece is a king-size bed with twin built-in reading lights that the Snydermans commissioned from Northern Liberties metal artist Gary Magakis. Made of patinated steel with bronze inlays, the bed resonates with a large metal fire door from the original warehouse.

Paintings are a constant and lively backdrop to every space. A trio by Isaiah Zagar, a Philadelphia artist better known for his mosaic murals, depicts Maine landscapes and a portrait of the Snydermans’ daughter Ami as a child. Three more of the artist’s large oils and a number of his drawings also grace the loft.

“This is our home, so there’s a different sensibility here than you’d get in a formal exhibition,” says Rick. “We arranged things to show the intimacy of the space, as highlighted by a series of collections that are very personal.”

And that personal collection has gotten wonderful reviews — at least from the Snydermans and their guests. Visitors to the two galleries below the loft may never realize they’re missing the best exhibits of all, just above their heads.