INTERIOR DESIGN by JAMES YAROSH
PHOTOGRAPHY by PATRICIA BURKE
TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
When a South Orange homeowner—and art collector—met her interior designer in Paris in the spring of 2022, it was not just for an indulgent tour of the museums they both love.
This world traveler had home on her mind as she seized the opportunity to tell Holmdel designer and gallery owner James Yarosh the big news: She and her husband were ready for phase two of their 5,500-square-foot townhouse transformation: the kitchen.
In 2015, these empty nesters had traded a New Vernon estate for the ease of townhome living, but refused to sacrifice style with builder’s basic “anything.” With a museum-inspired setting, “we wanted it to feel more like a custom home,” Yarosh recalls.
Now, as the couple sought to elevate a space essential for everyday life and entertaining, the lady of the house was on a mission to build a dream team with Yarosh as her visionary. This team beckoned architectural kitchen designer Joan Picone out of “retirement” and featured artisan cabinet-maker James Zdepski, lighting designer Ryan Clarke and general contractor Monetti Custom Homes.
As Yarosh envisioned, the European-styled kitchen would be minimalist but warm—beige to mesh with bookcases in Benjamin Moore’s Skipping Stone and the home’s overall aesthetic, yet “anything but boring because of the client’s love of pattern and color.”
A lesson in restraint, from a distance the kitchen looks neutral. But closer inspection reveals “very beautiful moments within the design,” says Yarosh. A marble-and-onyx backsplash around the Thermador stove features tumbling blocks—a cherished pattern the wife often photographs— and teams up with orange-and-raspberry quartzite perimeter counters to banish any hint of blah. The island dances to its own tune with a leathered, slab top and a stained-wood base, yet syncs with surrounding curved cabinets as it contrasts the dark wood floor.
For a homeowner who loves patterns, there’s bliss in waking up to the laser-cut design on the coffee bar’s pocket doors, as a large mirror reflects on the colors of this home’s heartbeat—its artwork.