DESIGN by JENNIFER PACCA
INTERIORS PHOTOGRAPHY by MARCO RICCA
TEXT by MARISA SANDORA CARR
What to do with a pool room when no one plays pool? Reimagine the space as a cozy cigar room, perfect for having a drink and enjoying a smoke. That’s what Joshua Epstein tasked Jennifer Pacca of Jennifer Pacca Interiors to create in the 7,500-square-foot Tenafly house he shares with his wife, Lindsay, and their three teenage children.
“Josh really wanted a place where he could entertain his friends, like-minded people who enjoyed cigars and relaxing,” says Pacca. “He wanted to add a small bar, so they would have a place to have a fine wine or Scotch as well.”
The room already featured a striking copper ceiling and Palisandro Bluette marble tile floors, which the Epsteins liked and wanted to keep, so Pacca used those copper and blue tones as a jumping-off point for her design thinking. She found the perfect Opuzen fabric featuring both colors for two Bernhardt swivel chairs and used those, along with a blue tufted Chaddock sofa and two leather chairs the homeowner had previously, to create a comfortable seating area around a large, square coffee table with brass trim from Kravet Furniture. To provide even more seating, Pacca designed a custom window seat along one wall and flanked it with built-ins to feature the couple’s decorative objects and house the humidor.
“Jennifer found the cabinet maker, and he built it to my specifications,” says Epstein. “It’s great. She definitely found the right guy.”
The room was outfitted with a special ventilation system to circulate the air, but Pacca wanted to make sure that the fabrics and materials used, such as a soft blue rug made of silk and wool, would repel smoke as much as possible. “It was a bit of a challenge and a learning experience, which is always good,” Pacca said. “It was a fun project because it was a little bit outside of our typical living room or dining room.”
As for the homeowner? He couldn’t be happier. “Jennifer did a good job creating a design that is masculine, but not too masculine,” says Epstein. “It appeals to everyone. Everyone loves the room.”