FEATURES

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"The ceiling of the living room rises to 22 feet, and the ceilings in the other rooms are nine feet high. The doors are eight feet and the windows are seven feet." The higher elevation of the house even allows for a future screening room with spacious 10-foot-high ceilings in the basement.

Despite the clear layout of the house, there are still a few surprises to be had. Overlooking the living room, for instance, is a loft with two window seats that are actually twin beds for unexpected overnight guests. Another dormer, featuring a beautifully proportioned circular window, houses the home office.

A simplified palette of black, brown, white and gray lends the entire composition unity and serenity, and gives it a sense of Hollywood glamour. "All the rooms open off the main living room so they all had to work together," Taiani explains. "This reduced color scheme makes the house seem larger. And I wanted colors that would seem fresh in the summer and warm in the winter."

Chocolate brown mohair velvet sofas set the tone in the main living space, which is painted white. The bedrooms are inverted versions of the main room with dark walls and light upholstery and bedding. Awning stripe curtains in subtly different color ways emphasize the vertical nature of the house. Even the kitchen is a study in neutrals, with the white-tiled backsplash sealed with a custom blended brown grout and butcher-block countertops stained a rich ebony. Red, the only hint of non-neutral color, comes from the artwork: a Debbie Harry album cover that was scanned, digitally printed on PVC and then stretched onto a painter's frame.