From Showcase to Your Place

Scale is key when adapting details from designer kitchens into your renovation.

Each year, in January, Detroit rolls out the red carpet for their North American International Auto Show. Thousands attend, the media watches, and dozens upon dozens of new models are introduced. And in a grand and spectacular fashion, showcase cars are put on display.

These creations, brought to life from the creativity of their designers, will never actually hit the street. But some of their concepts will, and that’s their purpose. The same is true with designer showcase homes: Not every last detail belongs in your renovation, but finding architectural cues that can enhance a room is often worth the price of admission.

The key to making these discoveries work is applying them judiciously, and in accordance to the proper proportions that work with your home.

Frank Freyvogel, owner of F.C. Freyvogel and Company, general contractors and homebuilders based in North Bellmore, recently participated in one such designer’s showcase.

That home, named La Selva in historic Upper Brookville, is an Italian Renaissance-styled mansion built in 1915 for an investment banker. This multi-million dollar home is presently on the market, and 40 designers and contractors were asked to update the house as a way to feature their work. A percentage of the admission proceeds was put aside to raise money for charity.

Freyvogel, who worked with designer Vasy Ypsilatis of The Breakfast Room in Manhasset and muralist Nancy Kirk, transformed a large “utility kitchen” into a work of art.

“In this instance, our job was to make the kitchen look elegant,” says Freyvogel, who recollects that the original kitchen was a stark, commercial space defined by

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