At 19, as an interior design student at the University
of Wisconsin, Gissler joined the board of the Madison
Trust for Historic Preservation. Later, while earning
an architecture degree from the Rhode Island School
of Design, he lived in Providence’s College Hill Historic
District for three years and found it a formative
experience. “Walking home on a snowy night along
18th century brick sidewalks with gas lights was like a
delirious dream,” he says.
Partway through his education, Gissler decided that
historic preservation was not his calling. “The thing
I found frustrating about historic preservation is you
choose a date and time and freeze it. That wasn’t complex
enough to keep me interested as a career.” After
graduation, he veered toward interior design, retaining
his special interest in historic architecture. “You have
to think cleverly about how to insert a contemporary
life into an old building and respect its historic character,”
he says.
Gissler followed early stints in the New York offices of
renowned designer Juan Montoya and architect Rafael
Viñoly by founding Glenn Gissler Design in 1987. The
four-person boutique firm has a portfolio of projects
including residences in Manhattan, Westchester, New
Jersey, Long Island, Florida and Martha’s Vineyard.
Active in the American Society of Interior Designers
(ASID), Gissler recently served two years as president of
the New York Metro chapter.
A designer’s own home probably says more about his or
her taste than any project for clients. Gissler’s is masculine
and low lit, with deep, rich wall color — glossy green in
the kitchen and chocolate brown upstairs. Large-scale pieces
of tailored furniture — not too many — provide comfort
without clutter. Collected objects from design movements
from Arts and Crafts to Steampunk are arrayed on the
mantel and on tabletops, while framed art, including many
contemporary works on paper, lines the walls, the white
mattes contrasting smartly with the dark paint colors.
54
Gissler sits on an Irish Queen Anne chair from the 18th
century under the eaves.