Adesigner’s home is both her calling card and
her workshop, but the most important thing, at
least to Delia Kenza Brennen, is that it feel like
home — a place where she, her husband, and
their two daughters can be comfortable. This
was especially important at their Clinton Hill townhouse,
a property that has been in her family going back several
generations.
But if you’re conjuring images of reclaimed wood, farmhouse
chic or bric-a-brac-laden bookshelves, stop now.
Brennen’s home is very much a minimalist showpiece,
with an elegant black-and-white aesthetic and striking
sculptures created by her husband, Júlio Leitão, an artist
and choreographer who founded the Batoto Yetu dance
company.
“I can’t take too much stuff,” Brennen says on a recent
afternoon. She is sitting at her long black dining table on
which there is nary an object, stray or otherwise. “If there
was stuff on the table now, that would bother me.”
Behind her is the home’s immaculate kitchen, which has a
sleek black island, white matte cabinets and, in lieu of the
two smaller, original windows, a large glass door leading
to a deck and backyard. Even the kitchen’s working fireplace
— one of several in the house — is spotless, owing to
a tiny stove that the couple installed in the hearth to keep
ash and debris from polluting the house.
While minimalist, the house’s design is far from stark or
stoic. Instead an atmosphere of inventive fun pervades.
Take, for example, the murals in the entry and upstairs
hall by the Ugandan artist Moosh. Brennen saw his work
when visiting the office of a friend and decided it would
be the perfect solution to their blank walls. Other playful
touches include Bertjan Pot’s Random Light pendant fixture
for Moooi in the living room, a merino wool Rasta
pouf by Arcade Avec, and LEGO art by South African
artist Faatimah Mohamed-Luke.
Even as a child growing up in Jamaica, Queens, Brennen’s
preference for a clutter-free space was clear. While her
mother was fond of tchotchkes and prints, her bedroom
“was always very neat, very minimal.”
“My siblings would keep their rooms messy and they
would want to come and watch TV in mine,” she says.
Leitão topped the banister post with a bust from
Angola, where he grew up. It is one of several busts
in the home the couple have collected on their travels
to various African countries.
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