Homes

Inside Markarian Designer Alexandra O’Neill’s Greenwich Village Aerie

During the day, Alexandra O'Neill’s Greenwich Village apartment doubles as her brand’s headquarters. The Markarian team of four taps away at their laptops on the Bertoia dining chairs, surrounded by clothing racks displaying the Spring and Resort collectsions, while at night, O’Neill invites friends over for dinner parties. Menus are created based on what is fresh at the nearby Union Square Greenmarket and served on her favorite zodiac Laboratorio Paravicini plates and vintage French tablecloths or Zsuzsanna Nyul table linens. On the evening before my visit, a gaggle of friends had gathered for Halloween costume making, and during my tour of the apartment, the feather-and-jewel-festooned headdresses were displayed alongside Markarian’s Spring ’18 Saturn clutches.
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    Photo: Kelsey Rose
    1/18

    Markarian designer Alexandra O’Neill wearing a dress of her own design in her Greenwich Village apartment.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    2/18

    The main room featuring an antique Persian rug found on a family trip to Turkey, a pair of side chairs from James Sansum, a Restoration Hardware sofa, a Milo Baughman burl wood coffee table, and a leather chaise longue designed by O’Neill. Above the sofa is a pair of paintings by O’Neill.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    6/18

    The bookshelves, which she made deeper, display her collectsion of coffee-table books and bibelots.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    7/18

    A pair of Sicilian ceramic heads picked up during her sister Krissy’s wedding in Positano.

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    Photo: Kelsey Rose
    8/18

    Wearing Markarian on the Restoration Hardware sofa and ABC Carpet & Home velvet pillows with her Yorkie, Winston.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    9/18

    The matte black-painted kitchen with mid-century pendant lamps found on 1stdibs. “I love to go to the Union Square farmers’ market to see what is fresh and in season and create the menu around that,” says O’Neill of her cooking, “I also have a major sweet tooth, so I love baking and always make some kind of dessert.”

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    10/18

    Markarian is run out of the apartment, so the dining table and Bertoia chairs turn into a coworking space every morning. In the evenings, she has friends over for a home-cooked meal served on her favorite Laboratorio Paravicini zodiac plates.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    11/18

    The view through to the bedroom. “I wanted the doors to line up, so I got rid of the walk-in closet,” she says of the entry to the bedroom.

  • She completely redid the bathroom except for the original 1920s window.
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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    15/18

    She completely redid the bathroom, except for the original 1920s window.

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    Photo: Courtesy of Ali O’Neill
    16/18

    O’Neill’s enviable shoe closet.

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    Photo: Courtesy of Ali O’Neill
    17/18

    A Serena & Lily rattan daybed on the terrace, which was recently renovated with new lattices added.

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    Photo: Sarah Elliot
    18/18

    A console from 1stdibs hosts a pencil-on-paper portrait of O’Neill’s great-grandmother Abby.

TopicsInterior Design