October 2022 Editor’s Letter
Who says you can’t go home again? AD has been documenting interior designers Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent’s enviable residences for a decade now, starting with Berkus’s chic Greenwich Village bachelor apartment (November 2012) and the lower Fifth Avenue duplex (October 2015) in which the pair started their life together, then later crossing the country to capture their romantic, expansive Hancock Park villa as they settled into parenthood (January 2018). The L.A. interlude was followed by a return to New York City and a beautifully renovated 1899 town house (May 2020).
In this month’s cover story, written by best-selling author and Brent-Berkus aficionado Jessi Klein, Berkus describes himself as someone who philosophically “doesn’t hold on to real estate,” yet he admits that the elegant Fifth Avenue place was an exception. “It’s like a wedding cake. I mean, it looks like an old Parisian apartment,” says Berkus approvingly. The duo lived in it from 2013 to 2016, and Brent says, “It was always the one that got away.” When it came back on the market, Brent and Berkus acted fast to reclaim their former happy place: “I was like, ‘Pack your bags,’ ” says Brent.
It’s great fun to see how the two AD100 designers reimagined their old home, sometimes making longed-for tweaks they hadn’t managed before, like swapping what Berkus calls the “fancy granny” tan limestone flooring in the entry for striking reclaimed black-and-white Spanish tile.
Expressing their joint gratitude, Berkus says, “I just take a beat every morning.… I just am filled with like, This is our family and this is where we live.” A sweet homecoming.
-Amy Astley, Global Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief, AD U.S. @amyastley
