The contemporary was revamped by Poggenpohl.

The more formal rooms at the front of the house exemplify this mix of traditional and modern elements. In the living room, Brown and Davis replaced the fireplace mantel with a carved limestone surround and installed new architectural moldings to create a classical backdrop to stylized, Deco-inspired furnishings. Instead of pairing sofas around the fireplace, they arranged seating areas at either end of the room and connected them with a floral-patterned carpet of their own design. “It was inspired by a late 19th-century Chinese import rug for another client,” explains Brown. “The furniture has a Deco flair and in terms of Deco interiors, Chinese rugs were often used.” Ivory upholstery on the chairs and sofas provides a contemporary twist within the room’s traditional setting.

The husband’s cherry-paneled study centers on four chairs originally designed by Brown Davis for the British Embassy.

Across the hall, a similar contrast is evident in the dining room, which also serves as a music room for the couple’s three children. A baby grand piano faces upholstered chairs pulled up to a rosewood table and a banquette in front of the windows. As in the living room, the piano and furnishings are linked by a large rug in subdued tones to match the upholstery. In both living and dining rooms, marigold silk draperies add a jolt of color. “These rooms tend to be dark because they face north,” says Brown. “We chose a golden tone to warm them up.”

Abstract prints by noted American artists Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg and Richard Serra, and large paintings by Spanish artists Miguel Angel Campano and José Freixanes underscore the contemporary feeling. “We think the art reinforces the importance of simple furnishings—the furnishings do not collide visually with the art,” says the husband.

In the master bedroom, Donghia wallpaper provides a dark backdrop to light-colored furnishings and a sleek stone fireplace mantel.

Upstairs in his study, Brown and Davis extended the same strategy applied to the living and dining rooms, but reversed the approach. Instead of ornamenting the walls with intricate moldings, they used streamlined cherry paneling and shelving as a modern backdrop to traditional furnishings, including four chairs the designers originally created for the British Embassy.

Contrast continues in the master bedroom, where light-colored bedding, drapes and upholstery are set off by raisin-colored silk wallpaper. “We were asked to make it a cocoon,” says Davis. “So we used materials to absorb sound from the street.”At one end of the room, a print by British artist Henry Moore hangs over a fireplace framed in a simple stone surround. “It’s our favorite room, especially in winter with the fireplace burning,” says the husband. “We are often there, reading or working late at night when the house and the city outside are quiet.”