For designer John Bambick and his husband and business partner, Michael Bentley, the inspiration for their space started down the hallway. Their Manhattan apartment building is home to a motley ensemble of residents that, as the Pacific Northwest natives tell it, could’ve come straight from Central Casting. “The guy across the hall works in stage production, the woman down the hall does screenplays,” says Bambick, rattling an array of artistically inclined neighbors in the Greenwich Village building. “Some of the residents have rent-stabilized apartments and have been there for 30, 40, 50-plus years,” echoes Bentley. “Very real New Yorkers, and, especially, very real Village-ites.”
From left, John Bambick and Michael Bentley in their Manhattan home
The couple, who moved into their rental in 2021, embraced the prewar building’s mulifaceted spirit from the get-go. “The lobby isn’t super pretty. You have some of the character that’s still there [under] 100 layers of paint. There’s 2,000 packages while you’re trying to get to the elevator…,” shares Bambick. “We love how when you enter our space, you’re transported into something that’s thoughtful, but also loose and fun and very comfortable, and not too perfect and not too precious.” With an art curation replete with finds from auction-house favorites like The Hole and Instagram-emergent artists alongside personal works, the 850-square-foot apartment reflects the pair’s latest chapter as newly(ish) minted New Yorkers. “Considering that we didn’t move to New York until 2019, to have that glimpse into what the Village used to be became the starting point for how we wanted to decorate it,” says Bambick.
Bambick juxtaposes an Instagram find—Hikaru Akieda’s untitled canvas portrait painting—with Jonny Niesche’s acrylic, mirror, and voile work called Schein Blossom Kansai Hanam from The Hole. “I think we found [Akieda when] he was an art student,” shares Bambick, who had to wait for school break to end to obtain the work. The credenza is the USM Haller Mid-credenza, the vintage Accolay ceramics were purchased at Paul Bert Serpette, and the vintage chest of drawers is from Hollar & Squall. The table lamp was purchased at auction, the stoneware bowl is by William Marshal, from Freeforms, and the vintage flushmount light is from Amsterdam Modern. Benjamin Moore’s Creamy White is on the wall at right.
In an art filled corner of the living room, the haunting work Face Off, by Chinese painter-sculptor Xue Jiye and obtained from Black Dragon Press, holds court with a 1976 print called Sans Titre by Jean-Pierre Pincemin, 55 Sunrises by Sho Shibuya, and Margaret Maclean’s porcelain anemone. The adjustable desk lamp is from Zara Home. “We really have mixed emerging artists coming out of school with some stuff we found at galleries,” shares Bambick.
In the living room, Farrow & Ball’s Salon Drab clads the walls, creating an impact that’s anything but what the name implies. A RH sofa sits front and center, framed by a glazed ceramic table lamp from the 1950s, and a vintage Karl Springer lucite lamp. The jute rug is by S.R. Home, the brass sconces are from Etsy, and the two custom steel lounge chairs feature Mitchell Denburg fabric, while the custom lounge chair is upholstered in Marci Mohair from Yarn Collective. The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Barcelona table was purchased at auction. Untitled NRA by Felix Gonzalez-Torres hangs on the wall.
