Alan Eckstein has mastered the art of the search. As the founder of Somerset House, a Brooklyn furniture store that’s cultivated from his collection, Alan has the type of knowledge for chairs and consoles and tables that any professor would have for a subject.
“I don’t collect for the money, I truly collect for how it makes me feel,” he says. “It sounds funny to say it this way, but I really believe that the items we find and cherish can take on a certain significance in our lives. They can make a home feel like home.”
Alan and his wife, fashion stylist Haley Loewenthal, lived in a one-bedroom apartment when the pandemic hit. And though it felt like home, it was missing one detail that suddenly took on a profound amount of importance. “We didn’t have any outdoor space,” he says. “We also wanted to start a family, and there wasn’t room for an extra person to join us there. We knew that in order to grow, or to even have somewhere to exhale, we needed to move.” So, Alan began to do what he does best: search.
Much like seeking out the “right” furniture piece, he browsed listings and made phone calls, hoping to find something that spoke to him. “This went on for months,” he says. “But then, our friend shared this apartment with us, which he spotted on Craigslist.”
The 2,500-square-foot duplex in New York’s Long Island City had two bedrooms and two floors, providing more than enough space for the couple to spread out. It was almost as if Craigslist, a long-beloved treasure chest for Alan, had come through for him again. “I think it was available because of the pandemic,” he notes. “My wife and I were looking for an interesting, open space with character. This apartment has that, and the best part about it is that it also has a private roof deck.”
Once they got the keys at the end of 2020, Alan began sifting through his belongings to find the best pieces for a neutral, earthy palette. The living area was punctuated by four tall windows spanning the full length of the room, spilling light into the ground floor. The shorter walls were made of brick, which coordinated with the wood tones on the doors. “When I’m designing spaces, I always start by asking myself, ‘How can I add warmth?’” he says. “I wanted everything to feel cozy and intentionally well designed. In the living room, particularly, it was important for me to create a layout that felt like you could come and hang out.”
He placed a large sectional away from the windows, so that it appeared to be floating, and then surrounded it with soft edges to contrast the harder angles in the room. In the nearby living area, he complemented those soft shapes and shades with a round table and paper lantern, and placed a console primed with music and drinks in between. As he speaks, he calls out the history of the items that mean the most to him, sharing a bit about its shared artistic and personal history.
“The two lamps in the living room are some of my all-time favorites,” he says. The green fixtures is by Ron Rezek, while the light on the coffee table is by Sergio Mazza. “Years ago, my wife and I went into a store in Rome and I saw it there and thought it was so beautiful,” he says of the latter piece. “I eventually saved up for it, and it’s such an honor to own—it was one of my first purchases of a piece I really loved.”
The rest of the decor is a scrapbook of past successful searches, interspersed with tidbits of someone who deeply understands that a home tells a distinct story. There’s a Dogon ladder that was sourced in Mali and mounted on steel in the hallway, and original photographs of Miles Davis and John Coltrane in the upstairs living space. He mentions the rare find of a Milo Baughman lounge chair in his bedroom, which is upholstered in a chocolate mohair, and speaks affectionately about the accompanying painting by his mother-in-law. Every detail is underscored by his contagious passion, which starts with a search but ends with satisfaction.
“I’m drawn to neoclassical Italian and baroque-era artifacts, just as much as I love midcentury modern and Danish decor. I have pieces from France, Italy, and Africa, as well as from here,” he says. “But I only surround myself with what brings me joy. I figure that if I love all of these things separately, then they’re going to look good together. And if something doesn’t work, then I can always find something else that does.”
