Roman and Williams Guild New York

Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the husband-and-wife team behind design firm Roman and Williams, have created a heavenly two-storey emporium in Manhattan’s Soho district. Named Roman and Williams Guild New York, the flagship emporium houses an art studio, divine flower shop, gallery and boutique, and a restaurant called La Mercerie.
The duo’s treasury of lighting and furniture spans multiple categories of living, from dining to office and lounging to storage. The boutique also boasts objects collected from the workshops of craftspeople around the world.
The airy space features painted brick walls and wooden floors, and is decorated with an array of curated objects to lend a live-in feeling; reindeer fur hides and sculptures by artist Casey Zablocki, La Soufflerie glassware, painted stoneware by Andrew Mcgarva, and various printed ephemera are part of this selection. Roman and Williams’ collaborations appear throughout the space: faucets and fixtures come from RW Atlas Collection for Waterworks, and architectural door and cabinet hardware was created with H Theophile.
The Guild’s in-house florist Emily Thompson hand-selected wild, feral and beautiful botanicals to fill the room. Thomspon’s floral compositions are sold in a dedicated nook onsite. At the rear is La Mercerie, an all-day French cafe concept by restaurateur and frequent collaborator Stephen Starr and chef Marie-Aude Rose.
“We wanted to create something comfortably lavish, that evoked both the refined and earthly aspects of French cuisine,” added Standefer and Alesch. The elegant dining room is “inspired by calm reveries”, according to the designers, featuring a watery-blue cast, thick marble counters, pale-gray floors, and an enameled kitchen outfitted by Athanor. Custom designed “Angelica” dining tables and hanging pendant lamps are a part of Founding Collection.