AT HOME With: Jimmy Wright, Artist and LES Pioneer
This is a new series of posts I’ll be doing featuring inspiring homes. Jimmy Wright, my friend and neighbor for over 25 years is kicking it off for us.
Jimmy was an original pioneer in our grungy Lower East Side neighborhood. His house, in the alley, was a marble factory at the time he purchased it but the building was originally built to stable horses all the way up on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Renovating the building took Jimmy and his partner years to complete but they created one of the all time great live/work spaces downtown. And, they did find enough leftover marble and tiles to make for an amazing dining room table, bathroom counter tops, hallway flooring, and kitchen backsplash.
Everything about this house is inspiring – from the studio, to the library, to the plywood flooring that he painted tromp l’oeil style, to his collections of vintage toy trucks, and the many art works (both his and others).
Jimmy is represented by DC Moore Gallery. He’s also the President of the Pastel Society of America.
See photos below.
pastels
Vintage Truck Collection
2nd floor hallway with marble flooring from former owner’s factory
Jimmy Wright drawings
This is the floor that has been painted tromp l’oeil style
marble table top that came from original marble works
that kitchen window looks out into my dressing room at rivington sreet
these yellow tiles were also from the original marble works – AND – they came in a box that was exactly the right amount for the backsplash. serendipity?
Library/Office and Guest Room
lower right, pic of Jimmy
Signage from Mission Tile & Marble Works that I believe was on Rivington Street with finger pointing down Freeman Alley
That long flight of stairs keeps you fit and negates the need for the gym