“They asked if we wanted to rent the loft. And we did,” says Davis.

“Initially, it was designed by a young architect and the finishings are superb. The floors, the Venetian plaster, the exposed brick. We rented it for a number of years.

“Then we ended up buying the loft – but only half. It was 5,000 square feet. We couldn’t afford to buy the whole thing, so together with an architect friend of ours we split it.”

Inside a Hong Kong family home inspired by New York loft living

Dividing the loft in two was easier than might be expected. It was the only unit in the former industrial building that spanned an entire floor, so it had “two sets of elevators, two intercom systems, front and back”, says Provisor. “It was a normal thing to do, to split it.”

It was also an opportunity to reshape the space to their liking.

“New York lofts are big open spaces, that’s the advantage,” says Davis. “There’s not a lot of walls. But we added an extra bathroom and storage and bedrooms, which made it completely different from what it initially was.”

Despite the addition of rooms, giving them two bedrooms and two bathrooms, the loft still feels spacious, and it afforded the couple plenty of room for decoration.

“I would say what’s in the loft is a combination of all of our travels and what we’ve done all through the years – things from Italy, things from China,” says Provisor.

“Things from a little antique store in Grand Junction, Colorado, where we built a house that the neighbours thought looked like a spaceship that had landed in a field,” adds Davis.

The loft’s wide open spaces give the couple plenty of room to showcase the variety of objects they have collected. “We’ve added furniture, art and other decorative objects,” says Davis.

“We’re passionate pottery collectors. We have a lot of open shelving dedicated to our collection, especially German pottery made in the 1920s and ‘60s. Some people think it’s ugly, but it’s strong and it has bold colour contrasts and heavy texture.”

Even with 2,500 square feet of space, however, finding the right way to arrange their fascinating objects required spatial strategy. “While it’s a big open space, we wanted to create modular spaces so it felt contained – so it didn’t become a run-on sofa, so to speak,” says Davis.

Furniture is clustered to create intimate areas within the big, open spaces. The couple installed a wall next to the kitchen to create a snug, partially enclosed lounge area.

In terms of decor, says Provisor, “We try to balance it out. We have clusters [of objects] and then we have nothing. The centre of the loft, colour-wise, is very neutral.”

All the better to showcase their collections, which continue to evolve.

“I grew up with mid-century modern – my mother did her house in George Nelson furniture,” says Provisor.

Davis shares similar tastes.

“That was sort of in our DNA, that kind of modernism. For a long time we only bought used things, vintage, but as we started making enough money, and we were growing up, when we could we bought pieces to go along with stuff we found in auctions or antique stores.

“Now our next step is maybe making furniture.”

They will have a chance to do that in their latest acquisition: a house in the countryside of Connecticut, a little under two hours from New York. They plan to use it as a part-time residence and studio, but they won’t give up their loft.

“This is the longest we’ve ever been anywhere in our lives,” says Provisor. “Longer than I lived in my home where I was growing up. Our lives are here.”

Living area

One of the first pieces of furniture acquired for the loft was a green Hella Jongerius sofa designed for Vitra (vitra.com).

“That was the anchor piece,” says Brad Davis.

Next came a punchy wood-framed chair from Sawaya & Moroni (sawayamoroni.com) whose green upholstery echoed the sofa.

The armchair and ottoman were from BD Barcelona (bdbarcelona.com) with custom fabric designed by Hella Jongerius for Maharam (maharam.com).

The space is filled with designer objects and vintage finds.

The tilted floor lamp was from Artemide (artemide.com); the round mid-century Accolay table in front of the green sofa was found at an antiques store, as was the amoeba-shaped Lane coffee table of roughly the same age that accommodates a sculpture by Kiki Smith and two by Heidi Lau.

The small, circular side table, next to the green sofa, is a vintage piece by Gio Ponti for Fornasetti (fornasetti.com) from an antiques store; the side table next to the armchair is by Karimoku New Standard from Japan (karimoku-newstandard.jp).

The large spherical lamp was purchased in Italy years ago while the adjacent sofa was designed by Christian Liaigre for Holly Hunt (hollyhunt.com).

The art in the living room includes a large painting, Diogenes (2013) by Norbert Schwontkowski, purchased from Berlin’s Contemporary Fine Arts gallery at Art Basel Hong Kong.

The two smaller paintings, by Thomas Nozkowski (1944-2019), were acquired from Pace Gallery (pacegallery.com). The spherical ceramic sculptures on the floor were purchased directly from artist Brad Miller (instagram.com/bradmillerstudio).

Tying everything together is a Karl wild silk rug from Davis and Janis Provisor’s Fort Street Studio (fortstreetstudio.com).

Eating nook

A less formal eating nook is centred on a ‘50s-era Noguchi breakfast table found at a now-closed antiques store in New York. The chairs are vintage mid-century Eames, also purchased at an antiques store a long time ago. The chair in the corner is a vintage piece by Lloyd Loom (lloyd-loom.co.uk).

The large cross-shaped art was acquired directly from the artist, John Torreano (johntorreano.com). The smaller, ceramic cross was found in Mexico.

The portrait is a woodcut by Chuck Close, acquired from Crown Point Press in San Francisco (crownpoint.com). The pendant light was found in Spain years ago.

Dining area

A ‘60s Paul Evans glass table is paired with dining chairs designed by Gio Ponti and a ‘50s Florence Knoll console, all purchased at auction.

Italian pottery from the ‘60s, a Japanese table lamp and a seated figure by Paloma Varga Weisz occupy the top of the console. Steuben and Kosta Boda glass objects, collected over the years, sit on the table.

The elephant sculpture, by Klara Kristalova, was bought at Galleri Magnus Karlsson in Stockholm, Sweden (gallerimagnuskarlsson.com). The pouffe was custom made years ago.

The photo of a reclining woman, by Mickalene Thomas, was acquired from Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago, in the US (rhoffmangallery.com). Next to it is a portrait by Catherine Opie that was purchased at New York’s Gladstone Gallery (gladstonegallery.com).

Sitting area

A cosy sitting area sits next to the eating nook. In front of the Vitsœ drawers (vitsoe.com) is a vintage Lloyd Loom wicker chair from the ‘30s. The side table next to it is a vintage Gio Ponti piece for Fornasetti and the ‘50s Eames Wire Chair DKR came from Vitra.

The cross is a custom bronze mirror by Jed Bark (barkframeworks.com) and the green ceramics are vintage Weller Coppertone pieces collected over the years. The blown glass sculpture is by Jared Davis (jareddavis.com), Provisor and Davis’ son.

Kitchen

“We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but because it’s so open, it doesn’t feel like a kitchen – just a zone of the loft,” says Provisor. The custom-made cupboards showcase a collection of pottery and glass objects, including ‘30s yellow and pink Eva Zeisel ceramics and ‘60s lava-like pottery, both made in Germany.

Hand-blown leopard-spotted drinking glasses from Italy, Saint-Louis crystal goblets (saint-louis.com) and a ‘50s George Nelson wall clock from Herman Miller (hermanmiller.com) round out the decor. The countertops are granite and the splashback is made from glass mosaics.

Main bedroom

In contrast to the liveliness of the rest of the loft, the main bedroom – tucked away at the back – is an oasis of calm. “We wanted sanctuary,” says Davis. “Something harmonious and quiet and soft, a real juxtaposition to the stronger, brighter, contrasting colours in the living room.”

They achieved that through many custom elements: a pink carpet they made themselves, and a custom-built bed, cushions, blankets and ottoman.

The nightstands and chest of drawers are vintage ‘50s pieces by George Nelson, purchased at R & Company in New York (r-and-company.com). Weller Coppertone ceramics sit on the drawers. A Ragamuf cover made by Tuula Pöyhönen (tuulapoyhonen.com) from leftover textiles adds a fun layer to a chair.

The finishing touch is a series of works by Hong Kong artist Wilson Shieh Ka-ho (wilsonshieh.com), whom Davis and Provisor met while living in the city.

“They’re intimate, they’re subtle, they’re all figurative pieces. They have a sort of surreal psychosexual quality to them that seemed appropriate for the bedroom,” says Davis.

Lounge

The pink Moroso sofa was from Patricia Urquiola (patriciaurquiola.com), the red tray on the sofa was purchased in Japan, and Provisor and Davis had the cushions, blankets and ottoman custom made years ago.

The silk shag carpet was from Fort Street Studio. A white light fixture by David Weeks (davidweeksstudio.com) hangs over the sofa. On the wall is a photo by Patricia Blanchet and the art on the bookshelf includes a painting by Shieh and a bonsai sculpture by Brad Davis and Brad Miller.

Lounge detail

Davis and Provisor found this Qing dynasty lute table, made in Shaanxi, at an antiques dealer years ago. They use it to display carved chops and Chinese antiques they have collected over the years.

Tried & Tested

Shell out Janet Provisor and Brad Davis were visiting her mother years ago near Cincinnati when they found a frame made of seashells at an antiques mall.

“This is a kind of seashell art that’s done in Florida,” says Davis. “It was probably done in the ‘40s, just after the war maybe. It was a particularly good example of it.” They have toted it around ever since.

When the loft was split in two, the pair built an extra bathroom with the shell art in mind. They used it to frame a vintage mirror. Ethereal light fixtures by Arte Luce (arteluceonline.com) reference the shape of the shells.

In a brick alcove, they installed a reed-like sculpture by the late Los Angeles artist duo Curtis Jere, which they bought at a New York antiques shop (now closed).

The finishing touch comes in the form of a ‘50s glass fish chosen by their son, Jared, at the Seguso workshop (seguso.com) in Murano, the famous glass blowing island in Venice, Italy. Jared later became a glass-blower himself.