8 min readCan you test-drive a house before deciding what it will be? That’s essentially what the homeowners of this Rye, New York, property did after buying a well-loved 1955 structure with 5,145 square feet for their family of five. Instead of launching straight into a renovation, they moved in and spent a year and a half taking notes on what worked, what didn’t, and what the house would need to have in order to support a growing family. By the time the trial run was over, one thing was clear: The house needed a serious upgrade.
That’s when designer Dana Ferraro of Molly Patton Design got the call. The brief, she says, was deceptively simple: “They wanted a room for everything. A place for adults to have a drink, a place for kids to play for hours, a place to host a dinner party for 12.” In other words, the house needed to support many different ways of living at once, from restorative reading to raucous playdates.
That philosophy led to a quiet rebellion against one of the defining tropes of contemporary residential design. “We wanted the anti-open floor plan house,” Ferraro explains. Instead of a single expansive space where every activity competes for attention, the home is composed of rooms with clear identities—a strategy that ultimately expanded the house to 8,400 square feet. Now, a lacquered library invites retreat with its olive walls and shelves of antique books, while a richly layered bar area becomes the natural landing spot for after-dinner conversation. Upstairs, a sprawling playroom allows the family’s three children to disappear into their own universe of climbing walls, drum lessons, and art projects.
Color and pattern became Ferraro’s way of giving each room its own atmosphere without losing the aesthetic thread tying everything together. Cobalt blues, lively wallpapers, and patterned upholstery create moments of drama balanced by quieter spaces that allow the eye to rest. The breakfast nook is intentionally restrained, even with intricate latticework wrapping the walls and ceiling, subtly animating the space and giving it the feeling of a garden room. “You want each room to feel distinct,” says Ferraro, “but never disconnected.”
FAST FACTS
Designer: Dana Ferraro of Molly Patton Design
Architect: Frank Marsella
Builder: EC Builders
Stylist: Jennifer Olsen Maccaro
Location: Rye, New York
The Space: A five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home across 8,400 square feet.
LIVING ROOM
A richly layered gathering space balances formality with everyday family life.
The living room balances formality and comfort through a layered mix of texture, pattern, and color. Ferraro paired floral sofas with rust-colored wool drapery and natural seagrass flooring, creating what she describes as an “unexpected” mix of reds and warm earthy tones.
A game table in the corner regularly hosts backgammon matches with the children’s grandfather, reinforcing the room’s multigenerational purpose. Beneath it all, replaceable Rush House rug tiles make the space far more forgiving than it first appears—especially when spills or naughty-dog chewing occur.
An Elizabeth Eakins printed wallcovering sets the tone for the refined room. Vintage artwork sourced through Black Rock Galleries.
OFFICE
This fully enveloped workspace layers an immersive pattern with practical, family-minded functionality.
Wrapped in pattern, the office serves as a softer extension of the adjoining library, carrying over olive trim painted in Benjamin Moore’s Palmer Green, while shifting into a more feminine palette. Ferrick Mason’s “Emma” print appears across the walls, upholstery, and draperies, creating a fully immersive effect.
Functionality drove the layout as much as aesthetics: Rather than floating the desk in the center of the room, the team positioned it against the wall to better conceal cords and create additional seating beneath a curvy Visual Comfort & Co. chandelier.
LIBRARY
High-gloss lacquer, collected antiques, and saturated color transform the library into an atmospheric retreat.
Lacquered olive walls in Benjamin Moore’s Palmer Green were an investment that took weeks to perfect. To keep the high-gloss finish from feeling too heavy, Ferraro layered in a patterned Etsy rug, woven with pale blues, greens, and soft whites, that subtly lifts the darker palette. A cobalt Schumacher velvet sofa introduces another unexpected burst of color against shelves lined with antique books collected over time.
BAR
A cozy banquette turns this intimate entertaining space into the after-hours destination.
The bar layers walnut cabinetry with brass inlay detailing against Schumacher’s tactile tortoise wallcovering, which wraps both the walls and ceiling. Ferraro leaned into the richness of the materials here, creating what she describes as “its own little secluded moment” within the larger house.
Just opposite the wet bar, a three-sided banquette upholstered in Thibaut faux leather became the preferred spot for pre- and post-dinner drinks. Lightweight tables—sourced from TJ Maxx—can easily be moved around the seating area, while a salvaged estate-sale window became the focal point around which the banquette and paneling were designed.
KITCHEN
Intentionally restrained amid the home’s bolder moments, the kitchen acts as a visual reset.
Despite the home’s bold use of color and pattern elsewhere, Ferraro intentionally kept the kitchen restrained, describing it as “a place for your eye to rest.” Rather than embracing a fully open plan, the team added glass cabinetry flanking the cased opening to create separation between the kitchen and family room while still maintaining connection.
A Provence Blue La Cornue range introduces just enough color against cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee, while the expanded footprint made room for both a butler’s pantry and a walk-in food pantry. “The client always says, ‘I can’t believe I was going to settle for my pantry in the foyer,’” Ferraro says.
BREAKFAST NOOK
Wrapped in latticework, it brings a garden-like softness to the heart of the home.
Ferraro originally intended the latticework in the breakfast nook to live only on the ceiling, but once installed, the treatment felt incomplete. “It looked half done,” she says. Wrapping the entire room transformed the space into a garden-like moment just off the kitchen, while a mix of Fuller Architectural Panels millwork and locally fabricated MDF panels kept the dramatic look within budget.
DINING ROOM
Original architectural details give the dining room a collected feel rooted in formal entertaining traditions.
Rather than discarding the original clamshell cabinets from the home’s former breakfast nook, Ferraro chose to give them new life in the dining room. A favorite of the homeowner’s, the restored pieces now showcase her wedding china and reinforce the family’s love of formal entertaining and inherited objects with history. The surrounding Kelly Ventura wallpaper adds another layer of color and movement to the room without overpowering those original details.
PLAYROOM
Located above the garage, this escape organizes after-school chaos into one imaginative escape.
Positioned above the home’s three-car garage, the playroom was designed as a place where the homeowners’ three children could “disappear for hours.” Instead of creating one oversized play space, Ferraro organized the room into zones for climbing, creating, lounging, and unwinding—including a pegged climbing wall, monkey bars, an area for drum lessons, and an art station for homework and projects.
Saturated reds and blues pull from the children’s school colors, while durable Flor rug tiles can be individually replaced as wear and tear inevitably occurs. Even the pegged climbing wall was designed to evolve, allowing routes to be reconfigured as skill levels change.
ENTRYWAY
The foyer introduces the home’s layered palette and collected sensibility.
Ferraro refers to the foyer as “the first impression room,” using it to establish the layered palette and collected feel that carries throughout the house. Lee Jofa’s Woodland wallpaper wraps the space in greens, blues, and warm neutrals that quietly reappear room by room, while trim painted in Benjamin Moore’s Silver Sage softens the transition into the rest of the home. The wallpaper continues upstairs as well, reinforcing the home’s sense of continuity while allowing each room to maintain its own identity.
BOY’S ROOM
Heritage patterns and vintage pieces give this playful room enough flexibility to evolve alongside its young occupant.
Designed to grow with him over time, the room layers stripes and heritage-inspired patterns in a way that feels playful without skewing overly juvenile. The design began with a vintage chest brought in by the homeowner—“my heart skipped a beat,” Ferraro says—which became the anchor piece around which the rest of the room evolved. A Serena & Lily bed reupholstered in Osborne & Little fabric introduces another layer of pattern, while the room’s softer palette leaves space for the child’s interests to change over time.
OLDEST DAUGHTER’S SUITE
Soft florals and layered pinks create a ladylike retreat.
A striped Schumacher bed upholstered in “Seaside Stripe” introduces a more tailored counterpoint to the softer florals and pink tones layered throughout the room. Knowing the homeowners’ eldest daughter was beginning to enter her tween years, Ferraro intentionally kept the space “a little less frill,” balancing playful details with elements that could evolve alongside her over time. Lulie Wallace drapery fabric adds another layer of pattern and movement, while hand-painted lampshades by Patrick Mele reinforce the room’s collected feel.
The bathroom carries the same Lulie Wallace floral used in the bedroom drapery, creating continuity between the two spaces without feeling overly matched. Against the playful wallpaper, Ferraro kept the hard finishes classic and restrained with white subway tile, hex flooring, and cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s Pink Cloud. A scalloped mirror and brass fixtures reinforce the room’s softer, more tailored feel, while a Rifle Paper Co. rug introduces another layer of color and pattern underfoot.
YOUNGEST DAUGHTER’S SUITE
Whimsical patterns and cheerful colors give this room a youthful energy.
Unlike her sister’s slightly more tailored room, the couple’s youngest daughter leaned fully into florals, pinks, and patterns from the start. Ferraro recalls the six-year-old immediately gravitating toward Schumacher’s “Citrus Garden” print for the Roman shade, insisting, “I need this in the new bedroom.”
A custom Thibaut check bed introduces another layer of pattern, while the built-in window seat and shelving create space for reading, displaying collections, and settling in for quiet afternoons.
Just off the bedroom, the bathroom continues the same soft pink-and-green palette through Schumacher’s “Lucie” wallpaper and coordinating café curtains and sconce shades. While the room leans playful, Ferraro also planned for longevity. The vanity was designed to grow alongside its young owner, complete with a custom terrycloth stool cover that can be tossed directly into the wash after future makeup spills. Cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s Powder Blush keeps the room feeling soft and cohesive against polished Waterworks fixtures and a scalloped mirror.
HER PRIMARY CLOSET
A pattern-drenched vanity layers softness, symmetry, and playful femininity.
Wrapped entirely in Schumacher’s “Versailles” print, the closet fully embraces Ferraro’s love of pattern drenching. Rather than commissioning a custom vanity, the team transformed a basic Wayfair piece by upholstering it in coordinating fabric and adding a skirted detail for a more collected feel. The room’s success, however, lies in the precision: the wallpaper and Roman shades are carefully pattern-matched so the print flows continuously around the space.
About the Designer
Founded by the late Molly Patton, Molly Patton Design built its reputation on layered interiors that feel collected, personal, and deeply lived in. Dana Ferraro, who began collaborating with Patton in 2007 while the two worked together at a lifestyle magazine in Manhattan, now carries the firm forward, continuing the studio’s signature mix of polish, warmth, and personality.
Ferraro’s work blends traditional architecture with a more relaxed, livable sensibility, pairing antiques and vintage finds with tailored upholstery, bold pattern, and thoughtful color. Her approach is rooted in storytelling, drawing from the routines, histories, and personalities of each client to create homes that feel elegant without ever feeling untouchable.
