In what ways does grief shape our environment? Prompted by our clients to compose an interior that evoked the history of their home in Athens, NY, a small town on the banks of the Hudson, and with little information available about the property’s origins, we turned to a historical plaque two blocks away on the main drag. It commemorates the wreck of the Steamboat Swallow on the shores of the then still-forming village in 1845. We use this to build a narrative around a grieving captain’s widow whose world might’ve been upended by the accident while living at the home. 

We dove into pictures and books of old steamboat interiors, stealing a few millwork details and selecting an old church pew in a neo-gothic style for the kitchen banquette that feels like it could’ve been yanked right out of the Swallow herself. We examine the paintings and palettes of Andrew Wyeth to see how he expresses a certain sense of longing. We revisit passages from Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking to remind ourselves of the kind of fantasies that unfold in our brains as we mourn. We try to choose compositions and features that are representative of these flights of fancy. 

One of the last things completed is a custom mural in the hallway by the artist Nina Barry. It’s a view of the Hudson that’s meant to commemorate the scene of the tragedy, even though the view itself is from the cliffs of Westpoint about an hour down river. It’s the first thing you see upon entering the home, with the original light fixture still overhead, and its placement ensures you encounter it repeatedly throughout the day until night falls and it’s time to turn off the lights and head to bed.It’s a beautiful vista put on a loop that you can’t escape no matter how much you might like to, and it will be there again in the morning.