Eric Rosenthal and Jeffrey Menzer found each other after moving to D.C. in the mid-eighties. It was the early years of the AIDS crisis, and the two bonded over a shared zeal for political advocacy and health initiatives. In the decades after, Eric became a pediatrician and Jeffrey a nurse (he now runs his own public health consulting practice), and they lived in a small, crowded row house with their son in Capitol Hill.

For years, the couple searched for a bigger home in the area but struggled to find any large, modern buildings—the neighborhood is more known for its historic structures. Then, in 2017, Jeffrey and he and Eric’s son attended an open house for a three-story building thought to have once been a bakery.

It was constructed in 1900, was later split into six apartments, and hadn’t been renovated since the ’70s, when most of the original features were stripped. It seemed to have just the right layout, says Jeffrey, to achieve the open, industrial, and loftlike feel that he and Eric envisioned.

After a cosign from architects Judith Capen and Robert Weinstein of Architrave P.C. Architects, the couple closed on the house and began gutting it to a nearly raw state, afterwards calling in interior designer Nicole Lanteri to imbue the place with some character.

Rather than carve up the building’s six units into small, contained spaces, Eric and Jeffrey wanted to open the layout as much as they could. Now the interiors feel cavernous, lit up by rich hues and textures.

In the midst of it all, the architects threaded an angled, cantilevered staircase through the three floors that serves as the connective tissue between them. Around the staircase, a tower of sorts has been formed, composed of nooks and crannies such as Eric’s office and a tucked-away daybed that Jeffrey compares to a sleeping berth on a train.

The couple are pretty simpatico with their tastes, though Eric admits that Jeffrey is more practical. Before ordering furniture, he was the one measuring the historic doors, which are narrower than usual, to make sure pieces could fit.

Both homeowners are also vintage lovers: Eric is an auction hound who collects Mira and George Nakashima pieces. Some of what’s in the home came from Eric’s parents, who owned several Nakashima pieces, too. As for Jeffrey, he turns his eye toward specific kinds of faux rabbit fur or curtains made from Japanese fabrics.

Together with Nicole, the three embraced a pigment-happy palette of greens, reds, blues, and yellows, along with a fondness for shapes—from the bulbous poufs that dot the den on the second floor to the constellation of pendant lamps that illuminate the first floor living area dominated by a multicolored Endless Sofa by Bensen.

Sustainability was another priority. Nicole used recycled carbon composite Fairmat sheets in kindercore reds and yellows that cover certain walls, while Eric and Jeffrey sourced objects secondhand from Community Forklift, a local nonprofit reuse center where Jeffrey is a volunteer board member.

Jeffrey describes their finished home as a functional art piece with hidden gems for people to discover. “I have a really challenging, stressful, exhausting job,” adds Eric. “But it makes me happy to be able to live in the middle of all this beauty.”

Related Reading:

This Brooklyn Fashion Designer’s Cozy Loft Was Renovated on a Budget

A Knitting Mill in San Francisco Becomes an Unbelievable Loft For Two Art Collectors

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Architrave P.C. Architects

Builder/General Contractor: Impact

Interior Design Company: Nicole Lanteri Design

Cabinetry Design: Reform

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Some Say It Was a Bakery. Now It’s a Family’s Loftlike Home Brimming With Vintage Decor