Escape from NY

TOPMODEL, PHOTOGRAPHER, ENTREPRENEUR: HELENA CHRISTENSEN ENJOYS SPENDING TIME IN A COTTAGE IN THE CATSKILLS

As a top model, Helena Christensen, born in Denmark, has a glorious past: Miss Denmark in 1986, a favorite of Versace, one of the angels of Victoria’s Secret. In 1999 she founded the magazine Nylon – now published online – and has also acted in many films, as well as being a professional photographer. Her hideaway is a cottage in a heavenly forest landscape by a stream in the Catskill Mountains, New York State. The two-story house with a veranda is clad in typical shingles, painted blue, peeking out through age-old trees and flowering meadows. It serves as a getaway from her busy life in New York City, working as a photographer, designer (with fashion designer Camilla Staerk, creating everything from sunglasses to an elegant prefab house for Revolution Precrafted Properties) and creative director of a fragrance line founded with Elizabeth Gaynes. These friends are regular guests at the cottage, especially in the summer: for long walks, swimming in the river, relaxed meals. To “open up” the rather narrow rooms, while conserving the typical architectural features, Christensen called in a team of local carpenters, and the interiors gained space, taking on an elegant, rustic look underscored by the furnishings, including curious objects, paintings and fabrics found at antique shops in the region. Two bedrooms are nestled in the attic, plus two others in a renovated hayloft. The master bedroom is an enchanted place with ivy-framed windows, vintage clothing and a large bed covered with pillows. On the lower level the atmosphere is less rarified, warmed by a range of earthy hues and materials.