Designer finds ease in Hudson Valley home
For more than two decades, interior designer Sheila Bridges, a creative beacon for Bill Clinton, Tom Clancy and Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hiphop mogul currently known as Love, has divided her time between Harlem and the Hudson Valley of New York. Most of those years, Bridges, 57, retreated to an antique farmhouse in the town of Germantown in Columbia County, where she kept horses, sheep, goats and chickens. But in 2019, she moved into a 1,600-square-foot village house near Hudson, New York, that was built for her from scratch. (Since 2015, she has also maintained a small residence in Reykjavik,
Iceland.)
Speaking from her weekend property, she talked about designing to please the ultimate client: herself. This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Q:Why did you name your new Hudson Valley home Hay House?
A: It was sort of a joke. So many people have these very fanciful names for their houses. This is the opposite of a farm, but I have hay bales, which I brought here. And the house looks like a barn.
Q: Was it a struggle to limit the size to 1,600 square feet?
A: It was a challenge, but the goal was to downsize my life on some level.
Please see BRIDGES 9 ▶