Before launching his firm in 1997, Roberts cut his teeth at the firm of Mark Hampton, who became a formative mentor, exposing the young Indianapolis native to the fundamentals of serious interior design. But he also attributes his distinctive approach to the influence of three women: his mother, his grandmother, and the arts patron Anne Bass. While his mom informed his penchant for bright colors and calico quilt patterns, her own set the standard for layering French, English, and Italian furnishings. Years later, when he visited Bass’s Fifth Avenue apartment during his first week working for Hampton, that space cemented his love of the mix. To this day, he notes, “that’s the best example of decorating I’ve ever seen.”
Those inspirations and more converge at his own apartment, where the rambling upstairs suite includes a sun-drenched study, dressing area, and bedroom. As with the lower level, these private quarters reveal a tendency for the bold, whether an English Victorian slipper chair clad in Pierre Frey’s iconic Tigre Velours or an antelope-print Stark rug. Ever present is the menagerie of small creatures that make him smile, among them a midcentury leather frog from Japan, a finial in the shape of a lion’s head, and his latest obsession, French Palissy ware.
“The thing about living in New York and not having your eyes blindfolded is that you see everything,” Roberts explains. Even still, the designer frequently returns to animals. He gestures to a favorite 18th-century print and laughs, “I think it’s a marmot.”
