Bedford Post Tavern restaurant and bar was among a series of renovations led by Sunday Hospitality, spurring the revival of the Bedford Post Inn, a 1762 Dutch Colonial farmhouse turned hotel in the forest countryside of Westchester County, NY. The vision behind the project was to unify a series of separate rooms and create a single, dynamic venue for the property while retaining a sense of intimacy and domesticity. Welcoming guests on arrival is the main bar with its floor to ceiling millwork and perimeter of cozy 2-seater booths. Strategically framed openings (and a 25 foot steel beam) allow the energy to circulate between the spaces and feed off each other. The atmosphere is distinguished, yet open and inviting, with warm materials that speak to the richness of the Inn’s lush surroundings.

Emotional familiarity shaped the palette, things like the sheen of a horse’s brushed coat, mushrooms sprouting through trampled leaves, leather saddles with patinated brass buckles, these ephemeral and sensorial elements play out as a treasure hunt of patterns and details throughout the restaurant. Flanking the bar are two Marii sconces from Human Home recessed in Tramp Art inspired frames, layered on Vousta’s Turning Leaves wallpaper. We lovingly imagine these as a pair of slugs wriggling across the forest floor.

We were inspired by the impact that nature has had on the work of artists who lived and practiced in this verdant region. A series of images from the celebrated photographer Walker Evans titled Emily Workum and her Children on Lawn from the Met archives was shot in the Bedford area. There is a particular feeling that permeates and soothes the viewer due to the natural setting of the photos, like a protective and familiar undercurrent. Similarly, in the abstract landscapes of renown artist Helen Frankenthaler you can experience a sense of warmth and renewal saturating the pieces. We looked for the same influence from nature to seep into our design direction as well.