The Rural We: Abigail Horace
The Litchfield County interior designer was recently honored as one of 12 designers defining the next generation of style.
In September, interior designer Abigail Horace was named to the 2024 Frederic “It List” as one of 12 on-the-rise designers by Frederic magazine. The magazine is published by Schumacher, the maker of high-end designer fabric, and Horace was selected from 200 global designers. After working in the city for 10 years in various design capacities, she and her husband moved to Northwest Connecticut, where she opened and maintains her design studio, Casa Marcelo, in Salisbury.
Frederic is a new magazine that’s hot and keen on exposing and talking about new designers. It was a nice experience to be honored by them.
I grew up in Queens, but my parents are Panamanian and Dominican who came to New York City in the 70s. I had a lot of arts in my upbringing, mainly playing clarinet, but then I got into architecture and interior design, graduating from the New York Institute of Technology.
Once I had my first son, who’s now seven, I didn’t want to be in New York anymore. I had a friend in Kent who I used to visit often. She worked at Hendricks Churchill, and they made a position for me as senior designer. My husband and I just loved it up here. We decided to stay and I would start my own business.
When I was in New York, I dabbled in a lot of design areas — did a little bit of corporate design and for hotels in the Caribbean. One of my most memorable projects was when I worked on a hedge fund office with spaces that we made feel like a living room. We showed how we could incorporate home into an office space. But what really stuck was high-end residential work. I liked how personal it was.
I started my business in 2020, and at that point, there was an influx of people from New York. After I had my second child in 2021, I started to focus more on local clients. It’s been good so far — I have projects in Sharon, Lakeville, and the Cornwall area.
I don’t have a particular style that I impose on my clients. I’m kind of like a chameleon and can cater to anyone’s style. People seek me out knowing I’m from New York for a more modern style, but I like the challenge of being able to do anything. Every home and every client is different, and I want the home to reflect the client, not me.
We’ve lived in a few towns in Northwest Connecticut, but we’ve settled in Lakeville. It’s so nice up here. We go to Twin Lakes a lot in summer, and I like going out and just connecting with people in general.
