In the paneled sitting room of Peter-Ayers Tarantino’s Manhattan apartment, a circa 1780-1840 painting from Bolivia in the Cuzco School style has been placed among the apartment’s many bookshelves, which house a library of over 4,500 volumes. Beneath the painting is a banquette with ikat pillows from the Turkish company MD Home. Credit… Annie Schlechter. [New York Times caption and illustration]
… Peter-Ayers Tarantino[’s aesthetic] recalls that of maximalist bibliophiles of centuries past, including Marcel Proust and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was formed during a life on the road.
The bed is decorated with ikat pillows and a silk ikat spread from Material Culture in Philadelphia. Behind it are Tarantino’s desk, bookshelves and 19th-century brass alms dishes. Credit… Annie Schlechter. [New York Times caption and illustration]
In the Abstract Expressionism section, Tarantino extracts, almost without looking, a thick book on Sonia Delaunay. “She did one of my favorite paintings, ‘Yellow Balloons,’” he says, pointing to a framed lithograph of the work on the wall.
Another view of the bedroom, with a collection of Peruvian ceramic bowls by the Shipibo-Conibo tribe. Above them is a framed illustration of turtles from Albertus Seba’s 18th-century publication “Cabinet of Natural Curiosities.” Credit… Annie Schlechter. [New York Times caption and illustration]
His closet contains more than 40 Hermès ties in the iconic feather pattern, and more than 50 twill Burberry plaid button-downs in assorted pastel shades.
The suite of antique furniture in the sitting room has been upholstered in a white cotton ribbed fabric from Brunschwig & Fils. A 1920s Navajo rug sits beneath a glass coffee table by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Credit… Annie Schlechter. [New York Times caption and illustration]
But arguably his most striking collection can be found in the small kitchen[:]… his 62 cream-colored ceramic English pudding molds from the 19th and 20th centuries. It took him 30 years to amass them…
(Alexa Brazilian, “A Home That Proves That You Can Never Have Too Many Books,” New York Times, 11-8-25)
(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved
EthicalDative 
Wow! I love the piles of books all over the place – but it does look a bit overwhelming to live in (and dust!)
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I’m glad you picked up on the dusting aspect. I have that concern too. Also, I worry about reaching the tomes on top shelves when I would inevitably need them! 🙂
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