“Obviously I’m not a modern person—” She laughs at herself and tries again. “There’s a kind of antiseptic furniture look I would not love,” she ventures. Hallworth is the latest in a daisy chain of capable women who have helped Steinem with her apartment, including Filippa Naess, a British interior designer who kept an eye out for colorful auction finds; Irene Kubota Neves, a writer and passionate gardener; and Laura Emrick, a decorative painter whose handiwork spans walls, cabinets, and the primary bedroom ceiling. Hallworth’s mission was decidedly more boots-on-the-ground.
“To be honest, when I walked in, my first thought was, What are we doing even touching this?” she admits. “Shouldn’t we just be getting out some quick-dry glue? Because it just felt so personal, and aged to perfection. But the reality was that the infrastructure needed fixing.”
Hallworth’s primary focus was on the bathrooms and the ground-floor kitchen, where, after replacing some plumbing, she added custom cabinetry painted aubergine, Calacatta Viola marble countertops around a farmhouse sink, and a new Fisher & Paykel range. In the master bath, peacock blue Clé tiles pave an arched bathing nook curtained in a sprigged floral from Una Malan. But the walls here and throughout are very much Steinem—a memory palace of images of family, friends, and the courageous women who have shared her beliefs in the feminist cause. Her bedroom is equally personal, with bookcases everywhere, Ralph Lauren bayadere-striped fabric on the walls, and her signature aviator glasses heaped on a bedside. Did Hallworth intervene here? “No way!” she says. “Gloria’s bedroom is so punk rock. I wouldn’t.”
Steinem has long-term plans to make her home a place where women can gather for discussion and occasional refuge. For now, she’s working on a new book here and finding it hard to narrow down her topics. There is so much to say.
“What we expect influences reality,” she maintains, explaining her unfailing optimism that one day, equality—for women and for all those denied basic human rights—will be attained. Another reason for her optimism might be congenital, she says: “It’s just the way I am.” And she’s still at it, surrounded by young women reanimating her gifts for speaking truth to power for new times.
A few nights from now, Steinem and the photographer Annie Leibovitz, a good friend, will throw a political fundraising dinner here. “I’m not cooking,” Steinem adds, just in case anyone might misconstrue.
The caterer they’ve chosen has a female CEO.
This article on Gloria Steinem’s home appears in AD’s January issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
