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was just luck," she says. "Pure and simple." The couple's history with Kincaid goes back to 2005, when the wife was looking for a designer to remodel the kitchen of their house in Highland Park, a 1930s gem by society architect Hal Thomson. The first decorator she approached turned her down, saying she didn't do kitchens. Kincaid's response: "I'd love to." Since then, Kincaid has designed multiple residences for them, including a second Hal Thomson house, a farm east of Dallas, a house in the Hamptons, and an apartment in Paris. Along the way, Kincaid became a close friend, and the wife sometimes joins her on buying trips even when she isn't the client. "She creates cozy, livable rooms, but she lets the client have their say," the wife says. "I like a mash-up, and she's good with mashing up." B efore a single piece of furniture went in, nearly everything came out. Kincaid introduced her clients to New York architect John B. Murray, who had already worked on two apartments in the building, including a duplex with Bunny Williams during their Parish-Hadley days. Murray removed every interior finish but kept Candela's layout for the entry hall, gallery, bedroom, and living room, then rebuilt the millwork, plaster, floors, and mechanical systems. He raised the ceilings and tucked new HVAC, which the apartment had never had, into coves. He made Candela's standard seven-foot doors nearly a foot taller and had them crafted in French-polished mahogany with a flame-like crotch grain. The living room's dark oak paneling gave way to classical plaster finished in luminous lacquer. With approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the kitchen's service window was lowered to make room for a family banquette.