Aerin Lauder’s Festive Manhattan Apartment Is the Stuff of Dreams

This article originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of ELLE DECOR. For more stories from our archive, subscribe to ELLE DECOR All Access.

Above: Aerin Lauder in the living room of her Manhattan apartment, designed by Jacques Grange, with a tree decorated with ornaments she has collected over the years. Her dress is by Valentino; the painting is by Robert Ryman, the curtains are of a vintage French fabric, the rug is from Le Décor Français, and the walls are painted in a custom shade by Donald Kaufman Color.

Aerin Lauder’s Manhattan apartment, which was decorated by Jacques Grange, is always soigné, but never more so than during the holidays. Each year, Lauder spends hours adding festive touches to her living room—from vases arranged with deep red peonies and berry branches to bowls filled with colorful candy. The centerpiece is a nine-foot-tall evergreen; Lauder’s teenage sons, Will and Jack, are enlisted to embellish it from top to bottom with their mother’s extensive collection of golden ornaments. “They usually get tired somewhere around the middle,” says Lauder. “I’m the one who always finishes it.”

Two years ago, the cosmetics scion, whose grandmother was Estée Lauder, launched her own Aerin line of beauty and lifestyle products, a collection that has rapidly grown to include home accessories, furniture, lighting, and, soon, bedding. One might think that this entrepreneur would be too busy to deck the halls, but Lauder says she would never think of missing out.

The table is set for a holiday dinner with plates she inherited from her grandmother, Estée, and branches in vases from her Aerin line.

Her love of the season began when she was a child. “My grand­father was born on Christmas Eve,” she says. Even though the family is Jewish, they would gather each year on his birthday for an old-fashioned repast of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and the classic French Yuletide dessert of bûche de Noël—a ritual they continue to this day. “My grandmother loved to entertain and had such wonderful style,” Lauder says. “It was a celebration of his birthday and of the holiday, all in one.”

“I love to create a sense that this is a special time of year.”

Lauder inherited her grandmother’s red-and-gold china, which she uses for her own holiday celebrations, such as a small gathering that she hosted last year for her female friends. She set the round table in her dark-walled dining room with gold-leaf and crystal vases and bowls from her Aerin collection.

For Lauder, who also celebrates Hanukkah, the key to holiday entertaining is to create a setting that feels both inviting and luxurious. “But most of all, it’s about tradition and the spirit of the season,” she says. “I love to create a sense that this is a special time of year.”

This story originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of ELLE DECOR.

Ingrid Abramovitch, the Executive Editor at ELLE Decor, writes about design, architecture, renovation, and lifestyle, and is the author of several books on design including Restoring a House in the City.