Roman and Williams

Roman and Williams is a design studio in New York City. It was founded in 2002 by Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch.^[1][2]

History

Ben Stiller hired the couple to design his Los Angeles home after working with them on the set of the film Duplex (2003),^[3] after which they decided to found their own design studio.^[4]

Named for the founders’ maternal grandfathers, the firm opened its first office on the lot of Paramount Pictures. In 2004, it relocated to New York and established its office on Lafayette Street^[5] before moving to Canal Street in 2023.

Roman and Williams has designed homes for celebrity clients including Kate Hudson, Elisabeth Shue and Davis Guggenheim, and Gwyneth Paltrow.^[6][7][8][9]

Standefer and Alesch use their own homes in Manhattan and Montauk as design laboratories for future projects.^[10] The New York Times described their East Fourth Street apartment "an appealing hybrid, as if an apartment from the Apthorp had been reassembled by the furniture designers Pierre Chareau or Jean Prouve."^[11]

In 2011, Standefer and Alesch, were recognized in Fast Company's list of "America's 50 Most Influential Designers."^[12] In 2014, they received the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Award for Interior Design.^[13] They won The Wall Street Journal's 2017 Innovators Award in the Design category,^[14] and the 2018 "Visionaries Award" from the Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation^[15] as well as an award for "Architecture" by Fashion Group International.^[16] The studio has been included in lists of the top design firms by Architectural Digest and Elle Decor.^[17][18]

The firm designed the goop mrkt pop-up store,^[19] and the HuffPost Live New York studio.^[20]

In 2016, Roman and Williams was commissioned to redesign the British Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which opened in March 2020.^[21] This commission was the firm's first project in a museum. They were later commissioned to design an exhibition space for a special section of Frieze Masters 2023.^[22]

Work for film

Stephen Alesch film credits

Year	Film	Role
1993	Matinee	Set designer
1994	Cabin Boy	Set designer
	New Nightmare	Set designer
	Stargate	Set designer
1995	Galaxis	Set designer
	Search and Destroy	Art director
1996	The Pallbearer	Art director
1997	Commandments	Art director
	Addicted to Love[23]	Art director
	Gattaca	Set designer
1998	Illuminata	Art director
	What Dreams May Come	Set designer
	Practical Magic[24]	Architectural consultant
1999	The Invisible Circus	Art director
2000	Gun Shy	Art director
2001	The Caveman's Valentine	Art director/visual consultant (New York)
	Get Over It	Art director
	Zoolander[25]	Art director
2002	Issaquena	Production designer
	The Guru	Production designer
2003	Duplex[26]	Production designer