A Long Island City stair, built as the centerpiece of the home.

One steel spine. One run of white oak. One wall of texture and light.

The design treats the stair as the visual anchor of the home, not a circulation element. A black steel mono-stringer carries an open-riser run, so the treads read as floating. The treads themselves were custom-milled from rift white oak selected for its straight, consistent grain, with a clean edge detail that reads like furniture against the home’s white oak floors.

Instead of a plain stairwell, the walls became part of the design. Preserved botanical panels set into recesses, textured plaster and a natural river-stone feature wall wrap the stair, washed by warm up-and-down sconces and concealed accent lighting. Every material, steel, wood, stone, plaster and light, was planned around the others.

A stair that reads as sculpture by day and glows by night.

During the day, natural light emphasizes the open-riser profile and the straight grain of the rift white oak. At night, the layered sconces and uplighting turn the stairwell into a warm focal point visible from the kitchen island, the living room and the entry.

What began as a construction-stage opening became the piece the rest of the home is arranged around. It is also a clear picture of what a full design-build scope can hold: custom steel, millwork, finish carpentry, plaster, stone and lighting, brought together as one installation.