Nicholas and Lawrence

Nicholas Hertneck and Lawrence Lazzaro: Vision 2018

Partners, Nicholas Lawrence Design.

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Nicholas and Lawrence
Nicholas Hertneck and Lawrence Lazzaro
PHOTOGRAPH BY ETHAN KAMINSKY

Nicholas Hertneck and Lawrence Lazzaro

Partners, Nicholas Lawrence Design

“Working as a team makes us stronger,” says Nicholas Hertneck, who co-founded Nicholas Lawrence Design with Lawrence Lazzaro. “We bring different backgrounds and ideas to the table. Putting them together, we push each other further in the design and results are better.”

Lazzaro, an Illinois native and longtime New Yorker, moved to the desert 10 years ago, where he met Hertneck, a fellow former New Yorker, who relocated here after Sept. 11, 2001. Together, they launched an interior design firm specializing in residential and commercial projects in contemporary, midcentury, and traditional styles. They have also begun expanding to architectural and landscape design, and maintain a showroom in Palm Desert’s Design District.

“We like to live indoors and outdoors, so all of our design takes that into account,” Lazzaro explains. “Our clients are here to play, so our projects tend to be playful. We created the ‘modern hacienda’ style, which involves modern furniture but still has some wood tones and natural materials.”

Hertneck adds, “The lifestyle here is very casual. People want to be relaxed, come in off the golf course or the tennis court, and flop down on the furniture. It has to be beautiful, but it also has to be comfortable.”

With the momentum in midcentury modernism and the steady growth of the Coachella Valley, Lazzaro says, “There’s so much opportunity in the desert for construction, remodeling, interior design, and architecture.”

VIDEO: Lawrence Lazarro and Nicholas Hertneck like the laid-back lifestyle of the desert.