From the Inside Out
FROM THE INSIDE OUT
BY MELISSA ULSAKER MAAS ’76
and Susie Zimmermann
Portraits by Van Sarki
When Ali Reeve Murray Winkler ’04 joined the Saints community in seventh grade, she dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. In art class, she sketched a vision of Times Square, nestling her future store between Calvin Klein and MTV’s “Total Request Live” studio. Today, that dream lives on in a different form. Based in Brooklyn, she launched Ali Reeve Design in 2015—not for clothing, but for transforming residential and commercial spaces from top to bottom for a wide range of clients.
One of those clients brought Ali’s life full circle to Telluride, Colo., where she spent cherished childhood days at her grandparents’ home—now owned by her parents. Known for its ski slopes, film festival, and 19th-century charm, Telluride is the tiny home to the biggest project of Ali’s career: reimagining the historic Nugget Building from the inside out.
Where Seeds are Sown
Although her path to interior design wasn’t linear, Ali credits every step along the way with shaping her success.
At St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes, she embraced the academic rigor and athletic opportunities, participating in varsity lacrosse, tennis, and swimming—experiences that helped her develop skills she has used throughout her career, including time management, leadership, resilience, goal setting, and teamwork. “I’ve always thrived in fast-paced, dynamic environments,” she says. Her ability to balance school and sports earned her the Helene Haskin Krause Award for excellence in both.
Ali enjoyed her graphic design, biology and statistics classes, but the most influential course she took was AP Environmental Studies. “Even growing up in an environmentally conscious family, this class broadened my perspective and was impactful.” Ali remembers. “My firm prioritizes sourcing durable, high-quality furnishings primarily made and produced in the U.S. We also seek opportunities to repurpose and restore well-crafted pieces whenever feasible.”
At Williams College, where she earned a bachelor’s in psychology, Ali played lacrosse and JV squash, dove into creative coursework in art history, studio art, and film production, and chaired the entertainment group planning concerts by global touring artists on campus. A semester abroad in Florence expanded her world view and deepened her appreciation for architecture and design.
“I am grateful for the education I received at SSSAS and Williams,” she says. “It equipped me with the confidence—and the writing and public-speaking skills—essential for my success in the real world.”
The Winding Road to Interior Design
Ali gathered valuable experience in sales, marketing, and media through summer internships with Warner Music Group and J.P.Morgan’s Private Bank event marketing team, and her first job after college working for the sales and marketing team at Disney and ESPN Media Networks. “ESPN was an inspiring environment,” she says. “I learned a ton. The leaders on my team were invested in professional growth and mentorship, which really made an impact on me.”
Ali’s enthusiasm for brand storytelling led her back to the event marketing team at JP Morgan Chase & Co., where she worked on high-profile experiences—from CEO-level gatherings to the U.S. Open and major sports and entertainment events. She was promoted to marketing manager of the sports and entertainment sponsorship team to help manage Chase’s partnerships with Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks, and the Beyoncé—Jay-Z On The Run Tour. “It was definitely an exciting role, at the perfect time in my life to really enjoy it!” she says. Her dedication didn’t go unnoticed and she was promoted to vice president.
“While at Chase, I worked with an experiential marketing agency to plan and develop the Chase Lounge spaces at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, The Chicago Theatre, and The LA Forum,” Ali says. “Collaborating with the design team on this project sparked my interest in interior design.” Eager to explore the field further, she enrolled in a course at Parsons School of Design—one class led to another, and she eventually earned a certificate in interior design.
“I was inspired by the way interior design can shape and elevate the human experience within a space, and was looking for a way to combine my business acumen with a creative field,” she says. “Taking on the challenge of working for myself also really appealed to me.”
Halfway through the certificate program, Ali felt confident enough to make the leap and start her own firm. Working nights and on the weekends, she tackled her first project—the gut renovation of a townhouse in Brooklyn. A year later, she left JP Morgan Chase & Co. and the security it offered to commit full time to Ali Reeve Design.
“I was inspired by the way interior design can shape and elevate the human experience within a space.”
Building a Business—One Detail at a Time
Ali’s business has flourished—thanks to referrals from satisfied clients, trusted vendors, and loyal collaborators—and expanded from Brooklyn and Alexandria, Va., to Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, California, Colorado, and the island of Antigua. Her first move was hiring a bookkeeper specializing in interior design firms, Julia Vaughn of JD Vaughn Management, the wife of fellow Saint Eric Vaughn ’02, whom she met at a NYC Saints alumni reception. Since then, she’s added two designers, a “meticulous, detail-oriented and fastidious” procurement manager, Julia Tagliapietra, and an “extremely talented” head draftsperson, Stephen Dobay, who oversees the firm’s 2D and 3D drawings, renderings and modeling.
Having Stephen on board enables the team to get involved early in the construction process with detailed floor plans, elevations, millwork and furniture design, ceiling, lighting, and electrical plans. Her procurement manager coordinates with vendors, shippers, and receiving warehouses to juggle the thousands of schedules and elements that go into each project.
This high attention to detail has proven critically valuable to Ali’s success. “From my work planning high-level events—which gave me an appreciation for the importance of detail—to now, it’s been essential in running my own business and supplying my clients with the information and specificity they expect,” she says.
Interiors by Ali Reeve Design | Photos by Angela Sun
The projects highlighted on her website are a testament to Ali’s ability to masterfully blend color, texture, and shapes that add visually to every space. She has a refined and inviting touch. The furniture, light fixtures, décor, and artwork are intriguing, sometimes unexpected, yet liveable, whispering “come in and get comfortable.”
Following the first project meeting with a client, Ali translates their ideas into visuals—using mood boards and renderings to clarify and refine the design vision in a way that’s “in keeping with the client’s aesthetic, scaled to the space functional, and timeless.” After the completion of her home renovation in Old Town Alexandria, one of Ali’s repeat customers wrote:
“Ali is extraordinarily talented—her sense of style, color, scale, and ‘feel’ for my vision of my surroundings, reflecting my personality and lifestyle, is impeccable. She has an exquisite sense of detail, sticks to her timetables, always follows up, and even when times are challenging, she handles each aspect of the job with the nicest sense of diplomacy. It has been a marvelous journey!”
It’s So Much More than Picking Pillows
Ali Reeve Design is currently handling a home renovation in Easton, Md., a gut renovation in Larchmont, N.Y., another home project in Old Town, and four projects in Colorado, and all of them are large in scale. The Colorado projects include designing the interior for a new, 11,000 sq. ft. house; furnishing and doing a cosmetic renovation to a ski-in/ski-out resort property residence; and two projects in Telluride that are the largest, multi-year projects she’s worked on to date—a residential project and the Nugget building. When she talks about these projects, Ali’s excitement is palpable and infectious.
The first project involves the gut renovation and conversion of a 2,500 sq. ft. log cabin into a larger, more modern 5,500 sq. ft. mountain home. The plans include excavating and creating a lower level and adding an upstairs floor. “The bottom floor will have a Japanese-style onsen soaking tub with a full cedar sauna, and the new top level will have full wraparound windows with panoramic views of the San Juan Mountains.” Ali explains.
The number of moving parts in these projects are extensive, choosing and sourcing everything, from the smallest to the largest interior detail. “It’s not just about furnishings, drapery, and bedding,” Ali says. “We design all aspects of the interior including plumbing, tile, lighting, flooring, wall materials, and custom furniture and millwork design. We’re able to communicate the designs to the project team through incredibly detailed 2D and 3D drawings outlining each element.” Her team works hand-in-hand with the architects and contractors providing detailed elevations; electrical and lighting layouts; and precise kitchen and bathroom renderings, including the cabinetry, where the hardware should go, the thickness of the grout lines and the profile of the countertop edge, and the location of the outlets. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Although they don’t expect to be finished with the Telluride house before February 2027, Ali’s team has already sourced all of the plumbing, including every faucet, shower head, thermostatic control, shower door hardware, toilets, and even toilet flushers and seats.
They are in the process of sourcing and selecting tile, and they are starting on the lighting. “We are focused on electrical plans and switching for the automated Lutron lighting system and automated window treatments throughout the home,” she notes. “We’re also finalizing the exterior materials with the architect and contractor, including the roofing, garage, windows and doors, decking, railings and exterior lighting.
Top left photo: The historic First National Bank of Telluride; Top right photo: The renovated building now known as the Nugget Building houses the Nugget Theater; Bottom left photo: The Telluride log cabin project under construction.; Bottom right photo: Ali, her husband Tom, and her grandfather in Telluride. The photo was taken prior to the completion of the exterior renovation of the Nugget Building, which can be seen on the left side of the street with no tower.
Teaming Up: The Nugget Project
The contractor on the log cabin project recommended Ali’s firm for the complex remodeling of the historic Nugget Building and Nugget Theater in the center of Telluride’s historic district.
Originally built in 1892 to house the First National Bank of Telluride and the Telluride Power Company, by the mid-1990s the once-grand landmark had fallen into disrepair. Its decorative balustrade was removed in 1910, and its distinctive tower came down in 1925, likely due to structural concerns. By the time Katrine and Bill Formby purchased it in 1999, stones were crumbling from the facade and pink-painted plywood covered the theater. The couple began a 20-year labor of love to bring the building back to life.
The renovation officially concluded on May 25, 2021, with the placement of a gold-leafed finial atop the rebuilt tower. A month later, the Telluride Film Festival acquired the building as its future permanent headquarters. Plans for the space include a state-of-the-art sound and picture movie theater, artist in residency space, office and commercial space, and a new rooftop education pavilion—and like the log cabin project, Ali will be involved in every facet.
“Historic registered spaces will be restored to their 1892 appearance, the remaining areas will strike a balance between honoring the historic style and embracing modern needs and aesthetics,” Ali explains. The project’s goal is to preserve the structure’s historic character, while transforming it into a vibrant hub for community gatherings, educational programming, national fellowships and residencies, and film-centered celebrations. Internal demolition is currently underway, and Ali and her team are already deep into designing the new interior.
Ali is especially inspired by the lobby and the challenge of blending historic character with modern design. As her team envisions how visitors will move through the space, they’re asking key questions: What will their first impression be? Is it their first time in Telluride? Are they attending the film festival?
“We are working on interesting design concepts for the lobby, incorporating some drama with nods to traditional and historic theatrical elements,” she explains. “Upon leaving the lobby, visitors will process from the grand, bright, open space, down a corridor into a very dark, state-of-the-art theater. We’re creating a mood for the corridor that will help with the transition.”
Ali feels honored to be part of the remarkable group of specialists involved. “Because of the historic renovation, the scale of the building, and its multi-use purpose, it requires an incredibly skilled project team,” she says. “The Telluride Film Festival is providing great leadership and a clear vision to the team: structural, civil, MEP, geotechnical and historic engineers, the architects, contractors, and our team.” Dolby and Meyer Sound are overseeing the state-of-the-art audio and visual systems, a kitchen specialist is optimizing the commercial kitchen for large-scale events, and a historic masonry engineer is helping preserve the building’s original character.
“Teamwork has always been central to my life—growing up in a big family and through sports at SSSAS and Williams,” Ali says. “As a designer, it’s essential to collaborate, communicate clearly and respectfully, and be decisive.”
At home in Brooklyn’s historic Stuyvesant Heights, Ali and her husband, Tom—who works in the music industry—are raising two young children, Jackson (4) and Elle (2). They enjoy exploring New York City, from Prospect Park to Jacob Riis Beach, rainy-day visits to The Met, trying new restaurants, and catching live music. “We’re public library regulars and love supporting local businesses,” she says.
Ali’s dream of a storefront in Times Square never took shape, but she leaves a lasting mark in every space she transforms—infusing each one with care, creativity, and purpose. Guided by curiosity and a deep appreciation for both beauty and functionality, she’s built a career that reflects not only her talents but her values. From New York to Colorado and every blueprint in between, Ali has found her place—one that honors where she came from and embraces everything still to come. And she wouldn’t change a thing.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ali’s work, follow her on instagram @alireevedesign