That mission came through most clearly in the great room, a light-filled space with soaring ceilings, inventive lighting and thoughtful seating engineered to maintain the room’s flow. Mr. Nahem has found that a challenge with large homes is that when you have multiple spaces for living and recreation, it can be difficult to distinguish between them. “People have a living room and a den and a TV room, maybe a library, a viewing room. How do you make these rooms useful so each one of them has a purpose? That’s what we were up against in this room,” said Mr. Nahem, who runs Fox-Nahem Associates in Manhattan.

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