TEACH THE CLASSICS

How to design an apartment with a paragon of architecture staring you in the face? Turn toward history and dig deep.

- STELLENE VOLANDES

The past is present in any apartment with a view of the Parthenon in Athens. But the 5th-century BC marble marvel of a temple to the goddess Athena looms particularly large beyond the terraces of the triplex Alex Papachristidis decorated for a Greek and American couple. “Everything is this,” Papachristidis says. “It is about the view and the windows.”

But don’t for a minute let his words make you think every single detail inside the home has not been considered, layered, perfected, and created in conversation with the history outside its walls. Look, for example, at the marble pilasters in the entry. Note the “very Greek” white walls. “There is no carpeting in the living and dining rooms. There are no curtains in the living room. The walls are plaster and a bit chalky with white paint. It’s almost temple-like,” Papachristidis says. Again, there is that view.