LIVING LEGEND

Once an iconic Manhattan apartment building enters the conversation, expect AD100 interior designer Michael S. Smith to fall into a swoon. Not literally, of course, but mentally. A recent project with such an effect was a duplex penthouse atop a soigné shaft of Art Deco limestone on the edge of the Upper East Side. "With the East River below, with its tugboats and pleasure craft, the building has a cinematic quality. You could easily see Fred Astaire living there," the Los Angeles-based talent says, noting that the building once had a private pier for residents' yachts. "It's a pretty magical place-and from the penthouse, you can see the river in three directions: north, east, and south."
His clients, a couple who have relied on his expert eye for multiple residences, initially wanted a perch overlooking Central Park, but Smith's romancing won them over. So did the sweeping enfilades and loftlike volumes of the apartment, which had originally been a triplex stylishly decorated for attorney Wilton Lloyd-Smith by Elsie Cobb Wilson. (Period photographs by the masterful Samuel H. Gottscho can be seen on the website of the Museum of the City of New York.) Artist and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt and, later, author Jean Stein called it home, too, in its reduced two-story form. Thrillingly enough, given the tear-down propensities of Manhattan residential real estate, the floor plan and the majority of the period details remained as they had been created. Thus, Smith and his frequent collaborator, architect Oscar Shamamian of Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, only had to bring the kitchen, baths, and primary suite up to contemporary snuff.
Denne historien er fra January 2024-utgaven av Architectural Digest US.
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Denne historien er fra January 2024-utgaven av Architectural Digest US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
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EDITORIAL VISION
With help from architect and longtime friend Basil Walter, legendary editor Graydon Carter brings signature flair—and a host of beloved objects—to a new apartment in Greenwich Village

LIGHTING THE WAY
TAPPED BY CARTIER TO REVIVE ITS WOMEN'S PAVILION FOR EXPO 2025 IN OSAKA, JAPAN, ARCHITECT YUKO NAGAYAMA CHAMPIONS FLEXIBLE ARCHITECTURE ON A GLOBAL STAGE

GOLDEN AGE
Designer Neal Beckstedt embraces the beauty and power of patina in the renovation of his Sag Harbor home

Spring in Her Step
To design the new Manhattan outpost of Printemps, Laura Gonzalez celebrates history, craft, and blooms of rare beauty

Mix Masters
At their subterranean studio in Queens, the design duo Ficus Interfaith combines stones, shells, pits, and more into terrazzo creations rich with narrative meaning

Earthy Delights
Designer Jessica Helgerson looks to the land in a playful collection of flatweave rugs

A New Light
When life changes usher in a big move, textile maven Zak Profera finds a world rich with nuanced pattern

LINGUA FRANCA
FOR A YOUNG FAMILY IN HONG KONG, STUDIO KO FASHIONS A SOPHISTICATED AERIE THAT BLENDS THE BEST OF EUROPE AND ASIA

Green Peace
With grand gestures and vibrant color, retail impresario Kate Rheinstein Brodsky breathes new life into a classic prewar apartment on NYC's Upper East Side

LOVE RULES
In his Paris home, rock star and designer Lenny Kravitz has fashioned a spiritual tribute to—and haven for—family and friends