Today on AD we visit Goshen in Upstate New York to tour a Victorian home from 1892 with a ton of potential, but needing lots of work. Contractor Nick Schiffer from NS Builders goes room by room laying out the possibilities within the walls while acknowledging how daunting the road to this former gem’s restoration will be. When you see it’s listed at just under $300,000, though – and similar sized homes in the area fetch double that amount – this massive renovation becomes one seriously worth considering.
Tag Archives: Architectural Digest
Tropical Architecture: The Dominican Republic
The house reveals itself slowly. On a remote stretch of the Dominican Republic coast, a stone footpath winds its way through a dense landscape of old-growth trees, zamia, and native flowers. Gradually, a timber structure comes into focus, its undulating form seemingly afloat above the jungle floor.
Only upon stepping past that wood-clad volume, under a 70-foot-wide span and up into the central courtyard, do you see the ocean.
That progression is all expert choreography on the part of architect Bryan Young, principal of the Brooklyn-based studio Young Projects and nowadays very much a name to know. “Every decision facilitates the experience of the landscape,” he notes of the property, which includes two additional houses of his design. One is a low-slung string of four adjoining stucco bungalows, the other a monolithic enigma—chamfered at the corners and covered in graphic, almost pixelated tile, earning it the name Glitch House. Together this trio of buildings provides the ultimate escape, a place for friends and extended family to come together and decompress, as envisioned by his intrepid clients, Mike and Sukey Novogratz, a New York City couple with wellness on the brain.
Architecture: Iconic Hotels Of Istanbul
Istanbul has no shortage of spectacular hotels, from former sultans’ palaces to intimate boutique properties. The crème de la crème is the Çırağan Palace Kempinski, the oldest remaining part of which was built as Sultan Abdülaziz’s palace in 1871.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “If the earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital.” Spend a week there and you’ll begin to understand why. This massive metropolis of 15 million people quite literally bridges Europe and Asia. It has witnessed the rise and fall of empires, from the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire, each of which has left its trace on the city. For this reason, Istanbul is a playground for design lovers, who can gaze upon incredible palaces and mosques, shop for ceramics and textiles in the Grand Bazaar, drink and dine in stylish restaurants and bars, and sleep in some of the world’s most luxurious hotels.
Design Views: The Appeal Of ‘All-Wood Kitchens’
“During moments of crisis people return to natural materials.” And indeed, after a year in which most of us have clocked more time than ever in our home kitchens, the tide has turned toward materials that feel rustic, rough-hewn, and intensely comforting.
“We try to use as much wood as clients will let us,” admits Aujla of the material that has been fundamental to the Green River Project ethos from the jump. The firm recently outfitted a kitchen in New York’s Rockaway, Queens, neighborhood, with coffee-stained lauan and mahogany. “The rougher the wood, the harder it is to clean, but it has a much warmer feel and a softer touch,” explains Bloomstein, who paired the natural material with stainless steel in heavier-use areas to make cleaning easier. The look, he admits, requires a rather adventurous client.
Views: ‘Waldorf Astoria – Rebirth Of Art Deco’
“The history of the Waldorf Astoria is the history of New York City,” says Andrew Miller, CEO of Dajia U.S., the owner and developer of the building. “We have embraced a profound responsibility as the stewards of the Waldorf Astoria’s heritage, taking great care to restore the building to its 1931 opulence. The Waldorf has a special place in the hearts of people across the globe.”
The legendary Waldorf Astoria New York Hotel opened its Art Deco doors to Park Avenue in 1931 and has played host to every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama, world leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II and Emperor Hirohito, famous celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Angelina Jolie, and foreign dignitaries including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as well as Winston Churchill.
At the ripe old age of 90, like many an aging beauty, it was decided that it was time for some cosmetic surgery. In fact, it was probably the most expensive facelift in New York history. But before reconstructive surgery took place, the grand dame had some preliminary work done.
Penthouse Views: Upper East Side, Manhattan (AD)
Architectural Digest takes you to the Upper East Side of Manhattan to visit a luxurious pre-war penthouse on the market for $39,000,000. The Marquand at 11 East 68th Street is immediately adjacent to Madison Avenue and its array of high-end shops, while the magnificent Central Park waits right outside your door. With 2600 ft. of outdoor terrace situated minutes from the best the city has to offer, whether downtown or up, 11 East 68th Street is urban life at its most refined.
Architectural Tour: ‘The One’ – World’s Largest Home In Bel Air, California
Surrounded on three sides by a moat and a 400-foot-long jogging track, the estate appears to float above the city. Completed over eight years—and requiring 600 works to build—the home was designed by architect Paul McClean, who was enlisted by owner and developer Nile Niami to help it live up to its reported $340 million price tag.
After nearly a decade of design and development work, what is being billed as “the world’s most expensive home” is finally ready for its close-up. Set on a five-acre parcel in the posh Los Angeles enclave of Bel Air—and aptly named The One—the 105,000-square-foot property’s interiors have remained a closely guarded secret. Until now. AD has been an exclusive look at what’s inside this record-setting property—and the design and aesthetic minds that made it happen.
Tours: “Stunning” Spanish Renaissance Revival Home In San Francisco, CA (AD)
“You just sort of gulp,” Marino explains of projects like the sprawling 1916 San Francisco mansion that he labored on for more than three years, overhauling its nearly two dozen rooms for effervescent East Coast transplants with three teenagers, two French bulldogs, and a passion for pedigreed real estate.
“It was a Herculean task,” Marino continues. “There was no roof, the exterior walls were under boarding, and there were no floor slabs. It all looks so pretty now, but it was painful.” And, he quips with a laugh, “if there’s an earthquake anywhere in North America, from Vancouver to Teotihuacán, for God’s sake run here.”
Not only is the house in the city’s Pacific Heights enclave, one of the most theatrical residences ever conceived by the genius society architect Willis Polk, the Spanish Renaissance Revival palacio—wrapped around a two-story courtyard crowned with a vast glass roof—had long been home to one of Marino’s friends, Georgette “Dodie” Rosekrans.
The husband and wife also possessed phenomenal sangfroid, accepting with barely a blink the seismic requirements that demanded gutting the house and driving concrete pilings 30 feet into the ground.
She was a tiny, couture-clad movie-theater heiress, while her husband, John, was a Spreckels sugar–fortune scion who also manufactured, of all things, Hula Hoops and Frisbees. As for the four-story house where they lived from 1979 until their respective deaths (his in 2001, hers in 2010), it’s been described, with good reason, as the most beautiful house in America.
Home Tour Video: Singer Vanessa Carlton’s Stylish SoHo Factory Loft (AD)
Today Architectural Digest is welcomed downtown by Vanessa Carlton for a tour of her stylish and utilitarian SoHo loft. The one-time mercantile factory retains touches from it’s previous life, with stately brick walls and wooden columns framing rooms softened by deep couches and faux fur throws.
Vanessa is passionate about preserving the planet and always seeks to repurpose items while decorating, like the reclaimed wood shelves in her living room or the old theater lights that hang above her kitchen island. And having recently released her sixth studio album “Love Is An Art,” it’s no surprise to find a pair of pianos ready and waiting for when inspiration strikes.
Miami Penthouse Video Tour: ‘2-Story Duplex In Portofino Tower’ (AD)
Today AD brings you to the heart of Miami Beach, FL to visit a $7.1M ultra-luxurious duplex penthouse located in the iconic flamingo pink Portofino Tower. Built in 1997, Italian designer and architect Romano Ferretti has completely remodeled lower penthouse unit 4004, complementing the remarkable views of South Beach with sophisticated touches like a galley style kitchen with Gaggenau appliances. And to add to that certain Miami sex-appeal, the main shower on the second floor overlooks the living room – either fogged up for privacy or fully on display looking north along the beach.
Boomers Daily 