apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

OMG, I want it...the exposed brick, the gorgeous floors...I love it all!

I just drooled on my keyboard

Incredible Space. Uninspired furnishings. :P

Minnimalist is fine in a small or even medium space but I am having a hard time with 7200 SF. of nothing.

It looks like a showroom.

The loft is amazing though, with its exposed brick and timber everywhere.........................WOW!

Ooh my......beautiful.

the space is amazing...but it's hard to believe that anyone actually lives there.

The size is ridiculous - They could have gotten a similar effect with 1/2 to 1/3 the space...

Unless she is living with Octomom her litter, I think living in 7200sf in the middle of such an expensive city is rather obscene. Ten families could live comfortably in that much space.

She didn't buy that with money she made architecting- that's for sure!

Archinerd - exactly!

Hejiranyc - exactly!

Bepsf - exactly!

Nothing about this space says "comfort"

This is an example of why Americans are laughed at through out the civilized world and hated in the barbarian regions of the globe. Excessive greed. Yes, superflous, yet applicable in this case.

I'll bet it will be amazing when they finish furnishing it.

Nice museum.

Click212, how about the Arabs, Russians and many others. I think 7200SF of home is rediculous but but the America bashing I will have to defend.

from the story: "Ms. Kashper said that a motivating force behind her open-floor plan was a large family. Natalya, 34, and Eugene, 39, emigrated from the former Soviet Union in the 1970s, along with relatives."

That is one beautiful large piece of interior architecture. Those windows and ceiling are to die for. Stunning building.

click212 I think they are Russian and there are plenty of people all over the world that have this kind of wealth and luxuries. At least their "greed" is tasteful.

The other good thing I see here is that this beautiful historical building was not torn down for some new high rise or parking lot and a bunch or 700 sq. ft condos.

She explains in the NY Times article they have a huge immediate family, all very close, and in need of a huge space because they wanted to hold family weddings, and other functions and parties for the family.
They hosted a family wedding for 150 people.

I've worked in commercial photography studios that look like this, it's a great looking apace, but does not look or feel like a home.

Agree with some of the others ... gorgeous space but does not look or feel like a residence. Too cavernous.

I can fit 16 of my apartment in this loft.

@ aaron,

If that space is not "minimalist", then what is?

I don't understand the hate. If these people like it, and they can afford it, what's it to you? Live and let live, y'know?!

This is the kind of wasteful lifestyle that is destroying the planet. Heating and cooling a cavernous space the size of an airplane hanger, which houses 4 or 5 people (three of them children) is absurd. This is what causes global warming. Publications like the New York Times should start being more responsible and not celebrate this kind of waste... it's this kind of media porn that makes people hungry for the toxic lifestyle of greed and excess.
And by the way, wake up people: If you know anything about what's going on in Russia, there are a lot of people hurting and a very few people who made out like bandits. And it wasn't from legitimate architecture work.
(Hmmm, how many architects have you heard of who live in $15-million homes?)

It's a neat looking loft, but it looks so uncomfortable. It looks very cold and uninviting.

I love minimalism, but this doesn't look minimalist to me: it looks like they ran out of money for furniture after they bought the place. Wouldn't a smaller space that they could actually afford to furnish make more sense? What is the point of all that money if you end up living in a barely furnished warehouse because you've maxed yourself out? And outside of the sheer size of the loft, I don't see what about this home qualifies for a feature in the NYT. They haven't done anything to it yet.

All I can think of when I look at the pictures is the hollow sound of footsteps in that cavernous, empty "home."

"She explains in the NY Times article they have a huge immediate family, all very close, and in need of a huge space because they wanted to hold family weddings, and other functions and parties for the family.
They hosted a family wedding for 150 people."

That's like the folks who justify owning a 4x4 Suburban because they take the kids camping once a year - the rest of the time it's a commuter/grocery/kid-hauler...

... Like BrooklynRob says, it's wasteful and 95% of the time unnecessary.

fabulous building, huge space, beautiful windows, gorgeous floors...!
but it seems so cold, so w/o warmth despite all of the wood. a huge aquarium, plants, dogs, something that says
people live here. something that says this is a home.
(sigh...)

Wow...I don't get al the bashing and presumptions with this posting. I read the article and I didn't see any info on how or what it cost to heat the place other than the fact that they have a fireplace. Or things like how they paid for it and where the money came form. It seems that they have a large family and entertain a lot so, why not have the space for it.

Also, I think a part of why Americans may be hated in parts of the globe is when those regions are referred to as, "Barbarian":

1 : of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture, or people
2 : lacking refinement, learning, or artistic or literary culture

You are all insane. This place is fantastic just as it is. There's no need for more furniture.

a lot of money to spend, but gorgeous, comfortable results.

Honestly, how much furniture do you need in a home? isn't it just filling space just for the sake of filling it? it's like saying Central Park needs more trees in a space that perfectly fine without them.

Thank you!
modernguy
sfdoddsy
charlenemcbride

I am just so happy a space like this still exist. There are plenty in Europe.

This is beautiful, but I couldn't imagine living there. I need warm and cozy spaces. My bf would love it though.

homebody, my thoughts exactly. such an incredible space but it feels very empty and lacks soul. i would have loved to see more photos like that one in the background with the pillows nestled by the fireplace. i'm all for minimalism and am not one at all for clutter but this is just cold.

So I read this article in the Times and looked at the slideshow and my thoughts were generally positive. Great building, nice windows, great cast iron columns, and withouth pictures of the "before" but described as a much sheetrocked pop art whatevs, I said good for them. But then I thought, hey didn't they say their restoration was about getting to the real, authentic roots of the building. Well if that's the case, whatzup with the wenge floors, and whatzup with the faux distressed beams, and whatzup with the exposed ceiling joists, and lastly, I know, I KNOW, everybody loves exposed brick walls, but you know what?! Those lofts had plastered ceilings and plastered walls to begin with, OK? And certainly not wenge floors, unless you go to the alternate loft universe created by Christian Liaigre, in France, where the coneheads are from. And please, the elevated dining room, nooooooooooooo....

click212 wrote:

This is an example of why Americans are laughed at through out the civilized world and hated in the barbarian regions of the globe. Excessive greed. Yes, superflous, yet applicable in this case.

---------------------
Where in the article does it say the residents of this loft are American citizens? As for the world laughing at our excess, I always say it's the sign of a short-sighted mind.

I bet there's one hell of an echo in this place.

Beautiful loft, but it lacks personality, warmth and soul.

Oh and one more thing about that elevated dining room: It must be tons of fun making that step-up, step-down dance with heaping platters of food for 150 or so dinner guests. Great idea, Harvard trained architect/beverage importer mogul millionaires!

Wow! What a beautiful building; I'm glad they didn't tear it down. The apartment is great but doesn't have that home feeling for me. What a fantastic way to live for those who can afford it. My small apartment is all I want and need. To each his own...

The space is beautiful. Furniture would only clutter it up. There's enough here for the folks that use it. Love the restraint and the dedication that this demonstrates. I would love to live here.

It's beautiful. All that space, with those gorgeous floors, makes me want to dance.

@click212 - Barbarian regions!? Those must border the dinosaur regions I've been hearing so much about.

expedia.com here I come!

I think it's creepy, but then I always find extreme minimalism creepy.

For such a massive living space it doesn't look livable at all. I was actually shocked to read that a child lived there, it seems like the most unstimulating place possible for a child. Presumably a finger-painting stuck on the fridge would wreck the owner's aesthetic vision...

I'm envious for a space like that, if only for once i'd come home and my Roomba wouldn't be lost in all my clutter. ;)

it's nice and probably works for them but it's not my style. i like comfy sofas and chairs and tables and surfaces that catch dust and dog hair.

None of you would believe me anyway, but my buddy use to live there with his family, who if I may say was the inventor of a very useful item these days. Place was sold about 2-3 years ago and this renovated has taken that long. It looked nothing like this when I saw it. What's interesting is I do not see the stairs to the roof in the center of the living room anymore. This sold for about $7mm and that is easily a $3mm renovation.

Just read the whole article, I truly cannot believe the difference. Let me say also "pop art bachelor pad" was smack dab on the money. Previously this place was more soho artsy type with original Basquiat paintings, Keith Harring, etc. One of these rare moments where I get to actually see old soho turn to modern soho. Just wow!

Let's see. Assume 5 people, $10 mil including renovations, and 7,200 sf. That's 1,440 sf and $2 mil per person.

Natalya, would you adopt me please? I promise I'll take less than 10% of your space. I will want to bring in some books and more homey furnishings, though, but just for my part--you can keep the beige and white stuff everywhere else. Oh, and don't worry about the vast waste of resources--I'm sure the money you've made justifies whatever you want to do to the planet. "Live and let live" as someone remarked above.

It's huge, but that to me isn't the issue. It's that the space isn't used well, and it seems empty to me. A place half as large would probably suffice for what they have in it, and in addition be more comfortable and warmer.

This is very beautiful, but so cavernous! In the winter it seems like it would be really chilly. I agree with the other comments that the same design in a much smaller space would feel more like a home.

this place just makes me sad.
i can't explain it. i just couldn't ever live there (not that i could afford to!) -- it has no feel of a home to me. it's so cavernous and cold and bleak.

i also think 7200 square feet is ridiculously excessive; i don't care HOW big the family is. come on.

14.4 of my apartments would fit in this space.

Don't tell me they need the space for their close family. If they have people staying over, they'd need some err... intimity.This is just indecent.

It's a beautiful place, but just a little too.. sterile. It really does not look like any small children live there. They should convert a corner of that massive space into the coolest playroom space to exist in the city.

If you squint at the 4th picture in the slideshow, you can see a very pretty and homey looking fireplace and nook - I wish the whole place had been decorated to look that inviting.

I love the soaking tub...great renovation!

Does anyone know who designed the wood / glass coffee table? It's beautiful.