Patricia’s Second Greatest Home

published May 10, 2010

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Name: Patricia
Location: Greenwich Village
Size: 2,000 square feet loft — 1bedroom
Years lived in: 2½

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Rather imposing living room at first glance. (Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Patricia thought all those new, crisp white condos going up all over the city would go poorly with her and her husband’s female artist dominated impressionist paintings. So, they searched for an apartment that was all on one floor and had a significant history.

The apartment — the brick barrel vaulted ceilings of which remain completely intact — was once a floor in a canning factory. Less than a century later, one of New York’s preeminent French antique importers — Howard Kaplan — transformed it into his own personal paradise. While the space had moved through a few hands since the 1960’s ‘classicization’ of the living room, Patricia and her husband loved the space and were even more inspired by the fact that it came with no sign of a kitchen.

The apartment was a duplex that was being split in two, and while New York building code requires that a kitchen be installed, at the time of sale, the kitchen was on paper and paper alone.

Patricia and her husband moved in their favorites from of a lifetime of collecting books, furniture, and art. The home so transparently reflects a long and rich family history and the comforts and joys that come with it.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Apartment Therapy Survey
Style: Eclectic/Traditional

Inspiration: Making a beautiful setting for our American Impressionist art

Favorite Element: The barrel vaulted brick ceiling

Biggest Challenge: Finding a coop loft where our art and the furnishings we moved from our 19th century townhouse would look at home.

What Friends Say: That it is beautiful.

Biggest Embarrassment: When people come in unexpectedly and see what a mess I ordinarily keep on my desk.

Proudest DIY: I do my own decorating. Our style may be unusual or quirky by today’s fashion in home decorating, but it reflects our taste and our life style, and makes us very comfortable.

Biggest Indulgence: Living in spacious rooms; a totally fabulous kitchen

Best Advice: From Andrea Tobias, who designed the kitchen.

Dream Source: Sotheby’s

Resources:
Every piece of furniture in our apartment came from our townhouse on Waverly Place, and we bought just about every single thing at auctions. Most of the furniture and some of the art came from small out-of-town auction houses, but many of the paintings and works on paper were purchased at Sotheby’s and Christie’s and the Swann Gallery.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Images: Jill Slater

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