Thursday, October 22, 2009

Designer Adam Lippes' Calacatta Marble Filled Penthouse


SELLER: Adam Lippes
LOCATION: West 12th Street, New York, NY
PRICE: $5,750,000 (monthly maintenance: $2,764)
SIZE: 1,700 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Traditional details were painstakingly restored to the building's original intent. Replicas of floor-to-ceilings rolled-steel windows, specified by architects in the 60's, are now flanked on either side by 8 floor to ceiling glass doors, accessed from every room. Featuring 2 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms & their own private terraces; additional powder room of calacatta vision slab marble; guest bath of pure white sculptural marble, steam shower & Boffi fixtures...

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Since Your Mama has been inundated with all kinds of ass-uglee the last couple of days–from supposedly sterile hospitals to Whitney Houston's hot residential mess to Eddie Murphy's mob-worthy mansion in Englewood, NJ–we thought it might be nice to look at a little real estate pretty even if the owner of the property we're going to discuss barely qualifies as a celebrity. While reading the always informative CityFile the other day we learned that up and coming fashion designer Adam Lippes–we know chickens, we'd never heard of him either–who recently listed his dee-voonly done, David Schefer and Eve-Lynn Schoenstein designed Greenwich Village penthouse with the not very up and coming asking price of $5,750,000. And it's gorgeous.

Located atop the white glove building on West 12th Street known the world around as The Butterfield House, Mister Lippes' 5 room, 1,700 square foot pristine penthouse pad has two bedrooms, each with a private pooper, as well as a powder pooper bathed in costly Calacatta slab marble.

The penthouse's front door opens to a generously sized entrance hall with the living room on the left, the kitchen and dining room straight ahead and the private quarters to the right. The sun washed, south facing living room has warm, reclaimed black walnut wood floors that anchor the winter white walls and create a delicious and necessary tension with the monolithic fireplace wall of cold, but drop dead Calacatta slab marble. Custom made, floor to ceiling rolled steel windows open to the Ipe wood decked terrace and custom made black walnut bookcases opposite the fireplace slide open to expose a flat screen boob-toob and surround sound system. Mister Lippes has kept the living room furnishings clean liked and neutral in color giving all the glory over to a goose pimple making view of lower Manhattan.

The dining room, which opens to one of the larger sections of the wrap around terrace through more custom made floor to ceiling rolled steel windows, has hand-painted, embroidered English silk walls–which sounds hideously expensive don't it?–and a glass dining room table lit by a large Pink Blossom Swarovski crystal chandelier by design star Tord Boontje which–in case any of the children would care to know–runs a Birkin bag busting $27,300 at Moss, the design emporium to end all design emporiums. The adjacent galley kitchen is Manhattan sized meaning it's teeny tiny. None the less, no pennies were spared decking out the the itty-bitty space which is well organized with large window for natural light and ventilation and has been fitted Calacatta slab marble counter tops and back splash, a trendy trough sink, and full sized, high grade appliances. As lovely as all that is, Your Mama thinks the most impressive element in the kitchen is the forest's worth of black walnut wood that was not only used for the flat fronted upper and lower cabinets but also as paneling on the walls and on the ceiling. Mar-vuh-luss. It looks like the most expensive trailer home we could ever imagine and, to quote Bravo channel reality tee-vee drama queen Rachel Zoe, we die for it.

The guest room has, according to listing information, a private pooper "of pure white sculptural marble" with a steam shower and Boffi brand fixtures. Above the bed in the guest room, in what appears to be gilded capital block letters are the words, "What would Oprah say?" We can only hope Mister Lippe is being ironic because, quite frankly and even though she is without question one of the most powerful people on the planet who does all sorts of good works in the world, Your Mama does not care a whit about what the Big O might say about anything. As far as we're concerned the wildly rich, pulled herself up by her bootstraps bee-hawtcha has simply gotten too big for her designer britches. She's got a private jet, a forty million dollar weekend house in Montecito, CA and more money jangling around in the bottom of her purse than most people will earn in a lifetime and she thinks she's down with all the regular people who struggle to make a damn car payment? Pleeze. But we digress...

One wall in the master bedroom opens up to custom fitted closets and a second wall opens up to a private part of the terrace. The master bathroom is divided into two spaces, both bathed in black walnut and even more Calacatta slab marble. One side of the master bath contains a sink/vanity, a walk-in Calacatta marble shower and a Calacatta marble soaking tub. The separate wash closet is, unfortunately, without a window, but we covet a divided master bathroom so Your Mama can wash our teeth without having to bear the indignity of hearing the Dr. Cooter tinkle before bed at night.

Other notable amenities in the penthouse, according to listing information, include a multi-zone HVAC system, electronically controlled solar shades, custom lighting and sound throughout the apartment, and custom made bronze terrace containers that are heat and wind resistant on the Gregg Bleam designed terraces. The highly prized, much lauded and very desirable Butterfield House was built in 1962 and offers lucky residents, an on-site manager, full time doormen, a staffed service entrance–which Your Mama loves, a private fitness facility, storage lockers, a bicycle room and a central laundry room not to mention a central location on Greenwich Village's Gold Coast.

Listen chickens, Your Mama has 2 and only 2 real problems with this penthouse. Everything else is a meaningless splitting decorative and design hairs:

1. The laundry facilities appear to be located in a closet inside the powder pooper. While Your Mama and our demanding house gurl Svetlana do appreciate that Mister Lippes and his team of smart architects managed to squeeze clothes cleaning contraptions into the apartment, we do not care to launder our fashions and undergarments in the same room where guests expose their bare asses and set on the damn terlit.

2. Much as we L.O.V.E. all that Calacatta marble in the master bathroom (and in every other room), the slab marble soaking tub is a wee too sarcophagus-like for our personal taste. Since Your Mama don't find anything relaxing about sitting in the filth of bath water and probably would never use that thing for anything other than bathing our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly, iffin we were going to take a soak in the bath, we don't want to feel like we're entombed.

Other than that, we're ready to pack up our Louis Vuitton cases, write a damn check and move back to Manhattan. The only snag in the plan is that pesky problem of not having five and some million clams to spend on an apartment. Maybe one of Your Mama's wealthier readers would like to buy this place for us? We'd make the monthies. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

How does an "up and coming" designer afford a home like this?

Aren't up and coming designers supposed to be poor?

Other than that, it's beautiful.

stolidog said...

Is it just me, or is it a sarcophagus for midgets (i know)? Lovely place though.

Anonymous said...

So, it's $33K a year on maintenance - does that include taxes? 'Cause in my middle of nowhere neck of the woods, a $2M house would have a tax bill like that, so this seems a little on the low side.

Anonymous said...

I think you mean designer Adam Lippes, not Marc.

Anonymous said...

"What would Oprah Say?"...how precious. Hardee-har-har, fail.

Gorgeous woodwork in this home.

Mama, are you missing the East Coast?

Anonymous said...

Marble is never a good idea in a kitchen. Too porous. Calacatta is not the best choice anyway .. there are much denser marbles (particularly from Australia where some is as hard as granite).
Any spillage or splashing of anything and those benchtops are ruined.
Just sayin....

Jane said...

Mama, I love baths more than sex (but I'm an old person with creaky joints and a bad back), so all that marble and the tomblike tub is just my style. I would move into this place without a second thought. The four-footed crew would love it.

Anonymous said...

The message on the wall should be "Who gives a flying @#ck what Oprah would say!"

Anonymous said...

he might owe a lot to oprah because she included his shirts on one of her "favorite things" shows. we all know what happens when someone/somethings gets promoted on oprah. $$$$$

Anonymous said...

So, it's $33K a year on maintenance - does that include taxes? 'Cause in my middle of nowhere neck of the woods, a $2M house would have a tax bill like that, so this seems a little on the low side.

Not trying to be rude, but do you know how taxes are calculated? The more business and commerce your town has, the less you pay in taxes. NYC property taxes are way low, and in the suburbs, Greenwich taxes are lower than comparable areas cause of the commerce.

TheVinylVillager said...

Well I could never do marble countertops in a kitchen, lovely though these are. Back in college I splurged (for a college student) on a white marble topped island for the kitchen of the lovely duplex I spent much of my booze-soaked undergrad years in. At one of our winter fetes, a sassy drag queen sat her glass of merlot on the island, and there was forever a red ring to remind us of her impromptu rendition of Cher's "Believe".

I digress...

Mama, this particular split bath disturbs me. Does one have to trapse back into the bedroom and over to the other side in order to wash one's hands after taking care of business? This is a recipe for disaster for those middle of the night trips to the terlit. Either the hands wont get washed or someone will end up tripping over themselves trying to get back to the sink.

Anonymous said...

I would move here in a New York minute. It is FABOOSH. Love every bit of it. Some of the personal decor selections aren't necessarily my style, but if you have that much $ to spend on an apartment, you certainly can update to your own tastes. And the location is supreme - an amazing building in a perfect location (I love the Village and much prefer it to the UWS/UES). Here's hoping my powerball ticket pulls through!

Anonymous said...

"Marble is never a good idea in a kitchen. Too porous. "

Ah-men to that! Also, it may get discolored from acids, which in the kitchen is pretty much everything. That wine story is right on point!

E.J. said...

"What would Oprah say?"
Really? Is that the most interesting thing this mope can think to do with a wall?
Oprah?
Really?
But I do know what she would say:

"Can I have extra fries?"

Lilithcat said...

Anonymous said...
So, it's $33K a year on maintenance - does that include taxes?


It would appear to. This is a co-op, so the real estate taxes are part of the common charges, unlike a condominium. Also, the building is probably benefitting from NYC's Cooperative and Condominium Tax Abatement program.

Anonymous said...

Great location, great building, great apartment, great renovation and clearly expensively done. But it's been listed for a while, so the price just may be too ambitious. Regardles, I freakin love this place, and I've always loved the building.

But Vinyl is right about the split bathroom thing - there's got to be a better solution. At a minimum, the poop room needs a sink, even if it's a mini one, just to wash the hands after doing your biz. And what happens when you get undressed, turn on the shower, and then realize, "I have to pee"? Then you have to go out and around to the other bathoom.

If it's possible (plumbing-wise), I'd move the sink, and double it, to the wall opposite the tub, and put a door next in the wall between the big room and the small poop room.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful place, the terrace is to die for, although at this price, an extra small room as an office seems missing. No? I too, will be running out to buy more lottery tickets.

Anonymous said...

It was featured in Elle Decor, October 2008.

Anonymous said...

BEAUTIFUL OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

It's ADAM LIPPES, not Adam Lippe. Just an FYI.

lil' gay boy said...

"And what happens when you get undressed, turn on the shower, and then realize, 'I have to pee?' Then you have to go out and around to the other bathroom."

Reminds me of the old joke, "What is the definition of a Protestant?"

"Someone who steps out of the shower to pee."

From the floor porn it looks like Schefer & Schoenstein could have come up with a nice, petite lavatory sink, and perhaps a bidet, too (but honey, please don't wash your hands in that.)

Anonymous said...

Amazing space and well conceived from a space planning point of view.

I don't see it on the plan either, but I'd be sort of surprised if there isn't a tiny sink in the w/c in the master...these architects are too good and the owner too meticulous to forget something like that.

Arundel said...

Nice bones to the place. But I have some issues.

-"What would Oprah say?". She might say, stop being an unfunny tacky queen? That silly quips are not decor, just as Blair Waldorf says "tights are not pants!".

-That huge deep sink in one bathroom looks like a urinal trough in some sleazy gay bar. Pass.

-Mister really likes his damn TV don't he? In the kitchen, in every room, -hanging over the damn bathtub??? Naw here, TV needs to be tightly controlled for mah serenitah! Just me, I hate a tv in every damn room.

-I really don't care what "steel-rolled windows' are, or why they're so fascinatingly great. Knah. Cair. Less.

Arundel said...

Amending my "urinal" comment, my eyes did deceive me, it's the bathtub you've been discussing. Which doesn't seem to touch the floor. Don't like that either, one bit.

Anonymous said...

He may be considered "up and coming" because he is gorgeous. If his designs don't take off, he certainly could marry well.

Anonymous said...

Adam is a friend and having been in his apt, I can explain two things. For all of you wondering, there is a sink in the separate toilet room which makes sense and is nyc code.
Also, the “What Would Oprah Say” is by a South African artist who creates sayings pointing out the irony of how much people care about what celebrities, do and say. His pieces always cause a lot comments actually reinforcing their irony. Its not meant to be serious but it is sort of funny because the owner was on Oprah