Thursday, October 3, 2013

dwell city modern manhattan: con edison switching station turned townhouse

Oh do I have a treat for you. My annual expedition to New York City this year just happened to coincide with Dwell's City Modern Manhattan Home Tour. We get to peek into three of Manhattan's finest spaces.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Pretty unassuming right? I have seen some other pictures of the front of this home and it gets frequently redecorated by local artists. Wouldn't that make you crazy if it was your house? But the current owners seem to embrace it.

Step inside. The unassuming entry level has a mirror to the left on some fantastic old brick and some lit stairs and pipes to the right.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho



Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Oh yeah. Then there is the pool.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Kinda crazy. I had to get a closer look at this ground level pool. There was a door from the main level into the indoor pool area.


Photo by Francesca Govanelli

Pool seating area.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Guest bedroom in the basement level off the back of the pool room. Pretty gloomy frankly.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Porthole window from the guest bedroom looking back.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Internet research reveals oh so much about this home. It is owned by Marcus Nispel whose claim to fame is horror movies including recent remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. According to NYC Curbed, he rents it out for $100,000 a month, or $20,000 a night. You pick.

This townhouse is quintessentially NYC Soho, at least what I imagine it to be. It is sort of like a loft, but is built on five levels, in an old 1909 ConEd switching station. As we moved around the home, you could see many of the original details including brick, beams and vaulted ceilings. 

Second level gets you to an office and sitting area.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


This is the office work table (not a dining table). Well, it could be.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Up another level. Are you counting? We are heading to the third level. Oh my.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

That is quite a living room. Ancient fireplace.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


25 foot ceilings and 13 foot windows. Or something like that. This space was like a giant warehouse. Bring your snuggies when you rent.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Enormous lighting.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Beyonce rented out the space for her Halo video. Take a look. I snagged a photo for you.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho
From YouTube, Beyonce, Halo

The large chef's kitchen and dining area are on this main floor levels.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Counters are stainless steel which I rather like. The architect put a glossy coat on the island and it looks like it scratches easily and is challenging to maintain.

Isolated breakfast nook off the main floor. Do you get the "the owner makes horror movies" vibe?

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

I sure did. There is this slightly Gothic, industrial element to the whole place. Tiny bit of the creepy factor. But oh so cool.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Up we go! We got yer teeny bit intimidating women photo in the master. Her giant eyes seem to watch you from every direction. I do believe this is the owner's wife, Dyan Humes, or perhaps their daughter. 

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

And a comfy sitting room off the master which overlooks the massive living area with balcony windows.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Industrial master bath.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

And up again. The family room!

Photo by Francesca Govanelli

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

I could not stop taking pictures in this room.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

And the pièce de résistance: the outdoor terrace! **sigh** This is what you imagine a cool house in New York would be like.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

See the subtle creep factor?  Now that I know to look for it, I can see it everywhere in the pictures. The collection of empty urns.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho


And this interesting piece at the head of the stairs by the laundry room. 

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

The final two guest bedrooms seem to be childlike in nature and maybe were originally intended for children.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

The vaulted ceilings are amazing.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Very high end objects sprinkled throughout.

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

As we headed back down the four levels to the ground floor, I noticed the decorative use of the copper pipes. Obviously the pipes couldn't be run through the brick walls, so they were installed in an exposed manner and emphasized with lights. I assume the glass panels are some sort of code thing (maybe hot water runs through them). 

Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho



Dwell, City Modern Tour, New York, Manhatten Lafayette Townhouse in Soho

Cool house.

The architect is Peter Guzy of Asfour Guzy. Guzy worked hard to retain the natural lighting and original building characteristics while ensuring the new floors and walls still preserved the character of the old structure.

You can see a video of the whole darn thing plus information on how to rent it. Note the front doors in the video. Completely different graffiti from when I went last weekend. This video is a little sleepy.


I found another video of the house that is more upbeat.



So New York. I have two more homes to show you plus a cool designer "wall treatment" studio. Stay tuned.

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10 comments:

  1. The home has some gorgeous features, but I agree that it has a creep vibe overall. Also, I can't imagine having five floors. I've only lived in one two-story house before, and I hated it, because every time I needed something, it was on the floor opposite where I was at the time. But five floors??? Only with an elevator.

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    Replies
    1. I love our one story house. And I will love it even more when I am seventy. I believe the elevator only went to some of the floors, but I could be wrong.

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  2. I'm sort of speechless. (imagine that) I LOVE It and I would NEVER want it. Okay, okay, I'll rent it for an hour... hummm that would be around $840. CRAZY! Seriously, though I do love so many things about it but like Dana I would never be able to survive 5 floors. Love the exposed brick, concrete floors, windows, and the industrial feel of the space. As for the graffiti on the front. That would just float my boat. Not that I want the neighborhood kids painting the front of my house every week, but in NY... it totally works. I would dig it! Love these tours, Rebecca. Always a great part of my day. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Isn't it stunning? Absolutely beyond cool. This home exemplifies the industrial modern look that is so vogue today. This portion of the street had random bits of graffiti but this was the only door covered in it. The artists must know they have free reign on this particular piece of real estate.

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  3. Con Edison must have had an elevator, and, like you, that terrace is great--except for the creepy urns. Maybe he is between plantings in them. Also like the Beyonce video--wonder if she has someone to scout locations for her?

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    Replies
    1. I have looked through a few photos of the house in the past. No plantings in the urns. When it comes to Dwell tours, typically the homes get decked out. So the urns are intended to be plant-less. Good house for a cool video for sure!

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  4. AMAZING space. I love the warehouse vibe. The family rooms and outdoor terrace areas are brilliant.

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    Replies
    1. The outdoor terrace makes the house, even more than the pool. The pool is pretty incredible though.

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  5. Other than the dungeon space for the lower guest bedroom, and that I could never afford renting even by the millisecond...this is stunning.

    The pool...funky but good. The office work table / space is perfect in layout, room, serenity. The living room and barrel vault ceiling, even better. The outside terrace, there's potential:-) Oh to be the 1%, or even the 10%!!

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