Great article for your millenials who have nothing saved, probably loans, you do know that 99% of Americans couldn't afford 1 million for a home. Four kids? I could barely afford 2. These types of articles just make me shake my head, feel sad for young people and they also show why the north is perceived to be elitist. The house, it's nice.
1
Three kids, dogs, and white carpets?
1
"Three kids, dogs, and white carpets?"
Psst: 4 kids pictured.
Staff steams the carpet every few months.
1
Sorry, but the whole place looks cold, sterile and super uninviting... especially to children. Completely unrealistic.
2
Ah, the television is much too high for level viewing. Beware of a stiff neck and eye strain at the cost of millions.
1
There are two sure things that happened!
1) The architect surely had dark thoughts about working with this client, but, hey, you gotta make a living!
2) The occurrances were just repeats of many that happened during the fall of the decadent Roman Empire.
1
How did they legally buy at the building BEFORE it came on the market?
1
I know that feeling, about feeling accomplished after a renovation wraps up, to see the finished product at the end of it. I have a few properties, and have done renovation on all of them. When you have positive experience with an architect and contractors who can translate the design into something you have in mind, within budget and on time, that's definitely something that you want to do it again. I know I do.
The only thing to be said is, once the renovation is done, I get to feel like I "own" it, and I don't want to even share it with rental tenants. But, I can't possibly live in all these places myself, that wouldn't make sense both practically and financially. The feelings that I have to let go somehow, even though the renovations are done so beautifully, is something that I mostly drag.
And, I like free-standing buildings for renovation, rather than condos since there are a lot more constraints and limitations to it. It's a far more blank canvas to play with.
1
I'm so glad this very wealthy couple and their children were somehow able to endure and survive their renovation. Life can be so difficult sometimes. We all can breathe a sigh of relief. Congrats!
10
It is fine to write an article in the Real Estate section that debates types of urban lifestyles, the changing nature of the family, new residential product design as related to issues in design and architecture. This article, however, dumbs the content down so that it is mind numbing. "One of the biggest points of contention between the Livingstons was the custom floor-to-ceiling, steel-and-glass wine storage wall". I am an architect and I pity their architect.
11
The paymaster wants to play amateur architect to make him feel good. And it's just condos with limited space. How many more "design decisions" are there, really?
2
Articles like this one, as well as NYT reviews of expensive restaurants, bring out droves of comments of the sort “I can’t see why they would spend $X on Y”.
I recommend opening an Econ 101 textbook and reading up on marginal utility. Be it a sweater, a restaurant meal or an eight figure home, we all have different hurdles when it comes to opening our wallets. Which are no one else’s business.
8
The guy has money, he wants to spend it, then let him. It's good for the economy too. I don't see the harm of it, except to let the guy crow about it. He obviously wants to let the whole world know how smart he is; but whether he really is, or not, is an entirely different matter.
4
My first thought was six people in a 2500 sq. ft. apartment is too many, but then again, I don't live in NYC. I don't think they will stay for too many years, though. Three boys are not going to want to share that small room when they are teen-agers.
2
I'm sure the owners are happy there, but there is nothing for others to learn from this article unless they too are very wealthy. Realistic articles are more interesting.
36
The Livingston's and their Architect are still on speaking terms and in fact seem to be good friends. The Livingston's like their space and at a total cost of 8 million or so, who cares, the principals are happy. This success can translate to all project levels, with the same amount of cooperation.
2
If these folks can afford it, I say more power to them, but the look overall really is bland and a majority of NYT readers would appreciate something they could relate to.
27
$7,000,000 and can't afford curtains or blinds. Oh well, the electric bill must be low -- all that "natural light" as they say on HGTV.
8
Don't forget the subway tile backsplash!
3
So bland and lacking in soul...kind of depressing really.
15
How nice, 4 kids (5?)mom gets to stay home, and dad and kids have a hobby–an expensive one.
What does dad invest in order to make such big dollars? “Carried interest” income I’m sure sustains this life style.
Also as a design-use note, assuming the fire is real in a real fireplace, I don’t understand having wooden flooring going up to the fireplace’s mouth. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this error in design+execution in one these NYT home profiles.
11
If it's a working ("real") fireplace, a flammable material (wood flooring) going all the way to the fireplace is against Code. The fireplace is likely decorative.
4
Interesting speculation--not regards the Code.
Meaning it's either against code, or it's kind of tacky design. The prominently wall mounted giant flat screen TV says the latter. Though I guess that it could be tacky and against code.
2
There's way too much white marble (brings to mind mausoleums) and the wine-rack room divider is seriously ugly.
17
They don't look like winos, so all that wine must sit for months at room temperature. Not a good idea unless the bottles are just there for decoration and no one ever drinks them. We had our much more modest apartment remodelled and the design architect also wanted wine bottles in the kitchen/living room. I nixed it as we enjoy drinking wine.
3
$1,300 for a chair for the kids to sit at their shared desk? I realize that these folks are very rich and entitled to do what they want but... really?
Also, while the apartment is lovely and in good taste, it is pretty much interchangeable with every high end renovation of its type that I see. I would Lovett see something new and interesting. Instead we have yet another study in neutrals with a Womb chair. Yawn.
26
This appeals to a certain segment of the NY Times audience and it is renovation porn for the rest of us. It's good to see a variety of renovations from the minimal to the max with people who can afford them. If you really want to see inexpensive renovations, try watching HGTV. For whatever pure fiction is contained in their version of "reality" television, they are all about renovating and purchasing spaces at a much lower price point than this particular reno. For them, it's all about their audience being able to put themselves in the homeowners shoes. Let the Times show some beautiful renos that are fantasy for some and reality for others.
3
Doesn't look like a home for children. Hope they have their own TV and can mess with Legos that won't be archived in the bathroom. Even the dog looks well groomed. Probably is afraid to shed. Love the pun of a "Womb Chair" in the nursery. Hope their lives continue to be designable and meet all their plans.
8
Get a reasonably priced house in flyover country. The Midwest is filled with these opportunities. A trip to the Home Depot Design Center and you're set. Between the screwed up transit/traffic congestion in NYC and the impossibly rich housing costs I'm always in awe that people put up with this kind of life. Some of the happiest people I know are those who moved out of the NYC.
4
Metropolitan areas offer tons of things to do and - provided you have the necessary skills - access to a wide variety of very high paying jobs. These factors create high demand and push up housing prices. To suggest that most would be better off moving to the Midwest because it’s cheep and quiet is a simplistic view of things.
14
Define "necessary skills"?
Would that include pushing junk bonds, known as collateralized debt obligations?
This guy makes his money moving money, he's not a skilled surgeon. He's not some brilliant code-head.
He didn't invent the transistor--and there were several inventors long before the racist Shockley. He's not a major opera singer, he's not a significant cellist. He's not a genetics researcher at Columbia. I could go on for a long time about skills being absent here.
Talk about a simplistic view of "skills" and the midwest for that matter. Janos Starker if you don't get the reference.
3
It's cheaper still to move to Outer Mongolia. Place matters.
1
I love design so I love these articles. I am dismayed at the negativity directed at the family involving their ability to afford luxuries, their choices, and questioning if this was a good investment. I too would like to see "regular" renovations, but hate to see innocent people attacked online.
16
We need to renovate our small basement, but we are a middle class family, so unfortunately, as much as I wish it did, this article did not help. Good for the Livingston if they can effort this very expensive renovation, but I second others and I ask my favorite newspaper, you guys, to think of us regular people and present us articles on this topic that can actually help us. Thanks in advance!
48
I agree that this remodel has all the personality of an IKEA display, and IKEA would be a lot cheaper. Seriously, what family with that many kids ever has carefully curated Lego creations on a shelf? What family with college to save for would ever pay $4,000 for a chair? We did a major remodel in Palo Alto, and the interior designer was yours truly and my husband. We put money into insulation, high quality windows. beautiful hardwood floors, and lots and lots of colorful painted walls. We found some amazing 19th-century Spanish style furniture from a Venezuelan family who were moving out of the area and paid $1500 for the lot. If you are willing to think beyond modernist, you can save a ton of money. I too think the remodel section would benefit from featuring people who have a real-world budget and aren't just following the latest trends.
47
"What family with college to save for would ever pay $4,000 for a chair? "
One that can afford to spend more than $7 million for the purchase and renovation of an apartment!
29
I wish the articles like this would feature more middle class folks. My wife and are in the process of researching the renovation of our kitchen and it's freaking me out at the thought of spending $60K - $80K.
59
I live in a condo and was quoted $30,000 to renovate my kitchen. That's about 20% of what I paid for the apartment in the first place.
3
Spending that much to renovate a kitchen SHOULD freak out a normal person! Do you want a functioning kitchen, or a brag-about-it showplace?
4
Been there done that in MA and the number range quoted is not bad depending on choices. I lucked out and my contractor passed on his cost for the cabinets to me - no markup. Nevertheless, you still have to have a contingency budget of at least 15%.
Renovation is more agreeable when there are more than sufficient dollars, a trusted contractor and off-site living .
26
I'd be curious (perhaps morbidly curious) to know what original architectural features were sacrificed in the service of this never-going-back, bland, personality-free space.
53
And it’s so last decade already - every cliche.
8
While I’m sure StudioLAB appreciates the never-ending projects (and income) from this family, I’d be willing to bet that the architect does NOT enjoy having Mr. Livingston all up in his business 24/7 while he’s trying to do the job that he was trained for. I have several friends who are architects/designers and this is the exact description of a nightmare client: rich and thinking they know more about architecture and design than the professional.
60
Exactly. And apparently also having to explain basics like quarter-sawn as if it were a revelation.
6
Critical comments ignore the reality that other people are entitled to spend their money any way they wish. Could they have housed many indigent and homeless for the money? Sure, but the Livingstons appear content with the decisions they made, so it's really their business.
16
Yes it is their money and it is their home and it is all open to the public to read about in the NYT and the column is open to Comments. It is an Open House on-line .If it they feel it their business why appear here?
9
Of course other people are entitled to spend their money any way they wish. However I do wonder about their judgement sometimes when they decide to spend $5700 on a chair in the bedroom that will, most likely, end up being a spot for them to toss their pants onto at the end of the day.
4
I would disagree, if they allow their 'grandesse' printed in the Times then it becomes our business to give our thoughts.
If I had that Eames chair in the kids' room it would be the most expensive piece of furniture I owned. I second Willa Lewis that cheaper renovations would be more relevant.
18
Any before photos would have made the "new" photos far more impressive. The design of this apartment isn't particularly special.
45
So the finished apartment topped $7,000,000. Close to $3000 per square foot for a place with (obviously, from the photo) no fine views. Was this a sound financial move? Moreover, highlighting this renovation is almost hilarious, since it just goes to show that it only takes mountains of funds to live comfortably in this city. Would have preferred an article about a middle class family doing a renovation to make it work.
75
@Willa: They have protected views of the Museum of Natural History and its grounds - they won't ever have to worry that someone will build a tall building across from them and block their light. That's a big piece of the purchase price of the place (that, and sheer square footage).
13
For Manhattan they are middle class, sadly.
5
Never say never, L.
Folks never thought the twin towers would be gone, never thought that the landmarked Urban building would have a 46 story Foster addition plopped on top. No reason to think the Amer Mus of Nat His won't one day go elsewhere. Stranger things have happened. They built the Rose Planetarium that changed some folks views (albeit not dramatically).
4