West Village Roost

Photography by Catherine Tighe This 1890s tenement apartment, also known as a cold water flat, was ripe for a renovation. With a shower and toilet/sink located at opposite ends and a cooktop in the living room, the railroad layout was a disjointed jumble in need of coherent modernization. Our first step was to move the poche -- the cluster of plumbing and storage space -- into one centralized location. We created a European-styled bathroom with a Carrara marble stall shower and a space-saving wall-hung toilet. Opposite the bathroom are built-in closets constructed to detailed specification to accommodate the couple's wardrobe. The resulting corridor space acts as a fluid connector between the apartments's public living area and the private bedroom. Open walnut shelving in the kitchen lends a "floating" appearance to stacked dishes and glassware, while concealed, small-sized appliances maintain the sleek look. The stove and refrigerator are installed on the stairwell wall, so that the exposed brick of the opposite wall appears to flow through the unit. The living room fireplace was restored to working condition while the bedroom fireplace, a likely fire hazard located so close to the foot of the bed, was ingeniously fitted with a custom shoe cabinet.