My Houzz: A Basketball Court, a Rooftop Kitchen and More in Manhattan
A very dilapidated motorcycle garage on New York City’s Lower West Side seems to be an unlikely choice as a home for a husband-and-wife design team with six children and another one on the way. But it proved to be irresistible. “We drove by it several times and knew it was the one for us,” says Cortney Novogratz, half of the design duo The Novogratz.
She and her husband, Robert, have become known for their tear-down-and-rebuild approach to creating homes. While the couple’s previous renovation projects always resulted in a dramatically new space, this is the first home they designed from the ground up, turning what was a two-story garage into a five-story tour de force, complete with roof deck and view.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Robert and Cortney Novogratz and their 7 children, Wolfgang, Bellamy, Tallulah, Breaker, Five, Holleder and Major
Location: New York City
Size: 7,100 square feet (660 square meters); 5 bedrooms, 4½ bathrooms
That’s interesting: Construction on the house was the subject of an episode of 9 by Design on Bravo.
The 22-foot-wide townhouse soars five stories high, exemplifying vertical living at its finest. Floor-to-ceiling windows on each level create a streamlined facade and open up the house to expansive views of the Hudson River and New Jersey beyond.
“For years we have renovated old homes, turning them into something new, which is great, but we were really excited to build from the ground up,” says Cortney; they added on three additional stories while converting the two-story garage. “It was tough building a new home with six children and another on the way, and it was a little scary to start from scratch, because we had never done that before. However, that is what made it so gratifying; we were having our seventh child, and this house was kind of our baby, too,” she says. “Everything in it was made of our memories.”
One big plus for the property is the one-car garage, something notoriously difficult to come by in Manhattan. “The motorcycle shop already had the makings of a garage, and we could use that for our cars,” Cortney says. The garage and entry take up the entire ground floor, raising the living spaces well off street level to give the family privacy and isolation from the sounds from the street.
The couple commissioned British pop artist Richard Woods to create an installation on the facade. The faux bois panels lend visual interest and a good dose of humor to the exterior.
In the entry hall, patterns and finishes play off one another and set the tone for the rest of the house.Bisazza’s Vienna Nero mosaic flooring has vintage appeal, while mirrored globe pendants and ornamental wallpaper lend a dash of opulence.
Taking advantage of the hall’s length, the couple installed a row of easily accessible coat hooks. For this busy family of nine, keeping organized is crucial, and practical ideas such as this help minimize clutter.
Read more of this story — A Basketball Court, a Rooftop Kitchen and More in Manhattan
My Houzz: A Basketball Court, a Rooftop Kitchen and More in Manhattan
