SoHo loft with Hopperesque views, $5M
Andrew Hansen 
With about 2500 square feet, the star if the apartment is the central space of about 1059 square feet with corner exposure and fine views of cast-iron and other facades contemporary with the 1872 building at 39 Crosby Street (corner Broome Street.)
The galley kitchen is okay, the bedrooms and other spaces above and below a mezzanine are nice enough, but the big expanse if the main space with its 13' high ceilings and elegant windows is what I love.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 36 | December 8, 2023 2:04 PM |
Listing (with its star photo the ugly lobby)
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 6, 2023 10:49 PM |
Fucking beautiful room. I would just stare out the windows all day.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 6, 2023 10:56 PM |
It's lovely, but cold; it's got a HOA of $1400/mo on top of being 4.5 million. I'd rather buy a real house.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 6, 2023 11:00 PM |
Lots of unused space in the living room that should be used to expand out the cramped kitchen.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | December 6, 2023 11:01 PM |
That living room is what makes it so special. Fuck the kitchen.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 6, 2023 11:07 PM |
The windowless galley kitchens really depress me.
I’m with r4.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 6, 2023 11:08 PM |
That was my thought, R2. I would put a few more mile long sofas in the room, a few big area rugs, and follow the sun around the room like a cat.
The listing from the Corcoran Group anticipates the galley kitchen hate with an alternate floor plan (to the existing shown in the preview). Doing away with the mezzanine offers some advantages, but I hate kitchens as bare-assed in the middle of a larger space. Ideally, the kitchen could be shifted to the current office (and the 2nd bedroom at the NW corner with the stair used as an office/study.)
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 7 | December 6, 2023 11:24 PM |
It’s fucking perfect. And the maintenance / tax charges are only 3k a month - that’s extremely low for an apartment this amazing.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | December 6, 2023 11:25 PM |
That kitchen is a deal breaker for anyone who likes to cook
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | December 6, 2023 11:48 PM |
People cook massive feasts on yachts (see an episode of Below Deck for example) in a space similar if not smaller to the one we see here. Anyone worth their salt (pun not intended) in the cooking department would be just fine. It's the fucking Frauen that need an open plan kitchen the size of that gorgeous front room, if not bigger.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | December 7, 2023 1:27 AM |
It’s absolutely perfect.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | December 7, 2023 1:38 AM |
Fantastic view! And look how close it is the the Ghostbusters Headquarters! Sign me up
Though, the kitchen looks like an industrial claustrophobic nightmare
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | December 7, 2023 1:49 AM |
That kitchen is claustrophobic. Hell no.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | December 7, 2023 2:25 AM |
Love it. I would move in there as is.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | December 7, 2023 2:26 AM |
Lovely. However the area is less desirable than the West Village
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | December 7, 2023 2:41 AM |
Well, if it people on Below Deck love cooking in a kitchen like that it must be good. Other people like room for multiple people in the kitchen, family style.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | December 7, 2023 2:42 AM |
For $5 million you shouldn’t have a tin ceiling. Every other element has been changed. Change that bullshit.
Also, there are no window coverings, much less hardware. You really are living in a fish bowl.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | December 7, 2023 2:42 AM |
Hate it. Look at the floor plan. All acute angles and different levels and wasted space. A tiny loft accessed through the 2nd bedroom with another bathroom up there? What’s that huge tiled room next to the master? Just a bath tub? Note that the w/d is crammed into the tiny bathroom between the foyer and the 2nd bedroom.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | December 7, 2023 2:51 AM |
R18. Agree on the tin ceilings. It would be the one priority for me to change.
I wouldn't want window coverings, however. The windows are absolutely the best feature of the place. If coverings were absolutely necessary, I would use thin profile blinds that operate electronically.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | December 7, 2023 5:23 AM |
Room for my Beannie Baby collection. 🧸
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | December 7, 2023 5:30 AM |
I have never used my kitchen once. Couldn't care less about it.
I love this apartment and want it NOW.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | December 7, 2023 5:49 AM |
R18 are you sure those are tin ceilings? They look more like painted concrete to me. If they are tin ceilings, they are one of the few things that give this any character and I'd keep them. I would definitely add window coverings though otherwise this place will be colder than a witches twat in winter
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | December 7, 2023 8:16 AM |
r23 The listing says "original tin ceilings".
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | December 7, 2023 9:03 AM |
Oh allll right….I’ll take it.
It’s a wonky floor plan but yes, that living area’s views are really cool. Buy a nice bathrobe.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | December 7, 2023 1:03 PM |
In nyc original tin ceilings, like exposed brick or substantial pre-war moldings, are usually seen as a plus. The diagonal layout is very 80s / 90s but also not unusual in loft conversions of that era - theses were usually done for childless couples or singles, and the “wasted space” was a status symbol.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | December 7, 2023 3:53 PM |
[quote]In nyc original tin ceilings, like exposed brick or substantial pre-war moldings, are usually seen as a plus.
True. Pressed tin ceilings were a common feature in commercial and some industrial buildings, they are part of the NYC Loft Aesthetic, together with exposed brick walls. This tin ceiling in particular does nothing for me: you can see how the surface undulates from the ceiling above it and there are small shadowy gaps between the squares of tin where it comes away from the ceiling at different heights and angles. I would rather have the concrete ceilings painted and show that material rather than some tatty old tin in poor condition that, even if it were in pristine condition, is not a look I like. Others obviously feel differently. The same for me with exposed brick. Interior brick walls were in almost every instance meant to be covered with plaster as survive (and have been extended in new partitions) in this apartment. I don't hate brick walls, but where brick was originally covered in plaster, I prefer them covered in plaster. Everyone likes the look of the brick walls in the Battersea Power Station, but these walls were plastered the better to produce light for industrial/commerical buildings. I know people love exposed brick, but it's just that in nearly every case: brick not restored to its original condition or look, but "exposed" by property developers because it sells.
Looking around, I see this was for sale in October 2022 for $5.5M, with the same furniture, etc., so it's been for sale for a long time or had a contract fall through or something.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 27 | December 7, 2023 4:33 PM |
R27 - most old tin ceilings in NYC are far from pristine, it was a cheap construction method in its day -- equivalent to the suspended acoustic panel ceiling that largely replaced it later in the 20th cent. Those that survive almost always have mismatched repairs, gaps, undulations and very thick layers of paint - as you said it's part of the Loft Aesthetic and the inherent imperfections aren't for everyone. Pressed tin has made a bit of a comeback over the last few decades, especially in restaurants, and those ceilings are not only perfect, but usually lacquered to still show the tin, not painted, which was never done originally.
Except for a stable house or the like, interior masonry walls were almost always covered in lath and plaster, even in the factory loft buildings you find in SoHo -- the brick was exposed in the post war period when the plaster walls were too far gone to repair cheaply; it was more cost effective to just rip the cracked plaster, lathe and studs out completely. This was common in tenement apartments, and became part of the Bohemian Chic look of the 60s and 70s even though it all started with penny-pinching landlords. The walls in the loft that is for sale are all obviously sheetrock from the renovation - you can never get old plaster to look that smooth, square and flat no matter how good you are with skim coating.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | December 7, 2023 4:54 PM |
Is it common to have exposed pipes as seen in the ceiling of the living room, especially in the case for lofts? I don't actually hate the look, I'm just not educated in these thangs.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | December 8, 2023 3:00 AM |
Wow, everything about it is perfect for me.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | December 8, 2023 3:13 AM |
R29 - short answer - yes, very common.
Longer answer — the exposed pipes you see on the ceiling are for 1) the sprinkler system (the two long straight runs) and 2) electric conduit for the ceiling fan & lights. Both were added after the building was finished to bring it up to changing code. In brick construction, if the lath and plaster walls / studs are gone the only way to run electric is on outside of the walls in thin metal pipes. Commercial / industrial buildings need both sprinklers and fire escapes.
My old apartment was in a 4 story 1849 row house - since it was all exposed brick the electric was in conduit and because it was built as a single family home it didn’t have fire escapes, so sprinkler pipes were added when it became a multi-unit dwelling.
- once it became a multi unit dwelling it needed either fire escapes or a sprinkler system.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | December 8, 2023 5:32 AM |
R24 I missed that, thanks. That tin ceiling is in a state as R27 points out. And all the exposed pipe and conduit that R29 noticed just makes it look even worse. I'd actually consider concealing all that by building a false ceiling as close as possible to the original leaving just enough gap to hide pipes, conduit etc with something like sheetrock, then putting modern reproduction tin over that with cornice mouldings like the ones in the link, ceiling roses etc etc. But I'd do that after getting rid of the awful 80's/90's diagonal layout R26 pointed out - not only does it waste space but its ugly and doesnt fit the period look I'd want. Would probably do a better kitchen in the course of that simply because I can, I dont care much about kitchens but that one is ugly and dark
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 32 | December 8, 2023 8:28 AM |
I could present my whole to all directions at once.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | December 8, 2023 12:03 PM |
[quote]39 Crosby Street is a condo located in SoHo, New York. The building was first built in 1874 and is 149 years old. It was first renovated and altered in 1986. But was most recently renovated and altered in 2005. [source: realtyhop.com]
[quote] Originally built in 1872, by famed architect Edward H. Kendall [bold]this iconic Neo-Grec, 5-story, cast iron and brick building underwent a meticulous designer restoration when reimagined as a boutique condominium in 2010, including over $1M spent on restoring the façade alone to its former glory.[/bold]
The diagonal floor plan of this unit may indeed date (in part) to the 1980s. Another listing stated that the building and every unit was extensively renovated in 2010 for its "reimagining" as a boutique condo. There is considerable variety in the few apartments I can see; the penthouse was added as an afterthought, and, from past listing photos, is frankly modern but disappointingly so.
As for the tin ceilings. I just dislike them. I know their purpose and their history, and their revival in the 1980s in the heyday of historic preservation in the U.S. They can look very good in a shop or restaurant (both period and new), but I've only seen a very few in residential use outside a kitchen where they didn't look wrong or ugly or both. If this were my apartment, I would probably leave the tin if removing it meant a serious disruption to the exposed wiring and sprinkler systems, but to my eye it would look much better without the tin and with the ceiling revealed underneath and painted uniformly. The pattern in this case is a little underwhelming too, too small a repeat and too timid in relief to make the bold impression a patterned ceiling should have.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 8, 2023 1:16 PM |
How bizarre that the bathroom in the second bedroom doesn't have a shower, but does have the washer/dryer while the guest bathroom has a shower.
Whover did that floor plan was clearly drunk.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | December 8, 2023 2:01 PM |
[quote]I could present my whole to all directions at once.
Your whole hole?
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | December 8, 2023 2:04 PM |
