A Sottsass penthouse in New York - yours for just $19m!
OK, it's pricey, but then again it is a perfectly preserved example of the Memphis founder’s interior design
If you were told that your new multimillion dollar Manhattan apartment was actually ‘Memphis’, you might think twice before picking up the keys. However, the Memphis in the case of this West 67th Street penthouse is not a city in Tennessee, but an iconic eighties design movement.
The apartment that crowns New York’s Hotel Des Artistes, currently on sale with Sotheby's, was designed by the Italian architect and Memphis founder Ettore Sottsas, and bears many of his colourful, post-modern traits. You can even see the first edition of our Sottsas book in the foreground of our main picture.
“The first floor of the Penthouse boasts an extraordinary double-height studio great room with 18’9” ceilings, Central Park views and open northern exposures from a wall of 15’ high windows,” explains Sotheby’s. “This adjoins a dining room with 17’9” ceilings. A guest bedroom suite, a windowed Chef’s Kitchen, a powder room and staff bath complete this floor. On the mezzanine level, a bedroom with two baths and dressing room lead to a balcony overlooking the great room. Upstairs, the penthouse includes a master bedroom suite with two dressing rooms, a media room, a kitchenette and two baths. The spectacular study, with three exposures, overlooks an 827sf terrace with beautiful open views.”
The place hasn’t been on the market for 30 years, and still bears many, deeply eighties design motifs, such as this deeply pigmented bathroom. If you’re thinking about putting a bid in on the place, or even if you’re keen to find out more about the man behind this design movement, take a look at our Sottsass books here.