the unloftiest loft ever – 28 W 38 is over-the-top
yes, a Versailles loft
Loft snob that I am, I sometimes carp about whether a given space passes muster as a true Manhattan loft, or is more loft-like or even (gasp) more “apartment” than loft. See August 30, 2006 the Tao of Lofts / essential features for the general rules (according to me) and August 27, 2007American Thread new to market / why so soon? for some carping about a not-loft-in-loft-building (“[p]erhaps this is the loft for uptown people who just want a downtown address”).
I have never seen anything like #7E at 28 West 38 Street before.
There is no question that this is a loft building (previous life in industry, high ceilings, huge windows, some exposed mechanicals), or that units here have sold that are true lofts. In layout, this is clearly a classic Long-and-Narrow, with the benefit of having 4 windows on one long side. There’s ample space, with a living/dining area of 31 x 15 feet, linked to open space from the kitchen into a den that is over 40 feet long.
But … but … but …
The big room’s floor is a combination of name brand marble and stone mosaic (no maple here!). The room’s walls are silk-lined. And this room has a chrome (!) ceiling.
The kitchen is a different name-brand marble floor with (I will quote here because I am not sure I can visualize) “Venetian plaster and rubbed vinyl walls”, with tin ceilings.
The den has yet another name-brand marble floor, mahogany walls and brass (!) ceiling.
More (different) name-brand marble floor in the master bedroom, more silk on the walls and a “unique” master bath.
The second bath gets the 18 karat gold fixtures.
Just look at the pix on the web, please, and read the description of the many elements I have not mentioned. As Halstead’s Anna Shagalov says in her listing headline “Versailles in NYC”. “2,000 sq ft” of the damnedest over-the-top renovation that I have ever seen in a loft.
Asking $2.375mm and $2,121/mo for the kind of space that can only be bought by someone who buys into the entire look. Don’t buy this if you are going to change the marble, or the gold fixtures, or the silk on the walls. Not to mention, this block is pretty gritty, pretty commercial, pretty authentically loft-y. I suspect that most people with silk walls, three metal ceilings and four name-brand marble floors have doormen (and porters, and handymen, and livery).
As they say, you can never tell what living spaces look like just by looking at a loft building façade or grungy lobby. Never more true than here. (I wonder if the neighbors know???)
First showings are Wednesday.
© Sandy Mattingly 2007
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