Architect Carol Maryan bought her penthouse — a former maid’s quarters in a 1924 West End Avenue co-op — almost 30 years ago. She never really stopped tinkering with it. Years ago, when a section of the roof caved in, Maryan found that patching it up would be more expensive than replacing it with glass — or, rather, replacing it with an entire greenhouse, a glass-walled penthouse atop a glass-walled penthouse, which she turned into her son’s bedroom. When the co-op board planned work on the brick parapet that wraps the terrace, Maryan bid to fix it herself, cutting out brick that closed off views with railings she could peer through instead. Then there were sweeping, ingenious changes like raising the entire apartment up more than a foot, which made views over the Hudson more spectacular and dampened sound so her kids could get loud. To bring in even more light, she added skylights, which inspired her to replace the floors — ditching wood, which buckles in the sun, in favor of porcelain tile in a big joyful checkerboard.
Raising two sons in a 1,250-square-foot apartment also meant innovating when it came to space. Instead of hiding a refridgerator in the corner of the kitchen, Maryan put a low, double-wide fridge below a kitchen island. The family also made use of the space beyond the apartment, renovating the vestibule to add a coat closet, for instance. A 1,400-square-foot terrace, which wraps the apartment on three sides, functions as a second living room: There’s a private outdoor shower, a gas grill, and built-in speakers.
The apartment is technically a two-bedroom if you count the greenhouse. But a third is hiding in plain sight. Maryan asked her husband, Joel Berstein, the executive director of her architecture firm, to design a mechanism that allows a queen-size bed to drop down from a cupboard in the living-room ceiling. Maryan is “always addressing the most subtle details,” said Berstein. Watching her work on the apartment over the decades has been, he said, “a source of continuous joy for me.” To Maryan, it wasn’t joy so much as an intellectual exercise, a “fulfillment of a lifetime pursuing theories around light, energy, and economies of space.”
Maryan and Berstein redid the private vestibule, adding storage space and tile that echoes the broader checkerboard inside.
“You feel like you’re on a ship where everything has its place,” said broker Louise Phillips Forbes. Curved ceilings and big water views also give a kind of maritime feel.
A view down the dining room. Pattern and color help the space avoid the soulless ice-box aesthetics of most penthouses.
A curved iron staircase leads up to the greenhouse that Maryan added to replace a section of the roof.
The greenhouse addition brings even more light into the space, though there are also three other skylights.
Maryan added to the river views by raising the floors, including full-length windows, and cutting into the balustrades, replacing brick with iron railings.
The living room looks over the Hudson River, and the family enjoys watching the boats pass.
Maryan considered the home the “fulfillment of a lifetime pursuing theories around light, energy, and economies of space.” She added storage and functionality to almost every nook.
A queen bed drops down from a cabinet in the ceiling.
By day, the queen-size bed is hidden away.
A 1,400-square-foot terrace wraps around three sides of the apartment and includes a gas grill and an outdoor shower.
The apartment’s only conventional bedroom.
A pot rack saves space. Under the kitchen island hides a fridge.
The fridge under the island can be accessed from both sides — either by someone sitting on a stool looking for a drink or via the cook on the other side grabbing an ingredient.
A small, light-filled office.
One of two bathrooms.
Blue tile pops in a second bathroom.
The terrace at night.
Maryan and Berstein redid the private vestibule, adding storage space and tile that echoes the broader checkerboard inside.
“You feel like you’re on a ship where everything has its place,” said broker Louise Phillips Forbes. Curved ceilings and big water views also give a kind of maritime feel.
A view down the dining room. Pattern and color help the space avoid the soulless ice-box aesthetics of most penthouses.
A curved iron staircase leads up to the greenhouse that Maryan added to replace a section of the roof.
The greenhouse addition brings even more light into the space, though there are also three other skylights.
Maryan added to the river views by raising the floors, including full-length windows, and cutting into the balustrades, replacing brick with iron railings.
The living room looks over the Hudson River, and the family enjoys watching the boats pass.
Maryan considered the home the “fulfillment of a lifetime pursuing theories around light, energy, and economies of space.” She added storage and functionality to almost every nook.
A queen bed drops down from a cabinet in the ceiling.
By day, the queen-size bed is hidden away.
A 1,400-square-foot terrace wraps around three sides of the apartment and includes a gas grill and an outdoor shower.
The apartment’s only conventional bedroom.
A pot rack saves space. Under the kitchen island hides a fridge.
The fridge under the island can be accessed from both sides — either by someone sitting on a stool looking for a drink or via the cook on the other side grabbing an ingredient.
A small, light-filled office.
One of two bathrooms.
Blue tile pops in a second bathroom.
The terrace at night.
