Location: Manhattan, NY
Price: $6,895,000
The owner of this open-plan apartment in Soho added a second floor and a roofdeck, giving the home 2,100 square feet of outdoor space.
Patrick Orban made an offer on this Manhattan apartment the day he saw it. It was 1996 and Mr. Orban, who works in finance, was planning on relocating from London to New York. ‘I wanted to be in Soho because that was where the art was happening, and I also wanted to be in east Soho because it was the equivalent of Bushwick relative to Williamsburg today. It was fresh and a little emerging,’ says Mr. Orban.
The space had been split into two artist’s lofts. ‘It was completely un-renovated. There was barely plumbing working,’ says Mr. Orban. He paid $545,000 for the apartment, he says, and estimates that over the years he has spent more than $2 million on multiple renovations including adding a second floor and a roof deck.
Mr. Orban’s aesthetic has evolved. Twenty years ago he collected pop art and had chairs painted red, blue and green, he says. Now, he has a softer palate. He describes the space as a combination of industrial and Japanese styles. In the kitchen, he designed the counters as well as the dining room table. ‘The kitchen is more polished than my previous kitchen,’ he says. He has always kept the floor plan open. ‘You may have partitions, but the only door I will accept is to the toilet,’ he says.
Mr. Orban uses the more than 2,700-square-foot apartment as a one-bedroom home but says it’s possible to make it into three bedrooms. He kept the original brick walls that date back the to the early 1900s, he says. The tatami mats in the master bedroom came from Tokyo.
‘I’m more a tub person. It’s a soaking tub. It’s deep, it’s very comfortable,’ says Mr. Orban. The bath, the sinks and the cabinets are made of hinoki wood from Japan. The floor is soapstone tile. ‘I like huge tiles because it’s a much more calming effect,’ he says. Mr. Orban chose concrete for the counter. The home has three baths.
‘I created the second floor five or six years ago. I wanted the second floor to feel like an L.A. home, and downstairs is a landmark loft,’ says Mr. Orban. The second floor has a covered terrace, shown here, with a hanging fireplace. The home has approximately 2,100 square feet of outdoor space.
‘It’s the most practical place because you are outdoors but feel like you’re indoors,’ says Mr. Orban.
A spiral staircase leads to the roof deck. The outdoor furniture is from Quinze & Milan. The furnishings are negotiable.
Mr. Orban uses the other half of the second floor as a music room, though he says it could be a bedroom. While Mr. Orban says his ‘primary hobby is designing and collecting,’ he also creates some of his own multi-media art.
Mr. Orban says he will miss the ‘creativity of the space’ and the combination of indoor and outdoor space. ‘I love the design, the zen feeling that I get when I get home, the neighborhood,’ he says.
Mr. Orban, age 50, is selling as he’s ready for a new project and is planning to move to Brooklyn. ‘I want to recreate the adventure for myself. I want to push the envelope to the next level,’ he says. ‘My next adventure would be to find a raw space in East Williamsburg or Bushwick.’
The home has an asking price of $6.895 million. Todd Lewin and Emily Beare of CORE share the listing.