Living Above the Rooftops of Greenwich Village Apartment with Terrace in Greenwich Village, New York
In one of Manhattan's most singular neighborhoods, where the streets preserve a human scale and aged brick coexists with contemporary art, this high-floor apartment with a private terrace rises above it all. A home that looks out over the city from above without ever losing touch with its neighborhood spirit: intimate, cultured, full of life.
The Entryway
Crossing the threshold, the journey begins with a clarity that says everything. To the left, a wall with a hand-applied mineral-look textured finish in stone tones introduces a warm temperature that contrasts with the crisp white of the rest of the space. Facing the door, a two-seater sofa upholstered in caramel-colored velvet, with a rounded silhouette and soft lines, serves as the first welcoming piece. Above it, a large circular mirror with a thin bronze metal frame occupies the wall with a presence that is both commanding and serene: it does not decorate, it frames. Floor lamp by Flos, Coordinates model.
The wide-plank white oak flooring in a bleached tone with a matte finish runs throughout the entire apartment, visually unifying the space from the very first step. On both sides of the entry hallway, storage is resolved with bespoke built-in wardrobes, lacquered with linear handles in dark grey metal, perfectly flush with the wall. An open niche within the ensemble holds a few ceramic pieces in vibrant orange that provide the only color accent in this first stretch. The front door retains its brass hardware, a nod to the building's architecture.
The Dining Room
The dining area opens generously toward the city. The table, crafted from solid American white oak with a mitered joinery structure, artisanal in execution and grand in scale, presides over the space with the authority of a one-of-a-kind piece. Surrounding it are chairs with a black metal frame and seat and back upholstered in pearl grey bouclé fabric, with an organic line and wraparound arms. To one side, a bespoke lacquered bench with a burgundy velvet cushion defines the window side, also incorporating storage capacity in its base.
The lamp crowning the composition is a sculptural piece of the highest order: a constellation of spheres in bronzed metal and lacquered white, varying in size, suspended above the table, the Bubbly 04 Chandelier by Rosie Li. Its presence is as pictorial as it is luminous. On the side wall, a large canvas in grey and silver tones with an organic, almost geological texture anchors the space and converses with the overall color palette. On the back wall, a figurative painting in vivid colors provides the expressive counterpoint of the project.
From here, the framed double-hung windows open the dining room onto the rooftops of the Village: water towers, leafless winter trees, and the unmistakable silhouette of Manhattan in the distance.
The Sub-Zero wine cooler, integrated into the pass-through unit between the dining room and kitchen, with a glass front and capacity for around forty bottles, underscores the social character of this home. The countertop above it, Inalco Silk bush-hammered black, contrasts with the soft grey of the lacquered cabinetry. On the table, a turned olive wood bowl with visible grain and a natural finish, alongside a cylindrical vase in aged gilded metal, compose the centerpiece with the precision of a still life.
The pendant lamp, a horizontal composition of spheres in dark brass and lacquered white, in variable sizes, mounted on a bronzed metal axis, is the piece that visually anchors the dining area. It does not illuminate: it takes center stage. It speaks directly to the large painting on the back wall: a large-format work with mineral textures in brown, gold, silver and black, of an almost cosmological appearance.
The Living Room — Three Planes, One Single Atmosphere
The living room unfolds in continuity with the dining room, without physical separation, yet with its own identity that sets it apart. The views are its raison d'être: large running windows and a sliding glass door opening onto the terrace frame the Lower Manhattan skyline, with One World Trade Center as a permanent beacon.
The main sofa, large in scale and upholstered in light grey bouclé, defines the central axis of the living room. Its L-shaped composition embraces the space generously. Beside it, a Herman Miller chaise longue upholstered in mustard linen fabric, with a wooden structure and turned legs, provides the warmest chromatic accent in the composition. On it, cushions in beige and cream geometric fabric. Two armchairs with black metal frames and toasted bouclé upholstery, with an architectural line and straight arms, complete the seating group, creating a visual thread throughout the apartment.
The coffee table is one of the most singular pieces in the project: an irregular organic shape, almost like a polished stone, in natural travertine with visible veining, resting on a sculptural base of the same material. Beside it, a small side table in dark turned wood, an Eames Turned Stool with a double-disc silhouette, adds an artisanal note. To one side, the Post Floor Lamp by Muuto.
The entire back wall is occupied by a bespoke bookcase-TV unit, lacquered with linear handles in dark metal. It integrates the screen at center, flanked by open shelving modules and drawers at the base. Sonos speakers are discreetly integrated among books and decorative objects. To the right of the bookcase, a large figurative work in black and white, two human figures rendered in an expressionist gesture, occupies the place of honor.
On the continuous sill beneath the windows, a bespoke low lacquered vitrine serves as a plinth and display surface. On top of it, two handcrafted ceramic vases in greyish green, and a design table lamp referencing the Flos Taccia model, with a circular white glass shade and chrome metal base, place the space in direct conversation with the great design tradition of the twentieth century. Completing the living room, a three-headed floor lamp with articulated arms in black metal, the AJ by Arne Jacobsen, accompanies the chaise longue with precise and elegant reading light.
The rug unifying the living room is a long-pile piece in a very light sand tone, with a plush texture that softens the contrast with the hardwood floor and adds tactile warmth to the space, by Homenature.
As evening falls, the living room transforms. The perimeter indirect lighting, a band of LED light recessed into the dropped ceiling along the window wall, bathes the space in a warm tone and envelops the interior while the skyline lights up on the other side of the glass. New York comes home.
The Terrace
From the living room, two large-format sliding glass doors give way to the private terrace: an exceptional outdoor space that wraps around the apartment and offers 270-degree views over the rooftops of Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan.
The outdoor furniture is in anthracite metal: a two-seater sofa with woven mesh fabric, contemporary stackable chairs, and a table with a grey stone top, all in a chromatic range that converses with the building's stonework. Outdoor cushions in terracotta red, beige and geometric patterns add color and comfort. Large-format planters in grey fibre cement house spherically pruned shrubs and slender trees that visually filter the white railing. Exterior lighting is resolved with matte black wall sconces.
The most powerful image of the terrace, and perhaps of the entire project, is the one that snow turns into a stage set: the table and chairs beneath a stormy sky, and in the background, One World Trade Center emerging through the clouds like an obelisk of light.
The Kitchen
The kitchen is the most vibrant heart of the apartment. A space conceived for someone who loves to cook as much as to gather: functional to the last centimeter, yet charged with personality and color.
All cabinetry is lacquered in Farrow & Ball's Mole's Breath, with linear handles in matte black metal. The contrast with the black countertops is bold and sophisticated. The kitchen flooring changes to large-format porcelain tile in dark grey from Atlas Concorde, precisely distinguishing the work zone from the rest of the apartment.
The large central island serves as both a preparation area and a breakfast bar, with a raised lateral extension that functions as a kitchen desk, the spot where the day's recipe book gets leafed through. Four high stools with rounded caramel leather seats and slim black metal legs invite guests to sit and take part in the culinary ritual.
The kitchen proudly displays its professional vocation: a six-burner gas range by Sub-Zero, with red knobs, of a typology clearly inspired by French culinary tradition, with a Sub-Zero extractor hood integrated into the upper module. A high-end chrome espresso machine and a countertop water filter complete the drinks area. A glazed wine cabinet, visible from the dining area, stores bottles with the same elegance as the rest of the space.
The lighting system is one of the most distinctive elements of the project: a set of cylindrical pendant lights in dark black metal, suspended by tensioned cables that converge at a central point on the ceiling, a matte black distribution disc, and fan out toward different points above the island and countertops. The result is almost sculptural: the Wireflow by Vibia.
On either side of the hood, two open shelving modules display a collection of handcrafted mugs in various tones, orange, mint green, grey, cream, mustard, arranged with the rigor of an art installation. On the floating shelf above the side desk, large turned walnut bowls sit alongside cookbook spines, Plenty, Alice Waters, Flavor, and glass bottles in amber, green and white.
The wall separating the kitchen from the adjacent space is covered with Cole & Son's Nuvolette wallpaper, evoking the winter skies of New York. The space houses a sofa bed upholstered in medium grey fabric with terracotta orange and multicolor geometric cushions, over a short-pile terracotta rug by Homenature. An entire wall of built-in lacquered wardrobes closes the back with order and discretion. Floor lamp: Parentesi by Flos.
The Primary Bedroom, Serenity Above Manhattan
The hallway leading to the primary bedroom is in itself a poetic threshold. On the left wall, a gallery of black-framed photographs, images in black and white and color, in varying formats, arranged in an asymmetric composition, announces the intimate and personal tone of the private space.
The most powerful element of the bedroom is the headboard wall: Mediterranean Arches, a large-scale wallpaper reproducing ogival arches and architectural moldings in a pale stone tone with an almost stucco-like appearance, covering the entire wall from floor to ceiling. The reference is unequivocally neo-Gothic, evoking the interiors of Grace Church or Jefferson Market Library, both just a few blocks away, yet treated with a chromatic subtlety that renders it background, not protagonist.
The large-format bed stands out with understated elegance: an upholstered fabric headboard, straight in line and generous in height. The bedding combines white linen sheets, a hand-woven camel blanket with a scalloped edge, and cushions in two registers: large ones in a plush textured fabric and others in an undulating print in mustard, ochre and brown. On either side, two rounded bedside tables in dark walnut with curved-profile drawers and a satin finish accompany the composition with quiet elegance. On them, two Louis Poulsen table lamps with gilded brass bases and opal white glass shades cast a warm, diffuse light.
Facing the central window, with a direct view of One World Trade Center, a natural oak desk houses a desktop computer. In the corner beside the terrace door, a compact armchair upholstered in pearl grey fabric creates a reading nook, accompanied by a floor lamp with an opal glass sphere. The long-pile sand-toned rug by Homenature and the bench at the foot of the bed upholstered in moss green velvet complete the composition with warmth.
The Primary Bathroom
The en-suite bathroom is a space of serene efficiency. All surfaces are clad in large-format slabs of grey-beige limestone with a honed finish, soft to the touch. The vanity unit is bespoke, wall-hung and lacquered, with a long white quartz countertop housing two recessed rectangular basins. The wall-mounted chrome fittings sit directly on the stone cladding. The wall above the vanity is covered by a large mirrored cabinet with hinged doors that organizes storage with complete invisibility.
The freestanding bathtub, set into a platform of the same stone cladding, occupies the corner beside the window, which opens directly onto the Manhattan skyline. Bathing with One World Trade Center in the background is one of those quiet privileges that only New York can offer. Wall sconce: Flos Coordinates model.
The Dressing Room
Adjacent to the bathroom, the bespoke walk-in closet is organized in lacquered off-white modules with integrated LED profile lighting on each shelf and at the base. The interior combines double-height hanging rails, drawers in various formats, and slanted shoe shelves. Full-length mirror hinged doors complete the solution with absolute practicality.
The Guest Bedroom
If the primary bedroom speaks the serene language of the New York architect, the guest bedroom expresses itself in a radically different voice: bolder, more sensual, more well-traveled.
The headboard wall is covered with a stunning Cole & Son wallpaper Piccadilly Seville, featuring geometric medallions in deep blue, turquoise, aged gold and garnet, with an orientalist inspiration, running floor to ceiling. It is a statement of intent: this room has seen the world. The bed presents a headboard upholstered in terracotta orange velvet, an accent that vibrates with intensity against the blue wallpaper, and bedding in soft grey linen. Cushions combine pieces in blush bouclé and geometric kilim in khaki and raw linen. On either side, two tripod-profile bedside tables in black metal, the Florence model by Knoll, support matching Laguna lamps by Artemide, with gilded brass bases and opal white glass spheres.
The Guest Suite Bathroom
The guest bathroom offers a solution of great textural refinement: a small-format tile cladding in vertical strips of glazed ceramic in off-white and soft grey, with a ribbed effect, covering walls and shower from floor to ceiling. The vanity unit is in solid American walnut with horizontally slatted molded fronts and a white quartz countertop. The most singular element is the oculus: a circular window of white opal glass set into the shower wall, acting as an interior skylight that allows light to pass through without sacrificing privacy. It is an architectural gesture of great elegance. Wall sconce: Flos Foglio model.
The Designer in Her Work
Beside the mustard linen chaise longue, framed by the double-hung window and the rooftops of the Village beyond, with the neo-Romanesque red brick tower of the Church of the Ascension as a backdrop, the designer poses between two handcrafted ceramic vases in celadon green, of organic shapes and varying sizes. These are pieces that encapsulate the spirit of the project: beautiful for their form, not for their ostentation. The apartment breathes behind her.
The Terrace at Sunset — The Promised Spectacle
There are moments that justify an entire project. On this terrace, that moment arrives every afternoon when the sun sets over Lower Manhattan. The sky ignites in orange and violet, the outdoor table lies dusted in snow, the grey fibre cement planters cut their silhouettes against the light, and in the background, with an almost cinematic precision, One World Trade Center rises above the city like the lighthouse of a metropolis that refuses to surrender. The designer knows it. That is why she is there, standing on the terrace with the wind in her hair and Manhattan at her back, in an image that needs no caption.
The Neighborhood — Greenwich Village at Nightfall
The final images of the project are not of the apartment. They are of what the apartment contains: the entire city unfolding from its windows and terrace like an unparalleled gift.
From the south, One World Trade Center and the Lower Manhattan skyline burning at dusk, with the clock of the Jefferson Market Library marking the hours in the foreground. The yellow taxi lights cutting across Sixth Avenue in long exposure. The Empire State Building lighting up to the north in blue and gold. The avenues full of life beneath the snow.
Greenwich Village from the heights is not merely a neighborhood: it is a promise that the city can be at once intimate and grand, ancient and contemporary, human and spectacular. This apartment embodies that promise with equal conviction.
