[lively upbeat music]
- Hello, we're in the Upper West Side of Manhattan,
standing in front of landmarked building
that needs a lot of work.
The property's on the market for $22 million
and the interior has been completely gutted.
I'm Anna Karp.
I'm a general contractor in New York City
and I am also CEO of a design and build company
called Bolster.
[lively upbeat music]
So before this property was gutted,
a couple basically treat her as their labor of love
and spent 18 years restoring the property
to its original condition.
It had eight bedrooms, 9 1/2 bathrooms,
and a lot of space for entertaining.
There is a stark contrast
between the exterior and the limestone facade
that is very well preserved because it's landmarked
and the interior that we're gonna see inside.
It's a French Renaissance exterior and mansion.
Industrialists in the US at the time,
we're looking towards European castles and influences
to build their prime neighborhoods.
This limestone facade is very interesting
because it has a lot of ornate and intricate details.
As you can see,
it's got turrets on either side near the roof,
a cherub on the top.
we have a lot of fleur-de-lis details,
which are obviously an ode to France.
Carving such detail on limestone is expensive
and obviously this was meant to be high-end
for the original mansion.
It's very, very well preserved
considering how old it is.
Oftentimes, facades also need a good wash.
They're like us,
we wash our face in the morning,
facades need a wash now and then too
and that can do wonders
for the look and feel of the property.
In this facade specifically,
we also have the wraparound terrace
that provides a completely different look
from the mansions of the era,
so the architect Gilbert really like spent some time
trying to allude the grandeur of the French style
at the time.
Not only is it expensive to restore a facade of this type,
it's very hard to find the companies
that are able to do it in New York City right now.
A normal brownstone restoration
would cost around $100,000.
This restoration would cost
at least three times as much
as a normal brownstone restoration
In New York City,
when you have buildings in this repair,
oftentimes, you have to scaffold the property
to make sure
that everybody that is walking up and down the sidewalk
is protected.
The current owner did a lot of structural work,
we have to have this scaffolding.
You see a depth in the different layers of limestone work
that are very very intricate,
and you also can see the frame of the original door.
Let's go inside and take a look
at the other original details that remain.
[bright cheerful music]
As you can see,
the property has been completely gutted.
The reason why the entrance is to the side
is so that you can have a larger space
in order to entertain
or so you can have a big reception
so there's a lot of steel beams
that you're going to see that are holding up
the original structure,
things that we would not consider to be structural,
are structural in a very old property like this one.
So for example, if we look at the photos,
the marvel staircase
that was not only ornate and beautiful
might have played a role in being a spinal cord
in keeping up the property in its shape.
Originally, this parlor floor would've been a grand floor,
anybody that restores or renovate said
will again give it that use.
So now we have gone underneath the basement level
and this is the area where the current owner
spent a lot of his investment
and this is also the reason why
we see steel across all the other floors
throughout the property.
Manhattan is tiny little island,
and there's a lot of coveted real estate.
When there is no option to go up,
developers or people that are looking
to expand their footprint
decide to go down.
In this instance,
the aim was to have a swimming pool
and a basketball court indoors
which would definitely provide the new owner
the flexibility they need to do the sports.
However, it came at a hefty price tag.
[bright cheerful music]
We're on the second floor of the property.
You will notice at the back here,
we start to see the grand staircase.
We can also notice what we're missing
that grand marble staircase
that brought us into this floor.
So there's a beautiful banister there
with a lot of intricate detail,
definitely handmade.
The craftsmanship mirrors the facade
and mirrors the opulence
that the property used to have.
Another interesting feature that we can see here
is the plaster work
which would've been underneath the entire staircase.
Some of that is going into the third floor already.
Whenever we encounter staircases,
we're in a little bit of a dilemma.
Sometimes, staircases are lopsided and cannot be kept.
At that point, we decide,
do we restore, do we replicate, do we ditch.
The restoration of a staircase like this
would be very intricate.
However, this staircase is mahogany.
It's a very hard wood,
very common at the time.
You could probably have kept it for another 100 years.
Oftentimes with this properties,
the main issue that we have
is how to light such a space.
The intention of the architect
is to have that ground bay window
also to have drawn light from the back wall.
We see here a lot of the brickwork that was original.
You can see by the color of the bricks.
They're very, very old.
The material that was used to join the bricks
turns into wash.
My bet is that a lot of that happened in the property here
because there's a lot of new brickwork
across the different floors.
So if I had all the money
and all the time in the world,
I would get the best restores,
I would totally geek out
and find those companies in Brooklyn or even in Europe
that would be able to help me bring this property
back to its original condition.
Basically, look at the original layout
and make space for rooms
and create the ornate detail that this house merits
and it's absolutely craving and shouting for.
It needs love.
It needs attention.
I would subdivide this room
which I believe originally had a beautiful bronze door.
I would create a beautiful family room here,
a space to hang out and look onto the river,
a space to be together.
We've seen the public area of the house
where people used to entertain,
where they used to hang out with their families
but we're now going to take a closer look at the upstairs,
the more private area for the family.
Let's take a walk upstairs.
[bright cheerful music]
In this room,
we have the construction office,
every building side has an office.
Therefore, you're going to see a lot of the plans
and a lot of the things that the builders need to build,
no shame in that.
Original wood flooring,
very typical of New York City,
with a very straight bicolor border
and a herringbone inlay,
quite possibly, cherry wood.
Other lower-end properties used pine.
It was still a different quality of pine
that what we find right now
and definitely very beautiful
but cherry was sort of the higher-end material
that used to be used for flooring.
Interestingly, we also have
the detailing around the fireplace
which gives us an idea of the scale
and the grandeur of the mantelpieces
that this house had,
function and form.
The fireplaces were used to heat up the property
so you can see that you have that black, veiny,
beautiful, more than 100 year old marble
that also helped with the fire stopping, right,
and to be able to keep the fire going
because these were work in fires.
If you look at this element here in the fire mantel,
it actually makes you think of a coat of arms, right?
It speaks to that French Renaissance era
where Americans were looking
to bring all that culture from Europe.
This wall is temporary.
You would at least want to mirror the proportion
on either side of the fireplace,
so you would be looking at having a much larger room here,
definitely more grandeur.
Another interesting thing that we find
in this construction office
is detailing or remnants of the coffered ceiling
which can definitely again be replicated.
Recreating a coffered ceiling is an art form.
The pieces have to be cast
and then they have to be molded as it were
to the original ceiling.
Alternatively, this pieces are rosetta
and so if you see the hole,
you would imagine it in the middle of a room
and you would have a light fixture hanging from it.
Perhaps to the unexpert's eye,
as if it was original.
A very exciting highlight of today
is being able to find this cross section
where we can actually see
how people used to build at the time.
We're able to see the original brick,
a thinner stud than what we use right now.
A type of material that was used as concrete
is basically interlaced with this little pieces of timber,
the layers that basically keep the plaster in place.
And a very interesting element of the time
is that plaster used to be mixed with horse hair
which basically helps the elements keep together.
This technique is used currently in adobe for example
where you have clay and you keep it together
with some sort of like hay.
This is all building up to the beautiful trim
that was probably manufactured in a mill shop
but that is definitely handmade.
Some of these pieces are different.
It's a subtle difference,
but still it's like super intricate work.
In this bay window,
we can see what the actual windows would've looked like,
and a very important element that we see here
are the grilles.
These grilles would've been custom made
and something that could be replicated.
We would also have to have them made custom as well.
You can see the ornate details again
that speak to the architectural language of the bay window.
Architectural grilles cannot be overlooked
when you're trying to get a cohesive look
and definitely if you're thorough
about doing a high-end renovation,
it's the details that matter
so you always want to have an architectural grille
that speaks to the era
and that also blends into the design of the millwork.
Light is a beautiful material.
It is not an element.
It's actually an architectural material
as intangible as it might be,
and this is beautiful example of what light can do
to a property
because we can see the ornate detail in the balustrade
change from super Baroque and super heavy
and beautifully constructed
into some delicate Doric columns.
As we move from the public to the private,
we're simplifying the use of the space
so the ornament is not there to impress.
Even in a mansion in the Upper West Side of New York City,
people were conscious about their budget.
So probably the family and the architect
wanted to spend less money in the private area
and therefore you see a stark contrast
between the ornamentation of the balustrade
in the public area and the private area.
And now we're going into the private.
[bright cheerful music]
Another beautiful thing that we can see
in terms of construction at the time
is the ceilings.
A lot of the beams basically have an interconnection
with what is called a criss cross,
and the criss cross was basically a structural support
that allowed the preservation of the beams.
Otherwise, it would get bent or would subside.
It was actually quite a smart solution.
We definitely don't use it anymore,
but it's beautiful to see
how this criss cross was integrated
into the structure of the property.
The fourth floor has a different layout
because right here on this floor,
we have the balcony that the architect created
so let's take a look.
The architect had the brilliant idea of building a balcony
which is very unusual for these kinds of properties.
Because of this balcony,
we're now able to zoom into the details
of the limestone facade
and we can talk a little bit more
about what it would be like to restore.
We would like to clean up the areas
that don't need so much work
but we would definitely need to replicate
some of the pieces that are destroyed,
everything suffers from wear and tear,
particularly in exteriors
and even though this facade is in excellent condition,
it would still require quite a lot of work.
If we were to replicate a piece,
we would very carefully have to separate it from the facade,
take it to a shop
and then recreate it and reinstall it.
Hence, the point of a restoration of a facade of this type
being way more expensive
than a traditional brownstone restoration.
And it's very obvious,
if we look at this facade up-close,
why landmarks would definitely want this property preserved.
If we look at the entry downstairs,
we will see that the detailing of the facade also changes.
We have gargoyles at the bottom
and we have little cherubs and angels at the top.
So I think it's also very interesting and playful
how the architect decided to use different elements
in different floors of the house.
It seems to be a running theme.
[bright cheerful music]
So we made it to the top of the staircase,
we're now on the fifth floor.
We can see that the staircase
is definitely at its simplest up here.
We're basically in an attic
where we can see original construction as well.
These very angular rafters
that basically help us shape the very pitched roof,
the spaces and open plan attic,
and it really makes you feel like you're in Paris.
I would definitely leave it open.
I would definitely create a studio
and a space open for creativity
in order to enjoy the wonderful light that we have here.
We have a beautiful, massive skylight
which is massive now
and would've been even harder to create at the time.
Originally, the property had an oval skylight,
which is very beautiful and very of the era.
The oval shaped speaks to the view that you get
as you look down the staircase
where we get that very grandiose
sort of like circular perspective.
And we can see the beautiful, interesting mechanisms
that we see sometimes in properties of the era
to open and close the windows,
so I think this space
is definitely one of the most beautiful spaces in the house,
definitely the most private,
and definitely the one that I would use
as a creative space.
When you buy a property
or where you're looking to buy a property
that is in a state condition
or in a state of this repair,
you have a big challenge ahead of you.
The main reason why you have a challenge
is because it's very hard to x-ray a property.
Nobody can do it
so you don't know where you're gonna find
all the surprises
However, things to look out for are things level:
do I smell a mold,
do I see leaks everywhere,
has anybody put any money into this property
in the last 30 years?
These are very simple red flags
that will help someone understand
the level of investment into the mechanical,
electrical, and structural elements.
[bright cheerful music]
When we think of a mansion of this type,
we can think of resilience.
This property is on sale for $22 million.
The renovation or the restoration
could range anything north of $15 million.
Therefore, the property would be completely priced
out of the Upper West Side area.
Remember, here we're standing in Riverside Drive.
We are not in Park Avenue,
we're not on 5th Avenue.
We did speak to a few brokers
and the most expensive townhome
here in the Upper West Side
is on or around $26 million.
It's a shame that this property has been gutted.
It's a shame that we find that now
in a state of near abandonment or this repair,
but I am confident that definitely
there is an institution or a person
that will have the commitment
to bring it back to its former glory.
This visit has been a little bit of a scouting mission
where we have been able to piece together
what the property used to look like
by being careful and taking a closer look
at all the remnants,
and I believe that whomever takes on the challenge
can do the historical and archival research
in order to also tied together the story
that they want to tell.