Tribeca Citizen | Loft Peeping: Yen Ha & Rich Tesler

Loft Peeping: Yen Ha & Rich Tesler

July 30, 2015 • Real Estate

The Tribeca apartment of Yen Ha and her husband, Rich Tesler, was featured on Houzz. “The original proportions […] were off, the layout felt disjointed, and there was no master suite. Luckily the owner, Yen Ha, is an architect.” Indeed! Full disclosure: Ha, whose firm is Front Studio, was the architect for our apartment renovation many years ago.

The plan for the 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath loft: “Eliminate large closets her family didn’t need, borrow space from a large hall bathroom, move a few walls around and take the space gained for a true master suite and a playroom-study for her [two] kids.”

Of note:

••• The fabulous bookshelves are painted in “a more adult rainbow,” said Ha, “if there is such a thing.”
••• The Tiffanyesque light fixture was a gift from Tesler’s mother.
••• They didn’t have to build new kitchen cabinetry: “We changed the backsplash, hardware and countertops, and it changed the whole room.”
••• The apartment has seven skylights.
••• The designer of the Flavor Paper wallpaper in the master bedroom is a friend.
••• Do you ever have those dreams where you discover that your apartment is actually bigger than you thought? “When redoing the layout, they discovered some extra space between the walls. Ha made the most of it; she had the contractor create the recessed cabinet for off-season clothing storage.”
••• There’s now a “walk-through dressing room” between the master bedroom and bath.
••• The master bath has two small sinks instead of one big one. (My husband so wishes we had done this.)
••• They traded a few large closets for more smaller ones. And there’s even more storage by the front door: Home Depot pegboard on the walls and ceiling.

The photographs are by Alice Gao Photography ; the Houzz text is by Becky Harris. For sourcing credits, see the Houzz post.