Tribeca Citizen | Loft Peeping: Tribeca Gentlemen’s Loft

Loft Peeping: Tribeca Gentlemen’s Loft

October 16, 2014 • Real Estate

A few months back, designer Andrew Torrey of B.A. Torrey Interiors tweeted an in-progress pic of a loft in Tribeca he was working on, so I kept an eye on his website—and sure enough, photos of the finished home recently went up. It’s a 1,600-square-foot two-bedroom with a terrace. “When my clients, a young couple, first came to me they were simply looking to finish the uncompleted vision of a previous designer,” says Torrey. “But after getting started, one thing led to another and we continued refining more and more of the apartment, until it grew to be an almost complete redesign of the entire home.”

Any interesting stories about the furniture/objects?
My clients have an incredible collection of memorabilia from their families and their various travels around the world. We were able to incorporate most of their pieces into the eclectic, handsome design of the apartment, including antique antlers positioned under the steel and limestone coffee table.

The antique Biedermeier cabinet was repurposed as a dry-bar in the living room, it’s buttery color perfectly matching the clients’ leather sofa and Barcelona Chair from Knoll. There is a bar in every public room of the apartment, something I’m a huge fan of. If you entertain frequently, guests should always be within reach of a refreshment.

In the powder room, their existing Maya Romanoff glass-beaded wallcovering was giving them trouble along the seams. It’s a stunning paper that, unfortunately, doesn’t seam well. The walls looked expensive but unfinished. I had the idea of running custom brass strips along each seam and each corner. The strips are unpolished, which means over time they will develop a patina (that can be polished away in just a few minutes, if desired). Paired with brass bathroom accessories and a bronze and mirrored glass ceiling fixture, the effect is intoxicating.

And there was the story about sourcing a German minimalist bicycle mount for a prized Ferrari racing bicycle in the master bedroom, only to find out the entire wall would have to be rebuilt and reinforced to hold it… but it’s up on the wall, sexy and red! Or the incredible, brand new pair of “articulating” sconces from a gifted designer that were delayed for months. After being the first pair installed on the East Coast, they refused to articulate and then promptly blew every circuit in the apartment. Needless to say, they were taken down and returned so fast the packaging barely hit the floor!

Tell me about the room with the banquette and bar.
The banquette was already in place when I came onto the project. The clients have a huge group of friends they entertain quite frequently, and wanted a handsome lounge area for cocktail parties. They also had the fabulous antique Biedermeier cabinet, and a top-of-the-line wine refrigerator. Both of those pieces had to be incorporated somewhere in the apartment. We worked together to craft a solution: a custom designed bar which fit around the wine refrigerator, and an upper mirrored shelving unit to showcase their collection of European stemware. The entire lower section of the bar was built on casters so that it can roll away from the wall, providing access to the A/C unit. We repurposed the Biedermeier cabinet as a dry-bar in the living room by adding interior lighting.

Did you buy anything from Tribeca?
Yes, all of the Benjamin Moore paint in the apartment was sourced from Tribeca Paint. Basics Plus on Church was our go-to for the hardware, bulbs, and other miscellaneous tools we needed for the installation. Langdon Florist on Reade provided all the greenery.

The photographs are by Tina Gallo and B.A. Torrey—click to enlarge.