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Five Open House Horror Stories From an Apartment Critic

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We've already said our bit on the topic of staging, but Times real estate writer Vivian Toy's piece on the pros and cons of New York City apartments has persuaded us to take up the topic again. Here now, Toy's five best/worst open house horror stories:

5) "And an Upper West Side man-cave with a wood- and brass-trimmed wet bar had a certain appeal, but the place’s overall nautical theme, complete with authentic porthole and kitchen walls sheathed in copper, seemed like an odd blend of Austin Powers and Jules Verne."
4) "The sixth and seventh bedrooms in the $28.5 million Fifth Avenue apartment with Central Park views seemed dark and on the cramped side, but maybe that was just relative to the 42-foot-wide living room."

3) "Just recently I was in an apartment down the hall from Tina Louise — yes, she played Ginger, the movie star on “Gilligan’s Island” — and I lingered at the elevator before leaving, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. But it was not to be."

2) "At a $4.5 million SoHo penthouse with stunning river views, I found the brown horsehair covering the bedroom wall vaguely disturbing."

1) "A Lower East Side penthouse apartment with panoramic city views posed a particular challenge. Framed photographs and mail scattered around the apartment revealed that the owner was a young movie actor who shall remain unidentified. All the agent would say was that the owner was seldom in town, but that he let friends crash there on a regular basis. And crash they did. Luggage with clothes spilling out adorned every room, and the only condiment in the kitchen was a jar of red pepper flakes."

Anyone able to identify these mystery apartments?
· The Apartment Critic [NYT]