Visiting Devonshire House's New Uptown Cousin, Philip House

The condo conversion of East 10th Street's prewar Devonshire House defied the market, launching in dark times only to sell to buyers like Amanda Seyfried, Alec Baldwin, Ian Schrager's in-laws, and those people who own a lot of horses. With that success on their already-full resumes, the Devonshire House team got back together for a new project, Philip House, the conversion of a prewar Renaissance Revival rental building at 141 East 88th Street. Kristina Wallison, the project's sales director, gave us a tour of the Victoria Hagan-designed model unit, shown in the gallery above. (We saw a second model unit as well, but we weren't allowed to photograph it.)
Hagan's design at Philip House doesn't stick as closely to classic prewar ideas as the Devonshire House remake, Wallison explains. Instead, Hagan's "paying homage to the structure, but try[ing] to make it fresher?more full of light." There are mirrored panels near the windows to make the apartments seem lighter, and the kitchens are "warmer" than the ones at Devonshire. Regardless, Hagan's style is "not a dominant design," as Wallison puts it, but more of a base on which residents can build.

Speaking of the conversion's future residents, there are three units on the market right now: a 2BR, 2.5BA asking $2.995 million, another 2BR, 2.5BA asking $3.12 million, and a 5BR, 6.5BA asking $8.14 million. Actual work on these apartments will be finished in late spring, which is when closings will begin. The majority of the other apartments should be done by July, except for the penthouses, which are still being designed and will hit the market next year. Here are the floorplans for what's on the market:

There are a few other aspects of the building currently under construction. The lobby, for example, is in progress now, and Hagan designed that space to include a skylight and large windows with a view of a landscaped garden. Eventually, the developer will also add some maisonettes with terraces.

Living amid the construction are the building's current renters, who occupy 26 of the planned 79 condo units. The tenants have an insider option to buy, but, Wallison tells us, "it's too early in the process to know what's going on with those residents." Their decisions won't affect the building's financing?the common charges and taxes are assigned as if all of the units are for sale, and if the current tenants opt to stay but not to buy, the developer will collect their rent and then pay taxes and common charges.
· Official site: Philip House [philiphousenyc.com]
· Philip House coverage [Curbed]