Two private antique dealers took a badly damaged and hopelessly out-of-date one-bedroom penthouse on the Upper East Side, gutted it, and turned it into an "aerie" (their words, not ours). Architectural Digest gives us a tour of Angus Wilkie and Len Morgan's renovated abode, which is (perhaps improperly) labeled a "small space." Or maybe it just doesn't feel small because it's filled with simple oak walls, shelves, and cupboards, steel-framed glass doors that let in light and offer a killer view, and carefully selected pieces of old and vintage furniture and art. Though we can't pinpoint the exact address, the penthouse looks out onto the dome of the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste, which is on East 76th Street between Third and Lexington avenues.
Wilkie and Morgan, who run Cove Landing, bought the place in bad condition; it was "ramshackle, crumbling windows, encrusted walls, and just a single door accessing a wraparound terrace with pink tile paving that resembled a slab of mortadella." Luckily Morgan, who did the renovation himself, left no trace of that monstrosity, managing to raise the ceilings 18 inches and completely overhaul the layout. They got all wild with the interior decor, too, mixing up design eras willy-nilly, like putting a 1970s coffee table in front of a George III couch. Heresy! But beautifully done.
· A Stylish Small-Space Renovation in New York City [AD]
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