Lenny Kravitz, Interior Designer

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, awe-inspiring stylist for District 12… is there anything Lenny Kravitz doesn’t do? Now the soon-to-be 48 year old has teamed up with Italian tile manufacturer Lea Ceramiche to extend Black and White America into home decor. Kravitz Design, Inc.’s Goccia (Italian for ”drop”) Three Dimensional Tile Collection is a line of black and white tiles designed to emulate the flow, feeling and light reflection of moving water. Cool, huh?

Source: Freshome

A Peak at the 35th Annual San Fran Decorator Showcase

If you’re planning at trip to the left coast, jump the trolley and pop by the  mansion at 2020 Jackson Street, the home of the 2012 San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

There you can sip champagne and enjoy this view of the bay from a roof deck designed by Frank Holbrook.

You’ll also see the fun and swirly purple dining room tables created by Scavullo Design, where Greek Revival goes contemp.

Green Couch designs a fashionable yet functional kitchen setup that would so work in a New York kitchen.

Our favorite can double as a decorating tip using stuff you already own such as an apron and a bunch of cheeseboards. Go country chic with the Modern Pantry, compliments of Tinsley Hutson-Wiley and Allison Bloom.

Showcase runs April 28 – May 28, Tuesdays through Sundays and Monday Memorial Day.

Source: Home Workshop
Bottom photo by John Merkl

35sf for $319K. But it’s in the West Village.

Only in the West Village would anybody consider a 150 inch x 84 inch space a building. Or ask $319,000 for it.

Crammed between 7th Avenue West, 11th Street and Waverly Place these 35 square feet could be used to peddle all kinds of valuables. Like iPod nanos, nose rings, phone cards, or half of a mini Cooper.

The itty bitty store was last sold in 2000 for $85,000.

Our biggest question: Did the psychics know their store would be closing?

Source: Curbed

The Homes of Billion-heirs (and Heiresses)

Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the 22-year-old who caught New York’s attention for 20 minutes in January when she bought Sanford Weill’s 15 Central Park West penthouse for $88 million, wasn’t the first billionheiress to make a splash in real estate.

23-year old Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone (or her father Bernie, rather) paid $90 million for her starter home in London (followed by $85 million for her second home in LA, formerly owned by Candy Spelling.) The London mansion has 30 rooms with seven bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, and was formerly an insane asylum for women.

Back in the day, Libeta Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, lived in a 20,000 square foot apartment at Manhattan’s Trump Tower before plunking down $48 million for the Vanderbilt Mansion on the UES.

When compared to the hefty pricetags on the other properties, Georgina Bloomberg’s $4.15 million Central Park West apartment (above) seems practically thrifty, as does Peter Buffett’s $3.5 million 2-bedroom in the Flatiron District (below.)

Source: Curbed

Q1 2012 Manhattan Rental Report

If you’re a landlord, good news. Prices are still climbing and nobody’s expecting much from you. Percentage changes from last quarter were pretty minimal across the board, with the exception of inventory which has dropped 4%, but is up 14.3% from last year and concessions that are down to just 11.1%.

• The average rental price is up 6% from last year, 8% if you include concessions
• Median rental price is up 7.1% from last year.
• Listing discount is at 2.2%
• There are 5,167 units on the market, as opposed to just 3,874 last year
• Only 11.1% of rentals are offering concessions as opposed to 36.8% last year

Source: Prudential Douglas Elliman

Jeter’s Bachelor Pad on the Market for $17.95 Million

In New York, there’s a direct correlation between luxury homes on the market and failed relationships.

After Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly split last year, the Captain is reportedly downsizing, which leaves the ultimate NYC bachelor pad up from grabs.

• 360-degree views of Manhattan
• 4 bedrooms & 5 1/2 baths
• A game room with a pool table, poker table that seats 8, and Pac Man
• A dining room table with room for 14

But don’t take our word for it. See for yourself.

The Price of Views

What’s the premium for movin’ on up, to a dee-lux apartment in the sky? Turns out it’s substantial.

Jonathan Miller from appraisal firm Miller Samuel used 301 W. 57th Street to measure the cost of views. While other studies often show how the market values square footage, this one shows the value of what floor you’re on. This building lent itself to the study because the 1980s architecture has standard apartment sizes across floors, as opposed to newer builds where the apartments typcially get larger as you climb higher.

The secret isn’t complex. The higher you are, the fewer obstructions to block your view. Boiling the numbers down to the most extreme, the owner of the apartment on the 51st floor paid a $30,000 per floorpremium. For the whys and wherefores, take a look at the illustration below.

Source: New York Magazine

Illustration by Remie Geoffroi

Apartment Therapy–Saving The World, Separately

It is important to note that Apartment Therapy’s tagline is Saving the World, One Room at a Time. It mentions nothing of saving marriages.

The Huffington Post reported that  Apartment Therapy couple Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan have announced their divorce.

The Gillingham-Ryans initially hit the public spotlight in 2004 when they were featured by the New York Times for their clever redecoration of their 250 square foot Greenwich Village apartment. Since then they have expanded their brand that started with the blog apartmentherapy.com to  the HGTV program “Mission Organization,” more than one book, and a food blog called TheKitchn.

Regardless of their marital status, clearly the couple learned a few good tips on how to live in a tight space.

1Q 2012 Manhattan Market Report

• Median sales price dropped 0.9% over the past year and 9.4% since 4Q 2011  to $775,000
• Average price per square foot is up 6% from last year
• Days on the market from list date is up almost 20 percent from last year, from 127 to 152
• Inventory holds steady at 7,560 vs. last year’s 7,605
• Sales dropped 3.5% from last year, but they’re up almost 15% from 4Q 2011
• The listing discount is up to 6.3% from last year’s 4.9%

Elliman attributes the market’s slowed pace to the S&P’s downgrade of US debt, the European debt crisis, the uncertain state of Wall Street bonuses, stock market swings and tight underwriting conditions. In the meantime, as employment conditions continue to improve we expect to see positive market impacts.

Source: Prudential Douglas Elliman

The Ultimate Manhattanite Moves to Brooklyn

Carrie Bradshaw moves to Brooklyn are words we thought we’d never hear. Sarah Jessica Parker, the Sex and the City protagonist that played the quintessential Manhattanite, and husband of 15 years Matthew Broderick are looking to move from the West Village to Brooklyn Heights.

The Real Deal reports that the couple is buying side-by-side townhomes on State Street near Sidney place, which together will amount to 7,000 square feet of space.