101 WEST 78TH STREET Upper West Side Luxury

By Daniel J. Bollinger

Located across from the American Museum of Natural History on Columbus Avenue and West 78th Street is the boutique condo offering, 101 West 78th Street. GTIS Partners and interior designer Stephen Sills worked together to restore this historic (circa 1886) eight-story building into an exquisite residential condo consisting of 21 units, which range in size from two-to-five bedrooms, including one penthouse.

Stephen Sills is a bespoke designer whose specialty is re-designing historic buildings into contemporary masterpieces. Sills is on Architectural Digest’s AD 100 list of top designers and has been recognized in the magazine’s 30 Deans of American Design. The building is located in a coveted location one block from Central Park and near all shops and cultural institutions which the Upper West Side provides.

Bedroom

THE RESIDENCES
The interiors embody luxury with coffered ceilings 10.5-feet high throughout units including the kitchens, bedrooms, and studies. This address offers all unique layouts, but specific themes run through all of them.

Bedrooms All bedrooms have en-suite baths; wide windowed hallways are standard and large proportioned rooms with oversized solid wood doors match the design. There are a number of restored gas fireplaces with beautiful mantels. There is a duplex with a beautiful master bedroom that is quite oversized with windows galore, and unit 8A has some unique characteristics including a huge kitchen, wide-windowed hallways, and a fireplace.

Kitchen

Kitchens Elegantly designed by Stephen Sills, and working directly with Smallbone of Devizes, kitchens feature integrated cabinets and a full Miele appliance package. Glass front upper cabinets, a stainless-steel vent, and pot filler give this kitchen an elegant, balanced style, with single slab full-height backsplashes and counters of white Carrara honed marble.

Some subtle design features that stand out are a total of two sinks in kitchens including a secondary wet bar sink. The solid oak drawer interiors have dovetailed joints, and the aged brass and polished nickel hardware are excellent accents to the light color palette. The aesthetics are successful and also functional, as the kitchen is laid out in a highly efficient manner that befits a chef.

Bathroom

Baths Master baths exhibit equal elegance with snow white honed marble, custom white smoke lacquer vanities, and Waterworks fixtures. Huge mirrored custom medicine cabinets offer plenty of storage. The wet room has marble seating. Most of the master baths are windowed. The secondary bathrooms even deserve mention. Look for neutral beige toned Blue de Savoy honed marble countertops and tub contrast with white wisp marble tile shower walls and Carrara marble herringbone patterned floors. Large mirrored custom medicine cabinets with wooden frames gently match the beige hue. The classic white master baths compared to the neutral beige-hued secondary baths provide different and unique palettes.

RECAP
The amenities featured in this boutique offering include a 24-hour door attendant, children’s playroom, fitness center, package room with cold storage, and private storage lockers.

The location is superb, the building is landmarked, light/air/flow get high marks with high ceilings ranging up to 10’6,” and the building has plenty of windows (even in hallways and master baths). As Stephen Sills said, “We have taken advantage of this building’s great bones and re-designed the interiors to create refined, modern homes with beautiful classical elements and proportions.”

For more information on 101 West 78th Street, visit 101west78.com.