Some of the most influential people responsible for the way the “rich” New Yorkers live today are long gone and (for the most part) forgotten. These prewar architects are the bastions of modern luxury residential living. Emery Roth, Stanford White, Henry Jane Hardenberg, and Rosario Candela – to name a few. These men changed the face of luxury housing and set the foundation for the luxury homes we live in today. Some of their apartment buildings, houses, and institutions are more valuable than any of the modern architectural projects in our city (The Dakota, The San Remo, The Washington Square Arch, and 740 Park Avenue to name a few).
Architecture is a direct reflection of our culture. It is where art meets science.
When I look back at the bastardization of some of the “lofts”, apartments, and houses I have sold, they seem as passé today as a pair of my bellbottom jeans and mullet. How did we think they were ever a good idea? Now, I’m hopeful that we are back on track and our inspiration from this past will help us build our future.
One great example is The Junior 4.
The Junior 4 made its foray into the luxury residential world of apartment buildings at the turn of the last century. The 4 stands for the amount of rooms in the apartment. A kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, and then another junior room, usually associated for dining. Bathrooms don’t count. It isn’t quite a two bedroom, it’s more like the little sister. The Tweener. For the last 30 years, this apartment type seems to have been out of fashion and lost its lustre. But wow it is making a comeback. Four years ago, when Rockefeller Group and I sat down to design their first luxury residential building in New York City, we bet on the thesis that homes of the future should be designed with an understanding of our past. The junior 4 was a major consideration for us. Most people don’t need a full second bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, and they resent having to pay for it especially if they don’t need it.
Right after the shutdown in New York City, I must have toured 20 one-bedroom apartments where, out of desperation, the homeowner had converted a closet into a fold-out workspace. What people need and want, especially in a post-Covid world where work-from-home has become a reality, is a second space. The “junior” room is separate from the living room, the kitchen, and the bedroom. A space where you can work, focus, have privacy, read a book, put a guest or watch TV. A room that is away from the main space of the home. At Rockefeller’s “Rose Hill”, we call this the “smart room”, and people love it.
Some of the older condo buildings that have one-bedroom apartments too big to be considered a one bedroom, but too small to be considered a two bedroom have found their niche. They are being retrofitted into a junior 4. The oversized living rooms are now separated by furniture or sheetrock to create the junior room and this junior space is back.
I sense that we will be seeing more of these “tweeners” enter the market as the demand for them grows.
Let’s do this!
-Shaun