This apartment had a storied history, a superb location, spectacular views, but was badly in need of a complete gut renovation.  It was originally part of the Nelson Rockefeller triplex at 810 Fifth Avenue and had been divided when he divorced his first wife.  She kept the 12th floor and Penthouse, while Nelson and his second wife, Happy, kept the bottom floor and purchased the 11th floor apartment at 812 Fifth Avenue, cutting through the retaining walls of the buildings and connecting the apartments via a flight of six steps.  Rockefeller and Happy used the entrance at 812 Fifth while his first wife entered through 810 Fifth.

          By the time my clients purchased the apartment, it needed to be completely redone.   We stripped out everything and started from scratch — making significant changes to the floor plan.  The original Master Bedroom commanded the corner of Fifth and 62nd Street, and we didn’t think the best view on the floor should be dedicated to a room where the primary function was sleeping.  We decided to incorporate that room into the double Living Room creating a nearly fifty-foot long tripartite Living Room along Fifth Avenue with stunning views of the city.   We turned a small Guest Room into a Library and built an entirely new Master Suite — with His and Hers bathrooms.   We replaced the glorified “service” stair with a proper wood stair — with custom-made bronze railing — leading up to a lofty entertaining room on the Penthouse Floor.   This room — with fourteen-foot ceilings, a second Powder Room, and dedicated Wet Bar — opens up onto a large wrap-around terrace.   We turned a series of servants rooms on the upper floor into a Guest Suite, and on the main floor, created new Kitchen, Laundry, and Staff areas.   We installed new electrical and mechanical systems throughout.

         After all of our hard work, the clients were only able to enjoy the apartment for a year until they were made an offer they couldn’t refuse and sold the apartment to David Geffen.