When I look through a book to prepare for an interview, I often skim for the major points and quotable one-liners. But in the case of The Novogratz Chronicles: Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Buying and Renovating Houses, which hits bookshelves today, I devoured the whole thing. Husband-and-wife design duo Robert and Cortney Novogratz’s heartwarming anecdotes—from the historical wallpaper uncovered in their first demo that inspired their wedding color palette to a Thanksgiving move-in that put the extended family on curtain-sewing duty—weave between hard-earned lessons on how to finance projects, navigate TV and licensing deals, build and sustain a brand, and more. Spoiler: After 25 years in design, the obstacles don’t get easier, they just get more familiar. I caught up with the couple to dive even deeper into these trade tales and more.
Mel: The book opens in a gritty New York in 1995, the year you purchased your first reno property. Do you miss that city, particularly from the lens of architecture and design?
Cortney: We call it the Wild West for designers. The opportunities were endless. The buildings were affordable. The Meatpacking District was the meatpacking district.
Robert: But the best part of New York has always been the people. I love to read the New York Times obituary section because it’s filled with such fascinating people. If you were in fashion or theater or advertising or finance, you had to be in New York. The city’s always been expensive, but most of us didn’t have anywhere near the amount of wealth that exists here today. There were more authentic shopkeepers, and as far as architecture, there weren’t generic, modern buildings that were just popped up and built with cheap materials. There have been some cool buildings built since, but it was a different time for sure.
Have you gleaned anything great from the obituaries recently?
Robert: You know, you see these incredible lives and people’s commitment and pride to their given fields. They weren’t Instagram famous—they weren’t even famous—but they were the movers and shakers of their worlds. We have a huge appreciation for Old New York—brownstones, restaurants that have been around for a long time, the feeling of walking into the Ralph Lauren store, whatever it is.
Audiences got a glimpse of that life on TV. You had shows on Bravo (9 by Design, 2010) and HGTV (Home by Novogratz, 2011), and you’ve shared in past interviews that, looking back, the latter may not have been the best brand fit. Why?