Architect Kristin Luks remembers feeling surprised the first time she stepped into this apartment in order to get to work for her clients. She came off a tree-lined street on New York’s Upper West Side and into a building that’s stood for nearly a century, eventually making her way to a one-bedroom apartment that measured about 1,000 square feet—rare outdoor space included.
Sure, New York City is known for its architectural charms, but to see so many appear in one enduring address was exciting. “The 10-foot-tall ceilings coupled with tall northern-facing windows were just breathtaking. And the two terraces, a functioning fireplace, and a sunroom really wowed me,” Luks says. “The owners were able to check so many items off their wishlist when they purchased this apartment.”
Aline Sullivan and William Pitt, who own a financial services research and communications consulting firm and have adult children, had joined a small list of fellow optimists when they claimed this home for themselves. Previous occupants had likely started their share of projects with the thrill of impending improvement, but once Luks came around at the end of 2022, their past work had only resulted in too much of a blank slate. “All but two of the original details had been stripped from the apartment after years of different owners and renovations,” Luks says. “Thankfully we had no issue salvaging both items: existing windows in the living room and kitchen that open out into the sunroom. They are single-glazed but so charming, and because they open into a conditioned space, we didn’t have to worry about efficiency and heat loss.”
Luks and the couple wanted to reinstate some of the details that were discarded, tying the apartment more clearly to its history without being too beholden to it. The big surprise Luks wanted to pull off was figuring out when and where to update the classics. She worked with Interior Masters Group to replace vinyl planks with herringbone wood floors, and swapped the fireplace’s oversized wood surround for a reclaimed stone mantle. New wood casings made to resemble ones of the 1920s were put in around the windows, and existing cove plaster was kept and mimicked on the walls.