See what's inside this insane $51M townhouse
Every year, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House offers tours of the swankest smarthome imaginable to raise money for charity.
Every year a set of highly esteemed interior designers turn a luxury Manhattan home into an exhibition of fine furnishings, art and technology. Launched in 1973, the Kips Bay Decorator Show House raises money for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, which funds after school and enrichment programs for New York City children.
The Show House receives as many as 15,000 guests annually, with tickets priced at $40 for entry.
This year, the location for the showcase is a massive 15,000 square-foot, six-story townhouse on 110 East 76th Street, off Park Avenue in Manhattan. The townhouse is on the market for $51 million and features eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, lounges, dining areas, a salon, library, sitting rooms, a home-entertainment space, spa room and a living room or two, as well as outdoor spaces on the ground and top floors.
Philips is one of the sponsors and was showing off some of its Hue lighting products. The folks from Philips gave us a tour, which started with the lighting outside the entrance. It can be remotely controlled.
I started with designer Brian del Toro showing what he'd done using Hue lighting in his take on a modern, feminine bedroom.
One of the sitting rooms led to a dressing room and bathroom. I photographed everything with an iPhone X and with many of the shots I used a fisheye lens attachment from Hitcase. The lens adheres magnetically to Hitcase's new Crio case for the iPhone X.
This dressing room was created by designer Marcia Tucker and features a custom built mirror with strips of Philips Hue-controllable LED lighting integrated into it. You can see how you -- and your clothes -- look in different lighting conditions.
I'm guessing these look great in any light.
Music throughout the home was controlled by Crestron tablets.
Marcia Tucker also did this bathroom. This is the toilet area -- and yes, that's a sculpture. No toilet should be without one.
That's a cozy-looking bathtub.
Here's a wider shot of the bathroom...
...and a better angle on that toilet. Just pause for a moment and take it in.
You can really never have too many hourglasses.
More bric-a-brac.
Next, I went upstairs.
On the top floor there's a spa area and relaxation space with a massage table on one side. The room was designed by Charles Pavarini of Pavarini Design.
Soothing lavender lighting.
Ceiling speakers for music.
There's an outdoor space attached to the spa room.
The chairs are real; the grass on them isn't. (You don't have to trim them, though.)
A look back at the spa from outside.
I headed back downstairs.
This lounge has some stylized clips of Bond movies playing in a loop. The room was designed by BA Torrey.
Here's a wider look.
I prefer not to be quoted if I'm wrong, but don't quote me on that.
The thermostat, one of several wall-mounted touchscreen gadgets scattered throughout.
A wet bar is attached to the lounge.
This isn't the only bar in the house -- and this one comes complete with a portrait by Kehinde Wiley, who painted the recent floral portrait of President Obama.
Take a dizzying look down the stairwell.
This was a cool drawing room, designed by Philip Mitchell.
The artwork was interesting.
Van Gogh for people who can't afford it.
Brings back my youth.
The chair looked comfortable but I didn't sit in it.
Flasks. They're the hourglasses of drink receptacles.
Backgammon never looked so inviting.
On the board.
Who would name their dog Jacob?
Guest bedroom by Katie Ridder.
Salon in yellow hues by Jamie Drake and Caleb Anderson of Drake/Anderson.
A light fixture fit for a knight.
This sculpture reminded me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers for some reason.
The stairwells were a bit of shock to the system.
Man in the mirror.
There is an elevator in the townhouse. This elevator landing leads to another wet bar and pantry. Wesley Moon designed all three.
The wet bar.
From another angle.
There's a little sitting area near the bar.
Behold, the pantry.
I'm not sure what the screen was on the wall, but the other thing is a dumbwaiter.
Closer on the dumbwaiter.
And now we're inside the dumbwaiter.
The back of the pantry had some interesting artwork.
Back to the stairs. Sasha Bikoff was the designer behind this area.
This is a combination dining room and library by designer Barbara Ostrom.
This is the library part.
And this is the dining room.
The table is set.
More stairwell art, created by kids.
Same art from another angle as I head down to the ground floor.
I didn't realize this was another pantry, but apparently it is. Stefan Steil, of Steilish Interiors and Architecture, put it together.
Really cool light fixture, especially for a pantry.
This is a sitting area adjacent to the kitchen. David Netto was the designer.
Clive Christian did the kitchen.
I think this stove works.
The view from the sitting room to the outdoor space on the ground floor.
No real birds in the birdcage.
View of the kitchen from outside.
Like most everything else, the outdoor patio was accented with Hue lighting.
More Hue lighting in the bushes. I took this shot just before it started getting dark.
That's it, folks. Thanks for checking out the Kips Bay Decorator Showcase. As I said, the townhouse is on sale for $51 million. To be clear, all the decorators remove everything from their rooms after the showcase is done so you'll have to bring your own designers in. Of course, if you jump in now with an offer you might be able to make a deal and buy it as is.