Harper House has had a long stewardship and the current stewards have taken on the notion of caretakers as their mission. While the project consisted of a renovation and restoration to the historic house (+/- 10,130 sq. ft.) from a multi-family dwelling to a single family home, the work completed serves as a backdrop to the historical significance being added to the home today.
The house is a perfect confluence of things that the owner is interested in – the house is on Gramercy Park, a rarity, it has an existing Stanford White Salon space, and perhaps of most interest to our client, an American music aficionado, is that Bob Wasserman lived in the house and Dylan’s famous album cover Highway 61 was shot on the stoop.
The mandate was to respect all of those parts of the house, the early historical elements, the funky 60’s vibe, and finally the new elements that the owners wanted to add to the legacy to renew the house inspired our design approach.
Part of the innovative quality lays in the contrast of old elements with elements that reflect a contemporary life style. The original gas lamps are still there, restored completely by Ball & Ball in Philadelphia. The Parlor rooms are restored to Mayor Harper’s time along with the Stanford White party room. In contrast we were able to create a capacious, modern kitchen/family room/atrium that opens to a Garden, none of which is part of the original house but is an important series of connected spaces complementing the way the Sullens family lives. We also rebuilt the top most floor, a series of dark rooms with low ceilings, and built back a light flooded stair hall to illuminate the inner stair well of the house and a second stair hall to a new roof deck and lush garden overlooking Gramercy Park, a space that only uniquely exists at this residence - a platform viewing one of the most beloved parks in NYC. The true innovation is the series of surprises in contrast to these historical spaces and details to the open, modern spaces that are aesthetically current.
Harper House has an exuberant, yet calm aura and engenders wellness. The house is flooded with natural light from top to bottom, front to back. Well-proportioned rooms are connected by view corridors enhancing the natural flow of spaces. The house can be used intimately, privately in any number or rooms or for philanthropic entertainment purposes with connecting doors left wide open, music and guests pouring from one space to the next. From every space there is now a direct view to a garden and the outside whether it be the rear, lower level lush courtyard, one of three new terraces, or Gramercy Park itself.
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