Sex and the City

I've posted one of Candace Bushnell's quotes before, and today found myself thinking back to it again. I looked it up and was led to an Elle Decor story on her Greenwich Village Manhattan apartment. I loved the supposed story behind it so much I thought I'd share a piece of it here, even if it may be old:

I'm the kind of person who would have liked to have lived at the Plaza. I love crystal chandeliers and gold leaf, velvets and mirrors, Oriental rugs and marble. I love things that are old and glittery, that come with layers of glamour and past lives. So the moment my husband and I walked into our apartment for the first time nearly two years ago, we knew that this was it.

Built in the 1920s, reputedly as bachelor pads for well-heeled young men who were making their fortunes on Wall Street, the apartments in this Greenwich Village building had sunken living rooms, woodburning fireplaces, 11-foot ceilings, and arched windows (some even had “Juliet balconies” from which, I imagine, the bachelors could yell down to their friends on the street). Back in the 1920s, I suppose the building was considered to have every modern convenience, as there were servants’ quarters on the top floor, and, in the basement, extensive kitchens from which the young men could order dinner which was sent up in a dumbwaiter. It was all very Jeeves & Wooster, reeking of late-night parties and illicit affairs, bathtub gin and jazz. To this day a house rule exists that no musical instruments are to be played after 8 P.M.

You can read the rest of the story and see more photos here.