Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Maisel's Bank

One of the many things I love about NYC are the old buildings. The picture above is of 190 Bowery, a building that was built in 1898 and functioned as a bank for many years. Eventually, it was closed and abandoned, becoming an eye sore to many in the neighborhood. However in 1966, the famous photographer Jay Maisel, bought this 6 story, 72 room, 35,000 square foot building for just $102,000. While a lot of people thought he was crazy at the time, he saw it as an opportunity and spent the next 42 years of his life working on the building and making it a home. Today, the building is estimated to be worth over $30 million, I say that's quite a return on your investment! Click here for the article and more details about the renovation.

Personally, I love what he did to the building. He uses the bank vault to store all of his work, raised the platform on his daughter's bed so that she could see the NYC skyline, and managed to create amazing and unique living spaces...Bravo! The colors are really cool, especially the cobalt blues and natural stones he used. Enjoy!

More images here.

2 comments:

Aartee said...

NYC is so much fun and always full of inspiration...I love walking around and just taking it all in especially the little eclectic shops!

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Oooooh. Magnificent! LOVE NYC too!