The brownstone facade at the West 84th Street Residence stands as it has for over a century, its detailing painstakingly preserved, while behind it stretches a 32-foot-long great room that did not exist in any original configuration. The absence of a traditional client brief required Placeholder to distill townhouse living into essential elements that feel personal and adaptable while avoiding the unnecessary scale often associated with single-family urban houses.
The exterior restoration preserved the landmark New York City brownstone’s historic character while interior interventions prioritized proportion, natural light, and spatial flow. This approach emphasizes how existing architectural preservation and modern interventions can coexist. The parlor residence spans 3,300 square feet across three levels organized around a 32-foot great room with 11-foot ceilings that establishes generous spatial proportions rare in urban housing.
The Molteni&C kitchen in Calacatta Viola marble functions as material anchor within the open plan, while nearly 900 square feet of outdoor space, including landscaped garden and terrace, extends daily life beyond interior boundaries. The garden-level primary suite overlooks the yard with an adjacent flexible room accommodating dressing, office, or sitting functions.
The penthouse residence offers 2,700 square feet of interiors plus a 400-square-foot roof terrace, featuring a shared material palette including Arabescato Turquoise marble vanities, Alaska White shower, and radiant-heated Nero Marquina floors paired with Waterworks and Dornbracht fixtures. The handcrafted curved stair connecting to rooftop studio and terrace demonstrates how vertical circulation can become an architectural feature rather than functional necessity.
Oak herringbone floors, restored moldings, and integrated lighting establish detail consistency across both residences while kitchens and baths receive treatment as objects within architecture – functional spaces designed with precision typically reserved for furniture. The outdoor connections differentiate each residence’s relationship to urban context. The parlor’s landscaped garden provides a rare city amenity extending private realm horizontally while the penthouse terrace and studio offer vertical escape shaped by light and views.
For more information on Placeholder, visit ph-grp.com.
Styling by Glen Proebstel.
Photography by Alice Gao.