Date: January 2013
What could be lovelier than a classic 19th-century Manhattan townhouse? So elegant, so commodious—no wonder it’s the dream of countless space-starved New Yorkers. Yet for all the romance associated with such stately homes, these buildings present a number of idiosyncrasies and challenges. Their typically long, narrow configurations, for one, tend to leave central rooms bereft of sunlight. Achieving a seamless circulation and flow across multiple floors demands more thoughtful solutions than simply installing an elevator.