Ikea Rescues New York’s Thinnest Townhouse.

How in the world do you furnish New York’s slimmest townhouse?

This $2.7 million property in the heart of Greenwich Village is centrally located and has been home to some of New York’s foremost personalities, among them Cary Grant and John Barrymore.

The size limitations are quite daunting – 9.5 feet by 42 feet. Sorry, baby grand. Goodbye, king-size bed. And I guess your dreams of having a penthouse-level ballroom will have to go.

But the owner, Stephen Balsamo, seems to have made the most out of the townhouse’s slim margin of space. The New York Post reports

In the kitchen, a custom stove has all four burners in a single row, rather than the usual two-by-two arrangement. The three floors are all open, but the balconies overlooking the garden were extended, adding depth to make up for lack of width. [..]

Visitors to the home expect to find it dark and claustrophobic, but as a result of the sweeping windows in the back, “every floor has amazing light,” Nicholas said.

But who’s got furniture that can fit in these tight situations? Enter Swedish manufacturer (and furnisher of divorced men’s apartments) IKEA – whoever snaps up this Greenwich Village steal will also score free design advice and $10,000 in IKEA furniture.

Janice Simonsen, IKEA design expert and spokesperson, says “We’re so in love with small spaces that we’re putting an offer on the table… albeit a skinny table.”

LEED and Green Buildings: A Big Letdown?

A LEED certification is a must-have for a green building, a mark of excellence that any environmentally-conscious builder can leverage into tax credits and bragging rights.

LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” – its certifications are overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization that is now the country’s numero uno watchdog for green and sustainable buildings.

But apparently a “gap between design and construction” is becoming apparent, according to the New York Times’ Mireya Navarro:

(read more)

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