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March 2, 2006

Townhouse Bachelor Pad Extraordinaire

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So what does everyone think of the renovation that ex-hedge-fund-manager and man-about-town Brad Zipper did on his four-story townhouse in Little Italy? (Cue the name-related jokes.) The wine cellar is about the only thing we saw that appealed to us, but then we had a different set of criteria and financial constraints when we were re-doing our house. Clearly he made enough dough on Wall Street that he doesn't have to worry about getting his money back when he sells the house. In the meantime, it should serve him pretty well as he invites movie stars and models back from the Soho House.
A Little Soho, A Little St. Tropez [NY Times]

Comments

I think the bar is a bit cheey. Kitchen looks nice for a modern reno. Something about this whole story screams mid-life crisis to me though. A bit sad in that respect really.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 9:39 AM

not my taste at all but, amazing that it was all in 4.35...garish yes but a totally renovated townhouse in the city?

Posted by: anon at March 2, 2006 9:43 AM

Bloated, forty, and single - it must be nice to be a hedge-fundie.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 9:45 AM

Y'all just player-hating

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 10:32 AM

i find it highly unlikely that the interior renovations were 150,000...more like closer to a million...maybe he got work at cost?

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 10:36 AM

He lost me right away. Cat walk photos as interior design? Okaaaay.... But with all that money, I was interested to see what the designers would do. Verdict: eeesh.

I liked the inspiration behind a lot of it. Who doesn't like the bar at Pastis? But the replica is just too Ballard Designs. Ditto the whole place.

Job not well done, in my opinion.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 10:39 AM

It looks to me like pastiche, not the more-desirable bricolage. The lighting seems to me particularly weak, and material transitions are arbitrary. Althogether, I find it scenographic -- more like a stage-set than a home. But I suppose as the stated intent is "backdrop to entertaining" the reno's spot on.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 10:55 AM

I read about half of it, and had to stop, the nausea was too much. Another case of too much money, too little taste, and a whole lot of people running around catering to his every whim.

What's next? "Ooo, I really am liking that Versailles place. What a party house, let's recreate it in my new garment center building. Price is no object."

Please, give me stories of hard working schmoos that I can relate to, who are using their hard earned money with taste and ingenuity, and some do it your selfer initiative.

Posted by: CrownHeightsProud at March 2, 2006 10:55 AM

be sure to check out the rest of Sixx's other projects for more of their crazy-crazy-aunt-from-Portobello-Road-flee-market-meet-color-blind-trustfarian-nephew aesthetics

yes, money never has and never will equate to taste.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 10:59 AM

I think there is a typo in the renovation budget, maybe it was 1,500,000

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 12:06 PM

Yeah, I noticed that too. How could he do all that for 150,000???!!!

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at March 2, 2006 12:12 PM

I know Zip. Great guy. Use to run the equity trading desk at Herzog in Jersey City. Made a killing when Merrill bought out the firm in 2001. Knowing his personality, the house is perfect for him. Remember folks, hate the decor or renovation job all you want but in the end it's his house and his taste. I couldn't be happier for him.

Posted by: BrownBomber at March 2, 2006 12:46 PM

The New York Times is great except when it comes to things like facts

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 1:41 PM

Sure it's his house and his taste, but he chose to toot his horn in the NY Times, so it's fair game to comment on his over the top need for attention in his bloated mid life. smirk...

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 4:02 PM

I couldn't agree more with CrownHeightsProud. There is a dearth of stories and articles about middle-class people making it (homeownership) work in New York. Reading the New York Times real estate section makes me feel like I'm the only non-millionaire who's trying to buy a first home.

Posted by: gloworm at March 2, 2006 5:06 PM

Gloworm, you're not the only non-millionaire trying to buy a first home--but, in this crazy city, you may be the first to actually do it.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 5:38 PM

That's not true. I would guess that most of Brownstoner.com readers who have recently bought brownstones are not millionaires but hard working types (probably highly paid) who are trying to renovate their places as cost effectively as they can on limited budgets. Well off, sure, millionaires, no.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 2, 2006 5:49 PM

I used to live in Little Italy, and if the house is the one I think it is, it looked from the outside as if the renovation was going to be something great. I'm disappointed (although less envious) to see that the inside is so uninspiring. I'm sure Zip is a 'great guy' especially if your criteria are how much money he has made and whether he hangs with Scarlett Johanssen, but what I don't understand is why the NY Times interiors section thought it worthwhile to publish a story about this house.

Posted by: Zil at March 2, 2006 7:33 PM

Yuckums

Posted by: Anonymous at March 3, 2006 4:39 PM

Very disappointing. No soul. And perhaps more importanly, no aesthetic coherence. A dab of this, a dash of that but it doesn't add up to anything.

Posted by: Thurstan at March 3, 2006 6:04 PM

Hey ...Brad did pay $4.35M for the whole deal...and he recently turned down an unsolicited offer of $9M from a hip-hop artist. Not a bad deal doubling your price in one year. All SIXX design homes seem to go up in value from 50% to 100% in a year. How many of you whiners about aesthetic purity, such as CrownHeightsProud, could do that? The market is the best indicator of value, not the whining silliness of closeted, ivory-tower wanna-be esthetic professors

Posted by: Benn There at March 4, 2006 9:21 PM

Benn, are you partners with SIXX or just part of the PR connection that gets them feature articles in the NY Times even though their stuff is CRAP that legends are made of?

Nobody in their right mind would offer that much for such an ugly house!

The couple who runs SIXX doesn't seem to have any idea what they're doing. Their projects sit on the market forever and are just plain ugly and in bad taste. The only reason they've been "successful" is the same reason every other developer in NYC has done well in the last eight or so years A SURGING REAL ESTATE MARKET.

When the market hits the skids, they'll be the first to hit the dumpster (for lack of a better term).

All their houses are covered in cement "stucco" and look like shit stained crap on the outside and junk filled flea markets on the inside.

The 150k referred to in the article was for interior design, not construction costs. You folks didn't do very well in the reading comprehension section of the SAT did you?

Posted by: Anonymous at March 5, 2006 9:19 AM

Check out www.sixxdesign.com and you'll all agree with the previous poster.

They've had some great investment timing, but there work is subpar to say the least.

Posted by: Anonymous at March 5, 2006 9:33 AM

Hey anonymous ... a very simple calculation: research 22 Thompson Place and 24 Thompson Place, find out what was paid for in 2003-4 and then what it went for in 2005. I know the SixxDesign folks: their worl os featured in several design book (eat your heart out), they own a 8,000 square NYC townhouses, a 20 acre farmhouse in upstate NY, a villa in Brazil and much more ... so I guess they know a little about something ...it must kill you that one of their cheap flea market items costs more than you earn in a couple of years... :) ....but whine and snivel all you want...while SixxDesign laughs all the way to their next big deal....

Posted by: Benn There at March 5, 2006 11:13 AM

...you know, anonymous, get another set of talking points....this aesthethic purity or calling other's work as crap is so old, lame, elistist, and effete....there are so many smarter than everybody else college profs, unemployed writers, and unappreciated artists that have never had their work featured featured anyplace whatsover...it is a free country, so you certainly are entiltled to your opinion, but the market speaks volumes on what the public thinks...

Posted by: Benn There at March 5, 2006 11:19 AM

well --24 Thompsom sold recently and the asking price was $6.9 ...NYPost said seller got close to ask price ....some basketball player bought it http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?ListingID=223943&Region=NYC

and 22 Thompson is up for sale at $4.8 and it went for $2.6 in 04 http://custombrokersrealestate.com/22thompson.jsp ...so maybe they do alright on the money side, even if it is not my taste

Posted by: BrookBomber at March 5, 2006 12:36 PM

Hmmmnnn ...the hedge fund frat boy does look like a bit of a slob ... but he got exactly what he asked for from his designers so I don't see what the big deal is ....I imagined had he asked for a Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style townhouse in SoHo, his designers would have delivered ...what is all the fuzz about???

Posted by: Chris Hodges at March 5, 2006 2:14 PM

Sorry about the vulgar language I used earlier, Benn. I should have been more polite. The heat of the moment got the better of me.

You're right that jealousy of some form played a part in my posting. Unfortunately, you're theory that my jealousy derives from low income is incorrect. Anyways, when the crash comes, we'll see who's still making money.

By the way, didn't their townhouse on Thompson street languish on the market for years?

Posted by: Anonymous at March 5, 2006 8:24 PM

This is CLASSIC!!! Do you remember when i used to roll into the bathroom and drop my droors to the floor?

Posted by: Darren Mochella at February 5, 2007 7:12 PM

Dan Egar is a HUNK!!!!

Posted by: Derek Nelson at February 5, 2007 7:14 PM

great house i bet he nails a lot of girls there.

Posted by: jimbo at March 2, 2007 9:01 PM

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March 2, 2006

Townhouse Bachelor Pad Extraordinaire

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