Top Penthouse in the media

Home on the roof for some Manhattanites

BY ALISON GREGOR

August 19, 2005

Homes have sprouted up on the rooftops of drab Manhattan buildings; homes such as solid Dutch Colonials and capes, sleek chalets, modern Decos, and even log cabins. Some stand out, while others blend in architecturally with the buildings at their base.

But they all afford their owners something similar: stunning views and entry into Manhattan's culture of rooftop living. It's one that is becoming more accessible as undeveloped land grows scarce and construction on rooftops becomes widespread.

"We wanted an apartment in the city that didn't have the normal constraints of urban life," said David Topping, a property developer who converted a rustic laundry room atop a 12-story co-op building at 305 W. 72nd St. into a 4,000-square-foot duplex with countless terraces.

His kids have a playground under the building's water tank, and he drives golf balls into a screen over a synthetic turf putting green overlooking the Hudson River. At cocktail hour, Topping toasts his rooftop neighbors over the proverbial white picket fence. "We wanted some of that good suburbia stuff to be in urbia," he said.

Manhattan's rooftops have not always been the coveted properties they are today. In the early 1900s, the upper reaches were relegated to quarters for servants and maids, and office buildings had rooftop shacks in which superintendents resided.

"That was because when they were built, people didn't trust elevators," said Douglas Korves, an architect who has designed several rooftop homes. "The lower floors of very old buildings have the tall ceilings, because those were the most valuable apartments when the elevators would break."

Certain innovative finance moguls, such as J.P. Morgan, soon realized the value of rooftop living. Morgan constructed a penthouse at 14 Wall St. that is now 14 Wall Street, the restaurant.

In the 1960s and '70s, as artists moved into SoHo, people began looking for more creative ways to live and eventually discovered rooftops. A cedar-shingled Colonial structure atop Kiehl's apothecary at 203 E. 13th St. was a product of this freewheeling spirit.

"When it went to market, I found out it was illegal," said Tim Desmond, a broker with Stribling Private Brokerage, who sold the space a couple times for about $2 million. "So the [first owner] had to hire architects and work through the buildings department to get it legalized. He had to shave off an outdoor deck, cantilevered over the terraces, supporting an outdoor hot tub."

Despite that example, rooftop structures can be entirely legal. The homes are typically labeled "penthouses" by real estate marketers, although the city's definition of a penthouse as occupying no more than one-third of the roof's area means most of the structures are actually classified as additional floors. The buildings department does not keep statistics on how many rooftop homes exist.

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