163 East 64th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York

Welcome to this unique and sophisticated townhouse located at 163 64th Street. Treeline Street, many historic houses on the street. I'm Ron Brick, interior designer. I've designed part of the exterior and all of the interior. The facade of this building is raked limestone and brick. It was recently restored by the craftsmen that worked on Saint John the Divine. There's radiant heating in this entire sidewalk, so when it snows, it's perfectly clean from the minute the snow begins. Entering the house, you come into the marble entry hall which has hand-painted Chinese panels on the walls. The elevator is approximately a three-person elevator. The floor is an inlaid floor. There's a trompe-l'oeil, a putti, and grisaille on the bottom. The domed ceiling is painted like the sky. Entering the second entry hall, there is a place to sit down in a very elegant setting and wait. On the way to the kitchen, there are three silver and china closets, quite large. Downstairs, the basement contains a 300-bottle wine cellar, a large cedar closet, and numerous storage areas. The kitchen contains two sub-zeros. There is an industrial range and a pair of double ovens. Coming up the staircase, the second floor foyer is the introduction to the luxury of the rest of the house. The grand Russian-style chandelier is a pivotal point in the room, and the niche, which is mirrored, increases the size of the space, creates a point to go into. It is also reflecting the staircase, which I think is quite nice. The living room here is called the music room. The owner is a musician and songwriter, and had a brilliant sound system built for the entire second floor of this house. The floor is parquet de Versailles. The chandelier is a beautiful Venetian chandelier. There is an incredible French fireplace, but for me, one of the most special things in this room are the frogonades. We had someone paint them, and they're in the joyful quality that music instills in you. The bar is one of the favorite spaces in the house of mine. There's a lot of excitement in what's in this space. I particularly like the north wind in the Lalique-like ceiling, blowing the clouds away so that you can see the universe from the stars. During the day, there's a skylight, so you get natural light coming through that. In the evening, there is artificial light so that you still have the skylight effect on it. The semi-circular inlaid floor that was created by Steven Puzzi, I think, echoes the shapes of the bar and the ceiling. I also really like the three-inch thick marble top. I think it's impressive. A toy of mine is what I call the child's window, that children of the household can watch the party going on from the little octagonal window on the staircase. That staircase also leads to either a private living quarters or a great office space. The dining room, I think, has a truly magnificent French chandelier. It's quite a big piece. The view through the window at lunchtime, you look out into a garden of trees, so you see gardens from the dining room window. I think this library is one of the most inviting and welcoming spaces in the house. It's always nice to walk into it. The paneling is from 1870. It's been restored and French polished. There are two favorite things of mine in this room. One is the exterior, looking out on the street, seeing the plants and the trees, and I think that's quite nice. And the other is this bronze chandelier above my head, which is 400 pounds, 19th century French chandelier, with mermaids supporting the lights. It's really quite spectacular. There's a lot of beautiful detail in the woodworking here. There is a wood-burning fireplace, which has an inducer fan, as all the fireplaces in the house have. And there are monitors at different locations in the house, so you can study what's going on outside. As you come to the third floor, there are two guest bedrooms. One faces the street. It's the most elegant. It is the largest. The second bedroom is a smaller size. It has a queen-size bed in it. It looks out onto the back garden. The exceptionally high ceilings throughout the house instill a feeling of extraordinary elegance and space. In the master bedroom, there are two great skylights. You can press a button in the morning and wake up with sunlight shining down on you. At night, you can seal off any amount of light coming from the outside. Great views, again, of the street. There is a wood-burning fireplace up here. The security system is on the television upstairs in this room. And there are two large mahogany cabinets that are built in. One contains the audio-visuals, and the other contains clothing. This bedroom has a large bathroom containing a shower and steam and a jacuzzi. And across the hall, you come upon another bedroom, which makes it the fifth bedroom in the house. Presently an office, it has a bathroom attached to it. You walk down a corridor to the roof terrace. Not only do we have the plantings that surround this terrace, the terrace is surrounded by gardens. So if you walk up to any opening, you're viewing another garden. You have the tops of the trees, you have the trees that are down in the garden. It really is a special place to sit. The mirrored arch is to repeat the arches around the other walls and create a hole in the fourth wall. It's just a beautiful place to be, day or night. In the future, 1,400 square feet can be added on the roof, and then a terrace put on top of that. If 1,100 feet is added on the roof, then the present terrace can be enclosed as a solarium. It's a lot of options for someone in this house. The townhouse at 163 East 64. It's just an idyllic place in New York City.