Tudor City Inaugural House Tour Features Rare Look at Ten Diverse Apartments

Online, April 18, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Approximately ten unique residences will open their doors to the public to highlight the architecture, history and the exquisite style of the Tudor City neighborhood on Saturday, April 26, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. In addition, amazing rooftops and gardens will also be featured. This is the first time homes in Tudor City have been opened to the public in a house tour.

The homes range from a spectacular, three-bedroom penthouse with wraparound terraces to a mini studio with a clever use of space to a two-story "studio" that has been the setting of several movie sets. (See below for additional detail on homes featured on the tour.)

Tudor City, a neighborhood located between East 41st and 43rd Streets, on a bluff west of First Avenue across from the United Nations, is often seen as a private oasis in the middle of midtown Manhattan. The neighborhood was constructed beginning in 1925 with 11 apartment buildings, some reminiscent of castles, and has been featured over the years in famous movies such as Spiderman and Godfather III.

It surrounds two parks, known as Tudor City Parks, which are privately managed and achieved Landmark status in 1988, after residents saved them from becoming future building sites. The Parks will also be a feature on the Tudor City House Tour.

Tickets are $45 for one person and $75 for two people. All proceeds benefit Tudor City Greens, a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to preserve and enhance Tudor City's two landmarked Parks. They can be purchased in advance on www.tudorcitygreens.org, or on the day of the Tour in The South Park. For more information on Tudor City Greens please visit www.facebook.com/TudorCityGreens or www.tudorcitygreens.org.

Sample of Homes Featured on the Tudor City Greens House Tour
1. Apt. 3206, 320 East 42nd Street, Woodstock Tower
A 4-STAR KITCHEN
The kitchen takes center stage here in a most dramatic fashion. Owner and expert cook Susan Isaacs created it as much with art in mind as technology. An etched-brass and granite island encompasses the stove that flows into a freeform glass dining table supported by a sculptured base. Above hang amber-toned, Murano glass pendant lights, and behind stand wenge-faced cupboards and fridge. Well-choreographed throughout with a mix of Oriental and midcentury-modern furnishings and such unique accents as feathered sconces in the bedroom, the home is especially striking at night with its incredible display of city lights.

2. Apt. 4D, 2 Tudor City Place, Tudor City Gardens
BIG, BRIGHT, AND OH, SUCH A BATH
Walk into Judi and Gary Roth's loft-like, 1,750 square foot, two-bedroom/two-bath apartment and you're wowed with sunlight pouring in from a swath of large windows. Home to the couple and their rescue dog Yogi, it was created from two apartments with special attention paid to the open-format kitchen that edges the dining area, which flows into the living room centered with a curvaceous sofa. Done up with rosemary green CaesarStone counters and a white, CaesarStone island, it makes frequent entertaining fun for hosts and guests alike. The en-suite master bathroom and dressing room are sheathed in statuary marble and configured as beautifully as any hotel's. Another special feature is the walk-in closet that houses Gary's road-and-track bikes.

3. Apt. PH1, 5 Tudor City Place, Windsor
PENTHOUSE: HAUTE YET HUMBLE
While ironically called a "studio," this two-story penthouse is anything but. Surrounded by terra-cotta terraces lined with stone pillars topped with gargoyles commanding breathtaking views of such New York City landmarks as the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, as well as the East River and beyond, it has magnificent, 22 foot-high ceilings, fireplace, balustraded library/office and two bedroom suites. The interior encompasses approximately 3,000 square feet, and the terraces about 1,900 square feet. Perhaps familiar looking, the terraces were featured in a number of movies, including Godfather: Part III, Bullets Over Broadway and Spiderman. Decorated with a casual hand, including lots of cozy seating areas, the mood is welcoming and informal, perfect for the family who lives here.

4. Apt. 15E, 2 Tudor City Place, Tudor City Gardens
ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
A musical treat awaits in the home of Garrett and Raissa Bennett, he a sinus surgeon, she a Broadway and cabaret performer. Floored in white oak, enlivened with geometric-patterned rugs and misty blue walls, the living room features a grand piano that will likely be played during the Tour. A renovation overseen by designer Kittie Lonsdale, the focus is on entertaining—the couple hosts up to 70 friends at a time. The kitchen sparkles with copper accents, the sofas are sink-into leather and views of the city are beautiful from nearly any spot in the house, even better from the terraces. Look for such space-saving solutions as the only-red and only-white wine fridges, hidden ironing board and coffee table that transforms to seat eight.

5. Apt. 1337, 5 Tudor City Place, Windsor
INNOVATIVE BEYOND MEASURE
It takes a professional designer like Kittie Lonsdale to turn a 10' x 17' studio just 225 square feet into a real home and office. Equipped with everything found in a conventionally-sized apartment, even the 3' x 8' bathroom is luxurious, right down to its mirrored vanity and decorative, marble tile work. The splitface stone mosaic backsplash adds texture to the kitchen area where a granite counter tops fridge and cabinets fitted with roll-out trays and pull-out organizers. The stove-top burner slides in and out of the dining bar and all the necessary accoutrements are cleverly stashed out of sight. The furniture is full-scale, including the comfy sleep sofa. Painted a soothing grey/blue with neutral accents it is truly a work of art and innovation.

About Tudor City
Tudor City was the brainchild of developer Fred F. French and architect H. Douglas Ives. They reimagined the neighborhood, which at the time was filled with slums and bordered by slaughterhouses, in the 16th-century Tudor style so popular in the 1920s and '30s. The purpose was to stem the tide of middle-class New Yorkers escaping to more picturesque suburbs. It was to be, in French's words, "not for millionaires, but for people of taste and refinement … who wish to spend carefully."

Each structure is unique, unified with the others by limestone and brick façades and exquisite stone details, coats of arms, dragons, gargoyles large and small, and stained-glass windows. French often called his masterpiece a "city within a city," and in order to lure prospective residents French wanted to provide all the amenities of suburban living. The Parks were central to his plan. While many grand residential buildings of the time were built around garden courtyards, French turned the convention inside out in Tudor City by placing the green spaces on the outside and orienting the buildings toward them.

About Tudor City Greens
Tudor City Greens, Inc. (the Greens) is a New York 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to preserve and enhance Tudor City's two landmarked parks. The parks are located on Tudor City Place on either side of East 42nd Street, east of Second Avenue. The Greens was formed in 1987 to assume ownership and responsibility for the Parks, under the auspices of The Trust for Public Land, when Tudor City buildings were being converted to cooperative ownership by the sponsor, Time-Equities.

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