This 125-Year-Old NYC Apartment Has a Bathtub in the Kitchen — But It Totally Works
Alysse Mazakian still had three months left on her previous lease when she happened to look at the Streeteasy listing for this apartment — a small unit in the East Village in a building from 1900 with a ton of prewar charm, a price low enough Alysse could forgo roommates, and an especially unique feature: a clawfoot bathtub in the kitchen!
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“When I emailed the broker, she said they were doing their first showing in one hour and expected it to be signed by the end of the day. I came and looked at the apartment and immediately ran downstairs to a coffee shop and applied as fast as I could,” Alysse explains.
“The broker told me the apartment got 11 applications that day, but mine happened to be the first one! I also found out the person who lived there before me lived there for 10 years, so I knew it had to be a good one.”
When Alysse moved in a year and a half ago, the apartment had some of its original molding and wainscoting, as well as a little bit of existing architectural charm, but also didn’t have a closet or a shower curtain rod. She describes it as being very bare-bones.
“I would say my place is now a mix of antique and MCM,” writes Alysse, who added more molding and wainscoting when she moved in, as well as furniture from estate sales and Facebook Marketplace. “I think the only things in my apartment I bought brand-new are my cat tree, my mattress, and my IKEA closet!”
Before moving to New York City, Alysse lived in places like Minnesota, Texas, Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea. “A few years ago, my parents moved out of my childhood home in Minnesota to the opposite side of the country, and I spent most of my adult life moving around so I don’t really feel like I have a ‘home’ to go back to,” she admits. “I think a lot of people view their parents’ house as home and their apartment as a temporary space to exist in. Most of my motivation in decorating my apartment was creating a new home that is all my own!”
Resources
ENTRY
LIVING ROOM
- Piazza Couch — CB2 (I actually got it from FB Marketplace and had to have a couch doctor cut it in half and reassemble it inside because it didn’t fit in my hallway)
- Yellow Chairs — My grandmother’s!
- Circular table — FB Marketplace
- TV Credenza — FB Marketplace
- Artwork — FB Marketplace/Estate Sales
- Metal Hanging lamp — Lichen
- Corner shelf — Urban Outfitters
- Rug — FB Marketplace
- Coffee Table — Estate sale
- Stool — FB Marketplace
- Plant Pot — Estate Sale
- AD Magazines — Estate Sale
- Cathedral Mirror — T.J. Maxx
KITCHEN
- Blue/Green Metal Table — FB Marketplace
- Lamp — Urban Outfitters (~8 years ago)
- Cutting boards — My mom’s neighbor made most of them for me
- Artwork — Estate Sale
- Candlesticks — Estate Sale
- White table — FB Marketplace
- Wine rack — IKEA
- White Mirror — FB Marketplace
- Shower curtain — Pottery Barn
BEDROOM
- Artwork — Estate sales/FB Marketplace
- Desk — FB Marketplace
- Bedding — Amazon/Buffy
- Mini Lamp — Amazon
- Hanging Lantern — Amazon
- Cat Calendar — Louvre gift shop
- Rug — Also from my college dorm room, nine years ago. I think it might be from T.J. Maxx as well?
BATHROOM
- Wicker Storage Baskets — Muji
- White storage drawer — Amazon
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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