Made in Manhattan

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Another key structural shift was to remove a wall of storage cabinets just inside the front door, replacing it with a shimmering water-wall. Produced by Los Angeles–based Art ’N Motion, the 10-foot waterfall cascades down a spectacular gold-dusted backdrop.

“There’s an element of grandeur that comes with gold,” says Borrelli, who discovered the striking gilded, tempered glass used in the living room’s denatured ethanol–burning fireplace at a luxe design show in Milan, Italy. Adding a bit more symmetry and cohesiveness throughout the home, he applied the bar’s cylindrical shape and rich tones to the glass-covered, gold-leaf countertop and pedestal sink in the foyer powder room —a small but spectacular space that shines with gold-tinged Italian plaster, metallic mosaic tiles and mirrored ceiling.

Although the kitchen was built as one large space, furniture placement divides the area into zones for different purposes. The elegant upholstered settee adds timeless appeal and comfortable seating that serves as an auxiliary dining room. The den area is adorned with a Borrellidesigned, cherry-wood entertainment cabinet with a flat-screen television framed above another flue-less fireplace manufactured by EcoSmart of Australia.

Borrelli also decked out the adjoining home office with a handsome desk and shelves of matching cherry wood. Limited hardware, smoked glass and soft spot lighting accentuate the veneer’s smooth, warm surfaces. A short hallway leading from the kitchen to the master bedroom is decorated with a cache of colorful perfume bottles Barbara has collected over the years, as well as a delightful display of flower photographs captured by the couple’s grown daughter.

The condo’s original layout placed the master suite off the front room, with two other bedrooms down the hall beyond the kitchen. Barbara and Brent converted the front bedroom into guest quarters (often inhabited by their granddaughter) and made one of the back rooms into a walk-in closet with built-in drawers, shelves and “the best closet views in town,” says Brent.

Soothing colors and select furnishings lend cool and crisp comfort to the master bedroom suite that includes a comfy chaise longue where Barbara spends hours “reading and watching the world go by.” It’s just as she imagined her new lifestyle. And her new home provides the perfect setting.

“You can see the cruise ships, sailboats, airplanes, trolleys and trains,” she says, “and the scene changes endlessly throughout the day and night.”

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