In his search for a new home, Darren Spaziani, a top executive at the fashion house Louis Vuitton, was immediately drawn to the 19th-century Fitzroy Townhouses in West Chelsea.
The apartment he and his partner, the jewelry designer Philip Crangi, settled on 11 years ago, a townhouse triplex at 450 West 23rd Street, had scenic views of the historic neighborhood and its verdant gardens, not to mention ample outdoor space. It was also where the renowned poet Edwin Arlington Robinson had once lived.
“We wanted something with a lot of character and history — that’s what drew us there,” said Mr. Spaziani, Louis Vuitton’s creative director of leather goods. “It was like the second place we looked at,” Mr. Crangi added.
Mr. Spaziani paid $2 million for the co-op in the summer of 2013. He and Mr. Crangi then commenced a gut renovation, modernizing the unit with new central air and HVAC systems and adding in and retaining period details. It took around 18 months and “$1 million-plus” to complete, Mr. Spaziani said.
“It was very dated, probably redone not on a big budget in the early ’80s,” he said of the apartment’s condition. Mr. Spaziani and Mr. Crangi decorated the home with an eclectic mix of furnishings and artwork. This includes paintings and photography from New York in the ’80s and British Surrealist art from the ’60s and ’70s, as well as furniture from Italian designers like Gae Aulenti and Afra and Tobia Scarpa.
